League of Legends Classic patch 3 has just been unveiled by Game Designer David ‘Phreak’ Turley, which he calls the biggest update yet to Riot’s throwback spin on the world-conquering MOBA. After promising that adding more characters was top of the team’s priority list, the next League Classic update delivers in style: there are five new champions joining the roster, along with a handful of balance changes across the rest of the cast.
Phreak previously noted that new League of Legends Classic champions would be introduced in themed ‘groups’ rather than following the original chronological order. This time, we’re going to Demacia, with a quintet of “pretty big bangers” to get our hands on: Fiora, Galio, Poppy, Shyvana, and Xin Zhao. Phreak points out that the newcomers are all “pretty strongly distinct” from their current versions in the modern live game, which to me is a big part of Classic’s appeal.
Fiora follows her old Season 3 AD caster kit. Her passive is Duelist, granting health regen on hit with a stacking effect against champions. Lunge gives her a targeted dash with damage, and offers two casts per cooldown. Riposte passively gains AD and can be used to reflect one attack (but doesn’t lock her in place like the modern form). Burst of Speed gives attack speed on use with stacking move speed on hit. Her ult is Blade Waltz, hitting five targets at random, with reduced damage if you land on repeat targets.
Galio’s Season 3 kit returns as well. The passive Runic Skin grants AP based on your magic resist. Resolute Smite deals damage and slows in a targeted area. Bulwark grants armor and MR to an ally (which can be himself), and heals Galio when the protected person is hit. Righteous Gust damages enemies in a line, leaving behind a draft that causes all allies to run faster. His ult is Idol of Durand, where he transforms into a statue and taunts nearby foes. When the channel ends, he damages everyone around him based on the attacks absorbed.
Poppy is another big throwback. Her passive Valiant Fighter cuts all incoming damage that goes over 10% of her current health in half. Devastating Blow causes her next attack to instead deal magic damage, which starts at a flat base and increases based on her health. Paragon of Demacia grants stacking AD and armor on hits dealt and received, and you can activate it for full stacks and bonus move speed. Heroic Charge does magic damage and knockback, with more damage and a stun if they hit terrain.
If you’ve never toyed with Poppy’s old Diplomatic Immunity ultimate, it’s going to be a fun one. You pick a single enemy target, and gain bonus damage against them specifically for several seconds. At the same time, no other champion can do anything to Poppy for that duration. “They cannot debuff me, they cannot damage me, they cannot crowd control me,” Phreak remarks. “You could target Ezreal and kill Ezreal – or you could target Soraka and kill Ezreal.” He laughs.
Shyvana’s old Season 2 kit is here. “Her passive has no gameplay, it just describes her abilities,” Phreak notes. “Welcome to old champion design.” Twin Bite makes her next attack hit twice and refunds some of its cooldown on hits. Burnout gives move speed and damages nearby foes, with its duration increasing on hits. Flame Breath damages and lowers the armor of its target, and your auto-attacks hit harder while they’re marked. Her ultimate turns her into a dragon, dashing forwards with damage and knockback, and buffs her other skills.
Finally, Xin Zhao is another Season 3 champion (after his first rework). His passive is Challenge, lowering the armor of the last enemy he attacked. Three Talon Strike makes your next three autos stronger and reduces your cooldowns as they land, with a bonus knock-up on the final hit. Battle Cry applies extra attack speed. Audacious Charge dashes to an enemy with damage, slow, and the Challenge effect. His Crescent Sweep ultimate damages all enemies and knocks back those that aren’t Challenged, granting additional resists to Xin Zhao for each champion hit.
The rollouts are set to continue at pace, Phreak confirms. “Every single patch for the foreseeable future has more than one champion in it. We are generally going to have a high rate of champion releases, much faster than League in the olden days.” With patches scheduled every two weeks, that’s a quick pace, following Riot’s recent decision “to build out the roster as fast as we can.”
That’s all for new additions, and Phreak notes that Classic “is much more balanced than it was in the last few patches,” commenting that Tryndamere’s previous 60% win rate has been brought under control. Expect some slight buffs to Gangplank, Heimerdinger, Kayle, Skarner, and Teemo, however, and a few nerfs for Anivia, Malzahar, Nasus, and Warwick. League of Legends Classic patch 3 is expected to release on Wednesday September 9.