12/13 PBE Update: Little Legends Series 4, Thresh VFX Update, & More

The PBE has been updated! As we continue the 10.1 PBE cycle, today's patch includes a look at the newest Little Legends for TFT, details on upcoming Thresh VFX changes, and more!
Continue reading for more information!

Table of Contents

• Little Legends Series 4
• Thresh VFX Update
• Miscellaneous
• Balance Changes
• Context & Notes

Little Legends Series 4

As noted on the TFT Twitter, new Little Legends Tocker, Craggle, and Flutterbug are now on the PBE!

• Flutterbug -"Flutterbug wants to take over the world -- and eat all the yummiest things in it. But, he's very small. He often has to hide under things in order to not get squashed. While he hides, he machinates on his complex plans. "
• Flutterbug
• Beevil Flutterbug
• Ixtali Flutterbug
• Legionnaire Flutterbug
• Sandbringer Flutterbug
• True Ice Flutterbug

• Craggle -"Craggle has a soft spot for the vulnerable creatures of the world, and tries to protect them with every ounce of his strength as if he was a giant colossus -- even if he is still growing."
• Craggle
• Black Mist Craggle
• Hextech Craggle
• Legionnaire Craggle
• Sandbringer Craggle
• True Ice Craggle

• Tocker -"Tocker is constantly tinkering with things to make them better, even on his own body!"
• Tocker
• Black Mist Tocker
• Chemtech Tocker
• Legionnaire Tocker
• Petal Dancer Tocker
• Petricite Tocker

Thresh VFX Update

Here's Riot Sirhaian with details on the Thresh VFX Update coming to the PBE soon:

"Hello everyone! 

Similar to the previous VFX updates we’ve made in the past (Ziggs, Olaf, Lux, etc), we're working on updates to the Visual Effects (VFX) of more champions whose spell effects are in need of some love. Our aim is to get their FX to current League standards and improve gameplay clarity. In Patch 10.1, we'll be releasing a VFX Update for Thresh! 

Just like the previous ones, and since these are smaller updates geared toward sprucing up some of the oldest members of the roster, they aren't in the same prioritization conversation as to how we decide who gets a VGU (where we take model, gameplay, and thematic into account too!): they do not affect any other timeline, and are simply dev passion projects. 

We're looking for feedback on his VFX changes, which should be up on the PBE soon-ish. Please try him out there —especially if you're a main— and leave us your feedback once the changes are up! 

THRESH 

VFX Update aimed at improving gameplay readability and bringing up his VFXs to today's standards, while improving his thematic feel.

Base Kit:

• P - New souls and power-up effects.
• BA - Trails on all skins, and new hit effects.
• Q - Made the hitbox clearer and adjusted hook position. New hit effects. New link break effect (ie. on cleanse/qss). New wind-up effect.
• W - New Lantern missile and AOE indicator. Should be more noticeable and in-thematic. New edge indicator. Cleaned up ray of light towards Thresh. Lantern now rotates much more fluidly (no more chunky rotations, except if you're super close to it). Cleaned up overall.
• E - Added a circle indicator to show the actual hitbox. Yes, there was a circle hitbox around it. Why? How would I know. At least now it's clearly indicated. Also new indicator overall with improved thematic feel.
• R - Thematic feel improvement, and cleaned up. I kept the original pillars.
• Idle Effects - Cleaned up and improved idle effects overall to match his actual appearance (read "match the Senna cinematic").

Skin changes:

• All Skins: Cleaned up and matched base changes.
• Deep Terror Thresh: Cleaned up overall, and more bubbles.
• Championship Thresh: New Championship particles overall, and some cleanup.
• Blood Moon Thresh: Mostly just a cleanup with some thematic improvements.
• Dark Star Thresh: Mostly just some tweaks to match base.
• High Noon Thresh: Mostly just some tweaks to match base.

Known things to add/fix:

• Add BA Trails on Dark Star.
• Add E circle indicators on Pulsefire Thresh.
• W Lantern fire position is off on High Noon Thresh.

Please test those changes on the PBE once he's up (should be some time next week) and let us know if you have any feedback!"

