TFT /dev Drop: 6-Cost Units are Almost Here

In a video released last week by the TFT team, it was announced that three 6-cost units would be added to the Into The Arcane TFT set. These three 6-cost champions - Warwick, Mel, and Viktor - are going to be so rare that, apparently, you’ll be lucky to even see one. When they do cross your path, be ready to insta-buy them and slot them into your comp however you can.

Mel and Viktor function similarly to Druid Wukong from the previous set, Magic n’ Mayhem. They don’t have any traits except their one unique trait, but are incredibly powerful units that should stand on their own. Warwick has their unique trait, but is also part of the Experiment trait set. So if you’re running Experiment, you may get lucky enough to add in a final unit once you’ve hit level 10.

These champions were always intended to be a part of the Into The Arcane set, but Riot likely felt that some time needed to pass between the conclusion of Season 2 of Arcane and the inclusion of these vital champions into TFT. You can play Warwick, Viktor, and Mel on PBE right now, or wait until they come live this upcoming Wednesday, as patch 14.24 comes alive.

Warwick
Blood Hunter / Experiment

Warwick's ability, Blood Hunt, causes him to gain increased Attack Speed and Omnivamp when they become Bloodfrenzied. They'll enter a Blood Frenzy when they cast their ability but only for 4 seconds. However, after killing 5 enemies, Warwick will become Bloodfrenzied for the rest of the combat. If you see a Warwick on the enemy board, do your best to position your units such that Warwick would be killed as soon as possible.

Another ace in Warwick’s sleeve is of course that he shares the Experiment trait with five other units. This means that in addition to his powerful kit, he can become much more durable if he’s standing on an Experiment hex granted by having 3+ Experiment Units. Additionally, if Warwick is standing on an Experiment Hex, he will gain the following Experiment Bonus: On kill, Stun enemies adjacent to the dead target for 1 second.

Item Build

Warwick is an "Attack Fighter" just like Violet, Gangplank, Ambessa, Vi, and Sevika. If you were running any of these units, you can strip their ideal items off of them by selling them or using an Item Remover, and give the items to Warwick if you find him deep into the late game. Most of these units build very similarly, prioritising Attack Damage, Attack Speed, and sustain through Omnivamp.

Viktor
Machine Herald

Viktor's ability replaces auto-attacks with a Death Ray that deals magic damage and true damage in a 2-hex line. Enemies hit by the Death Ray are Sundered and Shredded for 5 seconds, which means they're more vulnerable to both Physical and Magical damage. This means Viktor basically comes with a pre-packed Last Whisper and Statikk Shiv, making him a terrific support unit for your carry, whether they’re AP or AD.

His active ability unleashes a Chaos Storm that engulfs the battlefield, knocking up all enemies for 2 seconds, then slamming them down, dealing a percentage of their max Health as magic damage. Once again, Viktor sets up for his allies perfectly by taking every enemy out of the equation for a full two seconds, and dealing extra damage to the extra durable opponents.

Item Build

Viktor is unique in this case because, as per the Machine Herald Trait description, all of the important stats that could make him a potent carry - Attack Damage, Attack Speed, and Mana - are turned into Ability Power instead. This makes Viktor quite flexible in terms of items. Almost anything you give him will be converted to more damage. While you can build defensive stats like Armor, Health, and Magic Resist, without them being turned to AP, Viktor is a back-line with abilities that scale off AP, so those items are not going to be useful.

Mel
Banished Mage

Last but not least, we have Mel, in the magical form which debuted mid-way through the second season of Arcane. When she casts, Mel dashes to a nearby Hex, gaining a shield and granting a shield to two nearby allies. Half of the damage blocked by the shield is stored as energy. Every third cast, Mel unleashes the energy as area-of-effect magic damage.

If this doesn't sound powerful enough, The Banished Mage Trait is one other reason you might want to slot in Mel as soon as possible. Upon casting 12 times during a combat, Mel will be able to shield the player themselves - preventing them from being knocked out of the game. This can occur only once, but Mel will be more powerful for the remainder of the game, gaining 10% Damage Amp.

Item Build

Mel is a “Magic Reaper” like Akali and Ekko. These are basically Assassin units that happen to use Ability Power instead of Attack Damage to scale their abilities. They tend to build a mixture of Ability Power and Omnivamp, needing to stay alive in the front lines in spite of their squishiness.