Riot Games tease new top laner K’Sante and updates for Neeko and Syndra in LoL Pls video

On August 12, Riot Games announced that they would be “freshening up” Neeko, Syndra, and Aurelion Sol with small-scale reworks. They also released teasers for two new champions, one of whom will be a Shuriman top laner named K’Sante, and the other of whom will be a Darkin Assassin.

Riot Games have released their first look at the upcoming slate of changes coming to League of Legends- which include updates to the jungle role and items, and a whole host of new and updated champions. In a dev video, released on August 12, lead champion producer Ryan ‘Reav3’ Mireles broke down some of the prospective new champions and champion changes that we’ll see coming to the game.

Off the bat, he discussed a few potential ‘mid-scale updates’ for champions in League who deserve a little more love. These updates won’t rework the core identity of the champion, but are designed to bring them more in line with modern ability loadouts in League of Legends.

He also revealed the identity of League’s newest champion: K’Sante, the pride of Nezumah. The champion will be a Shuriman top lane tank, from a “part of Shurima we haven’t explored yet”, the city of Nezumah.

There was also a teaser for a new Darkin champion, whose weapon will be a dagger of some kind.

Mid-scale updates for Neeko, Syndra, and Aurelion Sol

Reav3 also went into the mid-scale updates for champions, describing them as “freshening up champions that aren’t living up to their expectations” and “strengthening their fantasy even more, rather than reinventing it”. He cited Swain and Ahri’s small-scale reworks as two examples of where this had been carried out successfully.

Although plans for reworks are not yet set in stone, Reav3 confirmed that two champions who were being looked at as potential recipients were Neeko and Syndra.

The video also included a small-scale update to Aurelion Sol, designed to make him feel more ‘dragon-like’ and get rid of some of the more cumbersome aspects of his kit. The update will not change his core visuals or lore at all, but will enhance his dragon theme with a new fire-breathing Q.

He was also now use his Q while channeling his new W, which allows him to fly over terrain in a straight line.

K’Sante, the Pride of Nezumah

Lore fans rejoice – not only are we getting a new champion in League of Legends, but they’re coming from a previously unexplored area of Runeterra.

During the LoL Pls announcement, Reav3 confirmed that League’s next champion would be a top lane tank named K’Sante. Nezumah is a city on the outskirts of Shurima that has not fallen under Azir’s rule, and one that is plagued by huge monsters who seek to take over the oasis at the heart of the city.

K’Sante is a hunter, who “lead’s Nezumah’s warriors against those same monsters, using the rare resources they gain to build their infrastructure and weapons”. He fought and killed one of the rarest beasts in the Shuriman desert, and now uses its regenerating hide as part of his weapon, known as an Ntofos, which helps him regenerate.

The Ntofos is a multi-part weapon, which begins as a “huge, blunt weapon” but can be shattered and turned into blades when needed.

A new Darkin

K’Sante wasn’t the only new champion teased during the broadcast. Reav3 confirmed that there would also be a brand new Darkin coming to the League of Legends roster.

In League’s lore, the Darkin are a race of ascended God-Warriors whose souls were trapped within their own weapons in order to end their brutality during the Darkin War.

The new Darkin will be an assassin. All three current Darkin characters in League have a unique weapon inside which their Darkin essence is trapped – Kayn with his scythe, Aatrox with his sword, and Varus with his bow.

Reav3 confirmed that the weapon for this specific Darkin would be a dagger, but did not confirm “who, or what” would be wielding the weapon.