At a first glance, Illaoi seems like a nightmare to code. And, with all those tentacles, it seems she really is. Still, it's nothing that can't be fixed eventually.
Looking at Illaoi from any other lane, other than top lane, she seems like an unstoppable juggernaut. After all, that's what we see, once she has an item or two under her belt.
Top laners know her as an annoying champion to play against, but one that is abusable, if you know what you're doing. What most players, aside from Illaoi mains don't know about this champion, is how frustrating it is to play as well, due to all the bugs found in its kit, and especially the core, tentacle, mechanic.
Riot Games
With Patch 12.6 Riot hope to fix most of that:
- When Illaoi attacks a Vessel while empowered by W - Harsh Lesson, nearby inactive Tentacles will now slam her target as soon as they become active with no delay,
- Spell queueing has been added to W - Harsh Lesson and R - Leap of Faith, so you can now buffer other spells while casting them,
- W - Harsh Lesson's visual indicators have been fixed and will show the correct range of her empowered basic attacks,
- Tentacles can no longer spawn on either team's base gates on Summoner's Rift,
- Vessels no longer contribute to Illaoi's creep score when they expire or are destroyed,
- Q - Tentacle Smash and E - Test of Spirit will now be visible to nearby enemy champions when cast from Fog of War.
Hopefully, this will mean that more players will pick up this, almost forgotten, champion. And, though she may be OP in certain situations, creating balance on the back of bugs is never a good thing.
