How Riot Made Sure League's Nunu & Willump Rework Still Feels Like Old Nunu

Champion reworks are a bittersweet moment in League of Legends. It's exciting to see what Riot Games will do with an outdated champion, but there's always the looming concern of losing what made the champions what they're known for, usually due to them having an entirely new playstyle. With the latest rework overhauling Nunu, one of the game's oldest champions, we talked to Riot Games to learn how they wanted to make sure Nunu & Willump still feels familiar to the champion's most dedicated players.

Riot Games game designer Justin "Xenogenic" Hanson who took the lead on the Nunu rework talked to ComicBook about how he and the team kept old Nunu intact while bringing the two-for-one champion up to modern standards. Nunu was one of the first champions to be released way back when League was first gaining traction, and his ultimate, Absolute Zero, has been there the whole time. Hanson said that the ability was a core part of Nunu's kit, one that both Riot and players would be disappointed to lose.

"When we update champions, we aim to keep at least a couple of things consistent between the old and new versions (when warranted)," Hanson told us. "Any iconic abilities that would be sorely missed if changed, as well as their strategic identity (that is: the unique thing they bring to the game or do for their team). So, for Nunu, we felt that Absolute Zero was the very definition of iconic. It's been in the game a long time. It's a core part of what makes Nunu who he is, and we imagined players would be very upset if we removed that (frankly, we'd be upset too)."

Nunu's Consume, the ability that cements him as a jungler, was also always something Riot wanted to keep during the rework, Hanson said. Other abilities weren't a guarantee though, specifically Nunu's Blood Boil. An ability that was previously Nunu's "W," the essence of the supportive spell was kept in Nunu & Willump's kit as a new passive called Call of the Freljord. There were times though when Blood Boil was nowhere in hit arsenal, but keeping its general effect along with the Consume and Absolute Zero spells means that Nunu & Willump should feel much like the Nunu that players have been jungling with for years.

"For a while in development, he didn't have any form of Blood Boil, which was something I really wanted to try to keep on the kit as well, since it's another iconic part of his identity, so we were happy when we ultimately landed on putting a version of it onto the passive," Hanson said. "So, in short, he can still do most of the iconic or impactful things that old Nunu could do, while having some new and fun abilities for Nunu players to explore and master."

Not only did Riot keep New-nu feeling familiar to veteran junglers, it also focused on the champion's identity as two characters working in tandem. Despite what many League players might think if they're not familiar with the champion, Nunu is the boy on the Yeti's back, not the Yeti itself. The Yeti is Willump, hence the second half of the champ's new name. Bringing out the identities of both of the characters through a new name and abilities, Riot said, was a foundational part of Nunu's rework.

League of Legends Nunu & Willump Skins Gallery

"From the first moment we started this rework, we wanted to lean into the relationship between the two and make sure it was expressed in as many ways as possible," he said. "Their relationship and their teamwork was the foundation for our explorations in art, narrative, and design."

But splitting the champions apart and having players control each of them was never an option, Hanson said. Though Riot wanted to bring out more of both Nunu and Willump in the kit, asking players to control the two independently would've strayed too far from the champion's theme.

"We had discussed it," Hanson said when asked about splitting Nunu into two units. "But because Nunu & Willump are supposed to be on the easier side of our jungling lineup, we felt that requiring players to micro two units at once would hurt our ability to retain that aspect of the champion."

Nunu & Willump will be testable soon on the PBE before going live in a later patch. To see what the updated champion can do, you can see all of his new abilities here.