Tsujoi wrote...
I wonder if routes like this will catch on or if it will be too susceptible to invades/steals.
I think it'll take some time to see if early level 1 invades will occur more frequently because I suspect Riot to tone down the jungle just slightly, but in its current state, failing an invade will be catastrophic.
That's what I find incredibly interesting about this season though. You aren't HEAVILY required to take EXP from buffs in order to really level, this opens up more flexible patterns, but so far, it's just turned into a gimmick for me. The reason is entirely because of Ranger's Trailblazer.
Trailblazer gives clear-time out the butthole. In fact, I've jungled Alistar, Taric, and Shen, surprisingly, Taric can work very well given how smite works now.
With Shyvana I'm able to hit level 4, and give away my first blue buff all while staying on par with levels and most of the time, staying ahead.
Trailblazer HEAVILY outweighs its usefulness vs the other machetes because of the fact it's on a reduced CD AND it has AOE+Stun. I've been playing Shyvana and Elise almost all day today, and Trailblazer lets me just clear almost instantly while staying ahead of almost all lanes in levels. To top it off, I've been "stealing" smite buffs at the enemy side of the map, most particularly, Razorbeaks + Murkwolves. This allows me to deny vision and to keep an eye on their side of the map.
This item is most DEFINITELY getting nerfed.
Of course, I've been looking at Reddit to see if anything interesting popped up and apparently Nightblu3 posted an excel spread, to sum up the entire excel sheet.
TL;DR, Ranger's Trailblazer.