Leading League of Legends developer Ryan Mireles has revealed that the long-awaited Malphite update is in the works at Riot HQ, although the Shard of the Monolith redesign may differ slightly from what gamers are anticipating.
Any prospective Malphite updates will likely focus more on his design and animation than gameplay, according to Mireles, who oversees all things League gaming in the Riot development team.
That would be in place of the comprehensive visual and gameplay upgrade that the majority of League gamers had anticipated for the classic champion. Mireles noted that the Monolith’s abilities and gaming mechanics are quite reliable. Instead, the character is only being held back by ten-year-old animations and images.
The League creator said, “His kit is simple, but it’s still enjoyable and functions well,” before adding that he thinks it’s “good to have simpler champions in the game” as well.
Since several years ago, Malphite has been missing from the League metagame. U.GG’s statistics show that The Monolith has a 47.72 victory percentage and has only been used in 2,716 games since the current patch cycle, 12.14, went into effect on July 27.
In Patch 12.13, the top laner just about reached 360,000 games.
For comparison, the well-liked pick Darius was chosen more than 1,120,000 times and was disqualified from about 30% of matches. Malphite had a ban rate of 3.2%.
Although Aurelion Sol is the most popular League player in Season 12 (Malphite is far from last), the sturdy champion is approaching its 13th birthday very soon. In September 2009, Riot added Malphite to the roster of their franchise’s now-exploding characters.
Once Riot updates his design, we predict Malphite will receive the ASU treatment. A similar update, according to the developers, will “bring the champion closer to modern expectations” and ensure that the champion adheres to “current art and visual standards.”
One of the first League characters to receive an art and sustainability makeover is the perennially popular mage Ahri. She received a partial update in pride month as well.