Riot developer proposes big ability changes for jungler Ivern

Big changes for Ivern may be on their way following a few rough years of performance for the lanky nature lover.

Ivern arrived in October 2016 and ever since then Riot Games has struggled to balance the Green Father. He currently has one of the lowest play rates among all champions and doesn’t excel in any assigned role. Game designer at Riot Games Blake Smith took to Twitter to propose a series of changes that would drastically alter Ivern’s kit.

Starting out the list changes is an alteration to Ivern’s auto attacks. Ivern would now permanently be a ranged champion instead of his current pattern of alternating between ranged and melee.

Ivern’s W “Brushmaker” must be tweaked as well, since his attacks would now be ranged. Smith suggests that Brushmaker’s current passive be removed and replaced with one that grants allies bonus damage that originally was restricted only to Ivern.

The last change is a big one. Ivern’s ultimate ability “Daisy!” would no longer be a controllable pet like Annie’s bear Tibbers. Daisy would instead be summoned to a set location and would fight in that area for the entire duration. She would prioritize the nearest champion similar to Overwatch’s B.O.B. However, Daisy can still leap to a new target and receive a shield when Ivern lands his Q “Rootcaller.”

The League of Legends community is split on Smith’s proposed changes. Some feel as though the removal of Ivern’s ability to swap between melee and ranged will remove a part of the unique experience of playing the champion. More are concerned about the changes to Daisy. Some feel as though the inability to directly control the ultimate would just make it a weaker version of Heimerdinger’s upgraded turret.

Smith has acknowledged the community’s concerns, but has decided to continue pursuing this new design for Daisy.

“The high level thing I want is ‘Ivern no longer directly controls Daisy’...I really like Ivern influencing rather than directly controlling,” Smith said.

Smith has said that none of these proposed changes are guaranteed, but players should expect them to arrive this preseason if they manage to ship.