Riot addresses the state of new Tank Mythics

Riot Games recently published a post, sharing some thoughts on the current state of the Tank Mythics introduced during the preseason.

RiotMadnessHeroo talks about the tank mythics of the new preseason

The balance team made major tweaks to the tank items at the end season 12, tuning pre-existing items as well as introducing new ones. The primary goal was to shift tanks’ farming and damage dealing capabilities from Mythics to Legendaries and allow more exciting passives.

Designer RiotMadnessHeroo believes the goal was achieved and the tank class is in a much healthier state. “Not only have tanks adapted well to Preseason finding success in both Top and Jungle, but we also expect players to better learn and understand tank itemization as time passes. In addition, each of the new Mythics seems to have both powerful individual champion users as well as game states they thrive in.” is what he said in the post.

That said, the balance team is still not fully satisfied with the current state, especially considering how certain tank items have been performing better on non-tank champions. “To be clear, we are ok with classes other than tanks purchasing these items, but with a few caveats” he added. The points are as follows:

• These tank items should not be the dominant Mythic choice on other classes.
• They should pay a clear damage tradeoff for doing so.
• They should not warp how tank Mythics are balanced on tanks.

He also mentions how they are changing Gargoyle Stoneplate and that the update should arrive early this year.

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Riot Designer’s analysis of the new items

In the post, he proceeds to go over the current view on the new tank items that were introduced. He mentions how Heartsteel is in a balanced state despite the initial worries by players deeming it too strong. No significant changes should be coming for this item.

The Rioter then talks about Jak’Sho, the item that was considered too strong on fighters and bruisers but relatively balanced on tanks. This were the reasons why the item was changed both in the last patch of season 12 and Patch 13.1.

As for Radiant Virtue, he says that it’s currently fulfilling its role well and “is a powerful item on Top, Jungle, and Support tanks alike”.

Despite being in a fine state, the team is monitoring some potential issues, mainly the possibility of being too strong on support tanks and the need to be balanced about pro play. For both, they will have to wait for things to unfold before making a proper assessment.

He also adds that “because of Radiant’s design, it can be hard to perceive its effect in-game. Periodic AoE effects are hard to keep track of in the middle of a teamfight, especially when they’re applied to your teammates. This problem is admittedly pretty tough to solve, but there might be some small tweaks we can make to make sure Radiant is more satisfying without drastically changing it.”

There are a couple of paths that they will consider taking with the item, depending on how it performs. He also says that the balance team is considering moving Locket of the Iron Solari to Legendary in case Radiant Virtue will be treated as a Support item.

Lastly, RiotMadnessHeroo explains how the satisfaction and excitement for the item are lower than expected on Iceborn Gauntlet and they will be exploring “small scope changes” to better match with the other mythics, including adding a health ratio to the Spellblade proc or giving the Iceborn user a bonus effect when inside the passive’s slow zone.

Overall, most tank items seemed to be in a good state and no major changes are needed in the near future. That said, we might see more interesting stuff from Riot soon…

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