Heimerdinger is one of League’s least-played champions, and he’s finally getting an update

Heimerdinger is so rarely played in League of Legends that we had almost forgotten he was even a champion. Well, that may finally change, because the Donger himself is on deck for an update, according to the most recent Riot post on the Dev Corner of the League forums.

Heimer sits at a depressing 0.37 percent play-rate, according to League stats website Champion.gg, and the reason is clear—he’s boring as hell to play. The only challenging or skill-expressive thing in Donger’s kit is deciding where to strategically place his turrets. When a fight begins, though, it’s as simple as firing his two skillshots and then sitting inside his turrets. As you can imagine, aside from being a total brain-dead champion, it’s also very irritating to lane against him, even if you end up winning the lane. There’s no counterplay involved when your enemy essentially just summons stationary minions that deal a lot of damage. Don’t go near them, or you lose. That’s it.

Related: Rammus will be the next vanguard tank to be updated.

While details on the update haven’t been revealed yet, we do know that Heimerdonger’s turrets are on thin ice, and they’ll likely see the largest change. But what could be done to them to let the Dinger express more skill while adding more counterplay? After all, it’s a pretty straightforward ability as it stands. Well, one idea could be throwing the turrets instead of placing them, like Teemo’s mushrooms. After throwing them, perhaps they could deal significantly more damage, but they only last for a few seconds rather than hanging around indefinitely. This would force Heimerdinger to use the turrets at the opportune moment and at the right angles, rather than just setting them down and forgetting about them.

The update also aims to make him stronger in the mid lane, much like the upcoming Malzahar update. This means that Heimer might gain some power in the skill-shot department. Whether that means more damage or more functionality, we’re unsure, but in order to compete in trading damage with a mid opponent, his skillshots would definitely need some work.

This update probably won’t be enough to begin the reign of King Ding in the meta, but it should be enough to at least make him more appealing. We’re rooting for you, Heimerdinger.