New skin for Kha'Zix
FINALLY!!!
The original is still the best by far, but I like this one.
New skin for Kha'Zix
FINALLY!!!
The original is still the best by far, but I like this one.
@.access:
FINALLY!!!
The original is still the best by far, but I like this one.
you apparently don't own the mecha one.
Ascension ward in game:
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New splash art for Orianna:
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Loading screen:
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EDIT 1:
Galactic Renekton got a fresh new texture update (9/2)
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EDIT 2: New videos for the wards and a new picture for Orianna.
New splash art for Renekton:
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Loading screen:
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Champion portrait:
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I really hope for a new splash art for Cassio.
Azir login screen:
Cassiopeia had her lore updated:
"Cassiopeia is a terrifying creature - half woman, half snake - whose slightest glance brings death. The youngest daughter of one of Noxus' most influential families, she was once a beautiful and cunning temptress capable of manipulating the hardest heart. Transformed by the venom of an ancient Shuriman tomb guardian, she continues to serve Noxian interests as she always has, just in a more… visceral way."
I didn´t liked..."venom of a ancient shuriman tomb guardian" ? wtf ?
Cassiopeia new selection quote:
http://l3cdn.riotgames.com/releases/pbe/projects/lol_air_client/releases/0.0.2.184/files/assets/sounds/en_US/champions/Cassiopeia.mp3
Changes
Azir
Nocturne
EDIT 1°:
Ascension art:
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EDIT 2°:
Zilean´s ultimate now causes it's target's screen to slightly brighten up while his ultimate is active on them.
Headhunter Caitlyn is now available for 975 RP.
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–- Update From New Post Merge ---
3 new splash arts and a new Load screen.
Galactic Azir:
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Load screen:
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Guardian of the Sands Kha'zix:
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Load screen:
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Cassiopeia:
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Load screen and Champion portrait:[hide][/hide]
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Ascension load screen:
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Changes:
Cassiopeia
Good and "bad" news.
"Bad": The lore of LoL will suffer a reboot.
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And here is the site with the full text.
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/creative-spotlight/dev-blog-exploring-runeterra
Good: "New" images for the places of Runeterra.
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you'd think they were making a MMORPG
The bad part of the Institute of war is that it prevented the development of the story. How to justify the entry of Gnar for the league?
Well, now they will have to change the story of Jax and Fiddles.
I just hope they don't half-ass it
I'd like if they made the reboot "in canon" as "the institute got overrun by the bad guys", "noxus and demacia got new weapons that made the institute obsolete" or "Zilean went back and prevented the institute forming in the first place"
It´s Riot, I really doubt they will make stupid decisions.
I mean, there are still people butthurt about the change on the Trundle lore…¬¬
Riot said they will separate the story with the game, it´s not the best decision, but is not the worst. I love the lore of LoL, but I always had the impression that the stories didn´t have a end.
Like the Freljord event, everyone choosed one tribe to represent. and ? Nothing.
But they need not to end, it's like the setup of a fighting game, the characters must be in conflict, and have a reason to fight, then they fight. I liked the aspect of the political bloodsport rather than the ever repeating final battle between good and evil of Dota.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
It's been so long that I barely care right now.
Fighting games and lore, a bad combo if you ask me.
Now we have 122 characters in 6 year, we DO have conflicts in the current lore, but without the conclusion.
They said they wont mix the game with the lore. I think it´s wise, you can´t update the story if you have to justify why every character have to join the league to fight for a country.
For me, they have awesome ideas for stories but they don´t know how to evolve it.
[h=2]Shurima Crest Login:[/h]
Shurima storyline.
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And a text made by Riot Runaan about the lore changes.
[hide] "Hey guys,
Long time no see. :) First and foremost, I apologize for my own silence on the forums – we definitely owe you guys more interaction than we've given you, and we know we've messed up on that front. We'll try to do better.
Now, let's dig into this a bit.
Let's start with some of the old canon – something I contributed heavily to. I wrote, more or less, the latter half of the Journal of Justice (Kaldera Carnadine, here), and the presence of the Institute of War was something we wrangled with in telling that story over its entire course. In fact, the whole “conspiracy” angle arose entirely because we were digging for a way for our characters to encounter legitimate political conflict and war – without the IoW being able to step in and immediately diffuse it. What that led to, as you know, was “corruption” within the Institute itself, and champions working covertly together to counter the IoW's influence. It was a cool story (if told through a particularly clumsy medium) – but it wasn't exactly something we could pull again. With the Institute of War in place, we often found ourselves asking: just how can we work around this so the story we want to tell can take place?
Right there – exactly there – is where I see this idea come up. Why didn't we just continue the story line as it was unfolding, and why not let the Institute of War crumble? Why not “end” the League of Legends?
There are a lot of answers to this – answers we considered. One of them is actually an argument I see cropping up right now in favor of keeping the Institute: that it would destroy the framework of the video game League of Legends. Without the League, what is the game? The answer is really, really messy, but it's more or less the same place you get when you remove the LoL story from the game entirely. They become separate entities. We're actually okay with this, but we didn't want to leave a strange lingering tie that muddied the clarity there. The game is the game. LoL's story is its story.
Another part of the answer is that ending the League wouldn't fully remove our ties to it in terms of storytelling – characters will have still interacted with it in the past, the “fall” of the League would still be significant enough to deeply influence all of our champions' lives, and “summoners” would still be a dangling, confusing story piece we'd have to deal with somehow.
Now, I understand that a lot of this is ENTIRELY subjective. A lot of you will say, “that sounds like a cool story!” and you know what, it probably could be. But when we really thought about it and weighed the things we valued about our storytelling, we really came down to the characters being the most important piece. Focusing on them and asking ourselves the question, “what's the best story this champion could have?” often resulted in us acknowledging that the IoW actually played a very awkward and restricting role in our character's lives.
We believe in a philosophy in which story should spring from the characters naturally, not from a very arbitrary plot built around them. Character drives plot.
Secondly, while it hasn't been brought up in this thread directly, I want to talk about the “League of Legends” as a device in our narrative design. As we used to frame it, the player is literally a “summoner” controlling a champion on the Fields of Justice. I've read a lot of concerns that taking away this framework harms the game; it takes away the reason these characters have to fight.
This is going to get into pretty subjective territory again, but I have to say that I deeply do not believe that the League, summoners, and the Fields of Justice were ever a strong framing device if we're speaking strictly in terms of narrative game design. When I play League of Legends, I am not concerned with myself as a summoner – I connect more to the champion him or herself. I am not concerned with the “stakes” of every battle (such as whether or not taxes will be raised in a certain place, or political favor of a certain noble house in Noxus) – none of these things are built into the actual experience, they're more or less described OUTSIDE OF THE GAME entirely. This makes it a weak frame. Sure, we could have worked to strengthen it, but we didn't feel excited by the possibilities there.
