League of Legends’ newest champion Smolder is revealed and replaced following community outcry –

League of Legends’ The latest champion, Smolder, was announced on Friday, January 5th, and on the PBE (Public Beta Environment) on Tuesday, January 9th. An adorable baby dragon, Smolder is the latest addition of the league A growing roster of marksman or ADC. However, Smolder’s revelation on Twitter was met with harsh criticism from players about his uncanny resemblance to the human child.

Fans compared Baby Dragon to a variety of creatures with similar fuzzy faces, from animals from the CGI Barbie movies to Spyro to the widely panned original design of Sonic from the Sonic movies. Given League of Legends And Legends of Runeterra A wide variety of elaborately designed fantasy dragons, many players were disappointed with Smolder’s face, especially due to its lack of resemblance to the game’s other dragons Aurelian Sol and Shyvana.

However, just like Sonic, Smolder’s design quickly changed in response to community feedback. Riot Lexicon posted changes to Smolder’s texture to make him look more rugged, followed closely by changes to his splash art. Smolder’s design updates gave him a longer nose, more scales on his face, and more snake-like, thin pupils.

Although some fans were disappointed by the lack of changes to his base model, limited time and resources prevented the team from making drastic changes, given the need to model, rig and animate a new face for the adorable dragon. Currently, Smolder is playable on the PBE until February 7, 2024, when he will be introduced in Patch 14.3 along with his Heavenscale skin.

Riot Games described their design philosophy for Smolder as wanting to create an adorable shooter that was easy to play, following the complex kits of some past shooters such as Zeri and Aphelios. Smolder’s base animation can be seen below and check out his Champion Insights article here. Smolder is the first champion to be released in season 14 of League of LegendsWhich began with the release of the cinematic “Still Here” on Wednesday.