Miscellaneous 

• Skin bios added:
• Skin Lines: Mecha Kingdoms, Freljord
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar: "An assassin of a forgotten order long thought dead, Rengar prowls the tombs, retrieving ancient relics of power for purposes unknown. Far more alarming, he appears to be hunting guardians, his blades enchanted to pierce their ancient magic and defenses..."
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze: "Ryze, the eternal conservator-- ancient guardian of the sands, we invoke thee to protect us from an evil of our own making. Let no man tread upon these hallowed grounds, lest your righteous magic entomb them beneath the dunes."
• Guardian of the Sands Janna: "Janna, the desert gale-- ancient guardian of the sands, we invoke thee to protect us from an evil of our own making. Let no man tread upon these hallowed grounds, lest your sandstorms consume them whole."
• Mecha Kingdoms Garen: "Once a ruthless warlord, Garen led his armies to victory after victory, laying the foundations for the Vercentia Kingdom. When the leviathans appeared out of nowhere, he opted to put aside his dream of uniting all the Great Kingdoms under his rule, and instead to march his newly-fashioned Avalon alongside his former enemies for the sake of humanity."
• Mecha Kingdoms Garen Prestige Edition: "Having been elected the leader of the United Great Kingdoms, Garen will stop at nothing until the safety of his people is ensured. Armed with an Avalon upgraded to the teeth, he stands at the forefront of the mightiest warriors from across the land, determined to lead them into battle until the leviathans are no more."
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven: "Once a promising general of Vercentia, Draven no longer wished to fight for someone else's glory. Now living his best life as an independent mercenary, he has made a name for himself and his showmanship in battle. To this day, how he managed to acquire the resources necessary to craft an Avalon remains a mystery..."
• Mecha Kingdoms Jax: "Famed as the greatest weapons master in all the land, Jax has been itching for a proper weapon, and a proper fight. When the best minds of the Estercrest Kingdom came together-- using strange technology seemingly gifted to them by the heavens-- to construct an indomitable Avalon, Jax was finally impressed. He welcomes the leviathan invasion, hoping these monstrous foes will prove to be the challenge he has been searching for his entire life."
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett: "A nameless barbarian who survived on the outskirts, Sett knew his greatest talent came from his fists. After building his wealth and reputation in brutal fighting pits, he created a new persona, donning the title of The Savage Wolf. Upon hearing of the leviathan invasion, he used his fame and fortune to acquire an Avalon of his own in order to, once and for all, prove his might in front of a captivated audience."
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona: "Leona grew up as the favored daughter of the Dawnrise Kingdom. When the leviathans appeared on her homeland's shores, she took command of her realm's forces, becoming the matriarch of her people. In return, the grateful scholars of her court gifted her an Avalon, an immense pilotable mech powered by the life essence of the very monsters that threatened her home. Now, she stands fearless, leading vast navies into war."
• Freljord Sylas: "Free from the kingdom that once imprisoned him, Sylas of Dregbourne marches from Demacia to the Freljord. With every step he takes, he remembers what others have branded him: Mage, Traitor, Kingslayer-- names he revels in as he endures the bitter cold, his heart warmed by the fires of rebellion. It will be here, in the icy north, that he will seize the ancient power needed to fuel his revolution..."

Sett

• Haymaker (W) shield duration increased from 2s to 3s

Sylas
[Context]

Context & Notes

1) Check out the Quick Gameplay Thoughts for December 13 (done by Riot Scruffy this week!) for a look at some preseason follow up work, plus context on the Sylas changes in today's PBE update:

"Hey all, 

It’s Riot Scruffy here and with Meddler out, I’m subbing in for some quick gameplay thoughts. With the holidays, this will probably be the last post of 2019, so we hope you all get some rest and stay cozy someplace warm. See you all in January. 

Patch 9.24b 

The end of year always presents some unique challenges with our patch schedule winding down and us wanting to get in as many tweaks as we can to tune preseason. Patch 9.24 is our last full patch of the year and just went live this week. We are planning to do a follow up “mini patch” next week with more champion and systems balance (but no major features or mechanics changes). 

Dragon Souls and Elder 

We’ve had enough time and data to do analysis on the impacts of dragon soul and elder dragon buff as end game objective rewards. In general both dragon souls and elder buff are stronger than we think they should be, but some individual buffs are more than others. Our plans for 9.24b are: 

• Ocean Soul - big nerf
• Infernal Soul - moderate nerf
• Mountain Soul - moderate nerf
• Elder buff - moderate nerf
• Cloud Soul - no change 

Lethality items follow up 

Overall we’re seeing the updated Lethality items as a bit underpowered across the board. Our current approach is that we want to buff Serrated Dirk by 5 AD to make the build path a bit more powerful and create some more early threat. Additionally we also want to buff Edge of Night by that same 5 AD, so that buying it in the right games (mage / CC heavy) has a slightly higher payoff. Aside from that, the individual items are filling a unique set of contexts and roles well, so assassins now have a few more choices around how they want to focus their builds. 

Support items follow up 

The core concept of only having to buy the support once, and then immediately transitioning into the main item system has landed really well we think. It’s leading to more flexible build options for supports that feel more tailored to the champ you're playing. Another positive effect we’re seeing is a few more viable champs to the support role that would rather not have spent a lot of gold on the old items. 

We do however have two areas that we want to improve for 10.1. One is differentiating the stat lines more between the aggressive and defensive options. Relic Shield and Steel Shoulderguard will have some of their offensive stats pushed into health regen and Spectral Sickle and Spellthief’s Edge will have some of their health converted to mana regen for a more glass cannon build. Overall we think that by giving these items more defined stat profiles we can give the users a bit more of what they need. The second change we’re making for 10.1 is increasing the tier 3 quest goal so that we can remove the farming penalty once you reach tier 3. 

