Who is Naafiri? – New LoL champion Roadmap

Now that Milio has been on the live servers for a while, it’s time to look ahead at the upcoming release of the new LoL champion, Naafiri. Here’s what we know about the new Darkin assassin.

Image Credits | Riot Games

Naafiri – the new assassin to LoL

When Riot announced its champion roadmap earlier this season, they hinted at a new Darkin assassin champion coming in after the release of Milio. This will be the second champion released in LoL in 2023,

According to youtube content creator and leaker BigBadBear, Naafiri will be a dog, explaining that the dagger is going to be mixed with the champion’s face in some way. It will be a female and use her dagger as her main weapon. From the leaked images, it looks like she is going to be contained within a dagger, and “unleashed” to hunt down her enemies.

With so much mystery around her identity, Naafiri will be a release worth watching out for this year.

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A closer look at the Naafiri Cinematic

Riot recently released the Cinematic for Naafiri, showcasing extra details on the upcoming champion and giving a first taste to fans.

Naafiri is pictured as a beast and portrays the champion with her pack. Considering its Darkin concept, the “monster” element is vital. At the start of the trailer, there is a man attacked by wolves and during the attack, he drops a dagger, the same one seen in previous previews.

Image Credits | Riot Games

In the cinematic, we see how Naafiri takes a physical form and comes out of the dagger, as she slowly reveals her true form. With spikes growing from her body, Naafiri becomes a beast ready to hunt her prey.

Upon the release of the cinematic, one guy explained what happened in the transition: “The dagger is straight up fused with the hound’s flesh rather than being lodged in there or being wielded in the dog’s mouth. It’s perhaps indicative of Naafiri’s flesh-shaping magic being ridiculous.”

What kind of kit will Naafiri have?

Riot revealed Naafiri’s kit on June 22, giving us a first taste of what her gameplay will look like. Below are the rundown of all her abilities:

• Passive – We Are More
  • Naafiri spawns Packmates that attack the targets of her attacks and abilities.
  • Additional info: They spawn faster when you hit people with abilities.
• Q – Darkin Daggers
  • Naafiri hurls up to two daggers, each inflicting bleed, or each inflicting bonus damage if the target is already bleeding.
  • Packmates leap to attack champions hit by this skill.
  • Additional info: causes an initial bleed, then bursts the bleed if it hits them while bleeding and gives a little heal while making the packmates jump at the enemy. Holds 2 charges and healing only happens on champion.s
• W – Hounds’ Pursuit
  • Naafiri and her packmates dash at an enemy, colliding with the first champion hit and dealing damage.
  • Additional info: it’s a targeted long range dash that can be body blocked. In other words, you can block it to keep her from her main focused target.
• E – Eviscerate
  • Naafiri dashes and damages enemies in an area, recalling and healing her Packmates to full.
  • It’s a short range AoE dash.
• R – The Call of the Pack
  • Naafiri empowers her pack and spawns additional Packmates, gaining a burst of speed and vision and a shield when she attacks a champion.
  • On first champion takedown, all effects are refreshed. It doesn’t refresh after the first takedown.
  • Additional info: It spawns up to 7 packmates, granting Movement speed and vision similar to Quinn’s W.

Based on the initial impressions, the kit doesn’t seem too complicated and it looks like it will be a champion designed to succeed in the lower end of the ranked ladder. That said, the numbers will be indicative of her power.

When is Naafiri going to be released?

Riot confirmed that Naafiri will be coming in with Patch 13.14 which will come in mid-July. The break between Patch 13.13 and Patch 13.14 will be longer than usual due to Independence Day and the holidays over in the US.

That said, we know she is coming and players should be excited about her release to the League of Legends roster. Aside from Naafiri, Riot already showed three other champions: Vampire Castle, Ink Mage, and the Freljord Hunter, so we’re bound for an explosive second half of the year.

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