“But Ionia vs. Noxus” - yeah, that event was awesome. I wasn't even working at Riot at the time, but it certainly perked my interest. The thing is, though, this wasn't something that was going to work over and over again. The idea that players could influence the story was pretty misleading – at any “story match,” only ten players would legitimately get to fulfill the role of a summoner. In addition, story by vote or story by chance can often end with unsatisfying results (simply because of the random chance). Strong storytelling is deeply crafted.
“But a certain character's entire story focused on his or her connection to the Institute of War!” Yeah, I know these things are sticky; we wrestle with them internally, too. Our philosophy with these characters is that whatever we do to re-shape them should hold very tightly to the “soul” of what a character was in the old canon. Nobody should feel like an entirely new character – their spirit, the “feeling” you get from them, those things should feel true, even if details shift in how they came to be that person.
Orianna and her father, for example – they can still be who you know them to be. She can still be a girl with hopes and dreams that met a tragic end. Her father can still be a man driven to questionable means to bring her back and let her live those dreams. THOSE are story beats that are important to Orianna. The Institute of War is merely a detail, it doesn't define her.
AGAIN: a lot of these are philosophies myself and the narrative department hold, not necessarily things that apply to every player. Many DID believe that the frame story was satisfying, regardless of its objective strength. To those people, I'm sorry, our actions were absolutely not meant to “step on you” in any way – we are truly looking for the best way to tell you guys awesome stories, and we stand behind our decisions.
FINALLY, I know that “proof” of this new story direction has been slow coming. Before I worked in the industry, I would be upset, too – but these things take time. I know it's frustrating to ask for patience over and over again, but please stick with us! Thank you all for being so invested and taking the time to interact with us about this stuff. <3
-RiotRunaan!" [/hide]
the lore doesn't seem too bad to me so far
Last champion judgment (not counting Varus's as his was made by the penny arcade dudes) was Graves, almost 3 years ago, october 2011. Most lore since then have been either the big changes that couldn't just be sweeped away (Howling Abys, New Twisted Treeline, New Dominion) or "now just shut up and go on" (the last issue of the JoJ with the release of Darius)
My issue, that infurates me to no end is not the retcon, I have issues with it, but the lack of "Something" to support the void left behind. They were going on and on that what they needed was "the right medium" and did excelent things like the Vi song and Jynx music video, in game interactions, the shopkeepers of Howling Abys, or characters with even more personality, but then come this start over, and they do it with an annoucement… text anouncement, the medium that they explicitely said that were trying to phase out.
Yeah, I read that and I'm convinced that the world could be built better and more tighly without the institute of war, but if you are going to erasa that from history, then have the new stuff ready to substitute it! What is the status of the world now? Why this arena is called "summoner's rift"? The magic wars didn't happen or weren't as crazy destructive as before?
Did this leak? This patch with the Sand Emperor stuff don't seem like the right moment, only Skarner has some connections to the league itself.
It is almost sure that they will justify the "destruction" of the institute of war. These texts are only one way to explain that there will be a retcon and why.
Because without the "middle", the story will sound disjointed.
And what leaked ? The images ? They were posted on the official LoL page on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/leagueoflegends/photos/pcb.10154704931060556/10154704929720556/?type=1&theater
I like Xerath original lore with his judgement. Makes the character less like a Disney villain and more like someone who wanted to see true power and venture off the beaten path.
How about some Viktor love ?
New splash art:
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Passive
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Viktor starts with a Prototype Hex Core that he can upgrade 3 times for 1000 gold each. Each upgrade grants +25 AP, +150 Mana and +1 AP per level, cumulating in +75AP, +6 AP per level, +500 Mana for the Perfect Hex Core. Each upgrade will allow Viktor to augment one of his basic abilities and when Viktor has upgraded all 3, the Chaos Storm will be augmented also.
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Q
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W
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E
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R
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TU for Viktor:
Basic skin:
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Prototype Viktor
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Full Machine Viktor
[hide][/hide] Bananas:
Soraka rework is going to PBE tomorrow (9/10)
A video with the new abilitys
Base stat changes
Xerath: [hide]Following the "Fall of the Empire" images posted on the LoL Facebook earlier today, Riot Ruaan jumped on the forumsto talk a bit about what these mean for Xerath's lore and the upcoming Shurima storyline: "Hey, look! Stuff I wrote! :O Blast from the past. Xerath was actually the first character I wrote for entirely (Talon's judgment was my first), so this is a fun flashback. :)
So, no spoilers, but look at it this way: the Shurima event is largely going to be Azir's story, from Azir's point of view. Events will be colored in a way that may paint Xerath as the "villain" in this scenario, but that doesn't necessarily tell you the whole side of his story.
Imagine what the mages who imprisoned Xerath in his original lore thought of him: a guy who more or less betrayed his people, nuked their civilization, all for what? For power? They didn't have all the information that you guys have from his Judgment, for example. To them, he was also a very clear-cut "villain."
We always wanted Xerath to have a sympathetic backstory, even if he does cross a moral event horizon at some point. Remember when you hated Severus Snape for most of the Harry Potter series, only to have "his side" revealed much, much later, and how game-changing that was? Keep in mind that a story isn't always told with 100% of the information front loaded. Just because it's not immediately there, spelled out, doesn't mean it doesn't exist within the character, or we've forgotten about it.
She continued: "Quote: Out of curiosity: Why?
Wouldn't it make sense for the lore to be presented in an objective fashion that lets us make our own judgements rather than letting one of the characters paint another as evil when they may not be? Aren't those who don't read deeply into the lore going to approach Xerath as a pure villain?
I think the Snape example still applies - sometimes it's worth it to save character details for later down the story, where the reveal might hold more meaning. Snape was pretty much a bad guy for most of Harry Potter (as it was from Harry's PoV). Don Draper may seem like an excessively misogynistic jerk through a lot of Mad Men, but revealing details about his upbringing sheds light on why this is a part of him - something that's not done until much, much later in the series.
What you seem to be asking for is all the details on every character up front. That isn't a story… it's an encyclopedia entry."
and "Err, stories are never really ABOUT facts, stories are stories - again, it seems like you're asking for super objective stuff when stories are subjective things. Also, it would feel clumsy (and again, more like an encyclopedia) to have a "list of points of view" - the story should imply that for itself. In this case, I'm speaking ahead of the story that's going to unfold for you guys. Hopefully it comes across that the story is primarily about Azir, thus colored by who he is as a character."
As for if we'll see more than Azir's side of things with the upcoming story, Runaan noted: "Quote: But, I ask again, are we going to get more than Azir's side of the story by the end of the event?