Sylas Mechanics Changes 

We have some Sylas work coming to PBE for patch 10.1. The core goal here is to shift his mechanics in a way that open up some weaknesses for him in very high level play while making him a viable champ for the majority of players (it’s a buff overall). We’re combining a set of strategies that we think will lead to this outcome: 

• Less lane control, but significantly stronger late - having a safe, strong lane leads to being a strong option in all possible matchups. To counterbalance we’re buffing his late game across multiple axes (damage, tankiness, cooldowns)
• Mid viability over jungle - Juggling multiple roles lead to an additional strength as a flex pick. We think we can get him to a healthier spot for mid lane if we don’t allow him to be a strong flex pick in jungle
• Remove tools - E shield. Having a tool for every situation is something that can lead to this problem so we are going to remove the shield on E and give back the power in other places on the kit.
• Lowering skill floor on passive and W - We want to soften a few of the optimizations that many players are struggling to access without pulling out the decisions and skills of experienced players entirely. 

New Champion Release Pace 

The end of this year leading into next year will have a flurry of new champions (Senna, Aphelios, Sett). We are as excited as you about this, but our current goal is not to speed up the pace of new champions and VGUs. The way that we develop focuses on getting it right over hitting perfect deadlines, so sometimes projects can cluster together like these three. Expect things to slow down a bit and 2020 should be fairly similar to 2019 in terms of champion releases. 

A related note is that Senna -> Aphelios -> Sett I think are a good representation of our overall approach to champion complexity and difficulty going forward. We want to have a wide range of simple, complex, accessible, and difficult offerings for players of all types so we’re aiming to balance that throughout our new champions and VGUs in 2020. 

-Scruffy"

2) Riot Orphyre provided bugs & feedback threads for Chromas and the Prestige skin this cycle:

PBE Bugs & Feedback Thread: Mecha Kingdoms, Guardian of the Sands, and Freljord Sylas Chromas!

"Hey everyone! 

We’ve got new Chromas coming up for Mecha Kingdoms Sett, Mecha Kingdoms Leona, Mecha Kingdoms Draven, Mecha Kingdoms Jax, Guardian of the Sands Ryze, Guardian of the Sands Janna, Guardian of the Sands Rengar, and Freljord Sylas! 

Mecha Kingdoms Sett:

• New textures:
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett (Amethyst)
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett (Tanzanite)
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett (Ruby)
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett (Turquoise)
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett (Pearl)
• Mecha Kingdoms Sett (Peacekeeper)

Mecha Kingdoms Leona:

• New textures:
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Peacekeeper)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Obsidian)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Pearl)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Ruby)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Turquoise)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Sapphire)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Rose Quartz)
• Mecha Kingdoms Leona (Tanzanite)

Mecha Kingdoms Draven:

• New textures:
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven (Ruby)
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven (Peacekeeper)
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven (Emerald)
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven (Obsidian)
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven (Rose Quartz)
• Mecha Kingdoms Draven (Amethyst)

Mecha Kingdoms Jax:

• New textures:
• Mecha Kingdoms Jax (Ruby)
• Mecha Kingdoms Jax (Peridot)
• Mecha Kingdoms Jax (Rose Quartz)
• Mecha Kingdoms Jax (Peacekeeper)
• Mecha Kingdoms Jax (Pearl)

Guardian of the Sands Ryze:

• New textures:
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze (Obsidian)
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze (Aquamarine)
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze (Ruby)
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze (Emerald)
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze (Amethyst)
• Guardian of the Sands Ryze (Citrine)

Guardian of the Sands Janna:

• New textures:
• Guardian of the Sands Janna (Ruby)
• Guardian of the Sands Janna (Rose Quartz)
• Guardian of the Sands Janna (Sapphire)
• Guardian of the Sands Janna (Peridot)
• Guardian of the Sands Janna (Tanzanite)
• Guardian of the Sands Janna (Catseye)

Guardian of the Sands Rengar:

• New textures:
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar (Obsidian)
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar (Sapphire)
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar (Ruby)
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar (Emerald)
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar (Amethyst)
• Guardian of the Sands Rengar (Rose Quartz)

Freljord Sylas:

• New textures:
• Freljord Sylas (Ruby)
• Freljord Sylas (Turquoise)
• Freljord Sylas (Amethyst)
• Freljord Sylas (Pearl) 

The Chroma sets are now available on PBE! We hope you all will enjoy the new sets; as usual, we’re looking forward to hearing your constructive feedback. I’ll do my best to answer and reply to your questions and feedback! 

Thanks! 

Riot Orphyre"

PBE Bugs & Feedback Thread: Mecha Kingdoms Garen Prestige Edition!

"Hey everyone! 

We’ve got a new Prestige skin coming out for Mecha Kingdoms Garen! He’ll be coming with: 

New Model and Textures: Gunmetal and shiny golds!
Golden VFX: Blasting out golden steam and energies throughout his abilities 

Mecha Kingdoms Garen Prestige Edition is available on PBE! Feel free to leave any feedback or questions you have so far down below! 

Thanks for checking in, hope to hear from you soon! 

Riot Orphyre"

Check out [THIS PAGE] for a comprehensive list of the new content & changes currently on the PBE as a part of this cycle or catch up with the individual update links below !

• 12/11 PBE Update: New Champion Sett, New Mecha Kingdoms + Dragonslayer + Guardian of the Sands, Skins & Much More
• 12/12 PBE Update: Mecha Kingdoms Garen Prestige Edition Splash, New TFT Element & Champs, & More