Riot Games is continuing its efforts to
update and upgrade
the visual quality of many of its aging champions. Riot previewed a pre-PBE sample of The Dark Sovereign’s possible new abilities on Youtube. The change looks to increase visual clarity of her abilities.
Riot’s been making a concerted effort to keep League’s visual aesthetic up to date and modern. Between continued full reworks of a champion’s looks and kit, the new visual-only Art & Sustainability Updates announced in the 2021
Champion Roadmap, as well as effects updates like this, it’s looking promising.
Syndra’s updated abilities can often feel unclear in terms of where is or isn’t safe to stand in order to avoid certain effects. These new effects aim to solve that by showing an effect’s radius briefly in advance of the ability going off. This should enable champions with reactive mobility to avoid stuns and damage more easily.
While her new ultimate animation may have a new visual flair, that will remain undodgeable. Players will be able to admire the deep shades of purple as Syndra continues to one-combo them as she has for years.
https://youtu.be/IoyF5eaQ_2w
Riot released the early effects iterations for community feedback, along with a Reddit thread for community feedback. Syndra’s kit has aged well, but it’s clear Riot thinks her abilities need some clarity to feel modern.
With Art & Sustainability Updates announced, more quality-of-life changes to champions’ looks are expected. We can expect other champions to join the Syndra update shortly. Caitlyn is one of the prime candidates for further visual changes given her recent makeover in Riot’s card game Legends of Runeterra.
Other strong candidates are Arcane protagonists Jinx and Vi, with the animated series bringing fresh new takes on the characters’ looks. Caitlyn will appear in the series alongside them. League of Legends fans have plenty of things to be excited about heading into 2022.
Nicholas James
About Nicholas James
Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.