Hwei, the newest champion coming to League of Legends’ ever-expanding roster of characters, has just been announced by Riot—and boy, is he a doozy.
With 10 different active spells, Hwei is one of the most loaded champions in the game, and even just by looking at him, you can tell he’s going to be one of those champions with an incredibly high skill ceiling attached to him. Unlike the rest of the champions in League, Hwei (who is an AP mid lane mage), can pick and choose which types of spells he’s going to cast based on three different “subjects”: Disaster, Serenity, and Torment. These three subjects each have their own uses in-game, and they can be mixed and matched to create devastating combos.
When casting an ability, Hwei will first have to select a subject, then he’ll gain access to three different spells based on which subject he’s dipping his paintbrush into. From there, you can combine a subject with an ability to gain access to the spell you want to cast. In total, Hwei has 10 active abilities and one passive, making him one of, if not the champion with the most depth in all of League.
Below, you’ll find all of Hwei’s subjects, abilities, and their combined effects. Each of the abilities listed below is supported by the official tooltip text provided by Riot.
All of Hwei’s subjects and abilities in League
Passive: Signature of the Visionary
- Hwei’s damaging abilities against enemy champions mark them for a few seconds. Hitting marked enemies with another damaging ability creates an explosion underneath them, detonating after a short delay and dealing magic damage to all enemies in range.
Q – Subject: Disaster
Upon activating this subject, Hwei will gain access to three abilities that deal heavy damage and focus on decimating his enemies.
QQ: Devastating Fire
- Hwei paints a blazing fireball that flies out in the target direction. It explodes on the first enemy hit or at maximum range, dealing magic damage plus percent max health magic damage to all enemies in an area.
QW: Severing Bolt
- Hwei paints a long-range, devastating bolt at the target location. After a delay, the bolt strikes, dealing magic damage. Immobilized or isolated enemies take increased damage based on missing health.
QE: Molten Fissure
- Hwei paints a field of exploding volcanic eruptions, creating lingering lava in its path. Every eruption deals magic damage to enemies hit. Enemies in the lava area are dealt magic damage per second and are slowed.
W – Subject: Serenity
The Serenity subject grants Hwei access to more supportive spells, with each of these abilities granting buffs or shields to allies.
WQ: Fleeting Current
- Hwei paints a current of swift waters in a line for a few seconds that grants movement speed to himself and his allies.
WW: Pool of Reflection
- Hwei forms a protective pool at the target location that lasts for a few seconds. Allied champions inside the area gain an immediate shield, increasing in value over a few seconds while in the area.
WE: Stirring Lights
- Hwei paints three swirling lights that circle him for several seconds. Hwei’s next three attacks of spells deal bonus magic damage and grant mana on hit.
E – Subject: Torment
The Torment subject is focused entirely on crowd control, with all three of these spells having some sort of CC or displacement effect attached to them.
EQ: Grim Visage
- Hwei launches a terrifying face that strikes the first enemy hit, dealing magic damage and causing them to flee for a brief duration.
EW: Gaze of the Abyss
- Hwei paints an abyssal eye at the target location that grants vision and locks onto the nearest visible enemy champion. After a short delay, the eye fires at the locked-on champion, rooting the first enemy in its path for a few seconds and dealing magic damage to them.
EE: Crushing Maw
- Hwei paints crushing jaws that deal magic damage to enemies hit and pulls them toward the center, slowing them by a set amount that quickly decays.
R – Spiraling Despair
Hwei launches a vision of pure despair that sticks to an enemy champion for a few seconds. The vision expands and overwhelms all enemies it touches, dealing magic damage per second. Enemies within the zone are afflicted with stacks of Despair over time. Each stack of Despair applies a stacking percent slow. Upon competition, the vision shatters, dealing magic damage.
Hwei’s abilities (and their descriptions) are subject to change as the champion gets tested on League’s PBE. Hwei is set to go live on the PBE in the very near future, while his release is currently slated for some time after Patch 13.24 goes live on Dec. 6.
