League of Legends' New Health Bars Are Much Cleaner

The health bars in League of Legends are getting an update soon that's recently been previewed in a developer's update, and the results of the changes look pretty promising so far.

Following a discussion where Rioters mentioned that changes would be coming to the health bars, the updated post now gives us our first look at the changes that they have in mind. From demolishing a tower to being unkillable for a brief time like the image shown above, all of the health bars and the various statuses that they display are changing soon.

Below is just one example of what's being changed, this one a preview of what happens when you get blown up by a Veigar or similar champ. While the current version shows the damage taken as a bright red part of the bar that slowly depletes, this new version relays that information much quicker. It flashes a reddish-orange and disappears almost immediately so that you know exactly how much health is lost during an attack.

Beyond that, there's a new animation for the moment that a structure is destroyed where its health bar explodes, but the health bars of structures and non-champion enemies have also been changed. Champions with abilities that use ammo will also have their stock displayed beneath their health bars so that you'll know when Corki is going to pop you with that big rocket without having to click on him and squint at his buff bar. All of these changes and many more can be seen through the post on the League boards that outlined everything that'll be different with the start of preseason. Minion health bars will remain the same though, so you won't have to worry about changing up your last-hitting strategies.

If you're wondering what the point of all of these changes is, Riot Rayven explained the decision process within the boards post.

"In order to create more interesting tactical choices for players around these systems, we need to communicate them better than they are on Live," Riot Rayven explained. "The difficulty of League of Legends should stem from making the right decisions, not battling the interface."

The Rioter also said that these changes are just the first ones shipping with the preseason and added that they have plans for more changes including healing over time and taking damage over time.