u/takoyakuza

Hello! I wasn't sure if this type of post was allowed but I figured feedback should be posted somewhere to be seen.

Me and my friends (group of 3 for context) have been loving the game so far. We are excited exploring the beautifully crafted and detailed world and the souls like combat. We are excited to play the game with a new set of eyes in October as well.

There are a couple of things that have really been making the multiplayer experience a bit of a slog which feel like carry-overs from the single player experience.

The town experience "wait your turn"

*only one person per vendor means it takes forever to do anything, especially with most functions being around Eleonora.

* one person per storage. Same issue, it takes forever having to wait your turn to do anything

* no junk feature makes both of the above even worse. I cannot mark things as junk and sell or transfer them between inventories.

* the town is beautiful but I wish there were more whispers to travel through it more efficiently. I see that it is going for immersion but man it takes a while to get anywhere

The combat experience

* I think that in terms of fairness and immersion friendly fire makes sense (enemies have it too) but in a game as punishing as this it's kind of an additional layer of difficulty that isn't necessarily more fun or rewarding

* you're already cc'd by hitting each other and it is very easy to cancel each other's abilities. Is it really necessary that we also hurt each other? I think most games will choose one or the other but both feels very awkward to play around

* this makes it very awkward for two melee players to be around each other when enemies are swarming or if there is a single boss. We are constantly trying to not hit each other, which can sometimes be a meaningful experience but it's just way too easy to get in each other's way

* this leads to us focusing on more ranged weapons so we can try to avoid hitting each other, but there are still a lot of big aoe abilities and cool spells that just make the entire battlefield chaotic to look at and hard to tell what is going on

* this also means that I'm order to not constantly knock each other down, we have to avoid using a lot of the cool stuff so we aren't just killing each other. Which kind of takes away from the joy of the game

I think if the game was supposed to be hard core survival this would be a little more warranted, but I think the way the system is currently doesn't exactly make it fun to try out all the weapons and skills and make your favorite build. Maybe the intention is for you to have different build for solo and multi player? Right now the multiplayer experience feels very in the way of actually playing the game. I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way as we are really enjoying the game otherwise.

TL:DR: Shadowflame is one of Zoe's most popular items that is losing you games. Please do not buy this item until your 3rd purchase.

Shadowflame is the only popular Zoe item with a negative win rate when purchased 2nd. That means that if you are buying this second, you are decreasing your chances of winning the game, period.

Statistics - it's all red

- The most popular second item for Diamond and below players.

- The worst performing (of commonly built) second items in all elos.

- Is 5~7% lower WR than popular alternatives (actually insane)

- Is the only popular item with a win rate lower than Zoe's average (thank you for helping us dodge nerfs)

- if you want to look yourself go on lolalytics

Most people justify their purchase with "I play Zoe for the one shot". This item does less than both Stormsurge and Lichbane for that purpose. This is the worst item for EQR AUTO combo. It only does anything if you don't auto and are forced to ignite for the electrocute proc.

The item - paying more for less

- 400 gold more expensive than Stormsurge alternative

- the gold difference means you can buy an Amp Tome and they will both give you 110AP

- same 15 mpen but no 6% move speed as Stormsurge

- 20% damage @ under 40% HP is useless in mid game on a champion with no execute

- Zoe is front loaded so 80% of her one shot damage is unaffected by Shadowflame

- Will contribute half of the damage of a Stormsurge proc unless you use ignite.

- If you hit E Q on a target under 40% HP they're dead with or without the passive. (Unless they're a tank which is not why you're building the item in the first place)

Buy it third - if they're squishy

- positive WR (congrats you can read)

- people will have more HP and base resistances so you can get more value from the passive

- it can be useful for finishing targets in team fights with just Q or something

- it can be useful if you want to spike a game winning fight and can't afford Deathcap

If you want a pure burst build please build Lichbane or Stormsurge. They're not only cheaper but also do more damage than Shadowflame. They also provide 6% movement speed which is also a very desirable stat for roaming and increasing q damage.