League of Legends Summoner's Rift update hitting beta servers soon

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Riot Games has lifted the lid of a hefty update coming to Summoner's Rift , describing it as "a big part of our commitment to continually improve League of Legends." There's still work to be done but the update should be ready to roll out to the public beta environment in the relatively near future.

A combination of map design and buffs in each quadrant provide "thoughtfully placed landmarks and subtle color cues," helping players maintain their orientation, while new monsters have been added with designs that will accurately reflect their in-game characteristics. New models for Baron Nashor and Dragon are more expressive, and we spotted a new toad-like monster with tusks called Gromp lurking in the jungle. There's also been a focus on eliminating the randomness of Baron's and Dragon's attack patterns so players can more easily predict and avoid them.

"What clarity translates to is the updated map doing a better job of drawing eyes to the most important information of the moment," the studio wrote in a new post. "When fights break out, the environment should be the background, allowing particle effects and champions to pop off the screen and feed players the crucial data they need to make the right play."

A hard launch date hasn't been settled, but Riot said the update will be rolled out to PBE soon. A live beta is being considered, but technical considerations make it a "tricky proposition" this time around. As for how it will impact other maps, Riot admitted that it's really not sure how that will work out, saying, "We're laser-focused on getting this update to players globally."

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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.