Most League of Legends players have finally gotten used to the new look of the in-game shop that came with the 2021 preseason update, as well as all the items that came with it. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because Riot Games is planning to add two new items and one heavily reworked item to the game soon.
In the most recent Ask Riot developer blog, lead game designer Jeevun “Jag” Sidhu unveiled some of the details behind the three items. First, Riot will be introducing a new Legendary tank item that will bind one player to another, similar to Knight’s Vow and Zeke’s Convergence. The twist, however, is that instead of binding to an allied player, you’ll be binding to an enemy.
The item will grant the user damage reduction against that chosen enemy, as well as an added tenacity reduction aura against them if you’re close. As a result, it’s the perfect item to combat a heavily fed carry on the enemy team or a splitpusher who can kill you in a one-vs-one situation.
Next, Sanguine Blade will be getting a heavy rework after its stats have struggled to support the “solo operative fantasy” that the item promotes. As a result, Riot is looking to remove it from the lethality space to make it a more appealing item for any AD champions. The devs are also shifting the item’s power so that it indexes into the ability to fight against multiple champions, while also having the power to siege a tower that’s “defended by a durable opponent.”
The third item is a Legendary for enchanter champions that will provide burst resistance, similar to Zhonya’s Hourglass but with a much more support-minded focus. The item is meant to give enchanter supports a way to avoid getting obliterated by heavy dive compositions and assassins who manage to sneak into the backline.
The tank item and Sanguine Blade rework are set to ship out this summer, while the new enchanter item is slated for a preseason release. As usual, the team is still considering other item spaces to explore for this year’s preseason, but that’s still quite a while away.
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