It seems like Summoner’s Rift is getting a facelift.
Riot Games revealed its preseason gameplay goals for League of Legends today, explaining that environmental changes to Summoner’s Rift will bring more game-to-game variety and mastery.
“The map should create more memorable moments via different environments you don’t see every game,” Riot said. “The map should offer more details to play around in both the baseline experience and the not-every-game circumstances we’re creating. Much of SR’s mastery is currently macro-oriented (eg. rotations, objective trading), and we want terrain to support more opportunity for in-combat playmaking.”
Rather than being a “static backdrop,” the devs want to evolve Summoner’s Rift by adding new layers of depth. The 2020 League season looks to force players to adapt to unique situations by changing the Rift’s terrain and environment.
Elemental Dragons provide some variety that changes from one game to another. One match might land you two Infernals and one Mountain, for example, while the next might give you three Oceans. Although this does provide some variety, it isn’t enough, according to Riot.
Even though the Rift will be the main focus of the preseason, changes to support and lethality items will also be targeted. The top lane influence will be improved, as well as jungle pathing changes, better dragon buffs, and keystone tweaks.
Preseason 2020 begins in November with Patch 9.23, but a video preview of the upcoming changes will be revealed on Oct. 15.
