Inside Design: Rengar's Mechanics

[Disenchantment]

The Fields of Justice have never been more dangerous than when Rengar, the Pridestalker, prepares for the hunt. With a new resource system, an optional item in the shop, and a dynamic passive that interacts when he’s stealthed or in the brush, Rengar‘s bringing many new mechanics to strike down his prey. To learn more about these new mechanics, we went straight to the source and talked to Trevor “Classick“ Romleski about Rengar’s kit.



A new item is available in the shop called the Bonetooth Necklace, an item that is only purchasable by Rengar. Can you tell us about this new item?

Classick: We wanted to find some cool gameplay that lets you become the trophy hunter, gives you the feel of being Rengar. Since he’s the ultimate trophy hunter we wanted to make it feel like Rengar was getting more and more powerful as he collected trophies from his kills. He becomes more self-fulfilled, since that’s his big thing – he looks for the biggest prey. We tried to create a sort of side quest if you choose to go with the Bonetooth Necklace. If your focus is on picking up kills and gaining power over time, it might be a good decision.


So Rengar’s item is optional?

Classick: That’s correct. The Bonetooth Necklace is not integrated into Rengar’s inventory when the match begins. You have to purchase it from the shop. Rengar can’t begin the game with the necklace, so he won’t snowball too early. This is a departure from Viktor who begins each match with his item in his inventory. Viktor’s augment feels like it’s a part of him, built onto him as opposed to Rengar who has the option of wearing his item or not. You can also sell the item back to the shop after you purchase it, in case you change your mind about going down the Bonetooth Necklace path.

The Bonetooth Necklace has an “opt-in” feel, where you can choose to participate in the side quest and rack up kills to get more powerful, or not. It’s up to you how you want to play Rengar. It’s riskier play, sure, but it can pay off. And if your trophy-hunting exploits don’t go exactly as planned, you don’t feel like you’ve lost much. You can always sell back the item and swap your playstyle.

Here’s another cool part about the necklace: you gain trophies on kills and assists. In order to discourage Rengar players from kill stealing against their own team to collect trophies we made it so assists also count, slowing up the rate at which you add stacks to the necklace, but stopping this specific type of potential abuse. You can play Rengar and not worry about having to stack up kills alone.


What about the concern that this snowball item might make Rengar’s power feel inconsistent?

Classick: You’ll notice that the Bonetooth Necklace gains and loses its power at a slower, more consistent rate than other snowball items. You can rack up kills and benefit from the bonuses that the necklace provides, but unlike other snowball-type items in game you only lose a small number of trophies from the necklace on death. You’re not going to feel the pendulum swing of power that might come with an item like Mejai’s, so advancing with the necklace isn’t going to feel like a waste of time if you die at a high trophy stack. You shouldn’t rapidly change in power unless you have a huge number of kills or deaths in a short period of time.


What about this item snowballing in competitive play?

Classick: Competitive play was one of the reasons we went with an opt-in item, really. The competitive scene changes rapidly and the option is there for Rengar players. In many pro-level games the number of kills is usually lower than that of a normal game on Summoner’s Rift, so the item might not look as attractive. Rengar is not just his item – it’s an aspect of his play that you can choose to take part in or not. His viability is not based on the Bonetooth Necklace. It acts as an investment like a snowball item, not an integral piece of his kit.



Check out the full interview below in the source!


Source:
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/news/i...gars-mechanics