The League of Legends world may be focused on the regional playoffs, but that hasn’t stopped developer Riot Games from unveiling their latest champion. Gwen, The Hallowed Seamstress, was revealed across social media on March 26th, with a host of teasers and trailers.
Gwen, A scissor-wielding magic-user, will be League of Legend's newest champion. (Image courtesy Riot Games)
Things kicked off with an ominous teaser trailer posted on the official League of Legends Twitter account. There, the supernatural origins of Gwen, a doll given life, became apparent.
Later, a full champion abilities teaser dropped on YouTube, revealing additional details. In it, Qwen’s scissor-wielding offense and AoE magical attacks were on full display. The mage champion looked primed to take on all comers on the rift.
The gameplay trailer hints at Qwen’s curious origins. “Scissors, needles, thread—these were my maker’s tools. I won’t take her gift for granted.” With almost Pinocchio-like origins, this living puppet will give League’s other doll-like champions, Orianna, a run for her money. Especially, if as speculated, she’s a mid lane mage.
Gwen’s teaser also expanded on the lore and motivation of the champion. With her past shrouded in mystery, Gwen takes to Summoner’s Rift to discover her mysterious past. But while she unravels her own unexpected origin, she must weave death and destruction for her foes. Armed with a comically huge pair of scissors, and able to manipulate the threads and stitches of reality, League of Legend’s latest champions is a stylish nod to the likes of popular anime Kill la Kill. In that fashion-focused show, characters famously fought using “Scissor Blades.”
A few hours after her initial announcement, League of Legends gameplay designer Mark Yetter shared some additional details on Gwen’s abilities. Describing her as a “squishy AP fighter,” Yetter described her ability “Hallowed Mist” as a perfect protection to give her time to compete with front-line fighters.
Gwen Abilities
On March 30th, several League of Legend’s regional Twitter accounts released details of Gwen’s abilities. The reveal also seemed to indicate Gwen’s intended lane was top. A few hours after the initial post, the official League of Legends Twitter posted a full abilities rundown.
Passive – Thousand Cuts
Gwen’s passive is Thousands Cuts, an on-hit auto attack buff. Each of Gwen’s basic attacks deal bonus on-hit magic damage based on a percentage of her health. Basic attacks against champions heal Gwen, but not those against minions or jungle creeps. This cements Gwen as a more of a duelist champion.
Q – Snip Snip!
Bearing her Scissor weapon, Gwen attacks between two and six times in a cone ahead of her. The damage is Magic-based. The number of attacks is scales based on how many basic attacks Gwen has hit on an opposing champion, but always a minimum of two. If you’re at the centre of the scissor strike you also take additional true damage and damage from Gwen’s passive.
W – Hallowed Mist
Gwen’s W is a defensive ability, creating a wall of mist surrounding her. It grants bonus armor and magic resist, and enemies cannot hit Gwen with abilities when she’s inside the mist. The mist bubble will move with Gwen the first time she does, but afterwards is static. Think of it as a slightly more mobile Akali smoke.
E – Skip ‘n Slash
Skip ‘n Slash is the champion’s mandatory dash move. Can’t make a champion without a movement ability anymore! It also gives her increased range, speed, and on-hit magic damage for fours seconds, because of course it does. Attacking enemies refunds the cooldown, incentivising an aggressive style.
R – Needlework
Needlework is Gwen’s ultimate ability. For the next eight seconds Gwen can fire a needle in a line which deals magic damage, slows, and applies her passive. If you hit with your needle, you gain an additional charge of your ultimate, up to three total.
The post also officially revealed one the splash art for Space Groove Gwen. Additional details, such as Gwen’s release date, have not yet been disclosed. You can catch the full Gwen reveal on the official League of Legend’s YouTube channel.
