League of Legends Season 2024 is nearly upon us. This new season aims to bring Arcane-inspired gameplay and characters, changes to the Champion Mastery system, the return of Arena, and more. All of these changes are headed to the game throughout the year, but the season starts on January 10.
All of the following news regarding League of Legends Season 2024 was also shared in video form, which you can check out below:
Here are the biggest bullet points from the press release in case you don’t have twenty minutes to check out the dev log:
League of Legends Season 2024 Details:
Arcane Season 2
As previously announced, Arcane Season 2 will be released globally in November. In celebration of the new season, Ambessa Medarda who was first seen in Season 1 will be coming to the Rift (alongside the aforementioned Arcane champion VGU) later this year. Additionally, Arcane-inspired gameplay, an in-game update to a beloved champion in the show, and new skins will also be released in League of Legends at the same time. In the meantime, a preview of the new season can be viewed on YouTube.
Champions in 2024
- Skarner’s visual gameplay update (VGU) is finishing up and will be heading to the Rift in the first half of the year!
- After Skarner, the team will work on two other champion updates: a champion featured in Arcane which will be updated to better match their depiction in the show and Shyvana who will be receiving special attention around her gameplay.
- Smolder the Fiery Fledgling will be going to PBE on January 9! More details on Smolder below.
- After Smolder, players can expect a Vastayan, solo-laning, mid-range mage as the next champion.
Skins in 2024
- In 2024, Rammus and Olaf will be getting skins!
- The first half of 2024’s Prestige skins will be for Rakan, Ezreal, Kindred, Evelynn, and Kayle (in that order).
- The team is working through Lee Sin’s skin catalog now and his art and sustainability update (ASU) will be available to players in early May.
- Teemo’s ASU is taking the team longer than intended and will have an updated timeline to be shared later this year.
- Lunar Revel, the first event of the year, will feature new skinline Heavenscale and returning thematic Porcelain. Players can look forward to the following skins in patch 14.3 and 14.4:
- Heavenscale Lee Sin
- Prestige Heavenscale Ezreal
- Heavenscale Ezreal
- Heavenscale Kai’Sa
- Heavenscale Master Yi
- Heavenscale Diana
- Heavenscale Janna
- Heavenscale Smolder
- Prestige Porcelain Kindred
- Porcelain Graves
- Porcelain Darius
- Porcelain Miss Fortune
- Porcelain Morgana
- Porcelain Irelia
- Porcelain Aurelion Sol
- Other skinlines returning in the first half of 2024 are Porcelain, Faerie Court, PROJECT, and Blood Moon.
- Older Legendary skins will receive borders (Brolaf, Corporate Mundo, Dragon Trainer Tristana).
Systems in 2024
The team will focus on making improvements to how the Ranked system evaluates player skill, reducing situations where a player is matched up with someone in a vastly different rank, and how much LP a player loses LP in relation to how much they gain in the new season. Additionally, there will be changes coming to the Champion Mastery system in the first half of the year.
Vanguard is coming to League as a response to the feedback around high number of bots in games, disruptive smurfs in Ranked, and an increase in scripting. The implementation will allow for live match termination and will refund LP to players in games with/against detected cheaters and bots.
Modes in 2024
- Arena will be coming back in the first half of the year with more improvements:
- The number of teams in a game of Arena will increase from four teams of two, to eight (for a total of 16 players)
- Changes to the UI will be made accordingly and there will be new Augments, maps, and other improvements.
- URF will be coming back for Lunar Revel in patch 14.3 and 14.4, and One-For-All after that.
- A new game mode coming later this year will be a different take on core League gameplay and will be a more relaxed way to spend time with friends.
LoL Esports in 2024
LoL Esports will continue to increase the stakes around MSI and strengthen its connection to Worlds. To that effect, in 2024, the winning team at MSI will be awarded a guaranteed spot at Worlds, which also counts as an additional slot for their region. The second best performing region will secure an additional seed for their region as well.
This season, there will be a base of three Worlds slots for the LEC, LCS, LCK, and LPL. The PCS and VCS will each retain two Worlds slots, and the LLA and CBLOL will each retain one Worlds slot.
And as previously announced, MSI 2024 will be held May 1-19, 2024 in Chengdu, China. Worlds 2024 will be held September 25 to November 2, 2024 and take place in Berlin for Play-Ins and Swiss Stages at the Riot Games Arena, Paris for Quarterfinals and Semifinals at the Adidas Arena, and London at the O2 Arena for Finals.
Finally, to celebrate those who have made a lasting impact on the game, the sport, and the community, LoL Esports is proud to introduce the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, League’s version of a Hall of Fame. An independent voting panel of esports industry veterans and experts from every region will vote to select the very first inductee. Those inducted will be celebrated both in- and out-of-game. More details will be shared at a later date.
Season 2024 Merch
On January 11, 2024, players can purchase new merch in Celebration of the new season at the Riot Games Merch Store:
- Jimei Palace Aatrox 1/6 Scale Statue
- Samira Unlocked Statue
NEW CHAMPION: Smolder
After Noxion beastmasters led several expeditions to the fallen kingdom of Camavor in search of imperial dragons, they finally discovered and stole a hatchling. Despite the hatchling’s mother setting the ship ablaze to save him, he was lost in the chaos. Washing ashore to the craggy islands south of the capital, the hatchling was found by a young boy who named him Smolder.
“My name’s ‘Ignacarious Gigantareno Rex Le Spes Offerentis,’ but my human friend named me Smolder!”
One day while playing around, Smolder started a fire that burned through an entire forest. Upon seeing the smoke, Smolder’s mother descended on the island, finally reuniting with her son. Now under the watchful eyes of his mother, Smolder is learning what it means to be heir to the Camavoran imperial dragon lineage. Playful and keen to grow up, he is eager for any excuse to practice his burgeoning abilities. Though still a fledgling, Smolder’s skills are nothing to sneeze at, setting fire to anything that burns.
Smolder’s Abilities
- Passive – Dragon Practice: Hitting champions with Abilities and killing enemies with Super Scorcher Breath grants Smolder a stack of Dragon Practice. Stacks increase the damage of Smolder’s basic Abilities.
- Q – Super Scorcher Breath: Smolder belches flame at his enemies. This Ability evolves with stacks gaining the following:
- 25: Damages all enemies surrounding the target.
- 125: Sends explosions behind the target that deal 75% of this spell’s damage.
- 225: Burns the target dealing max Health true damage over 3 seconds. Enemy champions that drop below a total health threshold while burning are killed instantly.
- W – Achooo!: Smolder lets out an adorable flaming sneeze, damaging and slowing enemies hit. Hitting champions causes an additional explosion.
- E – Flap, Flap, Flap: Smolder takes flight, gaining Move Speed and ignoring terrain for 1.25 seconds. While flying, Smolder attacks the lowest health enemy.
- R – MMOOOMMMM!: Smolder’s mom breathes fire from above, dealing extra damage and slowing enemies in the center of her fire. Smolder’s mom also heals her son if she hits him.
Looks like the team at Riot’s got a lot planned for this year. We’ll be sure to keep readers posted as each new update hits League.
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