Recently, Riot Games introduced Hwei, the newest champion in League of Legends renowned for his complexity, boasting an arsenal of 10 distinct abilities.
While players grapple with the challenge of facing Hwei with such a diverse skill set, the introduction of Hwei’s Winterblessed skin has added an extra layer of complexity to it.
LoL players complain about Winterblessed Hwei
Winterblessed Hwei, The Visionary’s launch skin, elevates the champion’s artistic appeal by infusing a wintry theme into his visuals. The skin bathes his skill set in a snowy white palette, creating a visually striking effect.
However, this aesthetic choice inadvertently introduces a significant gameplay challenge— all of Hwei’s spells now share the same color palette.
This design choice has led to a situation where some of Hwei’s abilities become indistinguishable from one another during intense teamfights.
For instance, the Devastating Fire ability bears a striking resemblance to the Grim Visage ability, both being smaller projectile-based skillshots that travel in a straight line. This visual similarity makes it challenging for players to discern the nuances between these abilities, a problem not present in his base skin, where the three spellbooks are easily identified by distinct colors: red, blue, and purple.
The issue of spell identification was raised during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the League subreddit, where the creator of Hwei were addressing various questions from the community. Despite numerous inquiries, this particular concern remained unanswered.
While the developers have yet to acknowledge or address this problem, one potential solution proposed by the community involves adding a hue or glow to each different spellbook within the Winterblessed skin. This adjustment could preserve the winter-themed animations and details while providing players with a clearer means of identifying attacks.
The challenges posed by skins affecting gameplay are not unique to Hwei, as League of Legends has witnessed similar issues with other champions, such as iBlitzcrank, DJ Sona, and Elementalist Lux, and many more, with players dubbing them pay-to-win or even pay-to-lose.