Some League of Legends champions are getting a small boost to their mana pools in the 2021 preseason update.
League lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter discussed the small update today. The mana components on a few items, like Sheen, are being removed to “open them up to new users.” To compensate, a number of champions who previously used those items will have their mana pools tweaked.
Thirty champs will have their mana per level increased by 20, including heavy mana users like Anivia, Cassiopeia, Ezreal, Kassadin, and Ryze. With the extra mana on Sheen and other items removed, mana-reliant champions need the extra mana to survive the laning phase and farm comfortably.
The item change should also be beneficial to champions that don’t use mana, like Lee Sin, Akali, and Gnar. Sheen, for example, empowers auto attacks after using an ability. With the mana component removed, the item would be far more efficient on champs that might normally go another route and cause more flexible build paths.
League‘s 2021 preseason includes a massive overhaul to the item system, introducing Mythic items that are class-specific.
Riot described Mythic items as a cornerstone of most builds since they’ll have abilities that can redefine playstyles. These Mythic items look a lot like Ornn’s Living Forge and Masterwork items. Champions will be able to carry one Mythic item at a time, meaning you’ll need to sell one to buy one if you decide to change your strategy during a match.
Mythic items are set to hit the live servers during the 2021 preseason and Riot has shared a handful of them with fans already. It’s likely that the developer is still working on the concept to iron out the finer details and even the items it shared can see significant changes until the preseason kicks off.
The information currently available suggests that Mythic items will be the defining piece of every build with how they can modify other Legendary items. The items shared so far all carry a passive Mythic buff, but this also leaves a huge design space for Riot in the future. A mechanic like this has so much potential to grow and we could even see Mythic items that can buff active abilities or ones with active spells as their Mythic buff, which would undoubtedly make every League game more unique.
Though the initial dev vlog by Riot only included a handful of Mythic items, the developer released all the information regarding them in a follow-up blog post that went live on Sept. 29.
