Riot Dev Reveals That Nilah Wields an Urumi

Nilah is the latest champion who will soon be joining League of Legends’ long list of playable characters. On 17th June, Riot Games officially revealed her through a champion trailer, giving a glimpse of what she can do on the Summoner’s Rift.

From the trailer, players can tell that Nilah seems to use her powers by wielding a water whip of sorts and she draws the powers from the orb on her hip. She can also be seen communicating to a hand that she calls “Demon.”

In the gameplay cuts of the video, Nilah can be seen using her weapon at melee range and jumping around her enemies with swift movement speed. This probably means that Nilah will also be a highly mobile champion in League of Legends. She also uses a spell shield, similar to Sivir’s, to block Twisted Fate’s stun card.

New details about Nilah’s Indian Origin weapon

Lead Gameplay Producer Ryan “Reav3” Mireles commented on a Reddit post and gave more details about Nilah’s weapon. One Redditor wished that the weapon had been an Urumi instead of a whip, Reav3 confirmed, “It is an Urumi! :)”

Urumi is a sword with a flexible, whip-like blade and the weapon originated from the South of the Indian sub-continent. It is an ancient weapon in the history of India and is basically treated like a steel whip. Urumi is taught in Indian martial arts like Kalari and requires the wielders to use agile maneuvers. When the weapon is not used, it is usually worn coiled around the waist like a belt with the handle at the wielder’s side.

More information about Nilah’s abilities

The trailer that was released yesterday showed only a glimpse of what Nilah does on the Rift as a melee bot-laner. Players were confused by the movement speed, the dash, and also a spell that seemed to block other spells.

Talking about Nilah, Senior Game Designer Blake “Squad5” Smith said, “Exciting to finally have Nilah be shown to everyone. There's an aspect of her that's not visible in the teaser that's something pretty unique she brings to the table that should be fun to see how everyone reacts.

I will spoil - she doesn't have any resets, and that's [a] dodge.” Another champion who has a dodge built into the ability kit is Jax in his E - Counter Strike ability.

When another user asked what her unique mechanic is, Reav3 said, “Some of her more unique mechanics are hard to see in that video. Once the kit is fully revealed I think it will become more clear. She definitely has some really unique things about her.”

From this comment, it is clear that Nilah will have her own unique abilities and not just the same dash and shield we have seen in League of Legends commonly.

Another detail to note about Nilah is that Riot Games specifies that she is from the land of a thousand colors and has not been very clear on where that is. Now, with the community seeking more input on her origin, Reav3 stated that Nilah is from the Eastern Continent of Runeterra, the same one as Camavor. The region is not currently shown on the Universe map.

Riot has yet to reveal the official release date for Nilah but players can expect to see her hit the rift in LoL Patch 12.13 or LoL Patch 12.14. It is also rumored that Nilah will be receiving a Star Guardian skin upon release.