image credit: Riot Games
Source of information
Before dwelling on Illaoi in Project L, it is worth recalling his role in League of Legends. She belongs to the archetype Juggernautthat is to say powerful fightersrelatively strong in duelsenough resistant (without being pure tanks), but with a reduced mobility. His passive allows him to spawn tentacles near walls (technically she summons them, but the player does not control where they spawn). His spells allow him to summon a tentacle ghost who type where Illaoi wishes (tentacle that disappears just after hitting unlike the tentacles of the passive), to put a shot of his golden idol (with the tentacles within reach that also hit), from steal an opponent’s spirit essence to beat themand finally of type on an opponent while invoking tentacles who type at the same time.
Nothing very complicated in this kit, even if we notice thatapart from typing, Illaoi doesn’t do much. None of his spells increase his mobility, or allow him to defend himself. Only his W (the idol hit) has a small defensive function by allowing him to heal himself a little. Now is the time to look at what the developers have imagined for her in Project L.
How are champions chosen in Project L?
Several points are taken into consideration to choose a champion: his fighting style, his general theme (around which the character was designed), their archetype, potential synergy with the rest of the cast, race and/or ethnicity, personality, identity, size etc… Once thecharacter dna isolated (A = Concept Artist, D = Designer, N = Narrative Writer, joke is from Riot Games), several ideas are put in a kind of “pot” in which will be picked them future concepts around the character. It is not limited to its gameplaybut also includes ideas like artistic direction or the music of the fighter. This can be important, for example a theme based on speed metal nightcore (click this link at your own risk) on a massive, slow character like Nautilus would be irrelevant at all.
¨For Project L, the devs chose to accentuate even more the differences between each archetype. The Juggernauts will be masses of muscle, the assassins very agile, while the mages must leave an impression of power to the player. Once these concepts are clearly identified, the development team has a clear direction in which to work, and around the choices made will be designed future fighter. For Illaoi, the tentacles therefore seem to have to prevail.
Around Illaoi
The priestess of Nagakabouros does not necessarily have tagged league of legends players, and the developers seem to share this opinion. They evoke more his role in Ruined King: A League of Legends Story than the one she holds in the MOBA lore. In this canon story with the Runeterra universe, Illaoi helps save the world from Ruin. His features of Legends of Runeterra (the deck of cards) have also been taken into account, to make her an almost unstoppable force.
According to the devs, it was thought to be: “A spiritual, powerful and charismatic leader who inspires others to be their own relentless force.” She not only had to be physically imposingbut also in his way of being. After all, she is the one who judges (according to her religion in the lore) who is worthy of pursuing her personal quest and who deserves to return to the abyss. But beyond that, Illaoi must not not be arrogantbut rather a person joyful who wishes to help others to fulfill themselves as individuals (well, we understood it like that. Otherwise, they just meant that she was going to make jokes by being witty, but that doesn’t fit too much with the rest of the given image).
In-game, this will result in a big hurbox because of her size, and a fighter who will give powerful but slow blows. Again, themagic argument of the character easy to learn but hard to master (original huh?).
Finally, here are some gameplay points mentioned by Riot Games:
- Illaoi fights alongside his god. Nagakabouros is a constant threat that sustains Illaoi while instilling fear in opponents.
- Slow, but still moving. Illaoi is always on the move, and she punishes those who are still. It’s one of the main beliefs of his god, and we wanted to represent that through his gameplay.
- Overwhelming pressure. Once Illaoi puts the opponent in a position where they get hit or need to block, she is relentless, forcing her opponent to make a move on her own terms.
- Illaoi is the central element, Nagakabouros supports her. Illaoi’s physical strength is her main source of power, and her god’s tentacles are there to help, not replace her. Nagakabouros is not the star of the show.
- Simple and direct. Illaoi’s power comes from heavy semi-short strikes, heavy long strikes, and simultaneous or staggered tentacle strikes. But not the complexity of managing the state of many entities.
- Not a puppeteer. Illaoi shouldn’t feel like he’s commanding his god. She can control her totem’s tentacles, however any independently spawned tentacles are gifts, not privileges. Illaoi does not send them without earning them.
- Not a zoner. Illaoi doesn’t want to push the opponent away with sprawling blows, she wants to create openings for them to jump on their opponent and hurt them.
The devs then specify that tentacles will only appear if Illaoi lands a hit (one hit or one block). They don’t want her to be able to summon them directly, otherwise they risk turning her into a zoner or puppeteer.
Now I will give my opinion as a LoL player. Yes, the game lacks female bodybuilders, as Illaoi is the only one out of 160 champions. Nevertheless, if I understand the desire to integrate it for that (and personally I’m quite happy with it), I have trouble with the gameplay presented. If you want a champion who hits hard by jumping on her opponents, Leona or Rell can fill this role very well (even if it is true that we do not really feel the musculature that they should have compared to their armor especially Leona). When people talk to me about Illaoi, I think a lot about tentaclesprobably because they are the ones who have the most impressive visual effects on LoL. Same on Legends of Runeterra, the condition for lvl up Illaoi depends on the damage inflicted by the tentacles she summons, and her last ones are summoned at the time of the attack, not after a successful attack.
I really hope to see the tentacles have other functions than just being rewards. As said above, other champions can jump on their opponents to hit hard with a real impression of power. But there is none than one who fights with tentaclesand somewhere I wish these were more than a “passive” bonus (in the sense that the player doesn’t really control their actions). Nevertheless, its development is only at the beginning, and the developers said that they are also thinking about the possibility of spawning tentacles that would send the opponent back to Illaoi.
I hope this direction will be explored a little more, even if I find good idea to avoid making it a zoneuse or puppeteerwhich would not fit with his LoL gameplay. Use tentacles not for poke or ranged combat, but to prevent the opponent from retreating or even bringing him back towards Illaoi seems to me to be a good compromise between the side strong woman who swings potatoes, and priestess of a god with many tentacles. In short, happy to see it in the game, but not totally convinced by the gameplay presented, even if the latter still has time to evolve.
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from him, but he’s more alive than ever: Project L, the ambitious Versus Fighting project from the Riot teams, comes to tell us more about his economic model and takes the opportunity to unveil a brand new character named Illaoi.