Major Changes Coming to League of Legends, Including WASD Movement
Riot Games has recently provided a comprehensive look at the upcoming third season of League of Legends, alongside other significant updates planned for the popular MOBA. Among the most anticipated announcements is the introduction of a new control scheme, specifically the long-requested WASD movement.
The third season is set to kick off with the release of patch 25.17. This new chapter will weave together the narratives from previous seasons, including events from "Flowering Festival: Eternity" and "Welcome to Noxus." Key champions like LeBlanc, Yunara, Atahan, and Xin Zhao are expected to play pivotal roles in this unfolding story.
Xin Zhao, one of League of Legends' oldest champions and a popular jungler, is slated for a complete visual update in Season 3. While his gameplay mechanics will remain untouched, his animations and appearance will receive a fresh overhaul. This update extends to all of his skins, not just his base model. Archived skins will be available for purchase for two weeks following the 25.17 and 25.18 updates. Notably, the Commando Xin Zhao and Imperial Xin Zhao skins will be refined, leading to an increased cost of 750 RP after patch 25.17. Players can grab them at a discount before the update. Additionally, a new epic skin for Xin Zhao will arrive later in Act 1 of the third season.
Season 3 will also tie into the preparations for the League of Legends World Championship 2025. The tournament is scheduled to begin on October 14 in Beijing, China, with the grand finals taking place on November 9 in Chengdu. The official World Championship anthem, dedicated to the most successful players in the game's competitive history, will be released on October 10.
Returning PvE Mode and Quality-of-Life Improvements
Responding to player demand, the popular PvE mode "Nightmare Bots" will return in patch 25.17. In this mode, five players must team up to face an even more menacing Veigar, who now commands the "most terrifying bots in LoL history." The primary objective remains to survive and defend your nexus. The updated version of Nightmare Bots will feature new content, including a fresh difficulty level, new curses, additional bots, and a new boss. "Nightmare Trials," in-game challenges with unique objectives specific to the mode, will also be introduced and will change with each update.
To further enhance gameplay, individual timers for all jungle camps will be added, making it easier for players to track information in-game. Tracking summoner spell cooldowns will also become more intuitive through the damage summary screen.
New Measures Against Cheating and Account Abuse
In patch 25.18, Riot Games will begin implementing stricter measures against accounts involved in smurfing and facilitating cheating. When multiple accounts are identified in such violations, sanctions will be applied to all accounts involved. Penalties will also target the use of bots, account selling, or account sharing among multiple users.
WASD Movement: A New Way to Play
Perhaps the most significant announcement is the long-awaited WASD movement option for League of Legends. Paul "Pabro" Bellezza, Executive Producer, explained, "We've noticed that a significant number of new and returning players struggle to adapt to League's traditional controls. We are adding WASD movement – a control option that will make it easier for new players to grasp the fundamentals of League."
The development team has gathered extensive feedback from internal testers, new players, and professional players to ensure that both click-to-move and WASD movement feel responsive across all ranks, champions, and game modes. Riot states they resolved numerous contentious issues during development, including a bug that allowed Nunu to instantly turn around while rolling his snowball, which was described as a "terrifying" sight.
Alongside WASD movement, other control changes are on the way. Players will gain the ability to bind actions to any key they choose. For the first time, players will be able to bind actions to the left mouse button without needing to edit game files. A dynamic camera lock option will also be introduced, allowing the camera to follow the cursor more frequently.
The WASD movement option will first appear on the Public Beta Environment (PBE) in a few updates and will remain there for an extended testing period. Its implementation will be gradual, moving from the PBE to unranked games, and then finally to ranked games. Patch 25.17 for League of Legends is set to launch on August 27.
Post a Comment