League Of Legends Patch 7.15 is just around the corner, which means Urgot’s rework is finally coming out. For months, I’ve been excited to get my hands on the grotesque butcher’s new kit outside of the PBE, ready to blast enemies with shotgun knees and chains from my gut. With a new patch comes a new PBE cycle and skins which Riot Games desperately wants you to buy with your hard-earned cash. Most of the awesome cosmetics released over the last six months have already leaked, but it looks like there were still a few secrets that we didn’t uncover: the official League Of Legends Instagram account just teased Battle Boss skins for Ziggs, Malzahar and Brand.
Continuing the line that Battle Boss Blitzcrank started, these skins combine the 8-bit video game aesthetic of the Arcade line with some of gaming’s coolest concepts. Final Boss Veigar might be the last thing you see before you go to the virtual heaven in the sky, but you’ll have to beat these bosses just to get their first.
Battle Boss Brand- Riot has honored Final Fantasy, Galaga and even the NES’ guns, so what classic franchises are left for them to tribute? Battle Bross Brand takes his inspiration from Mega Man , with two flame blasters worthy of the little blue bomber. Brand used to be a giant spirit elemental trapped in an explorer’s body, but now he’s a pawn for Veigar to sic on his enemies. His abilities have all been given new VFX, complete with shiny blue effects that could dazzle even the darkest cynic.
Looking at Battle Boss Brand, I do have a few concerns. The skin’s bright blue 8-bit flames look awesome, but very similar to some of the abilities and auras of the other Arcade skins. Brand’s passive blue sphere looks a lot like Sona’s Q aura, which could get confusing if the two were ever on the same team. A combination that isn’t as unlikely is Arcade Ezreal and Battle Boss Brand, whose Q abilities look super similar. These skins are still on the PBE and in testing, so hopefully they are fixed before they end up on the live servers.
Battle Boss Malzahar- The only vector-based skin in the line, Battle Boss Malzahar harkens back to a much more polygonal time in gaming. Whether it was the giant boss face in Star Fox or classic arcade games like Asteroids , triangle outlines have always been a huge part of video game history. BB Malzahar takes these pointy shapes to a whole new level, gaining a costume that could never be made into an action figure for fear it would poke someone’s eye out. His voidlings are now tiny red and black triangles that make the game look like it had glitched out after not loading properly.
Watch out for Battle Boss Malzahar’s ultimate, which opens a pit in the ground straight to a grey death screen. The whole skin reminds me of the Simpsons “Treehouse Of Horror VI” episode that had Homer open up a portal to a CGI dimension. There’s weird shapes and a black hole that opens up right under his feet, exactly like our pointy friend here.
Battle Boss Ziggs- Bomberman and Ziggs are a match made in heaven. They both like to throw bombs and blow enemies up with them, what more could you possibly want? “This will be a blast” isn’t just a catchphrase, it’s a way of life.
