When we play League of Legends using a skin, we’re not just changing our champion’s outfit. Most skins also modify skill particles. This way the visual modification is much more eye-catching and Riot Games is right to make these cosmetics a bit more expensive. However, this type of change is a bit more risky. Tiny mistakes can cause developer rules to be broken by causing cosmetics to provide benefits to players who use them.
The total absence of a “pay to win” system has been a goal of League of Legends since its launch. However, some cosmetics have such mechanisms. They may be able to hide an ability or camouflage their colors in Summoner’s Rift. Riot Games has fixed many of these issues in the past, but some are still present in the game and those are what we’ll be focusing on. More precisely, we have selected the 4 aspects that make the game a “pay to win”.
PROJECT: Renekton
The crocodile received this skin over a year ago, and if you look at the sides of the cosmetic, you will see information that will be crucial. When activating their R-Dominus, the left side of the character shows how much charged and accumulated fury they have, while the right side shows how much time they have left of their ultimate.
PROJECT: Pyke
Do you remember when the redesign of Fiddlesticks caused many enemy flashes? This animation on Pyke could do it too, because if you cast his E, then control + the number three, he’ll do a similar animation as he would if he cast his ultimate. An enemy with low health points could therefore panic and use his flash to escape a danger that does not exist, thus wasting a precious resource that only returns after several minutes.
Brand Battle Boss
The Blazing Avenger has one of the most informative skins you can get. When you hit an enemy with one of her abilities, she marks them with the passive’s current charges. If you stun someone with the Q, that also marks them, as well as any rebound charges they can get with their ultimate. If you’re playing Brand, and you’re undecided on which skin to choose, don’t hesitate.
Bard Sylvester
Bard’s low popularity is what saves us from this “pay to win” skin. However, with his Sylvester skin, he has a significant boost to his Q – Cosmic Link. The problem in this case is related to the ability’s projectile. It’s something that the character drags along in every aspect, but is most noticeable in this one. In other words, the size of the visual effect is smaller than its actual effect. This also comes with more subtle colors, especially when casting the skill.
With Bard being a champion meant to move around the map and perform ganks, upgrading this cosmetic would allow opponents to save themselves from time to time. Granted, it’s not the most eye-catching perk on the list, but it won’t eliminate the feeling of unfairness if we get hit by something we thought we’d dodged.
If you know of any other skins that offer additional information about the game, feel free to mention them in the comments!
worlds-lol
In the very first match of Worlds 2022 League of Legends, we were able to witness an absurd move from an Isurus player — a serious move that perfectly demonstrates a lingering problem that Riot has been trying to fix for over one year.