League of Legends Summoner's Rift update hitting beta servers soon

summoner
YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Riot Games has lifted the lid of a hefty update coming to Summoner's Rift , describing it as "a big part of our commitment to continually improve League of Legends." There's still work to be done but the update should be ready to roll out to the public beta environment in the relatively near future.

Riot said that while the "fundamental structure" of the map will remain unchanged—flashable walls, turret ranges, lane sizes, brush interaction and ward placements will continue to work as they currently do—the plan is to improve gameplay by providing "additional clarity."

A combination of map design and buffs in each quadrant provide "thoughtfully placed landmarks and subtle color cues," helping players maintain their orientation, while new monsters have been added with designs that will accurately reflect their in-game characteristics. New models for Baron Nashor and Dragon are more expressive, and we spotted a new toad-like monster with tusks called Gromp lurking in the jungle. There's also been a focus on eliminating the randomness of Baron's and Dragon's attack patterns so players can more easily predict and avoid them.

"What clarity translates to is the updated map doing a better job of drawing eyes to the most important information of the moment," the studio wrote in a new post. "When fights break out, the environment should be the background, allowing particle effects and champions to pop off the screen and feed players the crucial data they need to make the right play."

A hard launch date hasn't been settled, but Riot said the update will be rolled out to PBE soon. A live beta is being considered, but technical considerations make it a "tricky proposition" this time around. As for how it will impact other maps, Riot admitted that it's really not sure how that will work out, saying, "We're laser-focused on getting this update to players globally."

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in MOBA
Seekers of Skyveil screenshot
Seekers of Skyveil, the MOBA—extraction shooter mashup, is shutting down less than a month after release: ‘We have no choice but to bring this short journey to an end’
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe
Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.
Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
Three monsters holding clubs in Dota 2.
As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its ways
Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser revealed in silhouette against a white moon and a blood-red sky.
League of Legends is getting a hotly anticipated skin for its lich necromancer Mordekaiser, but fans' joy has been 'obliterated' because it's 'stuck in a $200 fomo gacha store'
Smite 2 art
Hi-Rez will only be giving 'minor updates' to Smite and Paladins now it's laying off around 70 employees, but don't worry, Smite 2 is the 'primary focus of the newly streamlined operations'
Latest in News
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
Microsoft's iconic Bliss wallpaper
From pixels to pinot: The Windows XP 'Bliss' wallpaper hill was real and this is what it looks like now
A female Zoi making two hearts with her fingers.
Following 24 hours of Denuvo-based backlash, Inzoi is taking a surprising step and removing it entirely: 'We want to sincerely apologise for not aligning more closely with player expectations'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
An ancient, angry stone mech from No Man's Sky's new Relics update
No Man’s Sky lets you unearth ancient, angry mechs in the astro-archaeology filled Relics update
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense