League of Legends Reveals New Champion Briar
Briar has finally been announced and should join LoL in September.
Riot Games has today formally unveiled Briar, who is the latest playable Champion that will soon be coming to League of Legends. Over the course of the past week, Riot has slowly been sharing a number of teases online associated with Briar to generate excitement for the character's formal reveal. Now, that reveal has finally come to fruition and has shown Briar to be one of the more unique Champions that LoL has seen in quite some time.
Who is Briar?
Are you friend or food?🩸 pic.twitter.com/8L8U5mjmxu
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) August 30, 2023
Briar hails from the in-game region of Noxus and is essentially a vampire. Unlike a champion such as Vladimir, though, Briar is almost constantly in a rabid condition which leads to her being uncontrollable. As a result of being so chaotic, Briar was eventually locked away and placed in a pillory to help limit the damage that she could deal. Fortunately for herself, Briar found comfort in the pillory and continues to adorn it constantly.
"Briar was created from hemomancy (aka blood magic) by the Black Rose to be a living weapon. She needs to consume blood to fuel herself," says Riot's own description of Briar. "The Black Rose made her sentient so that she could understand and execute orders, but there was one flaw. In order to kill her targets, the Black Rose kept Briar in a frenzied state. She was in a perpetual bloodthirsty rage. In this state of mind, Briar's intelligence and vocabulary basically dwindled down to, 'AHHHH! MORE BLOOD!'"
How Does Briar Play?
Briar has been designed as a Jungler in League of Legends and comes with a number of unique components that help her stand out compared to other Champions in this pool. For starters, Briar doesn't generate health naturally on her own as her kit instead relies on her to attack minions, jungle camps, or opposing Champions to gain her health back. When Briar's health is lower, this self-healing that she receives from said attacks is also increased.
As for her abilities, Briar's kit has been designed entirely around her being a dive Champion. Her Q is a point-and-click stun which allows her to set up opposing players for big damage. Briar's W then allows her to enter a "Blood Frenzy" which will lock her into attacking the closest enemy. This ability cannot be removed once activated unless Briar uses her E, which sees her letting loose a howling scream. Lastly, Briar's ultimate ability is of the universal variety and allows her to fire a skillshot which will then let her blink toward the first Champion it makes contact with.
When Does Briar Release in League of Legends?
Per usual with a new Champion in League of Legends, Briar will first come to the PBE server so that players can put her through her paces in non-official games. Briar's arrival on PBE should take place at some point this coming week on September 6 or 7. From here, Briar should be part of the PBE realm for a period of multiple weeks so that Riot can ensure there are no glaring bugs or other issues with the Champ.
In all likelihood, this puts Briar on track to come to League of Legends at the end of September. Specifically, it seems like she'll roll out as part of patch 3.19 for LoL which is scheduled to hit on September 27. Whenever we have more official details from Riot on Briar's release, though, we'll be sure to update you.