Even though Rell might look like the perfect champion for any League of Legends players with a penchant for hard crowd control and unbreakable tankiness, the Iron Maiden has mostly been an after-thought among support enthusiasts since her release.
This year, however, Riot Games will be giving her some much-needed attention with a long-awaited mid-scope update.
In a new developer blog, Riot Raptor explained that Rell “doesn’t quite match expectations for what a mounted lancer might do” during a teamfight, especially when she ends up missing her Ferromancy Crash Down. As a result, her original vision lost the interest of potential players as people realized how hard she could be punished.
To rectify some of these issues, Riot will be looking to hit a few goals for her upcoming mid-scope update, including a focus on her mounted and dismounted forms. When she mounts up, for example, the developers want players to feel fast and unstoppable.
At the same time, Rell should feel like a formidable battle leader when she’s forced to walk around on two legs for a bit.
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The devs also want to give Rell more options to play with, even when she isn’t in mounted form, which has been a problem for her since launch. When she is mounted, she can apply a ton of pressure on her opponents since she can engage onto multiple enemies with ease. In her dismounted form, however, Riot believes Rell is just too slow and lacks any impactful abilities when she is lumbering around on two feet.
As a result, the devs are exploring different options for her kit for her update, like giving her Shattering Strikes a stun instead of her Attract and Repel ability. They are also trying to boost her dismounted attack range and speed, along with reducing the self-slow when swapping to her two-footed form.
Lastly, Riot is looking into possibly expanding her viability in multiple League roles, although this isn’t a priority.
