Teamfight Tactics Lore and Legends dev says it's the "deepest set" to date, and it's made even better by its system changes

Teamfight Tactics has had some incredible sets over the years. From Gizmo and Gadgets' Hungry Hungry Tahm Kench, to the magical musical that was Remix Rumble, Riot Games' autobattler has remained my go-to post-work decompression source for some time now. Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, and the studio has its fair share of misses. Despite initially adoring K.O. Coliseum (give 'em the chair!), it gradually soured as its balance became increasingly unstable.

Coming into TFT Set 16, Lore and Legends, I didn't want to make the same mistake and get overly excited too quickly. But what is already clear to me is that this is one of the best sets ever made. Between the myriad playstyles it facilitates, its intuitive unlock mechanic, and its surprising simplicity once you get a few games under your belt, I feel Riot has struck the right balance between complexity and depth. Yes, its initial mental stack tax is on the higher end, but once you memorize the paths to unsealing the units you want, it's plain sailing.

"I think one of the things that even took us a little while to realize is there's a distinction between complexity and depth," gameplay director Stephen 'Mortdog' Mortimer explains to me during the TFT Paris Open. "Some of our sets haven't been particularly deep, even if they're not that complex. And when you trade off the depth, the game's not as fun; you can only go so long. I think Lore and Legends was an attempt to not add too much complexity. Like, it's really just champs and items, and the unlock is just more champs, right? There's no overlaying system on top of it, like Power Up Fruits [Set 15's mechanic], but, even for newer players, we still have verticals like Demacia and Ionia that you can just play, or even Yordles are pretty easy to play.

"But depth was the big focus. If you want to go 500 games and really learn how to optimize and react, this was the set. This was the deep set. It is definitely the deepest set we've ever made. Is it the most complex? I actually don't think so. A lot of the things in the game you've experienced before, we used a lot of reprints, actually, to fill out the 100-champion roster. We brought back Tahm Kench and Sett and stuff like that. So our hope is that this actually shows everyone that difference between complexity and depth, and that depth is what we want. Depth is really good for a game, and complexity we should actually try to avoid as much as we can."

Set 16 also brings major system changes to TFT, increasing the gold cost to reach Level 8, upping the damage you take on Stage 3, and slightly lowering damage on Stage 4. For the first time in a long time, it feels like the mid-game, particularly Level 7, is worth engaging with. Speaking to lead set designer Julien Camaraza in a separate sitdown, I wanted to learn more about how Riot had worked to make the first half of a match more meaningful.

"We still want Level 8 to be the default playstyle," Camaraza tells me. "If you're training your friend how to play TFT: save your econ, get to Level 8, buy a couple four costs, you'll at least get top four. But something we're struggling with right now on the team is the game is 45 minutes: how many of those minutes are you playing the game? When are you doing things? Stage 2, you're saving econ so your hands are off the keyboard. In Stage 3, when player damage is low and you need a lot of money for XP, hands are off the keyboard. So that's, what? 15, 18, 20 minutes of the game where you're not really engaging with it; that's not a great deal for anybody.

"We took a lot of swings at that in Lore and Legends," Camaraza continues. "Bard's unlock condition is a very uncomfortable thing for players. When I first pitched this, people were like, 'I don't want to press the re-roll button,' but why not? If I give you enough gold later, surely we can make a deal here. And for player damage, [it's the] same thing. If we make stage three a little scarier, and if we make Level 7 a little more valuable, then you actually want to do things during that part in the game, and that's really compelling for us.

"Specifically on Level 7, we shouldn't have any dead options ever in the game," he says. "There shouldn't be an augment that no one ever clicks. There shouldn't be a champion no one ever clicks. So for an entire level - one-tenth of the total levels you can be in the game - to be seen as dead, I think it's unacceptable, frankly. So we really want to make sure every option in the game is, in some positions, a good choice. I'm not playing Sona re-roll 20/20, but if I had nine copies of Sona, I'm gonna put a Jeweled Gauntlet and a Spear of Shojin on her."

Of course, keeping a set's balance in check is the most important element when it comes to determining its success. Thankfully, we haven't had a Set 12 Syndra incident just yet (I realize I'm tempting the monkey's paw), and, generally, there are viable comps across cost brackets. From Tryndamere and Vayne reroll, to Yunara and the litany of Fast 9 variations, it's been a long time since I felt variation and flexibility were so prevalent. If things do go wrong, the balance team will inevitably get it in the neck, but it's important to remember just how complex TFT can be.

"TFT has two sides to balance," Mort says. "One is the sort of general fight pacing: are combats ending too quickly, or are they too slow? Things like that. [With] combat pacing right now, I think we got to a pretty good spot; combats are lasting about 15 to 25 seconds, give or take. There are these hype moments, and then that tension at the end where it's like, 'who's gonna win?' And that's good. So when we have that in a good spot, we try to avoid nerfs, because nerfs will lead combats to be longer because there's just less damage. And so right now what we're looking for is, since combat is in a good spot, first, let's fix anything that's becoming degenerate. We underestimated how much people would use Yordle to generate econ; we might have to nerf that [Riot did, in fact, nerf that]. So some systemic level nerfs. But otherwise, it's actually more about what isn't working and why.

"So, if nobody's playing Jinx, why not?" Mort continues. "What's going on? Is it just as simple as buffing her, or is there something else going on? If it is a buff, what's the type of buff? Is she not doing enough damage, or is it taking too long to cast? And you know, people will go for the obvious one, where it's like, 'oh, it's too long to cast,' but that's also her identity. Her identity is supposed to be, like, 'it takes me a while, and then, boom, I unleash.' So it's like, are we capturing that, making sure that lives up to that? I think a lot of our balance from here on out is going to be buffing the things that aren't working, and so trying to find more lines like that.

"Augments is another big one, right? Because eventually, when the set gets to a good spot, the next layers around it become the thing that you have an eye on. So it's like, 'oh, well, they just got the better augment than me, that's unfair.' So we've got to make sure those aren't making a lot of the decisions either. And that's the thing, we have, like, 400 pieces of content, so even one being off, right? Let's say there's just one augment that's too strong and people realize it. Every game that augment shows up, someone will be sour; we have to avoid that. So it really is just constantly keeping an eye on every piece of content."

It certainly sounds like the team is looking to give more carrot than stick to players going forward, major overperformers aside. Camaraza expands on this, professing that smaller, more incremental buffs are the way to go.

"I think overall, our balancing is pretty good," Camaraza muses. "Slight buffs tell players, 'hey, you haven't been investigating this enough, maybe go check it out.' When a champion gets five AD, it's not moving the needle on their win rate that much. But players are like,
'oh, now I can find the tech here,' and I think that's really important for us. And so we only need to nerf the mega overperformers who are getting too over-explored to encourage that diversity. Players want fresh metas, and so if your big streamers are investigating a champion a small number of players have played before, that just does great things for everybody. So I think it's really important for us to do small buffs that just create new metas each week."

With TFT Lore and Legends proving a hit, evidenced by the glowing reviews from everyone I spoke to about it during the Paris Open, the onus is now on Riot to ensure it maintains course, keeping its veritable trove of comps mostly viable for its remainder. With a refreshed approach on balance leading the way, I'm hopeful that, when we tick over into Set 17, this one will go down as a certified all-timer.