Riot Games released their new Dominion mode for League of Legends yesterday. For now the mode is available to play during off-peak hours only. It’s a sort of public beta testing for them and so far it’s looking extremely good.
World of Warcraft players will at once match the game style with their battlegrounds such as Arathi Basin. The map is circular with a total of five capture points. Once a team captures a point, their creeps start spawning from behind and start marching in both directions (clockwise and anti-clockwise). Your Nexus starts with 500 health and capturing control points depletes the enemy’s Nexus health. The objective is simple, capture and control as many points as possible until the health of the enemy’s Nexus reaches zero.
Health and speed boosts spawn at certain points on the map and act as bonus stats for a small period of time. At the center of the map spawns a crystal for each team that gives one player a mighty buff.
The action and gameplay is very fast and intense. One session on an average takes between 10-15 minutes to complete. That’s peanuts when you compare that to the 40+ minute sessions you have to go through in the classic mode (normal map). This can be an attraction or repulsion to players depending on how you look at it.
The main objective of Riot Games was to introduce a mode which would appeal to the masses. Not everyone has invested good amounts of playtime in the game. New players would find League of Legends (or any other MOBA game) difficult to understand. It takes time mastering each champion and understanding what items to make in different situations. Dominion takes all of that away, just select a champion and jump right into it.
The rate of gold earned and leveling-up is very quick. You don’t have to bother yourself with farming anymore, it’s all about mobility. How quickly and cunningly you can capture the enemy’s point, that’s what matters.
Visually, Riot Games have out done themselves with Dominion. Just the spawning point reflects upon the amount of work their team has put in. The first time when anyone in Dominion will start capturing a point, the first words out of them will be Damn (and I mean that in a good way). That’s true for everyone I’ve played with so far. Each champion has a different animation when capturing a point. Karthus channels energy through his wand while Gankplank thrusts out his sword. It looks so bad-ass that capturing a point actually feels like an achievement.
It’s a no brainer that Dominion will quickly rise as a favorite mode in the competitive ladder. A 15 minute quick game to determine a winner, what tournament manager doesn’t like that? Replayability value is great and I’m looking forward to it once it’s officially released.
However, some balance issues do come up. Not every champion is a feasible option in Dominion. As Karthus and Teemo I found myself useless. In normal games you can always run back for cover since these kinds of champions are not bruisers and can be killed easily. In Dominion I always found myself caught between fights and flashing out would only mean meeting an enemy champion coming from the behind. I wonder how Riot will address these issues but for now, just pick a hybrid Tank-Dps and you’re all set. Popular choices so far are Lee Sin, Garen, Rammus and the like.
