/dev: New Enchants in Patch 3.3

Hey everybody, Riot Endstep here to talk about our 3.3 update to the active item enchant system in Wild Rift. We’re introducing three new active items, adjusting two more existing enchants, and changing up one of our upgraded boots options as well. Along with this update, we’ll also be removing one enchant so we can make space for these new options! This is the first time since the release of Wild Rift that we’re making significant updates to the enchant system, so we wanted to do something new and exciting in addition to resolving some concerns with existing parts of the system. Here’s a more detailed look at what we’re doing.

REPULSOR ENCHANT

Stasis Enchant has been dominant as the defensive active of choice in almost all scenarios - regardless of the foe you’re facing or how they’re attacking you. We’re looking to add more defensive options to make Stasis less necessary for you, and that’s where Repulsor comes in. It knocks back enemies that are close away from you.This makes it an effective self-peel tool, especially when you're up against melee champions. Additionally, it has some powerful use cases for initiators or divers that may want to divide the enemy team or isolate targets to take them down one by one, so it’s not exclusively useful as a defensive option.

MAGNETRON ENCHANT

On the defensive side of active enchants, we’ve also found that our more supportive actives are all oriented towards protecting or healing your entire team, rather than protecting a specific target. Magnetron allows you to opt into protecting a specific player on your team by dashing to them and briefly taunting the closest nearby enemy, which is powerful when protecting your allies,but can also be used aggressively when combined with allied divers or assassins going deep into the enemy lines.

VEIL ENCHANT

Much like Magnetron, Veil is designed to protect a specific ally, rather than protecting your entire team like Locket or Redeeming Enchant. It provides an ally with a low-duration spell shield that blocks one enemy spell. Having good timing, skill, and fast fingers can allow you to block game changing ultimates. Using this enchant is a test of both prediction and reaction for a powerful supportive output.

QUICKSILVER ENCHANT

Quicksilver has been overshadowed by Stasis as a defensive enchant. We’re looking to open up Quicksilver to be used in more situations, and make it less ping-reliant. We know that the original version was extremely punishing to use early and loses value every instant that you don’t use it after being hit by crowd control, so we wanted to also address that.

We’ll be changing the crowd control removal to now be crowd control immunity for a brief window, meaning that it can now block multiple effects at different times and also prevent knockbacks and knockups. However, you won’t be able to use it during knockup and knockback effects, so you’ll have to use it pre-emptively to prevent them. We’re also shifting away from the movement speed buff after activating Quicksilver and changing it to a Tenacity and slow resistance buff to ensure that Quicksilver is best in class against crowd control effects.

GARGOYLE ENCHANT

The percentage health gain that Gargoyle grants has always been powerful, but also difficult to interpret, particularly in the middle of combat. In order to better visualize this effect, we’re changing Gargoyle’s defensive output into a shield rather than health gain. The rest of the effects (stronger when near three or more enemies, reduced damage to enemies while in effect) will remain the same in order to preserve Gargoyle as the premier option for increasing your own durability in teamfights and skirmishes.

SHADOWS ENCHANT

With the addition of our new enchants, we’ll be removing Shadows from the shop due to it mainly only being optimal in very niche situations compared to the other enchants. While we think there may be space for a scouting or long-range chasing enchant in the future, Shadows is currently not living up to our standards for having a slot in the enchant system.

MODIFIED BOOTS

While working on the new active items, we saw an opportunity to improve the core of the system - the boots. Boots of Swiftness have never been as satisfying as other boot options, and so we’re shifting this slot to Boots of Furor in order to give you some more options when shopping for utility boots. Boots of Furor will grant you movement speed when attacking enemies, just like Phage items do. This will provide another option for champions that don’t want to invest into defensive boot choices or haste. This should be particularly compelling for marksmen, but also should have some appeal among fighters to provide an interesting alternative to Gluttonous Greaves in situations where defenses are not what’s needed.

And that’s it for now! The enchant system is something we’ve been looking forward to adding to for quite some time, so we hope you enjoy this update, and we’ll be eagerly looking to hear all your feedback and supporting these actives with adjustments as necessary. Hit us up with your hype plays with the new enchants (especially Magnetron I love that one). Thanks for reading, and catch you next update!

- Riot Endstep