Leona Mechanics Preview Posted by Morello on Tue, 2011-06-28 12:05

Greetings Summoners!

We wanted to give you a glimmer of insight into the mechanics of our newest champion, Leona, the Radiant Dawn.

Leona is a bit special because she’s our answer to a pretty popular fan request; a female tank! I think a good place to start is to answer “what exactly does ‘tank’ mean to us at Riot?”

Starts and initiates teamfights (usually via CC).
Soaks up damage.
May peel dangerous attackers off other vulnerable team mates.
Presents itself as an attractive target by causing long-term “threat” as the fight continues.

Leona does this by providing a low-cooldown, low-duration, single-target stun with a skillshot gap-closer to start. After she closes the gap to the enemy, she’ll be performing regular single-target stuns that really disrupt the fight or peel off a target from an ally once a fight has begun. Additionally, she has a defensive stance that allows her to soak up punishment pretty effectively and also discharges a wave of sunlight outward that causes significant damage. This mechanic acts as a sort of “soft taunt” that causes her to have some threat when she’s about to unleash a big chunk of damage, and makes her an attractive target.

Finally, her passive, Sunlight, causes all of Leona’s spells to debuff the target, causing the next attack from an ally to do additional damage. This really encourages Leona to mark high-priority targets and let her set up opportunities for her teammates. Her power increases with the length of the fight, a common tank trait (like Singed’s Poison Trail or Amumu’s Despair, for example).

We’re excited to be able to deliver something we’re really proud of to meet our players’ requests and expectations. Keep letting us know what you want – we do take your feedback seriously.

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