Posted in: Games, Legends Of Runeterra, Riot Games, Video Games | Tagged: Empires Of The Ascended, Legends of Runeterra, Riot Games

Legends Of Runeterra Reveals More For Empires Of The Ascended

Published Tue, 02 Mar 2021 13:10:30 -0600

by Gavin Sheehan

Comments

Riot Games has revealed more info about the next Legends Of Runeterra expansion on the way, Empires Of The Ascended. Over the past several days the team has slowly been revealing new cards and Champions to paint a picture of how all of this will play out. We had an opportunity to go in with other members of the press to mess around with the expansion before it drops on March 3rd, 2021, to test it out and see what we think of it. This comes with the news today that Azir has been added to the mix of characters who will greatly alter the way the game is played once they reach their final level. The game itself will be moving to the new region of Shurima, as the Sun Disc will raise the abilities of the Ascended champions and make things more difficult for whoever may be on the receiving end. There are over 100 new cards coming to play as they will be making a new structure that feels familiar for those used to the system as it currently is, but will increasingly get a little off-balance as you progress. A lot of this new set seems to revolve around the idea of tossing out the norm and replacing it with the unfamiliar to keep you on your toes and adapting, even if you're the one winning.

Which champion best suits your needs? Courtesy of Riot Games.

Three new keywords will come into play as you'll now have to deal with Countdown, Predict, and Reputation. Two of these will be more in play throughout the game while the third feels more like a reactionary mechanic than anything else. The expansion comes with a ton of updates to the game which will change challenges for you, as well as quests. Not to mention the Region Road will be given a new run with extensions for several new champions. There's also a new Champion Mastery system you'll want to check out to unlock cards with special borders, just in case you feel like being that player who shows off how good they are. AI decks are also getting a bit of a revamp as they'll be using the same cards as you and will be a bit tougher this time around. You'll also see from the images below that there's a new board to play on that will be customizable.

Essentially, there's a lot of content coming to this update, and after playing a few rounds against others, it was clear that this will shift power a little bit for everyone. If you're inexperienced, it will give you a bit of a kick in power to give you a fighting chance. This means even if you know what you're doing, you'll end up facing opponents who won't be an easy pushover unless they're absolutely throwing the game. Empires Of The Ascended looks and feels like one of the best things to happen to Legends Of Runeterra in a while, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out when it launches tomorrow.