Older champions are still getting love this season with updates and reworks.
League of Legends has teased two new champions launching this year: Milio, an enchanter, and Naafiri, an assassin. As new champions arrive, old ones won’t be forgotten, with Nidalee, Varus, and Aurelion Sol receiving updates in the coming months.
Kicking off Season 2023, League of Legends has published a “LoL Pls” video where Riot Games staff inform players what to expect from different development teams this year. Executive Producer Jeremy Lee provides a recap of Preseason changes and sneak peeks at new skins. Chris Roberts, Project Lead for the Game Loop Team, explains the addition of the mid-year ranked reset, which will occur this summer.
The segment on champions begins at 7:24 in the YouTube video. Lexi Gao, Product Lead for Champions, discusses the improvements to older champions and introduces champions coming this year. Players can expect voice-over updates for Nidalee and Varus, as well as midscope updates for champions throughout 2023. An Aurelion Sol rework will be released in Patch 13.3, giving the celestial dragon a powerful new ultimate: Falling Star / The Skies Descend. After the Aurelion Sol update, some new faces will step into Summoner’s Rift.
The first new champion of the season will be Milio, a young and adventurous enchanter hailing from the isolationist nation of Ixtal. A child prodigy specializing in the fire axiom, Milio uses fire for healing rather than destruction. Gao shares that Milio is on a journey to Ixaocan, the capital city of Ixtal, where he must face an ancient artifact called the Vidalion.
The second champion arriving in Summoner’s Rift is Naafiri, a Mid Lane assassin with a straightforward kit. Naafiri is a Darkin, which is a corrupted Ascended warrior trapped in a weapon. Upon awakening, Naafiri finds that she inhabits several bodies and ventures out to seek other Darkin. Gao adds that Naafiri will be the only champion released this year without a shirt.
To end the segment, Gao briefly mentions that future champions still being developed include a “hangry jungler” and an “artistic Mid Laner.” The video shows concept art for the two unnamed champions — a dark and foreboding castle represents the jungler, while an Ionian-style tower hints at the Mid Laner’s background. “They’re a bit too early to talk about at the moment,” Gao said, “but look out for future teasers.”