That would be spoilers. Geeze, you guys.
I posted in this thread because you won't see Xerath's side, in the very least, but I wanted to reassure you that we still remember the original depth to his character and wanted you to know that it's not lost. It's just that this particular story will focus on other angles to the events of Shurima."
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Good news everyone - Server maintenance for our next patch, Patch 4.16, has been scheduled!
On September 10th at 3:00 AM PDT for NA, 5:00 GMT for EUW and 04:00 GMT for EUNE, servers will go down for maintenance and the 4.16 patch will be applied.
With this patch, we will get:
-Azir
-Ascension
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
PBE news:
A new skin for Karma:
Order of the Lotus Karma (975 RP)
Viktor new loading screen and character portrait.
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Ok, good point on Xerath's Lore, the noise comes, taking the harry potter example, supose you already know the end of snape's story, but suddenly there's a retcon, and people in story start treating snape back as the asshole he is, but there's no text about what happened originaly and no idea if what happened is still cannon.
Yes, I liked League of Legends more because it's characters than gameplay, I'm impossibilitated to play right now.
The Shurima patch is on.
http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/shurima/index.html
And the first part of the Shurima story:
Guardian of the Sands Kha´Zix is available for purchase for 975 RP
How to win all the icons = win 5 ascension games until 9/21
New game mode = Ascension
The sands of Shurima have shifted the Crystal Scar, rendering the outer circle of the map impassable. You'll need to use the Golden Transcendence trinket to teleport into the fray. Victory is earned through points and the first team to 200 wins the day.
Earning Points:
Ascension Bonuses:
Claim Ascension by taking down Ancient Ascendant Xerath in the center of the map, but be careful, you'll need your whole team to battle him and claim the buff. The Ascension buff yields awe-inspiring power:
Don´t worry, Azir will be available..soon.
While we wait for Azir, here is a nice picture of Nasus.
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A video for the new Viktor gameplay.
Ascension is super fun and fast. I've yet to hit level 18 during a game but people seem to be picking up on it really fast. Also it goes really well with Desert Trooper Garren~
Ascension seems pretty garbage. I keep getting paired with at least one teammate who wandered into the enemy's corner of the map only to get mauled by 5 other champs.
It's the same problem as Dominion. Not sure why they made this map when that other mode is already a mess.
I don't think that what you described is the problem with dominion. Bad teammates also appear on SR.
Personally I like that they used the map for ascension. Almost forgot that it even exists. And I also think that the game mode fits well to it.
Time for the Azir Q&A, if you want to read a specific part, click in the links below
Creative: [hide] Riot Opeli leads the march into the Creativepart of the Q&A:
"HELLO, EVERYONE
Narrative team & others are here to answer your questions about Azir and his place in Shurima. Like, "How does he keep his feathers so well-groomed?" and, "How does a bird like him survive in the desert?" (You'll have better questions. I promise.)"
When asked how long Azir has been in development for as a character, Runaan commented: "To clarify, he started out as a really loose idea of a "sand mage" - Ezreal and I liked the idea of a sand dude who could sort of "envelop" people with the desert itself. The emperor idea came out of this, but the original kit/art direction weren't working, so we went back to iteration town. We really knew what we wanted to do when the idea of "Ascended" Azir came about (yes, we were the most excited when we decided to make him a bird guy). :) From there, it took a lot of iteration to capitalize on the personality of an emperor as well as the game play - and here we are today!"
As for why the decided to go with sand soldiers as a theme for their "sand mage" concept, Opeli noted: "The fantasy of being an emperor. As an emperor, you have soldiers fighting wars for you, and you'd command them - so we went with controlling soldiers. :)"
Runaan also commented: "The "emperor" thematic really brought that element out - we asked, what's the fantasy of being an emperor? Commanding a battlefield, having dominion over others - those things really informed the "sand soldiers" direction. :)"
As for the rest of Azir's story, Opeli reminded:
"He has a full story coming, but it'd spoil the rest of the Shurima event. So we're waiting to reveal it until you guys see the full story."
She continued: "Azir was scattered to the winds - he disappeared off the face of the planet. You'll get the answers to your other questions in the next story installment of Shurima!"
ZenonTheStoic also added in: "We didn't want to spoil the story that's currently unravelling. Longer lore is incoming."
In a similar vein, Opeli remindedthat the short lore bios are intended for the client only: "Sure thing. Those client blurbs are intended to stay on the client only, and a longer story will be on the website. They'll be updated in time. :D"
She continued: "Huh? They haven't been updated with longer-form bios yet. Especially not Azir's, as that would spoil the Shurima event. Once it's updated you'll be able to get it through the client."
When asked what the rest of Runeterra thinks of Shurima, Opeli commented:
"For some people, Shurima is like an Atlantis to them - they believe it's only a myth (although, obviously, they will be proven wrong).
For others, like the people currently inhabiting the desert of Shurima, they knew it existed a long time ago and there are believed to be no "true" Shurimans remaining. Even Renekton and Nasus were stories for them.
A LOT has changed for Azir. He has a lot of catching up to do."
Runaan also added in on the current state of Shurima, saying: "We talked about Shurima as a place with a really thriving culture - a place with not only a strong military and a powerful emperor, but a place with a sense of personal identity (art, music, literature, trade, magical technology etc). Azir's motivation to bring the golden light of Shurima to other nations was/is not really a "conquering" aim - it's that he truly believes that Shurima was the height of civilization, and could only continue to grow more wonderful.
After Xerath's corrupt ascension, everything was more or less buried beneath the sands and left to ruin, but Azir definitely doesn't think that's the end of things."
Jaredan also added: "1) The current inhabitants of Shurima's desert are mainly descended from the survivors of the fall of Shurima's empire.
2) The origin of their culture reaches back to Azir's time, but has evolved as they eke out an existence in their harsh environment."
When asked what kind of ruler Azir was and what he thinks of the current city-states in Runeterra, Opeli noted: "what kind of a ruler was he?
He was a benevolent leader. Still a dictator, but a kind one, and he was interested in his people's well-being and prosperity. He got a little ahead of himself, though - hence the over-enthusiastic Ascension ritual - but even that was done with good intentions. He wanted Shurima to grow and influence the entire world.
now that he is returned, what are his views on the other City-States like Noxus and Piltover?
Azir believes that the other city-states would benefit from Shurima's culture and way of life. He'll try to get them to join his empire and conform to his ideals. HOWEVER, he is in for quite the culture shock because so much has changed while he's been… away. I think Zaun would boggle him the most. But he wouldn't let anyone see that.
does Azir plan to rebuild Shurima?
