New Active Effect for League of Legends' Locket Is Being Tested

A new active effect for the League of Legends support item Locket of the Iron Solari is being [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

Braum
(Photo: Riot Games)

A new active effect for the League of Legends support item Locket of the Iron Solari is being tested that would remove the shield and instead provide a reduced damage field.

The changes to the item were first spotted on the PBE by Surrender@20 with the item's current multi-shield affect being replaced by a zone that negates part of enemies' damage.

"After a brief delay, creates a protective field at your location for 8 seconds," the new item's description reads. "Allied champions within the field are dealt 35% less damage (90 second cooldown)."

The zone that the item creates becomes active directly around the caster after a slight delay and doesn't move with the item's wielder. This would make the timing of the item much more significant as opposed to a knee-jerk reaction to a teamfight by creating a designated zone that your team should try and fight in and one that enemies will have to avoid.

When asked about the potential changes, League of Legends game designer Rick "Ricklessabandon" Maher said that Patch 8.6 was the tentative target for the changes while explaining what's hoped to be accomplished by the changes.

The Rioter also said in a separate tweet that there were also multiple versions of the item's new active effect being tested. One of these is an effect that would give it more than the 0 cast range that it now has on the PBE, meaning that casters would be able to project the field to one spot instead of having to cast it directly on top of themselves. The latter version of the item would certainly be preferable for supports like Soraka and other champions who don't exactly want to be in the middle of a big teamfight to cast the Locket active in the best way possible.

Locket's changes are currently being tested on the PBE and may be adjusted further before the changes go live for everyone.

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