Image: MOONTON Games
Suyou has shaken up the MLBB metagame since his release, and that has been by design from the developers.
As Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) continues to maintain its position as the world's top mobile esports title, developer MOONTON Games have constantly been pushing the absolute limits of hero design on the platform. Not only does this keep the game's millions of players hooked, but it also serves to evolve the metagame for MLBB's thriving esports scene.
MOONTON's efforts have been most apparent in Suyou, the game's 126th hero that was released back in September 21. Suyou has one of the most unique kits in the entire MLBB roster, with his abilities having different effects depending on whether the player taps or holds his ability buttons.
In an exclusive interview with GosuGamers, Eric Zhou, the character designer for Suyou, said they designed the hero's abilities to have different tap/hold effects from the outset to distinguish him from most other characters within the MOBA genre.
“We wanted to create a hero with a core gameplay and operational experience that is completely different from traditional MOBA heroes. We aimed to make this hero as simple as possible while maintaining its unique gameplay, allowing most players to pick it up easily. Therefore, in designing each skill, we tried to simplify them as much as possible,” said Zhou.
To the developers' credit, Suyou has been a smash-hit since he released in both casual and professional play – even if his skillset is more complicated to most other MLBB heroes. New heroes in any MOBA are often released in an overpowered state, with developers making the necessary nerfs and adjustments later on, after they've gathered enough data from players trying out the new hero.
But that wasn't the case for Suyou. He's very strong, of course, but that's balanced by the high skill floor required to play him effectively. He's not a definite auto-ban in pubs at most ranks, but can absolutely take over any game in the hands of a skilled player. This has also applied to the pro scene, where he has been a staple pick in the Jungler role since his release.
You can get a sense if a hero is overpowered or not if pro teams are always banning them in games, but Suyou has seen plenty of action as a priority Jungle pick across the MLBB Professional Leagues. And that's good news for fans of the hero or pro players who specialise in him, as we're very likely to see plenty of top-level Suyou gameplay in the upcoming M6 World Championship.
Zhou said the developers made a concerted effort to shift MLBB's metagame to give Assassin-type Jungler heroes a brighter spotlight to facilitate Suyou's release. Even so, this also had the added effect of pushing other Assassin Junglers up the ladder, shaking up the MLBB metagame just in time for its world championship tournament.
“Suyou's playstyle is certainly very suitable for the current Assassin Jungler environment. Gradually adjusting to this meta was one way we set the hero up for success for his launch. But we shifted to this current meta also as part of our continued efforts to offer casual and hardcore players alike immersive and dynamic gameplay,” added Zhou.
With the success of MLBB's latest hero, Zhou and the other developers at MOONTON said they will continue with the design philosophy they used for Suyou – one that aims to encourage more evolution in the metagame for both casual and pro play.
They've already applied this to Project Next, an ongoing campaign to improve on older MLBB heroes that have been overlooked in the meta. MOONTON is already working on introducing the new adaptive attribute to bring more diversity to hero equipment builds, and more fluid and flexible gameplay.
But on the subject of whether we'll see more complicated heroes like Suyou joining MLBB's roster, Zhou said the developers' decisions may be influenced by Suyou's popularity over time. If more players prefer playing complex heroes, then they'll get more. But, of course, the developers won't forget those who would rather stick to the more simple ones.
Zhou said the biggest factor that will influence hero design will be what makes MLBB more of “an interesting game” for as many players as possible.
“If most players prefer simpler heroes to complex ones, we'll certainly cater to that preference. Of course, ultimately we will control the ratio of simple to complex heroes in MLBB to ensure sufficient diversity, making it worthy of being called an interesting game,” added Zhou.
