Summer's upon us, and there's no better way of spending it than huddled away from the scorching heat with a cool, sweaty beverage nearby, and a video game at the ready. Good timing too, as there's a whole lot going on with Riot Games' League of Legends. Let's get started, shall we?
First up, the MMO is getting a new champion, Lucian the Purifier, recently announced on the game's forum. As his namesake suggests, Lucian works as a cleric sort of character, hunting the undead. A sharpshooter, he's most effective working at a range, striking with a variety of ancient weapons, some of which that fire bullets that burst on impact, and rapid fire. Up close, he's not nearly as vicious. If enemies violate his personal space, he can use Relentless Pursuit to escape, and keep the distance between him and the enemy. Riot didn't say when Lucian will be fully available, but he's up on League of Legends' public beta server now. You can see him in action in a trailer at the bottom of the page.
Next, there's a new video out which details some of the changes that will be coming to LoL courtesy of patch 3.9. A good number of characters are affected, but the big changes discussed are for Draven and LeBlanc. Draven's passive has been changed from Wicked Blade to League of Draven, which trades in adoration for bonus gold whenever he kills a Champion. For LeBlanc, mimic still copies the last spell cast, but will deal damage based on the rank of said copied spell. Check out the official site for the rest of the patch notes.
Lastly, Riot announced the Season 3 World Championships for League of Legends. Gamers have the rest of the summer to get ready until heading to Southern California's Galen Center, site of last year's final, on September 16th. 14 winning teams of the semi-finals head to the World Championship at the Staples Center on October 4th. The winning team walks away with a cool $1 million in cash. Tickets are already on sale.