Yes! It's his main motivation.
and as a side question, can Azir shed some light onto Amumu's past?
Probably, but I don't think he's been made aware of Amumu's existence yet."
When asked why Azir is an emperor instead of a pharaoh, Opeli noted:
"Ehhh, we don't want Shurima = Egypt all the time. We want to make Shurima our own unique place in League with the stories we tell. But, obviously there were Egyptian influences with Renekton, Nasus, and Azir."
Opeli also replied to a question concerning if Azir hopes to rebuild Shurima peacefully or by force: "He wishes to do it peacefully, but he's not afraid of using force. It will only happen if he's forced his hand."
When asked why Azir can't "just let it go" when it comes to Shurima, Runaan commented: "He can't let go because he truly loved his nation, however much his ambition may have led him astray. He can't accept responsibility for what happened to his kingdom - he blames Xerath, but was it really Xerath's fault…? Or was it the emperor who couldn't see the cruel intent of his most trusted advisor - and friend? :O
And yes - for the moment, he is an emperor without an empire. An emperor without a people. He has nothing - but he'll do everything with his newfound power to change that, and rebuild Shurima into the thriving, powerful empire it once was."
As for the origins of the Ascension ritual, Tommy Gnox shared: "Thanks for your questions! Azir's transformation is indeed due to the Ascension ritual. The specifics of how the process works, beyond the fact that it uses the Sun Disc to gather and magnify the energy of the sun, is as yet uncertain. Clearly something was different about Xerath's Ascension, but precisely what and why are questions yet to be answered.
But the Ascension ritual is incredibly ancient. It was ancient even in the time Nasus and Renekton lived as humans, which was before Azir's time and WAY before Sivir's. Its origin is shrouded by the fog of millennia at the moment."
When asked if it is intended that Ascended, such as Renekton, Nasus, and now Azir, all have animal features associated with them, Opeli noted: "Yes! It's intended. They were all human before Ascension. Because Xerath corrupted the ritual, he turned out, well… different."
She continued: "Xerath was also human, but became formless energy through the warped Ascension ritual. He carries around the remains of a broken sarcophagus that was originally used to try to contain him."
As for the rest of Xerath's story with regard to Azir, Opeli noted: "Nope. There are always two sides to every story. Or three. Or four. We're only seeing one perspective of Xerath.
When we expand on Xerath's lore you'll see "his" side of the story. I don't want him to lose his humanity or his passion for magic - it's highly likely he started off as a normal, helpful dude and the lure of the Ascension ritual was his misstep."
Tommy Gnox also commented: "I wouldn't say so. Keep in mind we may not know everything there is to know about Xerath just yet."
When asked why Azir thinks of Nasus, Opeli replied:
"Azir deeply respects Nasus. Although Nasus views him as a little arrogant because he got to see what happened to Shurima as a result of Azir's hubris."
When asked if Cassiopeia is still Noxian or if she is attempting to server Azir, Jaredan commented: "Cass has very little interest in serving Azir or Shurima. She is certainly still Noxian and loyal to her family; she went into Shurima searching for wealth and power for her, her family and Noxus. As seen from the video today, she just didn't get what she bargained for."
As for Cassiopeia's situation with being a snake lady and if that is like "half ascended", Opeli noted: "No, she went through a different transformation thanks to the serpent guardian in the tomb. She was cursed."
OpeliGroup of Questions #1 "Did Azir rule alone, or would there have been a…Mrs. Azir?
It's safe to say he was… popular with the ladies.
-Are Azir's sand soldiers dressed in the garb they wore when Shurima was still intact? Was their equipment immediately familiar to him when he summoned them the first time?
Yeah, he forms the image of them, so he wasn't surprised.
-Did Azir have any inkling that Xerath was going to betray him, or was he blind to that possibility?
He was blind to it. He totally trusted Xerath. :(
-The Facebook preview mentioned Nasus and Renekton being "Ascended heroes." Is that why Fury of the Sands and Dominus (their ults) are so similar? Is that the kind of power they gain by drawing on their Ascended forms?
Their kits/characters were created before Ascension was something we discussed, so, maybe they were designed with a similarity in mind back in the day.
-Does Azir sleep in a bed or a nest? If it's a nest, what's it made of?
I don't think he sleeps! At all!"
[/hide] Gameplay:
[hide] ZenonTheStoic planted his feet firmly in the sand to introduce the Gameplay section of the Q&A:
"Friends of Shurima! With Azir being turned on soon[tm], we thought this was a great time to let you ask us pretty much whatever you want about his gameplay and balance.
Azir is an interesting champion that breaks a few "rules" of what a mid laner is supposed to do. One of the bigger ones is the fact that to access the majority of his damage, Azir has to right click pretty much like an AD carry. This looks deceptively simple, but if you've had a chance to check him out on the PBE you'll know it's much harder than it looks. Between his soldiers, resurrecting lane turrets, and making a truly uncrossable* wall, Azir brings a lot of novel concepts to the game, and I'm sure you'll have a bunch of questions.
Joining me in this thread is Squad5, who is responsible for Azir's balance and gameplay health. We did a lot of work to make sure we can actually release these crazy ideas without breaking the game, and Squad5 was central to identifying the trade-offs, appropriate strengths and weaknesses, and overall balanceability (as opposed to balance–we're okay with getting balance wrong, as long as there is a path to improvement) of the champion.
*Unless you're Malphite, I guess. Or Vi. Or Maokai. Or Fizz. Or Nocturne. Or Vladimir. Damn you, untargetability!"
When asked what his main inspiration for Azir's design was, ZenonTheStoic shared: "Primarily we wanted to have the archetype "sand mage" in the game–we always thought this was a cool thing we should do in league. We tried a lot of different kits, but only when he became the Emperor of Shurima and the soldiers entered the picture did we feel we had a cool enough dude to release.
For myself, I was always driven by the question of "what does it feel like to be the emperor?" Consequently a lot of my gameplay design was focused on creation and manipulation of underlings. Even if you have a bad game, even if you struggle to win your lane, I want you to come out of the game saying, well whatever else happened, I felt like I was an emperor, ordering my troops around."
As for how a designer goes about translating a champions story through their abilities and kit, ZenonTheStoic explained: "It's… messy.
In Azir's case, we had a bunch of old kits that were basically straight-forward mage kits (AOE spell, utility spell, CC spell) that we knew we didn't want to ship. We have more than 120 champions in the game now, many of whom fulfill the "I want to be a midlane mage and burst/aoe people down" fantasy perfectly well. We don't need another one of those.
