Teamfight Tactics’ upcoming Reckoning update will bring a major new feature to the game, Shadow Items, alongside a new set of units, a new mode, and other elements. In an early play test, Polygon got the chance to check out all of Reckoning’s new updates.
The biggest new addition to Reckoning is Shadow Items. These are new versions of the familiar TFT component items like B.F. Sword and Chain Vest that have been infused with the Black Mist.
Shadow Items have the same stats as normal items, but when you combine them into larger items, they alter the item’s effects. Generally, the Shadow version of an item is more powerful, but comes with a negative trade-off. For instance, the Shadow version of Guardian Angel resurrects the unit that’s carrying it at 100% health, instead of just 400 total health. However, when the unit comes back, they have 50% less attack speed.
The Shadow versions of component items can be picked up either on the unit carousel or from the game’s new armory. The armory pops up every few rounds and offers players a choice of items. Those items might be Shadow Items, or they could be regular items. Meanwhile, neutral monsters will continue to only drop regular items.
Of course, a new TFT set also means all-new units and Traits, and Reckoning delivers on that front, too. One of the most interesting new Traits in Reckoning is Coven, which belongs only to Morgana, Lissandra, and Leblanc. When you have all three of those champions active, the champion closest to the center of the trio becomes their Coven Leader and gets 50% bonus ability power.
Reckoning also includes several unique units like Teemo, who has to be purchased using player health rather than gold, and Kayle, who gets stronger every five seconds until she turns into TFT’s strongest unit.
On top of all these new additions to the regular TFT game mode, Riot is also adding a new mode called Hyper Roll for players to test out as part of TFT Labs. This game mode is focused on making games extra fast by doing things like having players take a certain amount of damage every time they lose a round and making level-ups automatic.
Teamfight Tactics: Reckoning is set to arrive on the Public Beta Environment test server sometime this week, and will make its way to live servers after a few weeks of testing.