Riot Games is planning to roll out a new and exciting mode for League of Legends, modeled after the popular Vampire Survivors. The potential here is endless, so here is what we want to see in League‘s upcoming “bullet heaven survivor” mode.
League Bullet Heaven features we’d love to see
5) Boss fights
There is already a skin line featuring champions as video game bosses, which could serve as the perfect antagonists in League‘s Bullet Heaven mode. Vampire Survivors features miniboss fights and elite enemies, and many games inspired by it go the extra mile by including actual dedicated boss fights. Though League‘s gameplay loop isn’t exactly geared for such a mechanic, perhaps Riot could make something work and give us a new and fresh experience where we take down a comically large Final Boss Veigar.
4) Damage Numbers
Everyone knows that roguelikes, aRPGs, and Survivors titles are relevant for one reason: damage numbers. There is no high like seeing your character dishing out thousands or millions of damage with ludicrous item combinations. It makes you feel powerful and like your build is actually doing something, but it may be difficult for Riot to work something like that into League. I trust their expertise, though.
3) Randomness
The core feature of any Survivors game is randomness. Every run feels refreshing, unique, and different from the one before because everything is entirely randomized. While maps and levels remain the same between runs, it would make the mode a whole lot more fun to play if items and other power-ups were randomly given out to players.
When everything “clicks” and the randomized itemization starts working, it feels like you’re on that run where you get all the high scores. It drives players to play and try again, and I sincerely hope Riot delivers whenever this mode arrives.
2) New items
The existing itemization in League is fine, but not for a Vampire Survivors-like mode. Riot will have to design new items or redesign existing ones to better fit such a mode. We will have to do tons of damage, have insane effects on the screen, and photosensitive effects left and right for it to feel like a genuine Survivors experience.
1) Fever dream effects
Tying into the previous, I’d love to see League‘s new Bullet Heaven mode featuring item effects so insane they feel like a fever dream when you’re playing. There are certain builds in Vampire Survivors that can overwhelm your screen and render everything nigh-invisible. Games such as Path of Exile and similar also have such builds, and for a proper experience, I think Bullet Heaven needs that extensive build variety and effects and make room for wild combinations that will warrant a photosensitivity warning.
