Legends of Runeterra is getting some major changes this year and Riot reveals all during it's initial roadmap reveal for 2022. Here's what you need to know:
General
- The concept of an expansion in Legends of Runeterra is changing.
- There are no more sets that break an expansion into 3 content releases.
- All expansion content will now release in a single block.
- Moving away from 3 content releases in a row with the same theme will let the team explore more of Runeterra.
- Runeterra Champions are champions which are not tied to a single region and will alter your deckbuilding rules.
March 2022
- Major balance changes are coming on March 30.
- There will be a line of Infernal Champion Skins.
April 2022
- Free Arcane Jinx & Vi Champion Skins are coming to celebrate the 2nd anniversary in April.
- Major balance changes and champion updates will arrive.
- We'll see older epic-tier Champion Skins get a revamp where their Champion spells will get alternate art as well, just like Arcade Anivia and Arcade Miss Fortune.
May 2022
- Path of Champions 2.0 arrives in May.
- Riot didn't think this mode would become the most popular mode, beating out all the other modes in LoR combined.
- More stories, large-scale progression revamp, new regions, new relics, and more are coming.
- Runeterra's next expansion is due to arrive in May - slightly longer than we may have expected.
- We can expect lots of new content and experimental gameplay systems in this update.
- Jhin is coming to Legends of Runeterra.
- Jhin will allow you to build a deck using cards with skills from all the regions.
- Pulsefire Event!
- There will be more free reward nodes than usual on the event pass to help improve your collection.
June 2022
- Major balance updates.
- Rift Quest Skins & Cosmetics.
July 2022
- New PvP and PvE Expansion.
- Expansion Event Pass.
Video
As of posting this video is private. No clue when it will actually go live.
Full Post
Quote From Riot It’s a big year ahead for Legends of Runeterra! Before getting into the details of our early 2022 roadmap, we’d highly recommend checking out the video above to get a look behind the curtain at just a few of the updates coming this year.
The Path of Champions 2.0, Runeterra Champions, Worlds 2022, free Arcane Jinx & Vi skins, quality of life updates to existing skins, Pulsefire, highly-requested reworks to older champions, and more! With the exception of Worlds 2022, which is coming later this year, you can expect all that in just the first half of 2022. We won’t be going over every single item here, but let’s dive into the details of some of the bigger topics at hand.
Our Next Expansion Arrives in May!
First, let’s address timelines - A Curious Journey has an extended season leading up to the release of our next expansion in May. We had originally planned to follow the same 2-month cadence for expansion releases, which would have placed it in April, but it became apparent that we needed a bit more development time for everything coming in the next expansion. We’re releasing quite a bit more new content & experimental gameplay systems than past expansions, so we’re targeting May for that release. We’ll keep everyone informed of our progress and share more details as we get closer to the expansion!
The Path of Champions 2.0
When we released The Path of Champions last November, we were confident we were shipping something that players would enjoy, but we were blown away by the scale of the mode’s popularity. Since its release, players have been consistently spending more time in The Path of Champions than all other game modes combined. What we did know, however, was that this was just the start of our journey into PvE, and we know we can do so much more with the experience.
We’re colloquially referring to this update as The Path of Champions 2.0: more adventures that tell new stories, a large-scale progression revamp, as well as new regions, relics, and more! Look forward to more information about The Path of Champions 2.0 as we head towards May.
Expansions Over Sets
With this next expansion, we’re changing the definition of “expansions” in Legends of Runeterra.
We’re no longer grouping releases by “sets” as we did for previous releases - i.e. Call of the Mountain, Empires of the Ascended, and Beyond the Bandlewood were all “sets” broken into 3 “expansion” releases revolving primarily around the newest region added to the game.
Moving forward, expansions are now standalone releases that expand content for both PvP & PvE. This approach allows more freedom to explore adding new champions & storyful PvE adventures on a more regular basis. We love our Yordles, but it’ll be nice to be able to explore more of Runeterra as a whole with each expansion.
Runeterra Champions
Speaking of Runeterra, you just got a sneak peek at Jhin, our first Runeterra champion. Rather than being tied to a single region, Runeterra champions tend to wander around the world, or have conflicting allegiances across several regions. Adding one to your deck completely alters your deck-building rules. For example, adding Jhin to your deck allows you to add cards with skills from all other regions. Runeterra champions bring a ton of potential for creative decks that have never been seen before, and we’re excited to see what players do with them!
April Champion Adjustments
While we’re excited for our next expansions, we haven’t forgotten about our existing roster. We’re taking a look at some champions who could use some attention to make their game plans smoother to execute and bring them up to a more competitive level.
Events & Cosmetic Improvements
Lastly, over the past year we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from players who have wanted to see more, and higher-quality offerings from events and cosmetics, including champion skins. Additionally, we’ll be granting all players free Arcane Jinx & Vi skins for Legends of Runeterra’s second anniversary in April.
You may have noticed that Arcade Anivia & Arcade Miss Fortune have new skins for their champion spells. In April, we’re going back to all previously-released Epic-tier champion skins and giving them the same treatment. We’ll also be looking for additional ways to continue improving our champion skin features in the future, so keep the feedback coming!
For events, much like with the Final Boss Veigar boss battles in the Arcade Battle Event, we’re going to continue exploring ways to innovate and improve events moving forward. Starting with the Pulsefire Event, you’ll also see more free reward nodes on the Event Pass than in previous passes to provide more ways to improve your collection - whether you choose to buy the Premium Event Pass or not.
We’re excited to continue exploring new ways for Legends of Runeterra to level up in the coming year. Stay tuned for more information about The Path of Champions 2.0, our next expansion, and so much more in the coming weeks and months!
Comments
Let me guess:
Jhin is going to be a 4 mana 4/4 and his level up condition will be:
i have seen 4 Units die
The overhaul to sets seems welcome and overdue - the idea that only some regions get a meaningful number of cards in each release was bizarre and less fun than a traditional release structure.
Jhin, and the whole concept of Runeterra Champions, seems like a repeat of the Bandle City problem. The whole point of regions is to have a focused identity with strengths and weaknesses around which you can balance your game. Bandle City really broke that by giving you access to a lot of strengths from across all regions, thus crowding out a lot of regions. Jhin's problem might not be as bad (because Jhin is limited to skill cards), but the concept of Runeterra Champions that span all regions is a balance landmine.
Man, I'm so excited for the PoC overhaul.
It is incredibly fun. I only started playing it to progress quests and check out the story panels, but found myself playing it way more than ranked. It's also a really fun way to learn the included champions and various game mechanics.
I'm in fact looking forward to the reset just to see how much better I am now.
New deck building option is always welcome just and it look that they will change the expansion cycle after all so that's good news.
The video got leaked:
Well, well, well, well! I'm really excited for Jhin, I love cards that look at a game's rulebook and say "Nah, screw this!", they're very fun!