At the end of this month's Dev Update, both Riot Brightmoon and Meddler teased that we were going to have much more information on the new champion Naafiri and the upcoming Summer Season event (And the 2v2v2v2 mode).
While there are no updates on Summer Season Event, we got a lot of information on Naafiri, her appearance, abilities, a brand new cinematic and gameplay leaked.
For starters, Naafiri's abilities look fresh and exciting with packmates mechanics (We will go through them below).
Looking to feast on enemies and prey... Courtesy: Riot Games
Who is Naafiri in League of Legends?
Naafiri is the new League of Legends champion, and the second one to release in this Season 13. Naafiri as a champion (or pack?) is going to be an AD mid lane assassin, as previously stated by Riot Lexical, that caters to beginner players
Unlike most characters in the roster, she's a darkin who commands a pack of hounds, being Naafiri the one in control of the hive (unified consciousness), one example of this is in popular games is Kerrigan from Starcraft controlling the Zergs, or Lycan who summons a pack of 2 wolves in DOTA 2.. This can be seen in her pack movements following the leader hound.
Naafiri and her packmates. Source: Naafiri's Champion Insight
Naafiri Lore in League of Legends
Regarding Naafiri's lore, as most Darkin beings such as Aatrox and Rhaast (Kayn Form), she is one of the fallen Ascended (God Warriors from Shurima) that were corrupted with hemomagic and after got imprisoned in their own weapons.
Which role did she take part in the story of the Ascended or as a Darkin? Well, we don't know yet, but you can find out more details on her bio page releasing soon.
Darkin Dagger Concept Art
Naafiri Abilities – League of Legends Patch 13.14
Riot already revealed all of Naafiri's abilities, and for a champion meant to be played as a beginner-friendly assassin, her kit it's very versatile and at the same time relatively easy to pick up.
Her kit consists mostly in dealing damage though, and mark targets with her Q passive. She also has a lot of mobility with two dashes, a targetted dash one in her W (Which can be blocked by champions) and the second one on her E. To give her survivability, she has a buff on her Ultimate (Speed, Vision, and Shields) with reset mechanics on takedowns.
List of Naafiri Abilities
Passive – We Are More
Naafiri spawns Packmates that attack the targets of her attacks and abilities. Hitting champions with abilities or killing enemies reduces this ability’s cooldown.
Q – Darkin Dagger
Naafiri hurls up to two daggers, each inflicting bleed, or each inflicting bonus damage if the target is already bleeding. If the target is a champion, she restores some health.
Packmates leap to attack champions hit by this skill.
W – Hounds’ Pursuit
Naafiri and her packmates dash at an enemy, colliding with the first champion hit and dealing damage. Her Packmates become untargetable and dash alongside Naafiri, dealing additional damage per Packmate.
E – Eviscerate
Naafiri dashes and damages enemies in an area, recalling and healing her Packmates to full.
R – The Call of the Pack
Naafiri empowers her pack and spawns additional Packmates, gaining a burst of speed and vision and a shield when she attacks a champion.
On first champion takedown, all effects are refreshed.
As a side note, to make her hounds behave like an organized pack, and not in an erratic way like Yorick ghouls, Riot Chibattabun from the software engineering team, explained how they had to implement new technology to achieve this effect.
Naafiri Leaked Gameplay
And how these abilites will look and interact in the game? Well, she's still not up to be tested in the PBE servers, but a gameplay video got leaked by BigBadBear, and we can see a glimpse of her gameplay.
As you just saw, Naafiri can jump walls, her W range after marking enemies is huge (Looks like a mini Nocturne Ultimate), and overall she looks pretty fun and deadly. One of the main drawbacks may be the lack of crowd control or stealth in her kit, so playing cautiously is a must.
Regards numbers well there's still no info, so we must sit and wait.
Naafiri Cinematic Trailer - New League of Legends Champion
To wrap things up, we got a midnight (got leaked) cinematic called Hounds of Iron, which even by today's standards was one of the best champion cinematics from Riot, period. Just only in the animation, art, colors, and design is outstanding and unique compared to previous Champion cinematics, but, when you consider the music, VFX, and narrative turns into a piece of art..
Warning: If you are photosensitive, watch with caution or simply avoid it.
When is Naafiri Released?
After seeing all of this, we got left with only one question, and that's her date release.
As of right now, there's no specific date but the pack of hounds should be ready to feast on people in the PBE for Patch 13.3
And if you are like most players (myself included), Naafiri will disrupt and feast on mid-lane champions in League of Legends Patch 13.14, scheduledfor the beginning of next month.
For more LoL/TFT-related news, check our News Section.
Alone I Starved... but Together? We feast!!
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