League of Legends’ newest champion is an assassin made up of mean dogs

League of Legends’ next champion is an ancient warrior, once imprisoned in the form of a dagger, and now freed through the possession of a pack of wolves. Naafiri is an assassin champion with an unusual premise — she is a gestalt intelligence spread across the wolves. Naafiri goes in the mid lane, and she’s an accessible assassin that lacks the class’ usual skill floor.

Naafiri was once an Ascended, a demigod warrior serving the empire of Shurima. The emperor’s hubris and folly led to a civil war, in which the rebels used the corrosive, extra-dimensional power of the Void. Shurima, in turn, dispatched their Ascended to dispatch the opposition. The Ascended won, but at a great cost, and when the empire later exploded (also due to hubris and folly), a faction went rogue. These “Darkin” were warlords who loved brutality and blood magic, and it took the work of ancient heroes to seal them all away.

In the modern era of League of Legends, the Darkin have been emerging. They were imprisoned in weapons and sealed away, and after many years, those weapons have fallen into the hands of mortals. We’ve seen Darkin like Rhaast, Aatrox, and Varus show up in League of Legends, so far. Naafiri, on the other hand, found strength by possessing a pack.

Passive - We Are More

Naafiri creates a Packmate after an amount of time that will attack enemies that she targets for physical damage, which is increased after she uses an ability. Hitting champions with abilities or killing enemies reduces this ability’s cooldown.

Q - Darkin Dagger

Naafiri hurls Darkin-tainted blades, dealing physical damage and inflicting a bleed for a few seconds. This ability may be recast. If enemies hit are already bleeding, instead deal the remaining bleed damage plus bonus physical damage and missing health physical damage. If the target was a champion, Naafiri restores some health.

Packmates will leap at the first target hit, prioritizing champions and attacking them for a few seconds.

W - Hounds’ Pursuit

After a brief delay, Naafiri dashes at an enemy, dealing physical damage and briefly slowing her target or the first champion she collides with. This ability gains range based on ultimate rank.

Packmates become untargetable and dash alongside Naafiri, dealing additional damage per Packmate.

E - Eviscerate

Naafiri surges forward, dashing and dealing physical damage to enemies she passes through, then explodes outward, dealing physical damage.

Packmates - Regroup! Packmates are pulled to Naafiri’s dash location and are healed in full.

R - Call of the Pack

Naafiri prepares to hunt, empowering her Packmates and spawning bonus Packmates for a short duration. Naafiri then gains a burst of out of combat move speed, vision, and the first time she hits an eneemy champion, she gains a shield. On first champion takedown, all ultimate effects are refreshed.

Riot has created new companion tech for Naafiri that makes her feel like a true collective; her Packmate wolves spawn over time and move alongside the champion, who acts as an anchor point. Despite the fact that Naafiri is a terrifying, ancient warlord given new life through an unholy abomination of nature, you absolutely can pet the dog.