The Riot Games Team is Reworking Mel 1 Year After Her Release

Riot Games released Mel into League of Legends after the success of Arcane. She joined her mother, Ambessa, in the MOBA. Since her release, players have found frustration in her design. Her ban rate is amongst the highest in League of Legends. Nerfs to the character have not changed the community’s thoughts on Mel. Now, Riot is taking a bigger swing, giving Mel a rework to lessen players’ frustrations.

Mel’s Rework Hopes to Curtail Frustration

Riot Emizery posted the rework changes coming to Mel in Patch 26.3 later this year. The changes are as follows:

Base Stats

• Attack Speed Ratio
  • 0.4 >>> 0.625

Overwhelm – Passive

• Overwhelm Projectile Damage
  • 8-50 + 5% AP – 8-25 + 3% AP
• Total per Cast
  • 24-150 + 15% AP – 24-75 + 9% AP
• Reduced visual clutter by no longer displaying passive mark on non-champions for enemies
• Fixed certain champion-spawned units dying to Overwhelm from an unempowered basic attack

Radiant Volley – Q

• Stronger area telegraph visual
• Cast Time
  • 0.25s – 0.4s
• Projectile Speed
  • 4500 – 3800
• Explosion Radius
  • 230 – 200
• Area Spread
  • 30 – 25
• Damage type is now DoT AoE (reduced effectiveness in resetting Arcane Comet.
• Channel Time
  • 0.75s – 0.5s
• Mana Cost
  • 70/80/90/100/110 – 70/75/80/85/90
• Minion Damage
  • 75% – 100%
• Now deals additional damage the first time an explosion hits; subsequent hits reduce damage.
• Initial Hit
  • 55/80/105/130/155 + 50% AP
• Subsequent Hits
  • 5/6/7/8/9 + 5% AP
• Total Damage
  • 85/122/161/202/245 + 75-95% AP

Rebuttal – W

• No longer provides damage immunity.
• Now provides 80/110/140/170/200 + 60% AP Shields.
• Physical damage reflected is reduced by 30% before magic damage conversion.
• Now destroys projectiles that target each unit in an area instead of reflecting them when those projectiles aren’t targeting Mel.
  • Affected abilities
    • Ryze E
    • Brand E
    • Katarina R
    • Samira R
    • Yunara Q
• Decaying Move Speed
  • 30% – 40
  • Decaying Move Speed now lasts 1.5s (up from 0.75s)

Solar Snare – E

• Root Missile Radius
  • 80 – 70
• End of Travel Linger Duration
  • 0.5s – 0.25s
• DoT Radius
  • 260 – 230
• Cast Range
  • 1050 – 1000
• Projectile Speed
  • 1000 – 1100
• Root Duration
  • 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5s- 1.5s
• Damage
  • 60/100/140/180/220 – 60/105/150/195/240
• DoT Damage Per Second
  • 16/26/36/46/56 – 16/28/40/52/64
• No longer visually pops at the end when descending terrain

Community Reaction

The announcement of the Mel rework has created a divide in the League of Legends community. For the most part, players are happy to see significant changes to her. They have been frustrated with playing against Mel for a while. Many noted that her W (Rebuttal) provides her with too much value. Other pain points are that dodging her Q (Radiant Volley) and E (Solar Snare) feel nearly impossible. A skilled Mel player will make most champions’ lives hell, according to the community.

On the other hand, many have noted that the rework destroys the character design. While some have acknowledged that Mel is frustrating to play against, they are unhappy with the rework. One of the most appealing parts of a champion is their identity. Most League of Legends players resonate with a champion’s identity more than anything else. The gameplay often fits into that identity. They feel the changes to Mel ruin her identity. Dumbs, a content creator and owner of Deer Gaming, noted on X: “I mean I hate Mel as much as anyone else but this pretty removes the characters whole identity?”

How Will the Rework Impact Mel?

To some extent, the rework makes her a less frustrating champion to play against. Her spells should be easier to dodge, and her W is less punishing to specific champions. The matchups where she would dominate remain the same. Ahri, for example, will still struggle, given she can never use Charm aggressively. Mel becomes more susceptible to dive-oriented champions. The shield might help her survive some engagements, but not nearly as well as it did previously.

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