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League of Legends’ next champion will be a “darker, deeper” support

League of Legends

Riot are teasing a new, “darker” support champion for League of Legends. In the latest champion roadmap, lead champion designer Reav3 mentioned a new character, as well as looking forward to a few champion redesigns.

Stay up to date with the League of Legends patch 8.9 notes.

Reav3 confirmed that the next new champion would be a new aquatic support “with a darker, deeper thematic than most of our support cast.” They’ll be an “aggressive playmaker,” possibly quite similar to Nautilus or Leona. Their focus won’t just be on saving their allies from the waves, but consigning their foes to Davey Jones’ locker. The teaser image in the roadmap seems to show the porthole of a sunken ship, so I’m excited to see how the character fits in with some of other residents of Bilgewater, LoL’s very own pirate hideout.

The Aatrox rework is getting closer, but Reav3 says that the design team want to tweak a few aspects of his character model. It “won’t be a full VGU,” but Aatrox will get a new VO to match his new identity as a “greatsword duelist that relentlessly pursues his foes.” After that, Akali is in line for a change – she’ll keep her shroud in her upcoming VGU, as well as her high mobility.

Finally, League of Legends’ next major champion update will be to Nunu. Reav3 says that the pair “have aged very poorly over time, and as such we’ll be rebuilding them from the ground up.” The aim is to make the champion a little more whimsical, in the vein of someone like Lulu or Ivern, but Reav3 says the team will keep a few of his most iconic abilities.

As is pretty much standard at this point, there’s no direct timeframe on any of this. Reav3 did say that the new champion would arrive before the Aatrox update, and it could be a few months before the New(nu)-improved yeti arrives yet.