All changes and new features coming for LoL Arena

With Riot confirming the return of LoL Arena next month, here are all the new changes that will be coming to the 2v2 game mode.

LoL Arena – changes and updates

Implementing 8-man queue

The first major change in LoL Arena is the introduction of the 8-man queue. This allows groups of 2, 3, and 4 players to join together and choose their teams. Moreover, a full lobby of 8 players will be able to enjoy a private match, and you will continue to earn and lose rating points.

According to Riot Games, this approach was taken to avoid splitting queues into ranked and unranked, and the consequences such as longer queue times might lead to.

Champion Diversity

Riot have also been working on increasing the champion diversity, as some picks were definitely far too dominant. With that in mind, they will introduce 60 new augments, including those that provide Ability Haste on Q, W, or E abilities. Augments will be limited to two copies each, encouraging experimentation and creativity. This change also helps to prevent stacking specific classes since the best Augments for those classes will be picked more quickly.

Augments will also come with core and frame visuals to enhance player understanding. Additionally, there will be a revised champion select, with all four duos picking a first champion blindly, showing those champions to everyone in the lobby, and then having the second champion blind-picked. It is worth noting that teams won’t be able to pick any champion that was picked in the first round, leading to a more strategic approach. This will also inevitably impact the LoL Arena Tier List, which will be updated once the game mode is out.

Hextech Gates

Hexgates are making their debut in LoL Arena. The goal was to give squishier classes more options to buy space. According to the devs, these gates will be on a global cooldown when used and will be distributed in random locations adding a layer of strategy to the gameplay.

Read also: LoL Patch 13.22

Stage Gameplay

On top of the Hextech gates, Riot is adding the so-called Downed State to revive a fallen teammate. Each player, when killed, will begin spawning a circular area where they died. After a set amount of time, their ally can stand in this area to revive them. Each team only gets one revive per round. This mechanic should result in fewer hopeless situations in the event a teammate gets immediately 100 to 0’d, according to the devs.

Furthermore, the center point of the ring of fire is randomized in each round, preventing champions from setting up in known locations early and abusing the terrain control.

Cameos

Riot has confirmed they want to refine Cameos for now and that this addition gives more variety to the game mode. They will decide whether they want to keep them involved in the future. For now, though, players will still get Cameos and modify their content by adding two new Cameo champs from the Winterblessed skyline, and keeping the three most enjoyed Cameos from the first release. The champions that will be part of LoL Arena are going to be:

• Sett
• Pyke
• Gwen
• Sylas
• Thresh – the champion will walk around the battlefield and periodically throw his lantern, providing a shield and an escape.
• Sylas – he will start the round by giving each combatant a random ultimate, Ult Spellbook style, that will override your non-flash summoner (which you then get back after casting the spell).

Rating Changes in LoL Arena

All Arena ratings will be reset and players will start from Wood Tier. MMR will be partially reset, and thresholds for Gold and Gladiator have been adjusted to make the climb more challenging. Players who reach higher ranks in this release will earn new tiers.

Challenges

Riot is also adding new challenges to track players’ performance, with some that are going to be Arena-specific. It’s worth noting, however, that progress toward the challengers won’t appear until the very end, even if you’re eliminated early.

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