Boards›Dev Corner

VFX Updates for Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn and Jax, plus an SFX Update for Renekton.

RiotSirhaian·4/16/2019, 8:40:35 PM·1 votes·160,248 views

Hello everyone!

Similar to the previous VFX updates we’ve made in the past (Kennen, Olaf, Wukong, etc), we're working on updates to the Visual Effects (VFX) of more champions whose spell effects are in need of some love. Our aim is to get their FX to current League standards and improve gameplay clarity. In Patch 9.9, we'll be releasing VFX updates for Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn and Jax, and an SFX update for Renekton.

We're looking for feedback on those changes, which should be up on the PBE now. Please try them out there —especially if you're a main— and leave us your feedback!

Ashe Ashe VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Ashe wasn’t in such a high risk area, so we just brought up the art aesthetic to keep her more in line with our Freljordian champions.

https://imgur.com/cF3Simo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3KUbD23RXk

BA - Basic attacks are now frosty with an updated arrow model Q - Mostly added more glow and frost W - Cleaned up unnecessary noise and created a sharper projectile E - She now fires an icy hawk that explodes into snow on impact. Updated model for the hawk! R - New arrow model and made it feel more threatening and cold. Should now slightly indicate the hitbox more clearly. P - Frosty and cool

Please note that all skins will not be touched, except for the ones that use base VFX for their respective recolors on live.

Blitzcrank Blitzcrank VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Keep in mind he is also getting a small gameplay update!

https://imgur.com/JzI0mxn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUAEVbPN2II

BA - New hit effects. Q - Blitzcrank’s Q has been updated to (finally) show the actual width and distance of the hook. Should now be more consistent with the hitbox. Also cleaned up a bit and added a small cast effect. W - Cleaned up, with added electricity. E - Cleaned up, with added electricity on his fists. New uppercut hit effect. R - Finally shows the actual range! Yes, it’s always been this big. Should also be more satisfying. The R ready indicator (the body electricity) has also been cleaned up. P - The barrier has been cleaned up a bit.

Skins: Rusty Blitzcrank: Rustier. Piltover Customs Blitzcrank: Cleaned up and recolored W effects. iBlitzcrank: Cleaned up his Q and added jetpacks in his W run. Preserved the lens flares in his E. Riot Blitzcrank: R has a hint of red. Battle Boss Blitzcrank: Improved R satisfaction and adjusted the R AOE size. Lancer Rogue Blitzcrank: Cleaned up R noise. Lancer Paragon Blitzcrank: Cleaned up R noise.

Caitlyn Caitlyn VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Also reinforced her Piltover/Hextech thematic where it made sense, while trying to preserve her iconic feel. Should feel more impactful and on-par with our modern standards.

https://imgur.com/dsIsTzi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqRi-a9Y8c4

BA - Cleaned up and removed all the noise. Also new hit impacts. Q - Cleaned up and removed the noise. Also added a width indicator on both Q1 and Q2 for clarity. New hit impacts. W - Reduced activation noise. Cleaned up the root effect. Ally traps now glow blue instead of green to match our modern standards. E - Cleaned up, and now more accurately represent the width of the missile. R - Reduced the R target effect’s noise and improved timing a bit. Also new cast effect, missile and hit effect. P - New headshot missile and effects. Should be more readable and satisfying!

Skins: Headhunter Caitlyn: Cleaned up the projectiles. Added the width indicator on Q1 and Q2. Lunar Wraith Caitlyn: Cleaned up the projectiles. Adjusted width of Q missiles to match base. Also cleaned up R charging and hit effects.

Jax Jax VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Made his attacks sharper and more impactful.

https://imgur.com/kquOJQB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtB5SDkVmFE

BA - Cleaned up and more impactful Q - Cleaned up and a bit more readable W - Activation more visible, and added fire to the lamp post. Bigger impact, too. E - Cleaned up, and now shows the range of the stun! R - Cleaned up and more visible, with some sand particles! R P - Third hit now much more clear and satisfying.

Skins: Nemesis Jax: New particles over the entire kit, to give it some more uniqueness. God Staff Jax: Added the stun range indicator on his E to match the changes on base.

Renekton Renekton Cleaning up Renekton's Audio to make it more clear! Goal is to EQ original files to clean out unneeded noise. SFX Updates only, as he already received some VFX Updates earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_TfmVVVFxc

Q - Emphasizing the Blade on the Cast as well as the Hit W - Cleaning up loops with EQ, adding blade textures to Execute and Super Execute E - Slice and Dice has applied Tremolo in the cast, more Transient to the Hit R - Debris in the Loops have more debris texture with EQ as well. The Cast has more texture to represent some faction tonality P - EQ present on the Cast and cleaner growl.

Please test those changes on the PBE and let us know if you have any feedback!

[slayer-jinx-catface]

114 Comments

Sanguiphilia4/16/2019, 9:06:06 PM59 votes

Caitlyn's abilities look far too magic-y now. If you were to look just at the particle animation I wouldn't be able to tell it was a sniper bullet from a gun. Please tone it down and make it look more physical and practical.

