League of Legends Patch 13.4 rolls out with Astronaut skins for Fizz, Ivern, Kennen, Singed, and Xerath, and a new splash for Rugged Garen.
Rugged Garen
“Also known as “Handsome Garen,” this wandering warrior and extremely original NPC was created by Braum for his Riftquest game. Garen eventually adopted the character as his own, liking the fantasy of himself, but rugged.”
This skin is part of the Riftquest universe, who also has skins like Bard Bard, Braum Lionheart and Taric Luminshield.
Rugged Garen was released in 2011 – almost as old as League of Legends itself. The splash art for this skin hasn't been updated since, and luckily there's a source for some of them that League can easily pull from, which is Wild Rift. Riot revealed that they would update some of these new splash arts, either build them up from scratch or port them over from Wild Rift.
This change was not reported in the full League of Legends Patch 13.4 Notes.
They will also be porting skins that were previously exclusive to the mobile game. This will begin with Redeemed Star Guardian Xayah, Redeemed Star Guardian Rakan, and Star Guardian Seraphine.
League of Legends Astronaut Skins
The new additions of Astronaut Fizz, Astronaut Ivern, Astronaut Kennen, Astronaut Singed, and Astronaut Xerath will become a part of the Star Voyagers skinline which also has champions like Veigar, Teemo, Poppy, and more.
“Astronauts, hijinks, and adorable alien meeps! Defying gravity is just another day for these adventurous space protectors, as they defend planet M33p and traverse the grand cosmos that awaits them.”
Astronaut Fizz – 1350 RP
“Fizz defied all expectations when he successfully tamed an invader meep and resisted its corruption through their link. His unique connection promoted him to captain, a status he uses to pull mischievous pranks on his team. But when he's not tormenting his favorite lieutenant, he's unleashing his tricks on corrupted evildoers to keep planet M33P safe.”
Astronaut Fizz shares his splash art with Kennen, and our fishy friend is seen occupying the right half of the image. He's floating thanks to a little rocket at the end of his trident, which now looks like it belongs on a space station. Fizz himself is sporting a cute smile if the display on his head is anything to go by.
Astronaut Fizz in-game has mostly muted colors apart from splashes of green from the tips of his hair and trident. His animations feel “floatier” than usual especially when he's walking and running. He doesn't get new voicelines unfortunately, as this skin is only Epic tier, but he does get a voice filter which keeps everything tied together. The big “shark” from Fizz's ultimate stands out with its strikingly pink color that deviates from the overall green palette of the skin.
Post-PBE changes:
- First we definitely agree with that the ult doesn't feel like it has enough “impact” so we're going to be increasing the saturation to give it a bit more “oomph”.
- The other is about the artistic direction of the ult. We wanted to explore to the goofier side of the Astronaut thematic and try something a little new for you and us. We know not every skin is going to hit everyone's taste but this is something that we like and want to stick with. We do totally understand though that for some of you its not totally hitting the mark and we're going to keep this in mind going forward.
Astronaut Ivern – 1350 RP
“Ivern's nurturing nature created a safe haven for the meeps under his care. However, an explosion caused by Xerath destroyed his ship and left him aimlessly floating in space. After a chance encounter with Fizz, who saved him by accidentally crashing into him, Ivern joined their ranks to search for any wanderers in need of his protection.”
Astronaut Ivern isn't exactly distinctive in his splash art, as he lacks distinguishable features apart from his extended limbs. That being said, you probably won't see the splash art without the skin name anyway, so that's a plus. We have another happy astronaut here as shown by his display, but the star of this splash is the little squirrel(?) thing Ivern's cradling in his arms.
The green alien slightly out of focus behind him is actually piloting a huge pile of rubble which acts as this skin's Daisy.
Astronaut Ivern is a skin that combines the astronaut theme with the Green Father's character. The skin's voicelines have a voice filter that makes them sound as if they're coming from far away. Ivern's walk animation is also floaty, which seems to be a trend with this skinline. An absolutely charming aspect of the skin is the little green alien piloting Daisy.
Post-PBE changes:
- Astronaut Ivern's eyes now better reflect his upbeat personality.
- Friends of the Forest (P) VFX have been adjust for timing and visual impact.
- Daisy! (R) on-hit indicator has been adjusted to increase readability.
Astronaut Kennen – 1350 RP
“A master mechanic and genius in meep technology, Lieutenant Kennen always keeps the ship balanced. Although he's perpetually bothered by being second in command to Fizz, he never fails to design a plan to protect his team. His quick thinking and deadly precision are enough to keep any threats to planet M33P at bay.”
Unlike Fizz who he shares the splash art with, Astronaut Kennen has a transparent helmet, so we can see that he still keeps his mask under his astronaut gear. He's also holding a shuriken-shaped spaceship with a little meep mounted in the middle. A little bit cruel if you ask me, considering he throws that at his enemies.
Astronaut Kennen retains the voice filter, giving his voicelines a “over-the-transmitter” quality. His normal attacks retain the blue of his base skin, but the rest of his abilities use a green palette. The Q ability matches the shuriken in his splash art. The passive looks particularly cool, as it causes asteroids to orbit the enemy champion.
Astronaut Singed – 1350 RP
“No space adventure would be complete without a navigator. When Singed isn't creating special concoctions to keep his team safe, he's steering the crew's ship through the galaxy, masterfully guiding them to wherever his captain's whimsical orders lead them (and collecting any adorable meeps along the way).”
Astronaut Singed also seems happy as indicated by his cylindrical head, and he's wearing a backpack full of meeps inside them a-la Death Stranding. This is also the source of the green, noxious gas Singed trails behind him as he hops between space debris.
Astronaut Singed features a less noticeable float on his walk animation, most likely because of the champion's innate fast movespeed combined with the steroids from his passive and ultimate. The Q gas starts out green and ends blue, with sparkles sprinkled on it to give a cosmic feel. Singed's W ability almost blends in with the Summoner's Rift terrain and is almost unnoticeable if not for the bright green outline.
Post-PBE changes:
Riot Eneopa: “We discussed with the team and we'll be adjusting the colorblind mode to apply to the rest of his poison trail. We'll be keeping his run as is though. Even though we agree that his run would be more fun if it's more floaty, it is risky to change it, especially when Singed likes to build move speed.”
Astronaut Xerath – 1350 RP
“An obsessive chemist driven by power, Xerath discovered the invader meeps and devoted his life to researching how to harness their energy. After an explosion during one of his experiments, his body was permanently mutated. Now, fully consumed by the corrupted meeps, Xerath traverses the galaxy, seeking to spread his malice across the cosmos.”
Xerath has a unique outline as a character, making his Astronaut splash art more distinct than the others. The pieces of white armor contains Xerath within, who is now a ball of purple-green energy with a penchant of juggling corrupted meeps. He also seems mad, but the spherical nature of his head (plus the dozens of adorable aliens around him) makes him a lot less daunting.
Astronaut Xerath makes full use of the theme, with his energy fitting perfectly with the skinline's green color palette. His W ability is particularly notable, as it spawns a regular meep that gets orbital striked (stricken?), which is kind of cruel to witness. For his E ability, Xerath launches a spaceship, which looks like the one present in the bottom left part of his splash art. Astronaut Xerath fits so well and is probably the best pickup out of all the skins in this release line.
Post-PBE Changes:
- Rite of the Arcane's (R) projectile visual brightness has been increased to better reflect its impact in game.
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