So for Azir, we sat down in the beginning of this current kit's lifetime with champion team and split into 4-5 smaller teams, sometimes just two dudes, jamming on different takes on Azir. The kit I worked on had a sand resource that you had to gather, made a triangle of obelisks for the ultimate fight arena, and spammed sand missiles from sources of sand, for instance. GypsyLord made a kit with a sandstorm ultimate that literally covered the entire map and slowed all enemies in the game. We're talking that level of crazy prototyping.
One thing that all the kits had in common were soldiers; the kit I worked on had a skill that summoned three targetable guards that moved in formation in front of you, blocking skill shots, until you reactivated the ability to send all surviving soldiers forward as skill shots. Another kit summoned two walls of soldiers that immediately charged forward, knocking enemies back (sound familiar?) Squad5 made that ability and it obviously strongly inspired my ultimate. CertainlyT's kit had a spawn soldier mechanic where you could order soldiers to turn into skill shots by attacking enemies: all soldiers in range of an auto attack target would charge toward that target. This clearly turned into my Q (and the idea of ordering soldiers with your basic attack).
This was a really, really cool exercise (we called it AZIRDOME – THE SHURIMARING, named after the THUNDERDOME code jam we do two-three times a year here at Riot) and it quickly taught us a lot of things that were cool about Azir, first and foremost being soldiers and controlling them. I don't think I could have come up with a kit this unique without the help of the entire team. Champion design is a huge team effort!"
When asked if he would consider Azir a high skill cap champion, ZenonTheStoic replied: "Azir is SUPER high skill cap. A bunch of high diamond players here at Riot have called him the most difficult champion in our game. I'm not sure this is true, but he's definitely up there.
Azir jungle can work if you SOMEHOW live through first clear in reasonable time. Sort of like Karthus jungle.
No tower passive on Dominion, sorry :("
When asked if Azir's Sun Disc makes inhibitors immune to damage, ZenonTheStoic noted: "Sun disc doesn't make buildings immune like turrets do. It would be very confusing to have an inhib turret become immune to damage because Azir summoned the Sun Disc on the outer turret of that lane."
ZenonTheStoic also commentedon the intent to distinguish him from other minion champions such as Zyra or Heimerdinger:
"Yeah absolutely! We started out from the very beginning with a many page long document where we broke down what a zone control mage can / should do in league, what current kits do, which aspects of this we like and which aspects we don't and so on.
We quickly identified that dropping zones and forgetting about them leads to super defensive kits that often make not engaging with the champion the correct choice. This is why you have to right click to access the soldiers' power (this and it feels super cool to point at someone and have your minions skewer them)."
As for why the choice of allowing him to attack through his minions instead of both attack, ZenonTheStoic explained: "The emperor doesn't get his hands dirty! As a matter of fact, he USED to attack alongside his soldiers, but it was only when Roku played him and said "you know wouldn't it be cooler if your soldiers attacked INSTEAD OF you" that we had our "oh shit" moment of "this is something entirely new and exciting". This allowed us to decouple the soldier attacks from Azir's attack range, for instance, and it's just COOL to point at dudes and have your sand army stab them."
Squad5 also commented on Azir's ability to directly damage towers with his W, explaining:
"Balancing Azir's damage against towers is definitely a concern. However when we approached the champion we knew that we wanted him to have strong threat against towers to mean that his pushing/waveclear is actually threatening. There are a couple of factors that mitigate the risk of the ability though, those being the fact that Azir does not normally like to buy Lichbane (because his soldiers cannot use the item) and Azir must use charges of soldiers to get the extra damage making him more susceptible to being attacked. I could definitely see a build including lichbane being silly at pushing towers though."
Squad5 also reiterated how Azir's W works if soldiers are within an enemies range but Azir is not: "If the enemy is within the soldier's range, Azir will stand still and the soldier will attack."
He also commented that they work with spell vamp! "Yep, they work with spell vamp."
ZenonTheStoic also mentioned his soldiers in no way benefit from Azir's attack damage: "His AD does not affect soldier damage at all. They scale with his lvl and AP."
He continued: "Soldier auto attacks do not scale with AD. You want to be building AP all of the time."
When asked why Azir's soldiers do not proc on hit effects, Squad5 commented: "One thing that was an issue brought up early was determining whether the soldier's attacks were actual attacks or spells. We felt in general that encouraging Azir to build as a mage was the appropriate direction, and so the stab uses spell effects from items as if it were an AOE spell. Since the soldiers use the spell archetype, for clarity they should not use on hits. The primary reason really is that we want Azir to build mage items though. (Nashor's is still pretty good on him though…)"
When asked about Azir's E being a dash, Squad5 explainedwhy it was designed this way: "Azir's long range actually comes with a pretty big problem – he has an incredibly difficult time following up on attacks, being aggressive against lane opponents, and following a team fight as it moves naturally. His dash is a means of lessening this problem. The primary purpose of it is to move forward; move into the enemy, follow them as they run, or reposition around a team fight as needed. The defensive use case of the E exists as well, but it is slightly harder to access since you need to use W, Q away from the enemy (which is a bit unnatural) then E. In a normal teamfight the aggressive case usually comes very naturally."
When asked for his thoughts on effective uses of Azir's ultimate, Squad5 noted: "I've seen Azir's ult used in a number of ways effectively. I think the most common use case is to peel for either himself or other carries on his team, throwing back people who would dive into the backline. However, uses of the ultimate to wall of an area to split the team or halt their approach without even hitting an enemy with the initial cast are really cool to pull off in the jungle, and the aggressive "move behind the enemy team and wall off their escape" play is sometimes incredible (though it will often get you killed)."
When asked about Azir's interactions with on-hit items and the possibility of his role as a support, ZenonTheStoic noted: "1) Correct. On-hit items are a Bad Idea on Azir, and we're okay with this. We're still recommending Nashor's because the stats it gives are just too good.
2) We did a lot of work to make sure Support isn't Azir's strongest role. Azir support probably works as a gimmicky off build, kind of on par with, say, Ahri support or Karthus support; like, yes, you can poke in bot lane, you bring some CC, but by not scaling as well as you would mid lane you give up a lot. Vel'Koz conversely has such great base damages that he doesn't need to build scaling items to be effective. This is why support became his main role.
The levers we identified for support Azir (and correct me here if I'm wrong, Squad5) are:
As for any sort of scrapped abilities that ended up not making it onto Azir, ZenonTheStoic shared: "One of the earliest kits that Colt "Ezreal" Hallam worked on had an ultimate we called "sand hands". Two giant hands of sand would rise from the ground and after a delay move together, pushing everyone in between together and squishing them in. The TL;DR here is that vacuum skills are insanely powerful. The kit had other issues as well, but everyone remembers sand hands. THE HORROR."
