League of Legends preseason 12: Start date, new Dragon system, new Mythics, Udyr rework, and more

The League of Legends preseason update is right around the corner, and Riot Games have already started giving players glimpses of what they can expect once the charges go live later this year.

Preseason 11 bought a completely new item system where the game introduced Mythic and Legendary items while replacing cooldown reduction with Ability haste.

However, for season 12, instead of introducing extensive overhauls, the League of Legends devs will be looking to change some in-game systems like the Elemental Dragons and new Mythic sets for mid-laners and supports.

The goal will be to improve some of the lacking gameplay mechanics and bring more versatility to how League of Legends is played.

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League of Legends preseason 12: All expected changes coming to the game

1) New Elemental Dragon system

(Images via Riot Games)

The existing Elemental Dragon system will be receiving a bit of an overhaul in season 12. In the preseason update, Riot will be looking to introduce two new drakes; Hextech and Chemtech.

Adding two new dragons and their souls to the rotation will introduce a lot of versatility in the gameplay, and these two dragons will affect the map quite differently from the existing ones.

Slaying a Hextech dragon will give players Ability Haste and Attack Speed, while the soul will be providing the team with a Static Shiv-like “chain slow” effect. A Hextech dragon map will span portals around Summoners Rift that players can use to teleport to various parts of the rift, making it a pretty unique environment shit.

Killing a Chemtech dragon, on the other hand, will grant players bonus damage on missing health, and the soul will allow teammates to respawn as a zombie undead for a few extra seconds, just like Sion’s passive. A Chemtech dragon map will introduce camouflage zones across the rift that teams can use to their advantage.

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2) Additional Mythics and Legendary items for mages and supports

(Image via Riot Games)

With Season 12, League of Legends will look to have more versatile build paths for some of the champion classes in the game.

Mages and Supports will get more Mythic items, so the latter does not have to rush a Locket of the Iron Solari or Shurelya’s Battlesong every single time. Mages, however, will be getting an item that focuses on spell-spamming. Hence, Riot is working on a Mythic that revolves around providing ability haste.

Additionally, there will be improved Legendary options for mages, assassins, and tanks, but marksmen and bruiser build will not be tinkered with this time around.

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3) Runes and Keystone changes

The Inspiration tree line will be brought under scrutiny in League of Legends preseason 12. There will be significant changes coming to Glacial Augment and many secondary runes to balance the Rune page.

Precision and Lethal Tempo will also re-worked to an extent, and the primary focus will be on championing Attack Speed.

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4) New objective bounties for more comeback windows

More standing gols In League of Legends season 12 (Image via Riot Games)

In Season 12, League of Legends’ pro-play will be getting a bit more interesting as Riot is looking to bring in a new objective bounty system that will allow losing more avenues to get back into the game.

Teams put behind in the early game will get more gold out of towers and objectives across the map, objective bounties will be given to every member of the team, and just to the player who secures the objective.

Hence, teams from behind can make a more efficient comeback from Season 12 instead of just funnelling all the “standing gold” into the carries.

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5) Udyr rework

Udyr’s rework was in the making for some time now. And as Riot Games could not push it out in the regular season, they will be looking to bring in his VGU update and reworked kit in preseason 12.

In the rework, the developers will keep his iconic “form-swapping” style. However, they might look to provide his gameplay with a bit more versatility.

Apart from Udyr, Syndra changes will also be on the way. However, she will just be getting visual upgrades and not a kit rework.

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When does League of Legends preseason 12 start?

League of Legends Udyr rework (Image via Riot Games)

The League of Legends preseason 12 will kick off right after the Worlds Championship 2021 concludes in November.

The preseason patch is set to go live on either the last week of November or the first week of December, with the official patch to follow suit in the first half of January.