With League of Legends entering its 10th year, the game has about 150 champions with thousands of different skins. Naturally, newer champions will be more modern, powerful, and visually appealing compared to older ones, which presents a challenge for Riot Games to balance both power and appearance for the veteran champions in League of Legends.
And this year, 2020, seems to be the time they focus the most on this with a series of remakes and visual upgrades, both large and small. Champions like Wukong, Fiddlesticks, and Volibear faced issues regarding their power, so they have been remade significantly, while champions that are still performing well like Thresh and the latest, Cassiopeia, are receiving visual effect upgrades to clarify the range of their abilities for players to grasp more easily.
Information about Cassiopeia’s update was announced a few hours ago by the head of visual effects – Riot Beardilocks, who shared that the Q – Noxious Blast and R – Petrifying Gaze will be displayed more clearly when used. Moreover, in a video over 1 minute long that he posted, the effects when using abilities in beautiful skins like Elegant Cassiopeia, Immortal, or Year of the Snake will be enhanced and more clearly showcase the characteristics of the skins.
Riot Beardilocks: “Preparing to be implemented in PBE tomorrow with some visual effect updates for Cassiopeia. We are adding accurate displays of the area of effect of her abilities, starting with Cassiopeia’s ultimate. I’ve also tweaked the Q ability a bit as the smoke sometimes appears larger than the actual hitbox.
W – Miasma and E – Twin Fang have no changes across all skins. The petrifying effect has also been updated, and I hope it will look beautiful and accurately represent the character and the skin in-game.”
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for newcomers and those facing Cassiopeia is the unclear range of her ultimate, Petrifying Gaze, which can lead to situations where players think they can dodge the stun but still get ‘turned to stone’ and die unexpectedly. With clearer displays of the ability’s range, gamers will find it much easier to familiarize themselves with this champion.
Cassiopeia is currently a strong choice in both the mid lane and as an ADC; she is the strongest mage in terms of damage over time towards the end of the game and can carry the team when fully equipped. With the upgraded effects and her already strong power, it won’t be surprising if Cassiopeia shines as the strongest champion in a few upcoming patches.