League of Legends players were excited to find out that, after years of waiting, the world’s favorite game is coming to their smartphones and consoles. Riot Games wanted to make it right, so going for a port was a no-go. The mobile version had to be built from scratch if players wanted to have a smooth, but still well-known experience playing away from the comfort of the keyboard and mouse.

And so League of Legends: Wild Rift was born. We will have to wait for a little longer before we actually get to try it out, but lots of information about the game is already out there. Let’s dig into everything we know about what Wild Rift will be, and all the new stuff coming with it.

How Will Wild Rift play?

Unlike League of Legends, Wild Rift will be played with dual controls. That means players will either be playing over a dual-analog joystick, or in case they’re playing over a smartphone or a tablet, use the touchscreen with the same motions. If playing League over a joystick sounds impossible, don’t worry about it too much. Riot made sure to implement a number of changes to make the gameplay fit the new controls.

First of all, champions will have an auto-target feature. The auto-target will primarily focus on the minions with the lowest health that are in range, so to make last-hitting easier. Champions that are in close proximity will have their icon pop up on the right side of the screen and clicking them will change focus to the chosen enemy champion. Turrets will have their own designated target button, too.

This isn’t going to be the only way to aim, especially since skillshots still need to feel like skillshots. Players can also aim by moving to cursor while holding on to the spell they wish to cast. Some of the skillshot abilities will be handled quite differently in comparison to League as well. One such instance is Ashe’s arrow, a skill that usually flies in a straight direction, but will be controllable in Wild Rift.

League players struggle with last-hitting minions even with the accuracy of a mouse, so how will Wild Rift give enough gold for item builds? Riot covered this too. While last-hitting minions will still give bonus gold, players will get gold even if a minion doesn’t die from their attack as long as it dies close to them.

Changes to the Summoner’s Rift

Summoner’s Rift needed some changes here and there as well. The map layout is, of course, staying the same. Top, mid, and bot lane will all be at their positions, and so will the river, jungle camps, and large objectives like Baron and Dragons. As the map is smaller in size, the wall behind Krugs camp seems to be gone, and Krug is nesting next to a bush.

Wild Rift games are expected to be a lot faster-paced and have shorter gameplay time. This is why the champion level is getting capped at 15. For the same reasons, both inhibitors and nexus turrets are getting dropped, but the turrets outside of bases will be at their old position. Destroying inhibitor turrets will trigger super minions spawning.

Vision wards are getting dropped out too and are turning into designated vision areas on the map. While getting the vision is simply done by standing in their range, we can expect many more fights to happen for vision than we do in League. Healing plants, much alike those in the Summoner’s Rift river, will also be found next to turrets on the Wild Rift. Whether or not changes to Summoner’s Rift that are coming with the preseason, including new paths and elemental changes, will translate to the mobile game isn’t yet known.

Wild Rift Champions & Runes

Once Senna releases later in November, League will have 146 champions. Asking for this whole champion pool to be translated to Wild Rift would be unreasonable, especially having in mind some of the champions have kits that could never fit the playstyle of a joystick.

So, Wild Rift is starting with 40 champions, and the store will from there expand over time. The chronological timeline of their release in League won’t matter though, as the original Wild Rift pool features just as many older as newer champions. Some of the champions include Zed, Annie, Ashe, Draven, Jinx, Camille, and the whole pool to choose from is already listed on the Fandom Wiki.

What will make Wild Rift unique, though, are new animations. Players will be able to inspect 3D visual models of champions together with their attack animations, and some champions, like Jinx, will even feature special animations.

Some of the skins available in League will also be in the Wild Rift’s store, but don’t expect to drag over the progress from your main account. While there will be rewards for veteran League players in Wild Rift, new player accounts will have to be made, meaning every champion, skin, or even a rune page you want to have in the game, you’ll have to buy it there.

Runes will be faster and easier to set, as there will be only one path to choose from. Each of the paths will have one possible keystone and three minor runes, all pre-set. There will be two more rune paths other than the original five, but they will make up from known runes.

Image via League of Legends Wiki

Wild Rift will also feature a small number of items available in the in-game shop, and the only active items will come as upgrades from boots. Some known items like Zhonya’s Hourglass and Locket of the Iron Solari will be there, but we can expect new ones to drop as well.

Whether you’re a veteran League player or a passionate mobile gamer, we’re sure you’re excited for Wild Rift to show up in your store. The game will be available for free sometime in 2020. Until then, registration for open beta is unlocked for iOS and Android users over the official website.