League of Legends: Here's what you can expect from Ahri's rework

It looks like the League of Legends (LoL) team isn’t slowing down any time soon.

After the release of the 2022 Cinematic, they’ve already introduced a new AD Carry, Zeri, the Spark of Zaun, and released the rework of two champions Janna and Tahm Kench on Wednesday (19 January).

Now developer Riot Games is even cooking up another champion rework, this time for Ahri the Nine-tailed Fox.

A decade after her first introduction on the Summoner's Rift, Ahri still hasn't seen much in the way of gameplay updates or aesthetic refinement. Because of these, developers have been keen on updating one of the older champions in LoL, and have been working on it behind the scenes since last year, but pretty little was said until now.

Finally, players have been given a preview of what the team has been working on so far:

Riot wants to “lean into [Ahri's] mobile mage identity” for her rework, as tweeted by champion designer August Browning. Like Janna and Tahm Kench, Ahri’s abilities will get updates to “make her spells feel better to cast in the lane”.

These changes going live on PBE 12.3 (Public Beta Environment) for testing and feedback, so we’ll expect a few more tweaks after testing.

Essence Theft (Passive)

Ahri's passive ability will be enhanced in Patch 12.3 to allow her to gather "Essence Fragments" from enemies and minions. When Ahri collects nine fragments, she will be able to recover between 40 and 120 health and 25 percent of her ability power. When Ahri is successful in defeating a champion, she will also heal.

Ahri's passive has been tweaked to go along with her new ultimate. Every time Ahri absorbs an enemy champion's essence via her passive, Spirit Fire (R) gains an additional charge and its duration is increased.

Buffs

Fox-Fire (W)

Damage: 40-140 > 60-160

Mana Cost: 45 > 25

Flame Duration: 5 seconds > 2.5 seconds

MS Duration: 1.5 seconds > 2 seconds

Spirit Fire (R)

Duration: 10 seconds à 15 seconds

NEW – Consuming a champions Essence with Essence Theft (P) while Spirit Rush is active extends its recast duration by up to 10 seconds and grants an additional cast of Spirit Rush (up to 3 stored).

Cleaned up video effects and added ammo bar icons

Nerfs

Base Stats

Health: 526 +92/level > 480 +82/level

Health Regen: 5.5 > 2.5

Armor: 21 > 18

Orb of Deception (Q)

Mana Cost: 65-85 à 60-100

Charm (E)

Damage amplification feature removed

These changes will arrive on PBE patch 12.3, and perhaps after a few adjustments, when both the developers and testers are content, we might expect a reworked Ahri in the upcoming patch.

Ahri’s Visual update due for 2022

In the developer update during the Season 2022 opening, Riot’s Jonathan Bellis, LoL's product lead for personalization and events, said that the Nine-tailed Fox “doesn’t have back animations and the animations that she does have just feel extremely dated, not only for her base skin but for all epic skins that use the same foundation".

Bellis promises players a “Caitlyn-level update” for Ahri later this year.

Caitlyn, The Piltover Sheriff who was also present in Arcane, received a major update last year on her appearance, animations, and chroma on the Rift.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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