League of Legends fans have long speculated on a disparity between the potential of the game’s champions between play on the game’s respective red and blue sides, making one unfairly stronger than the other, and Riot Games is now finally able to confirm the reason for that disparity. Or at the very least, one of the reasons for it.
League of Legends has had a recurring bug that has made one side of the map statically stronger than the other. In attempting to fix another bug, Riot Games unintentionally implemented a new problem that weakened the red side for two champions in particular.
The red side apparently had a disadvantage for both Singed and Rumble that made the two champions deal less damage than they would on the blue side in League of Legends.
Riot Games confirmed that an unintentional bug affects the red side in League of Legends, causing two champions in particular to inflict less damage than on the blue side. In a YouTube video, David “Phreak” Turley gave fans an extensive rundown on the history of the bug, the ensuing investigation, and the fix that will now be implemented.
Phreak explained that these two red side champions can face a delay when damage from certain abilities was being distributed. This causes them to inflict one tick less damage than when those champions are the blue side. Champions like Singed and Rumble don’t deal damage at 0 ticks when on the red side, but the champions’ attacks are distributed normally when they’re on the blue side. This is why the blue side had a higher win rate for the pair, as they could inflict more damage. Even a small amount of damage, spread across a large number of games, is sufficient to produce a significantly different win rate.
Rumble and Singed were the main champions affected by this bug. The champions’ blue and red side had noticeably different win rates because of the volatile initial damage dealt as a result of the blue side having one tick’s worth of advantage.
Riot is developing a fix so the game understands when buffs end, ultimately leveling the playing field more level between red and blue sides by quashing the blue sides’ damage advantage for some champions.
Phreak stated that the fix involves delaying a defuff to sync the timings that were previously desynced. The red side will deal the initial damage that was previously missing, which led to the blue side’s higher win rate.
Fans are divided on the fix and how it’ll potentially affect League of Legends. Some claim Riot will have to nerf champions entirely if win rates change drastically. Many are speculating that Rumble will actually be buffed because of the change, as his Q ability’s damage will last longer.
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