as much as possible League of Legends fans already know Udyr A massive rework is underway on his visuals and in-game abilities. A character beloved by the community, including an early adopter and competitive player of the ultra-popular MOBA, the daunting task came at the request of a community poll earlier this year.
So we’ve broken down every change to Udyr based on insights from the responsible development team. Hoping to keep his original style, update his look, and combine his legend with recent events, has the team changed Udyr for the better? Let’s find out!
Udyr’s new abilities and gameplay
The new Udyr is a juggernaut, mostly used as a jungler, but the top is a replacement for this rework. While he has a slew of revamped abilities that can be used in-game, he’ll still dive headfirst into combat and switch stances to apply different effects. In doing so, he will now feel very familiar with Udyr players already on active servers.
Passive: Udyr has four basic stances, each associated with the Freljord demigod.Every 30 years old, he can wake By recasting his positive stance. This refreshes the stance and provides additional effects.In addition, Udyr has monk training. After casting or recasting an ability, Udyr gains 40% attack speed for his next two attacks.
Q: Savage Claw. Udyr enters claw stance. This provides attack speed and causes the next two attacks to deal additional burst damage. Upon awakening, the attack speed bonus increases, and the next two attacks are lightning that bounces up to six times. They can hit the original target if no replacement target is nearby.
W: Iron Cloak. Udyr enters cape stance. Gain a shield that restores health for the next two attacks. Shields refresh (and stack on top of any shields you already have) when you wake up. You can also restore a lot of your maximum health over two seconds.
E: Fiery Stomp. Udyr enters Stampede attitude. Gain a burst of movement speed and your first attack on each target will stun them. Upon awakening, the movement speed bonus increases and you gain crowd control immunity for a short time.
R: Wingborne Storm. Udyr enters Storm Stance. This summons a glacial storm that damages and slows nearby enemies. Your next two attacks increase the storm’s radius of influence. Upon awakening, the storm detaches from Udyr and tracks down his most recently attacked foe. It also does more damage.
Udyr’s game designer Stash Chelluck walked us through the thought process when creating this new action. “We wanted to make the kit similar to what is on the live servers now. Still being close and doing damage, leaning towards his old version’s identity…Old Udyr felt bland without you from the new hero A powerful moment of seeing. The awakened system is the answer to that.”
He continued, “We’ve also tried to preserve his build variety, so AP, AD, and tank builds should still be playable.” Still, Chelluck said later that due to his melee playstyle, some tanks are recommended for building .
Udyr’s new visual design
The world of Runeterra’s most powerful soulwalker, now located in the frigid Freljord, Udyr had to be redesigned to reflect his current place in the world. With the Udyr VGU, the champion is older and dressed to suit his new home.
Art Director Justin Albers breaks down all the key changes: “This new skin reflects where Udyr has been, like where Ionia used to train with Lee Sin, and of course now The Freljord. His physique reflects the freezing conditions in which he was found, he is large and clearly physically strong to reflect the harsh conditions. As an ode to his Ionian days, he wears on his hands Wearing a Mai Tai-style wrap from Li Qing, and his Ionian beads around his waist.
We asked if we’ll see more aging of older characters in the future as Riot returns and re-develops older characters from the roster and pushes them into modern lore, as they did with Udyr. Dana Shaw, narrative designer at Riot Games, responded that while this is certainly an option moving forward, it’s one of many. “It allows us to connect Udyr with the Freljord and make him do things that aren’t about Sej. That’s definitely one of the strategies in our toolbox going forward.”
Soul Guard Udyr Changes
While the new Udyr skin is clearly the highlight of his update, old-school fans of the hero must be wondering how the first Ultimate skin for League of Legends will improve.For Udyr, instead of making it the ultimate version of his new Freijordian version, we get a if? Udyr, this shows us what he would be like if he stayed in Ionia. That means, the classic tiger, turtle, bear and phoenix poses are back!
According to his posture, celestial weapons will appear around the guardian Udyr’s fist, and when he attacks, a fully realized beast spirit will appear behind him. According to product lead Lexi Gao, the skin was designed to pay homage to an ancient gesture, and Albers followed up by saying the aim was to bring the skin up to modern standards while remaining faithful.
The new Udyr is now available in the League of Legends PBE and is expected to go live in Patch 12.16. Are you excited to try the new Udyr? Let us know below!
