League of Legends' new champion is a 'magical fawn' jungler named Lillia

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The newest addition to the League of Legends roster has been revealed as the magical fawn Lillia, a "shy, clumsy, and self-conscious" jungler who Riot said is also "the bravest champion we've made."

"Lillia feels a kinship with dreams—she loves them, in fact. But not just because they’re dreams," senior narrative writer David "Interlocutioner" Slagle explained. "She loves them for what they represent: A whole world full of people who have a beautiful magic inside of them. But people forget this magic. They lock it away. And when Lillia sees that, she wants to do more than just save her mother tree—she wants to help people find the magic within."

On the more practical side of things, all of Lillia's abilities apply Dream Dust, which deals a portion of the target's maximum health as magic damage over time. Here's what else she can do:

Q - Blooming Blows - Lillia swings her branch in the air and deals magic damage to nearby enemies, dealing true damage to those at the outer edge of the circle. When she successfully lands the attack, Lillia also gets movement speed.
W - Watch Out! Eep! - Lillia winds up for a huge strike with her branch, dealing magic damage to enemies. Enemies at the center of the impact receive more damage.
E – Swirlseed - Lillia lobs a Swirlseed overhead, dealing magic damage to enemies and slowing them for a duration. If Lillia's Swirlseed misses, it'll continue to roll until it hits an enemy or collides with terrain.
R - Lilting Lullaby - Lillia casts a lullaby over her enemies and those affected by her Dream Dust become increasingly slowed before falling asleep for a duration of time. When awakened by damage, enemies will take additional magic damage.

"I really wanted Lillia to feel like a shy, awkward fawn. It was a big challenge. How do you make ‘shy’ active?" champion designer Dan "Riot Maxw3ll" Emmons said. "Specifically, I wanted her to be weak against early invades. If you stumble upon this fawn in the forest, she should get scared and have to run away because she can’t fight you yet. And her movement speed gives her the ability to do that."

Lillia is expected to arrive in League of Legends with the kickoff of the Spirit Blossom Festival, which begins on July 22. Riot also released the League of Legends 10.14 patch notes today that you can dive into here.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.