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After yesterday's intriguing video introduction, today Riot has provided the full champion reveal for its next playable character, Taliyah. As it turns out, she's looking very unique and potentially very powerful.
First off, Taliyah has a fascinating passive ability called Rock Surfing. Basically, whenever she is out of combat and walking near a wall, she will pick up movement speed by jumping onto a rock and, well, surfing.
This focus on increased movement speed continues with her Q ability, Threaded Volley. This is a complex one, so let's break it down step by step. First, when Taliyah uses her Q, she will rip up the ground around her and toss five stone shards in the targeted direction. For the next few minutes after doing so, the ground in that area will become "worked ground." Walking on worked ground will increase Taliyah's movement speed, but additional Threaded Volleys fired in that area will only send a single projectile rather than five.
Along with her own mobility, Taliyah has the option to disrupt enemy movement. Her W ability, Seismic Shove, knocks up and damages all enemies in a small targeted location. Even better, Taliyah can choose the direction those enemies are knocked in, and can even knock them over walls entirely.
Taliyah's E ability, Unraveled Earth, provides a wide cone of damage as she dumps a bunch of boulders onto the ground. After a few seconds, those rocks explode, dealing a second wave of damage in that wide area.
Taliyah, the Stoneweaver pic.twitter.com/zk9ApF5Y1Q
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) May 3, 2016
Finally, Taliyah's ultimate ability is called Weaver's Wall. With this, Taliyah summons a massive wall of rocks that extends along a huge line in one direction, knocking aside any enemies who get in the way (though not dealing damage). The wall extends a long way — in a video showing off the ability, it can be seen going all the way from the entrance of the lower base to the river in the middle of the map. Taliyah can use it to knock enemies out of the way and disrupt a huge team fight, and she can also ride on the wall to get somewhere fast.
Taliyah's designer, Daniel Klein, says on Twitter that he designed her with the intent of her being played in the mid lane. Initial fan reactions have her pegged anywhere from jungle to top to a roaming support like Bard. One thing is clear: Given the increased mobility provided by Rock Surfing and Weaver's Wall and how Threaded Volley works, an effective Taliyah will likely need to be roaming regularly in whatever position she's played. The champ reveal also suggests using worked ground as an "escape route" when enemy junglers attempt a gank.
The reveal suggests players will find a lot of use in a knock-up-into-Unraveled-Earth combo. As well, they'll be able to use Seismic Shove to keep threatening tanks out of teamfights. Riot suggest pairing Taliyah with Lucian, Lee Sin and Poppy, while pointing to Zed, Malphite and LeBlanc as strong counters.
Riot has not yet said when Taliyah will be playable, but chances are that she'll show up on the public beta server soon, with a proper release a few weeks out. Stay tuned for more info as we have it.