Wild Rift game designer Nick Frijia is switching over to the League of Legends team.
The systems and balance specialist is a favorite amongst Wild Rift fans thanks to the frequent Q&A sessions he holds on Twitch, his blog posts detailing up-and-coming changes, and the unique items he contributed to the game.
“I am not going to work on balance on PC. I’m not allowed to talk about what I’m working on yet,” Frijia explained on stream shortly before his written announcement on Saturday. “So it’s gonna be weird, for sure, and I’ll miss these streams. But there are some really exciting things coming to PC.”
Many fans are hopeful to see more interesting features coming to League in the future with him on the team. “Bro win his promos,” the top-voted comment on the announcement’s Reddit thread joked. “Praying this means another item rework,” another wrote.
Following the announcement, a conversation was started on the item meta in League, which is often criticized for its lack of versatility. “I really want them to get rid of the Mythic system, it feels so nice not having to be restricted by it in Wild Rift,” one comment read.
Introduced in 2020, Mythic items are the strongest items in League and champions can only equip one at a time. Builds usually revolve around these items and it overhauled the way players itemize in the game.
Frijia worked on several unique items in Wild Rift. This included the Repulsor Enchant, which grants an active where players can “knock back enemies that are close away from [them],” and the Magnetron Enchant, which allows players to dash to a targeted ally “and briefly taunt the closest nearby enemy.”
Items with unique active skills offer different gameplay experiences and require tip-top reflexes in League. It’s challenging to design balanced items with these skills, however, since they often become powerful at a high level when players know exactly how to maximize their impact.
Since the developer is known for these unique Wild Rift items, many fans are hoping to see more unique active skills shake up the League meta in the future.
“I know that I’m, for a lot of people, the dev people can interact with and it feels bad to leave, but truthfully, internally, I wasn’t feeling like I was that needed for so long,” Frijia explained on his stream.
“This year, with a lot of people coming into the team, I don’t feel like I’m doing much of anything [now]. There are some projects on PC that would really benefit from my expertise,” he added.
At this time, it’s unclear what the dev will be focusing on in League, but fans will likely get more information soon.
Published: Mar 20, 2023 04:01 am