League of Legends dev announces new champions, major character overhauls coming soon

Alan Bernal

Riot Games are going to be incredibly busy in 2019 as they revealed what League of Legends champions are getting complete face lifts while they work on a new AD assassin to debut on the Rift.

The League of Legends devs typically keep their roster of over 140 characters fresh by using key balance changes or visual and gameplay updates (VGU). Now it seems like a few popular champions are going to go under the lens for some much needed revisions.

In the April 23 Champion Roadmap, Lead Producer of Champions Ryan ‘Reave3’ Mireles laid out the gameplan for the rest of the year’s plans which will lean more heavily to VGUs but still delivering fresh faces to the game.

New Champions entering to the Rift

In the previous Roadmap, the team at Riot laced their dev diary video with an abundance of clues and teasers for the next champion in line. While the last time the team was hinting at a enchanter support, the League of Legends developers are preparing to unleash a solo AD laner.

“This new champion will be a solo lane AD assassin,” Reav3 said. “It’s been a while, I know. There are very few of these types of champions in the game and we know a lot of you love playing them.”

The champion will also bring the introduction of a new faction of Runeterra to further expand the League of Legends lore.

In a brief excerpt, Reav3 also gave the prelimanry tease for a “non-traditional marksman” coming in late 2019 which included a wave of energy going across wall with runes marked on it.

More information on the marksman will be coming in future updates.

The brief teaser of the champion included a singe projectile going across a wall filled with hidden markings.

VGUs announced for League of Legends

As for the VGU updates, Mordekaiser is still on track to get a complete overhaul. The Iron Revenant will not only be getting updates to his visuals but the Riot team has also “updated or replaced every ability on his kit.”

The team still plans on having him be an “AP juggernaut” but this time will he’ll be equipped with a devastating ultimate “that would make his enemies truly fear and respect Morde,” according to Reav3.

The new Mordekaiser is going to put the hammer down with a powerful new ultimate.

As for the next champion in line for a VGU, Pantheon will be getting a makeover after the Mordekaiser changes roll through.

The devs are planning on modernizing his kit, instead of applying massive changes like Morde will be getting.

Though not much information was given, the devs teased a new mechanic might be introduced to Pantheon “by making Pantheon’s shield feel more integrated into his kit.”

Needless to say, there’s going to be new faces on the Rift whether through a champion release or VGU designs as League of Legends fans eagerly await to see where the game is headed.

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