The upcoming preseason patch for League of Legends launches tomorrow on the public beta environment and will introduce a whole host of changes. The game map, and in particular the jungle, will see some experiments as part of the preseason patch. One of these will be the rather exciting-looking addition of companion pets for junglers.
The jungle pets have to be acquired from the in-game store, where players can purchase them as an egg. In a move akin to keeping your own Tamagotchi alive and well, jungle pets will undergo a growth process. The jungle pet of choice will steadily obtain a number of “treats” from killing monsters. This, in turn, will help them evolve slowly over time through growth during player progress in-game.
Sounds pretty cute, but these pets also bring some unique benefits to their owners. After they’ve fully evolved, the jungle pets will give their owners special avatar buffs, which will then empower the player with different abilities. It appears that Riot Games’ thought process behind this move is to encourage more players into the jungle role, which is known to be one of the more challenging roles in League of Legends overall. Riot has also included a number of recommended jungling paths for newcomers to the role as a means of making the jungle itself more easily accessible.
Riot Games has detailed the specifics of the new jungle pets in a bit more detail. Available in the in-game store later this week will be the following creatures.
- Noxian Embercat: This will be the pet of choice for junglers looking to play more aggressively. It will provide slows and bonus damage.
- Ixtali Ixamander: This jungle pet is perfect for junglers looking to frontline and tank for their teams. It will provide a shield based on your health that provides bonus slow resist and Tenacity when broken.
- Ionian Cloudleaper: This jungle pet will be great for junglers looking to rotate and move around the map more quickly. It will provide bonus movement speed.
Also making a return in the game’s preseason patch is the Chemtech Drake, which will grant players improved damage output when they’re nearing low health. If the drake is slain, it’ll give the player a small amount of Tenacity and Heal/Shield strength too. The return of the Chemtech Drake will also have an effect on the overall visual style of the map. Jungle plants will be mutated and feature upgraded special effects and a variety of Zaunite chemicals will litter the Rift as it transforms into a new, Chemtech-inspired state.
A number of additional quality of life improvements will be heading into the game as part of the preseason patch, including improved communication tools and loadout and ability recommendations, both of which will be pretty helpful for new players.
For the full breakdown of everything coming in the preseason patch, you can check out the update preview notes over on the League of Legends website. League of Legends is available now free-to-play on PC.