He continued, sharing a scrapped version of Azir's ultimate: "I had a super complicated Ritual of Ascension ultimate on him once. He spawned three obelisks of light in an equilateral triangle, lasers spawned to link them together, and all enemies inside the triangle who took damage from Azir were also zapped by the obelisks. Crossing the lasers damaged you, and Azir received a shield based on the additional zap damage. If the shield hit a certain number, Azir ascended, gaining a massive chunk of spell vamp, AP, a doubled shield, and crazy move speed.
This is probably the most disgustingly overloaded and overcomplicated skill I ever designed. On the plus side, I learned the formula for quickly detecting whether or not a point on a 2D plane is inside a triangle, so I got that going for me, which is nice."
When asked if we could expect another sand mage in the future, ZenonTheStoic noted: "Generally when we do an archetype, we try to do the VERY BEST version of that archetype because we will NOT make another one of those. It would cheapen both Vi and the potential new champion if we put another punch lady in the game. Braum would be very sad if we made another beefy burly man with a giant shield, etc.
So no. I don't think we'll make another sand mage. This is it!"
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Art and Sound
[hide]To lead us in to the Art and Sound portion of the Q&A, here's BelligerentSwan: "Curious about how we explored the voice of an emperor, or set about defining his appearance? We’ve asked some of the Emperor of the Sands' Art and Sound guys to come in and chat about everything from silhouettes to animations, and voiceover to sound effects."
When asked why Azir appeared to come so quickly after Gnar's release, Lonewingy noted: "Gnar was delayed and Azir is on time :)
If Gnar was on time then you won't feel this way X)"
When asked about the team's thoughts on Azir's old design being leaked long ago, Reach4TheSkylar noted: "We were a bit bummed at the time. It's always a bit disappointing when someone spoils the party. In this case though, thankfully the leak was only limited to a single piece of art. So, despite being a bit of a bummer we were happy that the leak was fairly limited in scope, and the majority of the character and the event surrounding his release remained a mystery. Also, it helped that the time between the leak and his release were big enough that I think a lot of people forgot about it and were still surprised."
Lonewingy also shared a bit on how Azir came to be a bird man: "Hi! Concept Artist here!
Ok… where should I start...
Long long time ago (4ish Years ago, this is around the time I began working at Riot) there was this Sand Champion called Seth. He came in many forms that time! Sand Golem, Man with Sand cloak, Sand bender lady, Evil Sand Wraith and etc. None of these work because art team, at the time, didn't have resources for scrolling sand textures, which was a big part of his character then. The "sand" was thematically hard to deal with that time through art and gameplay wise. Sand bending alone wasn't that interesting in the end.
It got iced-box till the team decided to pick this concept up again (this was last 2 years) . We started fresh, and re-explore the idea of Sand Champion. The team wanted a champion that also ties all the Shurima champions. We went for an idea of an Emperor/Leader (Julius Caesar type) but something that the audience can easily relate to Nasus and Renekton (through visually even without lore context). I still did few iterations (not birdlike). We felt strongly going for the iconic Egyptian god of radiance, Ra. It completes the Shurima trio and fits the puzzle as well because of the emphasized thematic "Shurima Emperor." Another obstacle we encountered is how we make sand magic thematically unique for him. We went back the core emphasis of this Champion which is the "Shurima Emperor", instead of just sand… he creates his own army of soldiers with the power of his sand magic. :)
And there you go! Azir is complete! :3 The end~"
Lonewingy continued: "Hi! Concept artist here! Good question! :)
When we want to make another Shuriman Champion, we decided to go through the idea that is something instantly relates (visually) to Renekton and Nasus. Just like what the other gentleman says (Blood91Raven) Nasus and Renekton are inspired from Egyptian iconic figures, Anubis and Sobek :)
Azir is inspired by the God of Radiance, Ra. It fits the puzzle perfectly for these Shuriman Trio, because it easily relates to both Nasus and Renekton, especially as the Emperor of Shurima.
We never meant to base these characters through real wild life :3
Hope this helps :D"
Reach4TheSkylar added on to this, explaining why Azir doesn't have wings: "Azir even in his intial concept only had the suggestion of wings. We wanted him to "feel" like he had wings without actually having them. If he had literal wings there would be a certain set of expectations that would come with that (people would expect him to be able to fly obviously : D). We really wanted to focus on the fantasy of being an emperor/commander so adding wings into the mix would have just confused his themes.
Hopefully someone from Lore will come by and give a better answer to your lore questions.
The one I can answer is about Shurima being a desert. Shurima as a country or area of land I believe was always been a dry desert place. However in the olden days when Azir was still in charge of the city, his magic/power helped bring water to the city of Shurima making it a thriving oasis in the desert."
Reach4TheSkylar also commentedon what was used to model Azir and the time that went into him: "I'm not a modeler but I know most of them use Z-brush or an equivalent. As for how much time overall goes into a champion: We usually spend 8 weeks as a baseline once it goes into production. That doesn't count any pre-production like concepting or kit exploration (which is often months of work). In the case of Azir, he was reworked several times because we had a hard time settling on a really solid Kit. He also has a ton of elements to his kit: Azir/Soldiers/Ult Soldiers/ Sun Disk. So as you can imagine, his production schedule was much much longer than the average champion."
RiotDanky also confirmed: "Yup we normally sculpt high res model in Zbrush and then retopo low poly for the game."
When asked about the design choices for Azir's weapon, Reach4TheSkylar commented: "It's funny that you ask this because his weapon actually went through several iterations. Originally it was a very sort of "magical staff" that looked like something that would cast out magic sun-balls. It had similar motifs to his Sun Disk. Pretty cool. However, one of the first iterations of Azir actually had him playing as a melee mage so it was decided to move toward a more aggressive spear type staff. Once Azir finally made it full circle back to this commander type mage, the subject was broached to return the staff design to its more "magical roots." However, the general consensus was that the team really liked that it looked like he could hold his own if needed. It felt right for him to have an aggressive edge. This guy is really a god emperor and the team really wanted him to feel like he could chase you down and kill you himself if needed. He just prefers to have his minions do his dirty work so he doesn't get his robes all bloody : D"
Reach4TheSkylar also commented on Azir's movement and mannerisms, saying: "As an animator I can speak to the movement. (I did talk about the staff design in an above comment so check that out). Azir is obviously has a lot of hawk or avian themes so I tried to queue off of things that would help him feel birdlike but at the same time regal. One of the big ways we accomplished this was by keeping his motions very conservative. Most of his motions are concise and efficient. A lot of the feeling of stoic power comes from a lack of motion or flourish.
On top of feeling regal and powerful, I also wanted him to also feel birdlike. To accomplish this, I tried as much as possible to give his cloth "feathers" the feeling of wings. This meant hand shaping them in every animation. I also wanted him to feel light and agile as if at any moment he could catch a gust of wind and lift off the ground. One of my favorite animations in his set is his home-guard run because I think it accomplishes both of these goals fairly well."
