Blurring lines: LoL players confused as new skins, champions affect ‘visual clarity’

If you’ve ever found yourself lured by Ahri’s pink-colored spells, mistaking them for a charm only to realize it was a normal Q ability and you’ve just wasted your Flash, rest assured—you’re not the only one.

League of Legends‘ visual clarity is an ongoing hotly debated issue, with numerous champion cosmetics causing gameplay clarity issues, resulting in confusion and ambiguous interactions. Players shared their frustrations in a June 2 Reddit post and extensively discussed the severity of this problem. “I still don’t know why Storm Dragon Aurelion Sol has [a] blue ultimate even for the enemies,” one player said. “I get baited by the blue indicator for his ultimate even when he is on the enemy team.”

However, the clarity issues don’t stop there. A few players mentioned Ahri’s skins with a pink Q, which can be confusing when she uses her Charm. Similarly, certain Pantheon skins depict him holding his spear as if channeling his Q, leading to uncertainty when he emerges from a bush. These examples underscore the need for a solution.

Even with newer champions like Hwei, who comes packed with abilities as it is, clarity takes a backseat with his Winterblessed Hwei cosmetic. “I love how when they release Hwei, they made the different categories of spells he had very distinct (and pretty) colors,” a player said. Hwei’s abilities have different colors which showcase the type of effect it was going to have on the player—damage, crowd-control, or other utility. However, the Winterblessed skin does away with this distinction. “I also love how they released him along with a skin that turns literally all 11 of his abilities blue,” the player continued.

The developers have no plans to bring a cosmetic off-button to League to tackle clarity concerns because selling cosmetics is like the bread and butter for free-to-play games. Players are also pondering if there is a “breaking point” where sacrificing the visual quality could lead to a level of deterioration that prompts people to seek out other games with better clarity. “That’s gonna hurt their piggy bank in the long run,” they further emphasized, underlining the potential impact on the game’s popularity and financial success.

While Riot Games is actively working to address these clarity issues, the game can still become very unclear and cluttered, especially for new players. Despite their efforts, the lack of visual clarity due to various champion skins remains a challenge for players trying to distinguish between them.