6-8 PBE Update: Proving Grounds ARAM + New Xerath Skin + Jayce?

The PBE has been updated on this fine Friday evening and comes with a new skin, a mysterious "Jayce" file name, and something a bit unexpected : A "new" map, for custom games, for Sumoners to enjoy the every popular All Mid All Random game type! The map is an updated and altered version of Proving Grounds - the one v one turtoial map everyone has the option of trying out when they start the game. Here is the post from Brackhar about the little project, to quell everyone seeing the data flow through the updater:

A little over a month ago, a number of developers and I participated in Riot’s first ever Thunderdome – a periodic, companywide event aimed at allowing developers to work on whatever they want. My team set out to make the Proving Grounds, our basic tutorial map, playable as full on 5v5. This is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I originally worked on the map, and with the help of some other devs (and a good bit of caffeine) we managed to get everything up and running. Everyone was pretty happy with how the effort turned out, and with the upcoming removal of Winter Summoner’s Rift we saw an opportunity to sneak the new map out by repurposing the same UI hooks.

In the next patch, the Proving Grounds map will be selectable in custom games. While we’ve been playtesting it internally as All Random (and lovin’ it) for quite some time now, all the pick options will be available – Blind Pick, Draft, and All Random – because we’re excited to see what variation you enjoy the most. We’d love to hear any feedback that you may have, as both RiotNome and myself will be providing support post release. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Fellow Rioters who helped me sneak this out:
Bigbadabruin
chunkface
Drevarius
Kilmourz
RiotNome
Ponts
positron7
Riot Taco Storm
RiotTroyzilla
subninja
Veigar

= Brackhar, Technical Designer, via the official forums.






If you continue down the post you can see a ton of little details about this project and some of the features on it as they relate to the classic ARAM "rules":

- New(ish) Music
- Many edits from the original proving grounds, not what you remember.
- All Random Draft Pick ( allowing bans ) possible in future.
- Available item list is cross between SR and CS.
- Ambient Gold / XP gain, but not as high as Crystal Scar
- No recalling to base
- No base healing / Buying items once you leave the starting platform ( only after a death! )
- Certain items are not available ( GA/ Snowball items )
- Teleport Disabled, Revive and Promote still enabled.
- Health Relics are around the map
- Some "ideas" on how to deal with leavers


Also, from the PBE, is a new Xerath skin has been discovered and the The model /particles for last weeks Foxfire Ahri have also been added. Check them out below courtesy of Skin Spotlights.



Additionally, there seems to be a few interesting things in the game files. Watching the patch update, files for two new skins "glacial_malphite" and "Dreadknight Tryndamere". There is also an alleged new champion, named Jayce, popping up in the game files. One of the files in mention was "Jayce_Lightning_Wall", as spotted by a keen eyed redditor. In typical "oh shit" fashion, Riot has, according to hordes of people, been picking off general discussion threads and deleting them at the mention of this Jayce fellow.Immediately after being made available, the PBE was taken down for emergency maintenance, I wouldn't be surprised if these files were missing come its return, if they were ever more than hearsay to begin with.


Riot is also keeping with tradition of updating old splash arts with fancy new art or the alternative, Chinese client art. This PBE update has changes for Pantheon, Twisted Fate, Warwick, Tristana, Renekton, Caitlyn, Mundo, Amumu, Xin Zhao, and Jax, as well as a slew of skins. Check out a few screen caps of them, thanks to another kind redditor:

 

You can check out all of the splash arts by browsing this general discussion thread that features an extensive list of all the skins and arts that were changed on the PBE.

I'll update if I get any new information.