Riot Games Gives Shaco, Orianna, and Leona VFX Updates

Riot Games revealed on the Public Beta Environment subreddit that it has three champions lined up for visual effects (VFX) updates in League of Legends. Older champions of late have been on the receiving end of similar VFX updates in an attempt to keep them on par with the new-age champion designs in League of Legends. In the past champions like Varus, Vayne, Sona, and Vel’Koz were given a makeover by Riot to help their abilities look distinct and clear.

Riot wrote, “Just like all the previous ones, and since these are smaller updates geared toward sprucing up some of the oldest members of the roster, they aren't in the same prioritization conversation as to how we decide who gets a VGU (where we take model, gameplay, and thematic into account too!): they do not affect any other timeline, and are simply dev passion projects.”

Currently, all the three champions and their VFX changes are being tested out on the 12.7 PBE patch cycle. Riot is also working with the community to listen to feedback and incorporate them whenever needed.

Shaco VFX Update

According to Senior Visual Effects Artist Kevin “Sirhaian" Leroy, “This VFX Update was mainly focused on giving Shaco's spells a more unique and modern identity, while also making them a bit easier to see.”

Leroy also stated that all of Shaco’s hits will now have different effects on whether they are front or backstabs, and also will be different for critical strike effects. His Q - Deceive will have a completely new “poof” animation. The post read that Riot tried to retain some of the iconic orange smoke in the composition.

For his W - Jack in the Box, Riot has come up with a new effect for box placement, cleaned up the range indicator, and has also added a subtle burst around the box once they are triggered to show the range of the fear. Additionally, the boxes also have new missiles and hit effects.

Shaco’s E - Two-Shiv Poison also has new missile effects and slow effects. In the case of his R- Hallucinate, players will see new cast effect, poof, timer, and explosion.

Here are some other details, according to Leroy’s post:

- BA (Basic Attack) and Q now have different VFX based on whether or not they're a front attack, backstab or crit.

- Added some extra subtle particles to the Q invisibility.

- Added execute VFX for E (under 30%)

- Added a cast effect for R

While his base skin was given a complete overhaul, other skins like Mad Hatter Shaco, Royal Shaco, Nutcracko, Workshop Shaco, and Asylum Shaco, among others, were remodeled and given tweaks.

Leona VFX Update

In the case of Leona’s update, Leroy said, “This VFX Update is a smaller one, aimed at simply cleaning up some of Base Leona's older VFX, while bringing them a bit closer to how they looked in the cinematic "The Call".

Riot has given Leona a small VFX cleanup for her base and her older skins, whereas her modern skins were left untouched.

Following are the changes made by Riot, according to the Reddit post:

Idles: Leona's sword now has some small flames, as well as inside the ring at the top of her shield.

Passive - Sunlight: Small cleanup

Q - Shield of Daybreak: New ground effect on stun

W - Eclipse: While the buff is up, added some rays of light coming from Leona and the shield shines brighter. New explosions around Leona on release.

E - Zenith Blade: New missile and root effects.

R - Solar Flare: New cast, warning AOE (area of effect) and impact.

According to Leroy, some of her kit has not been changed, since it still fits her fantasy and looks pretty good (like the solar eclipse around her when she uses W).

Skins like Valkyrie Leona, Defender Leona, Iron Solari Leona, Pool Party Leona, and Barbeque Leona have been updated with the new base skin VFX.

Orianna VFX Update

Senior QA Analyst Simon “Zhanos” LeBlanc, on another Reddit post, wrote that the Oriana update was mainly focused on her W - Command: Dissonance and R - Command: Shockwave, but then “ she received a complete update: Better visual clarity, cleaner hitboxes and a quality push to match our current standards.”

Following are the skin-wise changes made, according to LeBlanc:

Base: Complete overhaul

Gothic Orianna: Same as base

Sewn Chaos Orianna: Same as base

Bladecraft Orianna: Recolored from the new base

TPA Orianna: Same as base

Heartseeker Orianna: Complete overhaul

Winter Wonder Orianna: Recolored from the new base (Her snowflake was later added back after community feedback)

Victorious Orianna: Matching new base FX

Dark Star Orianna: Complete overhaul

Pool Party Orianna: Matching new base FX

Orbeeanna: Matching new base FX