The Spider Queen Elise is having all of her abilities updated in this season 12
Riot has been progressively offering VFX improvements to some old champions, most notably the recent updates to Vel’Koz and Vayne with the aim of modernizing their appearance to suit the concept of the game.
Elise was introduced to League 10 years ago, and the jungler’s powers have remained nearly totally unchanged since then. Because she was one of the game’s earliest champions, she is a great choice for a VFX revamp. Riot has already announced that they are recreating her entire kit visual.
Elise, being one of a few shapeshifters, has more than the typical four skills to visually change. Many of her other skills are getting visual updates, giving her a total of six basic abilities, including Neurotoxin, Cocoon, Volatile Spiderling in human form and Venomous Bite, Skittering Frenzy, Rappel in spider form.
Elise’s auto-attack animation has been updated as well, with her assaults now being more clearly defined with solid red and black patterns.
Cocoon, her most recognizable ability, now sprays a much more colorful web in a green-like pattern in its intended direction, making the hitbox more visible. This update also contrasts the champion idea, since Elise is related strictly to Shadow Isles. Previously, the ability sprayed out a white web, making it difficult to trace.
As for her other skills, Rappel now has a more defined outside circle in which Elise can flee, similar style to Cocoon. And Neurotoxin now has a much stronger effect, making it easier to indicate.
The new particles are meant to improve visual clarity, so the redesign should make it much simpler to play with and against the champ, so keep an eye out for Elise’s visual update around patch 12.5.