Arena is making its way back to League of Legends, and Riot has given the mode a facelift while also using its return as a testing period for making it a permanent mode in the client. Here is everything we know so far about Arena.
Arena is returning to League of Legends for the third time, and this time Riot Games has made even more updates to gameplay and the mode’s systems. The developer previously announced that this version of the mode will feature more players than ever, with eight teams of two battling in every lobby, and a ranked system for those looking to challenge their 2v2 skills.
Riot has also revealed that they are tinkering with making Arena a permanent mode, but that it will take some time to get that process rolling. So in the meantime, the developer is using this extended-release window to learn as much as possible from players battling for glory with their partners.
Below is everything we know so far about the newest version of Arena in League of Legends.
Contents:
- When will Arena come back to League of Legends?
- How long will Arena be in League of Legends?
- New Map
- Prismatic items
- Ranked
When will Arena come back to League of Legends?
Arena returns to the League of Legends PBE on Wednesday, April 15, and releases for the rest of the player base on May 1 with patch 14.9.
The ranked system’s release will be delayed until later in the season, specifically till patch 14.10.
How long will Arena be in League of Legends?
Arena will be live in the League of Legends client for the entire second split of the ranked season which is from May to the end of September.
League of Legends Arena: New Map
Riot is adding a new map called The Koi Pond to Arena. There are three segmented areas for players to battle, according to the pictures, and you should be able to travel to different areas via the Bloom Bridge, portals, and blast cones.
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A new shop area is also coming to this version of Arena which will align with the changing thematics coming to the game throughout Split 2.
League of Legends Arena: Prismatic items
Riot is adding a new item tier to Arena called Prismatic. These new items will feature incredibly high stats or powerful effects that should allow players to put together incredible champion builds.
Prismatic items are not purchasable in the item shop. Players will be presented with their choice of random Prismatics in a specific round, similar to how Auguments worked in previous iterations of Arena.
Another new wrinkle to items for Arena is Anvils. Anvils are purchasable in the shop and are consumables that will present three random items within a defined category that players can choose from. There are three types of Anvils: Prismatic, Legendary, and Stat.
Prismatic gives players a choice between all Prismatic items. Legendary gives players a choice between items within a desired category like Legendary Mage, Legendary Fighter, and so on. Stat, however, gives players a randomized choice between raw stat upgrades.
Anvils will also be cheaper than outright buying some of these items.
League of Legends Arena: Ranked
The ranked season for Arena will start on patch 14.10 with a one-patch pre-season beforehand. There are also some new matchmaking rules:
- Players can queue up with party sizes between 1-8 players.
- Players cannot queue up with party sizes between 9-15 players.
- Players can queue up as a full 16-player premade party.
- They will not see changes in MMR or Gladiator Rank.