Lonewingy also chimed in on making Azir feel regal: "Hello! Yes… "Shurima Emperor" is one of our mission statement that we wanted to convey to our audience, by doing so here are some factors to consider him to feel Regal-like character
Trying to think more alternatives how we can have the same feel as someone wearing a cape but not literally a cape, because we have way too many champions that has capes already XD"
As for if the team played around with giving his soldiers different or alternating appearances, Lonewingy noted: "We did try a bulky one :) it didn't pass our performance test. Having different body types of soldiers in one champion is like 5-6 champions at once O_o Imagine the rigging problems and memory it requires to run this XD
And it looks thematically better this way because they are his soldiers… not individuals X)"
Reach4TheSkylar also commented that Azir's soldier animations were recently we done to better accommodate high attack speed builds. "As for the soldiers, their attacks were just recently redone (last week) to accommodate some of the max attack speed situations we were seeing. I made some changes that helped them not feel quite as spastic. As for Azir's pointing motion, I'm not super happy with how it looks at high speeds, but I also don't currently have a great solution to make it look better. In that case, I'm hoping that most of your focus will be on the soldiers, so that's where I put the most effort. If I come up with a better solution down the road for Azir's command animation, as always, I'll try and get it in the game."
When asked who did the Azir and new Cassiopeia splash arts, Reach4TheSkylar commented: "The splash art are often a very collaborative process with sometimes many artists working on a single splash. I think in this case though the main artists on those splashes were Bo Lu on Azir and Evan Monteiro on Cass. Hopefully I'm crediting the right people!"
When asked about the inspiration for the Galactic Azir skin, Reach4TheSkylar commented: "I actually think the Galactic line of skins was mostly inspired by the movie/tv series "Stargate." Azir's skin obviously moves a little toward a high tech direction, but we really tried to give it a unique look/feel that felt like our own. We actually tried a bunch of crazy color schemes to try and make it feel even more unique (I think at one point he was sort of purple with glowing orange energy) but in the end the blue/gold/silver scheme seemed to read the best with the new color scheme on the updated summoner's rift so we went that way."
Reach4TheSkylar continued: "With complicated characters with many assets like Azir, we often have to pick what we want the focus of the skin to be. In the case of Galactic Azir, VFX were the area that we felt could have the biggest impact. So, a lot of the time was spent on Azir's base model and the kit VFX. Most of the other models in the kit though were modified for that skin. The sun disk is completely different, and the ult soldiers have a new shield design that better fits the skin's theme, and even the base soldiers have a new glowey stabby weapon."
As for why the team didn't opt for a super spooky Necromancer Azir skin, Lonewingy commented: "We thought about it :)
But the "Galactic Brotherhood" launch skin seems like the best opportunity (matching launch skins with Nasus and Renekton):D
Although the Necromancer theme is definitly cool idea to be one of his future skins :D"
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5 new skins, FNATIC Skins (winners of the Season 1, 2011 championship).
"To celebrate them as our Season One champions from back in 2011, we have a set of FIVE new FNATIC themed skins. Like the TPA and SKT T1 team skins, these will all be priced at 750 RP and share a splash art but that art is not on the PBE yet."
Jarvan IV
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Karthus
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Gragas
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Janna
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Corki
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Massive TU in the PBE (10 champions + All their skins) today 12/9.
Nice
EDIT 1°:
Here are the twelve champions (2 more) and their skins TU
LEFT = OLD. RIGHT = NEW.
Ahri
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Akali
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Corki
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Fiora
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Galio
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Graves
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LeBlanc
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Leona
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Nautilus
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Orianna
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Xerath
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EDIT 2°: Balance for patch 4.17:
Garen
Soraka
[ [/B]Remember, Soraka** currently has a gameplay update testing on the PBE! These change are relative to that NOT to her live values ]
Tristana
Viktor
Items
Infinity Edge
Finally, the perfect ascension has been acquired! I was with Amumu and I got the buff three times~ This gamemode is loads of fun, especially with Mumu, Sej, Cassio (I can't even play her) and Vel'koz of course.
Loving the mini TUs. My Valkyrie Leona will look much more nicer. Also Ori really needed that. Waiting for the Ashe skins (since I want to buy one) and finally, oh god, Leblanc is horribly… bright (?) right now, she too will look finer with that mini-TU.
Looks like they're just smoothing out the champions textures. I can't say I'm against this, as they're kind of doing the same thing with the entirety of Summoner's Rift.
I like the TUs much deserved for some of them.
Galeo and Naut especially
Here is the Azir champion spotlight:
Enjoy !!!
Still no news when he will be available, he was delayed because of bug fixes.
The 2° part of the Shurima lore.
AND…Azir is now available.
During his first week of availability, Azir will be priced at 975 RP / 7800 IP, after which he will drop to the standard 6300 IP price point. Alternatively, you can pick up Azir and Galactic Azir in his release bundle for 1462 RP!
I really like this video lore.
Wonder what will come next lore wise. A lot to choose from
Finally, the perfect ascension has been acquired! I was with Amumu and I got the buff three times~ This gamemode is loads of fun, especially with Mumu, Sej, Cassio (I can't even play her) and Vel'koz of course.
Loving the mini TUs. My Valkyrie Leona will look much more nicer. Also Ori really needed that. Waiting for the Ashe skins (since I want to buy one) and finally, oh god, Leblanc is horribly… bright (?) right now, she too will look finer with that mini-TU.
I got mine with ww after 20 wins. You should try him out. After some minutes he is a beast!
I keep getting scores over 50.
I really like the mode, and it involves more strategy than what it seems at first
I got mine with ww after 20 wins. You should try him out. After some minutes he is a beast!
I keep getting scores over 50.
I really like the mode, and it involves more strategy than what it seems at first
Oh, I got a skin for him (mystery gift). Grandma WW is on his way! haha~
Red Baron Corki's texture rebalance and color tweaks to the original and Abyssal Nautilus texture rebalance from last week.
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They will fix RB Corki tomorrow.
It´s good to see you back Nolus.
Championship Thresh, TPA skins and SKT T1 skins are available in the store until October 31st.
[hide]Championship Riven will NOT be returning as she is a limited skin and was sold under the premise she would not come back. Championship Thresh, on the other hand, was marketed as a legacy skin, which can always come back after the leave the store. This is why C. Thresh is back and C. Riven is not.[/hide]
They fixed Nautulis and his Abyssal skin
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A texture upgrade for Akali + her Crimson skin.
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They changed Red Baron Corki again.
