Riot Lexical reveals the latest addition to the LoL champion roster: Hwei the artistic mid-laner.
One of my favorite things about League of Legends is its consistency in regularly introducing new champions. While some of the recently introduced champions have given birth to a lot of controversies, it hasn’t stopped the hype every time a new champion gets released.
As we reach the year’s end, Riot Games reveals one last champion before closing the curtain on season 13. This time, Riot draws the attention of the mid-lane mage players. If what Riot says is true, then the upcoming champion has the potential to bring a completely unique gameplay experience to the mage category.
Although we only have surface-level knowledge, the champion roadmap by Riot Games reveals some thematic aspects of the upcoming champion. Theories are in the air regarding the potential gameplay mechanics of the champion, although nothing yet is set in stone. The new artistic mage mid-laner, Hwei, is the next one in line to join Summoner’s Rift.
With that, let’s take a dive into everything you need to know about the LoL Artistic Mage Hwei.
Read more: LoL Upcoming Cute Creature Marksman Champion: Everything You Need to Know
Artists and Designers of Hwei
Art requires dedication. And to design an artistic champion, you need dedicated artists. Hwei’s design is a work of collaboration between multiple creative minds. Let’s get familiar with them.
- Narrative: The narrative baseline for Hwei was set by Jared Carnival Knights Rosen, Former Principal Narrative Writer and Riot “orkidian” De Leon(Writer of the Nidalee and Varus Voiceover) gave it completion.
- Concept Art: Sojyoo, the concept artist of Zeri and many other champion skins, provided the primary groundwork for Hwei. After she moved into VAL projects, Lonewingy took over. Gem ‘Lonewingy‘ Lim is also the concept artist of Zeri and many other champion cosmetics.
- Gameplay: Even though Riot Maxw3ll started working on Hwei’s mechanics, he had to switch to modes before finishing it. Then, the baton was passed to Jonathan ‘EndlessPillows’ Fuller and he continued until he left his job as a Rioter. Ultimately, the responsibility to refine Hwei’s gameplay mechanics was shouldered by the comparatively unpopular duo, Hoboboy and Emizery.
Hwei’s Artistic Journey
Jhin finally has some competition in the Summoner’s Rift as Hwei comes with his unique style of Art, hugely contrasting the Virtuoso. Orkidian best describes this as he says “After all, art requires a certain… empathy” in the context of Hwei’s character.
Riot Lexical sheds more details on Hwei’s lore as an artist. Lexical talks about 3 stages of an artist. Initially, an artist follows their master’s footsteps. Then they set out on their own journey, exploring the unknown and finding their unique style. And after completing that journey, they ascend to a new height of creative finesse.
One particular thing from Lexical’s roadmap interests me the most. That is the personality of Hwei. According to the Lead Champion Producer, Hwei will display a somber, dark personality. However, his art will be in sharp contrast with his character. For example, his art is supposed to be vibrant and filled with bright, joyous colors. Mage players will surely enjoy themselves while executing their opponents with strokes of paint.
Any News on Gameplay?
Unfortunately, all we know about Hwei’s mechanics are purely speculation. However, we can infer some vague ideas from the information presented in the dev update. For example, the three stages of an artist could imply that Hwei will have his kit designed revolving around the number ‘3’, much like how Jhin’s signature number is 4, Vayne’s 3, Caitlyn’s 6, etc. But it is hard to tell how this number will be integrated into his kit.
It could be a passive proc or something to do with using his abilities in a certain way. Regardless of how they implement that, we can be hopeful that Hwei is going to be a very well-designed champion. Because if we look at the history, almost every champion that uses a certain number in that fashion garners universal appeal.
According to Riot Lexical, Hwei will be a super complex champion in terms of gameplay design. If Briar and Naafiri seem complex to you, you might be in for a surprise.
Any Release Date?
Unfortunately, we do not have any specific date to look forward to. But we are likely to meet Hwei before 2024. However, it won’t be surprising if it gets delayed to 2024, as there are multiple precedents of that happening.
