League of Legends Prepares for Season 12

Riot Games recently released details for their newest League of Legends preseason. Scheduled for November 16, the update introduces new items, runes, and game features.

With this new update, Riot Games plans to buff mage champions, with most of the new items belonging to their class. Crown of the Shattered Queen and Shadowflame are new items that will completely change mage interactions versus assassins and tanks.

Crown of the Shattered Queen will allow the user to shield themselves, reducing all incoming damage for 50%, gaining bonus Ability Power, Move Speed, and Health. Shadowflame grants bonus Magic Penetration based on the target’s Max Health or if the target was recently affected by Shields.

Tanks will also receive new items, such as Evenshroud which deals bonus damage to immobilized targets,Fimbulwinter and Winter’s Approach, granting long-needed bonus Mana and Health. Tanks also saw changes to items like Frostfire Gauntlet, Turbo Chemtank, Force of Nature, Knight’s Vow, and Abyssal Mask, making them viable.

However, not only will Season 12 bring new items, but also a new rune. First Strike allows the user to deal bonus damage and 5 gold gold if they are the first to strike their target. The user will also receive 100% (70% for ranged users) of the damage dealt as gold.

Lethal Tempo and Glacial Augment also received much needed changes. Lethal Tempo grants bonus Attack Range to match the bonus Attack Speed, and Glacial Augment now creates 3 emanating glacial rays, creating frozen zones that Slow enemies and cause them to deal 15% less damage to the user’s allies.

The last major change with this update is the addition of two new dragons, each with their own buff and terrain effects once slain.

The Chemtech Drake is the first of two new dragons, granting the standard buff of bonus damage to enemies with more current Health. The Chemtech Soul will grant a brief second life, similar to Sion’s passive. The Chemtech Drake will create gas zones throughout the four jungle locations, which camouflage anyone inside. Camouflage units are not revealed by normal Stealth Wards, but are by Control Wards.
The second new dragon is the Hextech Drake. The Hextech Drake’s standard buff grants Attack Speed and Ability Haste. The Hextech Soul will give units a chain lighting effect on Basic Attacks and Abilities, similar to the removed item Statikk Shiv. The Hextech Drake will also have a unique terrain effect, creating Hex-gates that can channel a player from one part of the map to another, similar to the Summoner Spell Teleport.

Players are excited to see all the new changes brought with Season 12 coming November 16, 2021.