The long-awaited VGU update for Udyr is on the horizon.
It’s been a while since we heard anything about Udyr’s VGU, which is set to be released in League of Legends next year. However, in the newest Champion Roadmap, we got a new look at the Spirit Walker—and his various stances.
The last time we saw a possible design for Udyr’s rework was in a late-June dev post, where Riot stated that the update’s goals are to bring him up to visual standards while maintaining the feel of the man of many stances. The concept art shared in that post depicted various versions of the League’s resident shaman, as well as new stances he could take.
Along with teasers for the next marksman and support champions, today’s Champion Insight provided a more in-depth look at Udyr’s rework, with clear revisions that tie him more closely into the game’s lore. The antlers seen in the original concept art for the VGU have become a defining feature of the new design, though they had to be tuned “because they were large and demanded a lot of attention.” The Spirit Walker also now wears a headwrap given to him by the Blind Monk, which he proudly wears on his fists, as a nod to his Ionian adventures with Lee Sin.
Riot also teased Udyr’s updated stances, which will combine some of his classic moves with some new styles, when his VGU arrives. We can see Udyr performing his Bear and Phoenix Stances in his new concept art, with the Phoenix Stance now more closely resembling Anivia. His Turtle and Tiger stances, however, appear to have changed.
According to the symbols on the picture, these new stances take the form of a Boar and a Ram, taking inspiration from Sejuani (specifically Bristle) and Ornn, continuing the VGU’s staple trend of Udyr being able to harness the power of Freljordian demigods and heroes. One of the symbols depicts the Tiger Stance, though the concept art depicts a stance that looks more like Volibear than his current Tiger Stance.
Udyr has come a long way since his days as a bear-skin-wearing, scrappy-punching shaman, and now appears to be in much better shape, with deeper roots that connect him more deeply to the world of Runeterra. Because Udyr’s rework is still in the works, all of these changes are subject to change before his official release. His VGU is expected to ship next year, though no specific date has been set.