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Players can finally breathe a sigh of relief as Riot Games revealed that it will be completely reworking League of Legends’ most hated champion, Yuumi. The cat champion was released in 2019 and is special in a way since she allows new players to learn the game quickly and experience League of Legends swiftly. Additionally, Yuumi tends to become very strong towards the late game, thanks to her never-ending heals, shields, and scaling. The biggest problem with Yuumi’s kit is that the developers have a problem when it comes to balancing. “She’s also been a tough balance problem at all levels of play despite numerous changes and updates,” noted Riot.
Riot Games talked about how it will be approaching Yuumi’s rework. It added that the rework is in the early stages.
What Riot Games thinks of Yuumi
What makes the magical cat special in League of Legends is that Yuumi has a unique mechanic that allows her to attach to her allies and remain untargetable. However, this turns into a bane since she can attach herself to a different champion, even if she or her lane partner has been targeted and suppressed. Riot said, “Since her release, we’ve made numerous small changes to maintain Yuumi’s core fantasy while limiting her presence in pro play. A few more balance changes and a Durability Update later, Yuumi still hasn’t found a stable place in solo queue, and has remained one of the premier champions in the last two World Championships.”
Basically, the company recorded its dissatisfaction with Yuumi’s state in-game and that the rework is aimed at reducing some of the things that make her frustrating to play against while still retaining the core gameplay pattern her players have come to love.
Some of the primary reasons for Yuumi’s high ban rate are as follows:
Yuumi’s strong scaling into late game
Laning as an ADC with Yuumi is not fun owing to her early game weakness
In pro play, Yuumi lacks exploitable counterplay windows
What to expect from the Yuumi rework?
Riot Games will keep her core mechanic of untargetability intact even with the rework. Champions like Yuumi are necessary to maintain a low barrier to entry. “We want to rework Yuumi to be an easy-to-learn Enchanter that’s all about protecting and enhancing her allies. This means a greater emphasis on how Yuumi can aid her allies earlier in the game by trading her damage and crowd control for more early power and defense,” noted Riot.
Although untargetability will still be core in the kit, Riot Games is planning to find and emphasize a mechanic that will give the enemy team some form of counterplay.
Players will be given more inputs and insights into Yuumi’s rework in 2023 and Riot wants this update to land the magical cat in a more stable place, whilst still maintaining her gameplay fantasy.