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Some changes on the FNATIC skins for Corki and Jarvan IV
Corki
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Jarvan IV
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A new video for the 2014 world Championship
And the world finals login
Champions Balance:
Soraka
New splash arts for the skins:
Order of the Lotus Karma.
Fnatic Corki, Gragas Janna, Jarvan IV, and Karthus.
Karma: [hide]
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Character portrait:
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FNATIC Team:
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Corki:
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Gragas:
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Janna:
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Karthus:
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Jarvan IV:
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FINALLY RIOT !!!!
It seems our favorite undead champion will get a relaunch soon
http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/reborn/
Reborn
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Proclamation
The promo page also has a bar at the bottom denoting GLORY and three more locked entries.
THANKS RIOT <3
Edit 1°
I found a link for the music in the background
[http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/assets/reborn/sounds/D1A2309489012830948109234.mp3](http:// http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/assets/reborn/sounds/D1A2309489012830948109234.mp3)
Edit 2°
Lore wise, Sion killed Jarvan III, so Jarvan IV is the new king of Demacia.
So what will happen with J4's "FOR THE KING" quote?
Totally irrelevant, but still.
So what will happen with J4's "FOR THE KING" quote?
Totally irrelevant, but still.
Nonono, good point. Maybe he will have a new voice over, maybe a new skin (King Jarvan IV ? Just like Tyrant Swain).
Or maybe he will say "I'M THE NEW KING" ?
FINALLY RIOT !!!!
It seems our favorite undead champion will get a relaunch soon
http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/reborn/
Reborn
[hide][/hide]Proclamation
The promo page also has a bar at the bottom denoting GLORY and three more locked entries.
THANKS RIOT <3
Edit 1°
I found a link for the music in the background
[http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/assets/reborn/sounds/D1A2309489012830948109234.mp3](http:// http://promo.na.leagueoflegends.com/assets/reborn/sounds/D1A2309489012830948109234.mp3)Edit 2°
Lore wise, Sion killed Jarvan III, so Jarvan IV is the new king of Demacia.
I am totally looking forward to Sion relaunch.
so jarv is king now huh? and Sion is a destroyer of kings
Two things:
1° Sion killed Jarvan II, not Jarvan III.
2° [hide][/hide]
new sion looks extreme
2° part of Sion´s promo site
http://promo.euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/reborn/#
REGRETS
DARKWILL
What did you do? LEBLANC
Provided you with what you desired, nothing more. DARKWILL
This is not what I desired! LEBLANC
You sought to raise this corpse to do your bidding once again. In that, we have succeeded. DARKWILL
Look at him! This… thing has no place at the head of an army. LEBLANC
Not as a leader, no. But your friend was never so much a leader as a killer. And he has never been more perfectly suited to that role than he is now. He does not fear, he does not question—he does not die! DARKWILL
Damn you. I have no other choice.
DISSENT To the office of the Grand General, There is no doubt the revenant is an effective weapon. It almost razed the fortress at Andras singlehandedly. However, it's also responsible for nearly as many casualties among our forces as the Demacians. The thing seems to feast on the very act of slaughter. It took a company of heavy infantry to subdue it this time, and it's only getting stronger, hacked to pieces or no. The toll on morale has been heavy. The soldiers find it disquieting to see one of their heroes turned into a monstrosity. It causes them to contemplate how they might be rewarded for their own service. I've had to cull three score regiments for refusing to march aside the thing in battle. I fear the situation will only get worse with time. Respectfully, Grand General, some things are better left buried.
BURIED ACCESS TO THIS MEMORIAL AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS IS HEREBY FOREBIDDEN WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION FROM THE GRAND GENERAL. VIOLATORS OF THIS ORDER FACE PUBLIC EXECUTION
Nice..So LeBlanc is old, or is this another LeBlanc
I thought Leblanc and Jarvan IV had a relationship going or something.
Not as such, LeBlanc could have been impersonating Jarvan IV.
Aparently this Jarvan who was killed by Sion was Jarvan the 2th.
3° part of Sion´s promo site.
http://promo.euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/reborn/# BRIDGE TO THE PAST
Excerpts from the journal of Grand General Swain
A shame Keiran failed to enjoy his father's longevity, not that he'd have been able to enjoy the high office at all had I not designed it. The Grand General's chambers harbor many secrets. My secrets now.
The elder Darkwill was well versed in the art of necromancy. It will take me decades to pore through his library of grimoires, but that will be time I can steal, as he did.
I made a discovery today, one of Boram Darkwill's first dabblings with death magic. It seems he was attempting a resurrection of some sort. But whose return was he seeking?
The previous regime was exacting in its manipulation of the historical record, but there is just as much a story to be told by what's missing from the record as there is by what remains.
I found it. Deep in Old Noxus lies a memorial that speaks of former grandeur and a fall from grace. Therein lies the man Boram Darkwill attempted to rouse from his eternal slumber.
It's still in there, clawing at the walls. I would almost pity it, if I thought it capable of suffering.
The Anchor
LEBLANC
I haven't had the pleasure of your company for some time, Grand General.
SWAIN
You have my favor. That is enough.
LEBLANC
And yet, I suspect you're here to seek the Black Rose's assistance once more.
SWAIN
The blood of the Demacian prince. How much remains?
LEBLANC
After the last charade? Enough that you should be very mindful of how you use it. Whatever you intend had best be brief.
SWAIN
No chicanery this time; my need for subtlety is nearing its end. I must secure my position with bloodshed, and that requires a blunt instrument.
LEBLANC
It sounds as if you have one in mind.
SWAIN
Let me show you.
The Return
We've come full circle: a Grand General in need of a champion, the Black Rose seeking to wind its roots further into High Command, and a fallen warrior starved of battle. This time, it will be different. Boram managed to revive the body successfully, but all he got was a mindless beast with a single instinct: to devour life. I can't fix a thing so broken, but I can rekindle its purpose, and that may be enough for my plans. The ritual is prepared, and the body still hungers.
"Drink deep of the blood of your killer, son of Noxus, and live again." - Swain
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Patch 4.17:
http://www.surrenderat20.net/2014/09/patch-417-notes.html
Viktor and Soraka new gameplay.
TU for Viktor and all his skins.
Some bufs and nerfs
6 new skins (Order of the Lotus Karma and Fnatic team)
Minot TU list:
While the extent the changes very greatly from champion to champion and skin to skin, the full list includes:
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
A nice surprise...[hide][/hide]
SOON on the PBE…
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
More news:
New Splash art for Sion (orc)
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DunkMaster Darius (1820)
DunkMaster Darius VO
Ravenborn LeBlanc (975 RP)
Underworld Wukong (1350 RP)
Championship Shyvana (975 RP)
Ohmwrecker