League of Legends’ newest champion Samira has arrived on the rift, and some players are not too happy. Lead Gameplay Designer Mark Yetter admits that she’s been too strong since Day One. Some new Samira hotfixes should balance her properly, but is it enough?
We're still very committed to releasing new champions long term balanced. Sometimes we get lucky and nail it exactly on launch, but most of the time it's about fast follow up.
Based on our estimates and goals she looked clearly too strong on day one so we're acting fast.
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) September 22, 2020
An over-powered champion
Samira’s overall base HP and Ultimate total damage is now significantly nerfed. Her base HP lowered from 600 to 530, and her Inferno Trigger damage went from 100 – 300 to 0 – 200. Additionally, her AD ratio per shot reduced to 50% AD from 60% AD.
Thanks. This is unbelievable that you are nerfing her. Honestly I was going to take a break until she was nerfed like a month later and watch only Worlds
— Rylai (@Rylai29212257) September 22, 2020
Yetter admits that sometimes the development team makes mistakes, and they’re acting quickly to rectify it. One Twitter user stated that they received two Pentakills while playing her, something that should have never happened. These updates should make Samira more vulnerable at the start of the early game. Doing so makes it a challenge for her to snowball and get stronger without a protective Support backing her up.
the R nerf is much larger than youd think, we found the lever to be very sensitive in testing https://t.co/8GInl7AK0g
— Blizz (@Blizz_lol) September 22, 2020
Samira, post-nerfs
Although Riot has nerfed her, this doesn’t mean that she still isn’t strong in lane. Her ultimate cooldown is still pretty low, even if it requires a rank S. Her W is basically a windwall that blocks projectiles, and she also has a dash that allows her to push for more damage. Overall, her entire kit is pretty overpowered and it seems like the development team has more work to do with her in upcoming patches.
This kind of overpowering mistake was previously seen with Aphelios, where players complained about him being too OP against enemies. Since his release, he’s received over 10 hotfixes and updates, eventually leading him to his now 45% win rate. Since her release, Samira has an over 51% win rate in high elo, which is pretty high considering she just came out. Unfortunately, until Riot continues to balance her, players might have to resort in perma-banning the marksman.
Let us know what you think over at the Daily Esports forums. Don’t forget to stick with Daily Esports for all of your League of Legends news and updates.
