League of Legends is adding a Chem-Baroness, Renata Glasc, in Patch 12.4
Move over, Zeri. There's another Zaunite champion on the way.
The latest League of Legends (LoL) champion, Renata Glasc the Chem-Baroness, was revealed on Tuesday (1 Feb). She will be the game's newest support champion and will be added in Patch 12.4.
In her champion trailer, we see Renata strutting on the Summoner's Rift with a Chem Drone following her around. With it, she is able to inflict harm on her opponents while providing buffs and shields for her allies.
What seems to be her ultimate ability showed us how she can manipulate opponents, taking over Orianna, Vi, Camille, and many others in the trailer, making them turn against their teammates and neutral units.
Based on her backstory, Renata has “humble origins in the Sump of Zaun” and belongs to a family of alchemists.
Her family used their practice to “improve life across Zaun and Piltover alike” and amass the huge amount of wealth that fuels Renata's power and influence.
Riot released a website for “Glasc Industries” on 28 January, followed by the trailer on Tuesday on social media to tease the news about Renata Glasc.
Fans already had hints about the upcoming support champion since September 2021 through the Champion Roadmap. Riot had promised LoL players the release of an ADC and a “support champion a few patches after”.
The new bot lane marksman turned out to be Zeri, the Spark of Zaun, who arrived in Patch 12.2, the electrifying AD Carry who’s voiced by Filipina voice actress Vanille Velasquez.
Meanwhile, Renata (who was only known then as the “new support champion”) had one theme revolving around her: Money.
Based on her early description, she could be the one “calling the shots” in the game. It seems that she has a darker theme around her, compared to most of LoL's "bright and cheerful support champions."
LoL fans in Brazil notably got an early peek at Renata’s lore after her profile was prematurely released on LoL Brazil’s website before Riot promptly took it down.
Screenshots of the champion page showed that Renata grew up "used to going to bed hungry, resentful of her parents’ ideology of helping those in need"...which pushed her to dream about getting rich in the future.
Instead of displaying the same talent in alchemy, she showed her prowess in entrepreneurship, allowing her family to earn more while still being able to help the poor in Zaun, with the help of profits Renata earned from the upper-class Zaunites.
A page about the background of Glasc Industries describes the influence Renata and the Glascs have over Zaun.
The company “donated hundreds of breathers to victims of last year’s noxious chemical fire”. Glasc Industries also plans to expand to “the City of Progress”, which everyone knows to be Piltover.
We all know her intentions, however, aren't exactly good, so some theorize that the donations from Glasc Industries are a cover-up for the Noxius Chemical Fire.
Is Renata connected to Arcane’s Shimmer?
We think it’s likely to be the case. There’s a lot about Renata and her company that points to Shimmer, an illegal substance that was featured in the Netflix LoL series Arcane.
First, her eyes glow a distinct shade of pink, quite similar to Jinx and all others who regularly use Shimmer.
The front page of the Glasc Industries website also shows Renata's augmented purple and white arm presenting a purple potion. It's likely that Renata uses the substance to power her augmented arm as well.
Secondly, the products on the Glasc Industries website show flasks of a purple substance described as a perfume.
The Luxury Line includes a description for “self-defense solutions and augmented limb technology”, which can be similar to Arcane’s Sevika, who had an augmented limb powered by Shimmer.
Renata's backstory in LoL Brazil’s website also explained that her parents used the money she earned for the company “developing a highly refined chemical formula capable of extending lives of the sickest patients”.
The formula also had “unwanted side effects” making patients “extremely manipulative or extremely violent”. Sounds a lot like Shimmer, since the substance creates extremely violent “monsters” from those who use it.
There’s a lot more to uncover about Renata, and we can’t wait for Riot to confirm more about this newest champion.
Her addition to Runeterra will define a lot of events in Piltover and Zaun — so much that there’s a possibility that she may be in the next Arcane season.
On the Summoner’s Rift, her unique abilities will definitely shape the current meta, and we're eagerly waiting to discover what it will be like to play her.
Renata will be tested on LoL's Public Beta Environment (PBE), before she will be released in Patch 12.4.
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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