Ability Remake: Twitch, the Plague Rat

In an upcoming patch we’ll be revisiting one of our original classic champions: Twitch, the Plague Rat. Twitch’s Ambush ability will be seeing some changes to shift him toward a more aggressive role on the battlefield. Since this ability allowed Twitch to remain invisible for significant periods of time, enemy players were forced to adopt an extremely cautious and defensive playstyle in response.
Since we want League of Legends to be a fun, fast-paced experience, we decided to update Twitch with a new version of Ambush.

Even beyond its duration, we saw some major issues with the Ambush ability, primarily surrounding the nature of the Attack Speed bonus that it provided. While Attack Speed helps quickly stack up charges of Deadly Venom, this bonus ramped up over the total duration Twitch remained invisible. This forced players to strike a balance between selecting the ideal time to strike and attempting to lurk for as long as possible in order to reach the maximum bonus. This was especially problematic for Plague Rat enthusiasts, since it forced Twitch to forego farming gold in order to reach his maximum Attack Speed bonus.

To shift emphasis towards a more action-oriented style of play, we retooled Ambush to promote aggressive repositioning over stalking. The first step in accomplishing this was to change the ability so that it always applies the maximum Attack Speed bonus, solidifying the emphasis on selecting the opportune moment of attack. We also drastically shortened the duration to give the ability a more tactical context, and gave Ambush a Movement Speed boost to help Twitch quickly outflank his opponent.

Another issue Twitch faced was an over-reliance on the enormous damage potential of his ultimate ability. More often than not, Twitch’s success or failure on the battlefield depended on his ability to output massive amounts of damage over the course of Spray and Pray rather than on Deadly Venom and Expunge. Since most of his interesting gameplay revolved around poison combos, we wanted to augment this aspect of his kit both to make him more interesting to play and to make him less one dimensional.

 Abilities

• Deadly Venom (Passive): Twitch’s basic attacks infect the target, dealing true damage over time.
• Ambush: Twitch becomes invisible for a short duration and gains Movement Speed. At the end of this effect, Twitch gains Attack Speed for a short duration.
• Venom Cask: Twitch hurls a cask of venom that explodes on contact, slowing targets in the area and applying Deadly Venom.
• Expunge: All nearby enemies secrete Twitch's Deadly Venom from their bodies, dealing damage for each stack.
• Spray and Pray: Twitch closes his eyes and rapidly fires his crossbow, quickly spraying powerful poisoned bolts ahead of him.

(read more on LoL forum)