What we want League to add in 2018

You smell that? It’s probably the freezing air of January. Don’t breath in so deep, it’s bad for your lungs.

With every January comes the start of a new year. A new year for change, for relationships and, most importantly, for League of Legends. 2017 saw one of the best years League has ever had. So, since we got everything we wanted last year, what could we possibly have to look forward to this year? Some of The Rift Herald team weighs in.

New Champion

Ryan: New champs are a given every year, but this year I want Riot to finally bite the bullet on something I’ve wanted to see for years: a proper ranged tank. Games like Heroes of the Storm has tried this in the past with Rexxar and most recently with their newest hero, Blaze. It feels like now is the time for Riot to take a crack at it.

A ranged tank isn’t easy to do, there are a lot of pros and cons that have to be weighed. But champions have gotten even more innovative over the past several years. Ornn and Ivern were made by the same designer and are two of the weirdest, coolest champs we have. Let’s see some of that awesome new design philosophy work some magic on a ranged tank.

Julia: I wouldn’t mind a new assassin that isn’t too hard. I really need to learn how to play assassins, but I feel like the learning curve for them is too steep for me. (Yes, even Talon.) I love League of Legends and I know assassins are supposed to be hard to play, since you have to calculate a lot of things before you get rolling, but ... it’s too much for me.

Either that, or hike up Vi’s AD ratios so I can just play her like an assassin. >:D

New skin

Ryan: There are lots of champs that need new skins. Since the easy answer of “why, dear god, has there not been a Yorick skin in like five years” got answered in 2017, it’s time to look at the newer champs that have yet to get their second skin. Champions like Camille, Ivern, Kled, Taliyah and Aurelion Sol only have their release skin. Maybe it’s time to give more options to the players that love them.

But this April, I have one specific request. We’ve gotten some awesome April Fools day dress up skins. Nami’s Urf skin and “Somehow even sadder than normal” Amumu are just two awesome examples. The Moo Cow Alistar skin is amazing, but what if we went ahead and added more livestock. What I’m really looking for here Bah Bah Ornn where he just wears a big sheep costume and still looks very grumpy. I’m easy to please and this would make my year.

Julia: I would love if Riot made more skins based off of fairy tales and folk lore from various cultures. We have Red Riding Annie and that Warwick skin to match, but I want to see other skins like that, too. Maybe a Korean moon rabbit skin for Tristana, where she can jump around and fire off rice cakes? Or even more skins for champions based on stories of princesses and princes. The Queen Ashe skin just isn’t enough for me.

Also, more Soraka skins. Thanks.

New item

Ryan: Riot has done some awesome work to make tanking more active over the past year or so. Now we just need an item that plays into that. I know we already have Knight’s Vow, but I would like to see an item that allows tanks to open themselves up to more damage and take a hit for their carries.

Some tanks aren’t awesome at peeling on their own, so if you could connect to an ally and essentially take the first hit for them as true damage, there would be a great trade off to help tanks mitigate the risk of their allies while also opening themselves up to more punishment. I think there is an interesting ability somewhere in there and I would love to see it happen.

Gameplay addition

Ryan: When I spoke to Meddler late last year, one thing he mentioned was wanting to do even more work on systems they’ve already added to the game. So I’m going to be boring for this one and just say that I want more plants and Elemental Drakes. I think a stasis plant that freezes everyone around it in stasis would be interesting. A Drake that offers CDR for your abilities, trinkets and items would also be pretty handy.

There are lots of other great ideas out there and I can’t wait to see what Riot cooks up.

Unannounced champion rework

Ryan: We know Swain is coming any minute now and that Aatrox is right behind him. First, I have to say that I really hope this is the one of Aatrox, that poor Darkin has been through a lot since 2013. Anyway, I would love to see Rengar get a proper rework. Why? Cause he sucks on every front, that’s why.

Rengar is not fun to play against, with or, as of his most recent update, as. But he’s so cool. He’s a knife cat that jumps on stuff and has the craziest lines of dialogue in the game. He’s a champion I really love that has never really clicked. I hope that we see him evolve a bit in 2018.

Riot Games

Julia: Is it bad if I care less about actual gameplay reworks and more about visual reworks? Can Fiddlesticks get some f*cking new skin splash art please? If I have to look at that ugly old Union Jack splash one more time ...

Also please change Renekton so I don’t have to lane against that type of low risk/high reward kit ever again.