Sir Rouge4/16/2019, 9:56:11 PM10 votes

Hello! Love the new hand for Blitz's Q!

However, when looking at the clip of Blitz using his Q, it seems a bit hard for me to see the hook clearly (idk if it's linked to my color blidness, or that the fog around the Q is distracting).

I would love to see a version without the fog cluter: it would probably look less cool, but be more clear, and his Q should be clear imo.

(Edit: by fog, I don't mean the light indicator on the ground, but rather that blueish mist close to the hand. The indicator looks great.)

El Condor Pasa4/16/2019, 9:09:11 PM7 votes

Hawkshot looks a little off. It doesn't have a head and has tiny wings and a fat butt.

AIQ4/16/2019, 8:49:27 PM7 votes

For Caitlyn can we lower the volume on the head shot passive being ready? It's very annoying if you have one charged are going back to base/walking.

These look great, but does this mean that these champions are very far out from a rework/VU? In particular Cait and blitz.

Elektrostatik4/16/2019, 9:54:39 PM6 votes

Caitlyns auto attacks don't look like sniper projectiles anymore. They're so big and they glow, why? Also what other AD carry has such a huge animation on their auto? Not even Jhins auto attacks draw this much attention to them.

Great job with the other updates, tho!

CleverCactus4/16/2019, 11:23:15 PM5 votes

Would it ever be possible to give Caitlyn a throwing animation on her W similar to how Jhin throws out his trap? It's a super impactful ability that gets a lot of power just from the fact that it's difficult to see where she put her trap down.

Love the new Blitzcrank hook.

Poluact4/16/2019, 10:07:04 PM4 votes

I think Jax's E isn't visible enough for such high-impact ability. It blends with everything too much.

z04025814/16/2019, 9:06:40 PM4 votes

Caitlyn headshot particle looks similar to Zoe Q lol

Karunamon4/17/2019, 4:34:48 AM4 votes

Q - Blitzcrank’s Q has been updated to (finally) show the actual width and distance of the hook. Should now be more consistent with the hitbox. Also cleaned up a bit and added a small cast effect.

And there was much rejoicing!

Snooginator4/16/2019, 11:26:37 PM4 votes

What about ability icons? Jax's icons look very dated. Jax

Autrah Fang4/17/2019, 1:27:36 AM4 votes

All looks pretty good imo! Though, since Ashe's ult stun grows stronger with distance traveled, would it be possible to have the VFX grow stronger the longer it's in flight, capping off at the distance of the max stun value (similar to Jinx's rocket VFX changing when it speeds up)? Maybe lessen the current (updated) VFX at the start, and make it enhance slightly every time the stun grows stronger. Or just make the arrow spin more? Though that might make it read differently lol

Although, the stun value does grow in very small intervals (every 200 units traveled, up to 2800 if the wiki's correct), and making this kind of change would take quite a bit more work (not only from a coding side, but you would also need to update the VFX of all the skins that change them as well to keep consistency). So, I would understand if this change wasn't made. However, I personally think it would be a really cool thing to have!

Dïll4/16/2019, 8:45:56 PM3 votes

Just a quick fyi, the picture under Blitzcrank is just showing the Ashe pictures again.

EDIT: Jax shows the cait pictures as well.

sad þoy4/16/2019, 8:55:28 PM3 votes

Now if only Ashe could get updated animations she'd be perfect..

2nd Chance4/16/2019, 11:03:45 PM3 votes

Heya Sirhaian, you seem to be having a smige of trouble embedding imgur links, might I refer you to this to help yah out?

https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/community-moderation/mouP6um4-boards-usage-guide-part-1-boards-markup

It has quite a few other helpful tips and tricks as well!

Tomderbolt4/16/2019, 10:38:37 PM2 votes

Hey, just to clarify, the enemy team won't now be able to see the range of jax's e/stun will they?

Cynthia Gilmore4/17/2019, 2:44:23 AM2 votes

hi!! do you guys think you could possibly ever look into trying to update Miss Fortunes VFX? I feel like there could be so much more done with them and these all just look amazing!! I think it would add a much more cleaner feel to playing MF MissFortune [sg-miss-fortune] Thank you if anyone even sees this!! I would be so cool if MF’s VFX were to ever be updated <3

SneakyAzShiite4/16/2019, 8:47:05 PM2 votes

RE Renekton, he does have a lot of AA audio bugs where sometimes the sound doesn't activate on a few of his skins. Will this be fixed in addition to the SFX updates?

Nerdee4/17/2019, 7:54:02 AM2 votes

Hi! Loving all of the updates, but I've got some feedback for ashe, particularly her e? When the hawk explodes, it looks slightly underwhelming, and the floor particles are barely visible? Is it worth adding some of the ice shards falling like the current E has, and potentially add more particles to the explosion?[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Sonic Adventure4/17/2019, 9:51:14 PM2 votes

I actually like the new particles on Cait's basic attacks a lot. It's not a common weapon, it's a unique hextech rifle.

AimAssist4/19/2019, 11:28:44 PM2 votes

Ashe - looks nice, possible to make the bird smaller and spin (but way slower) like before, and feathers on explosion? Green for Sherwood and Woad could be upped a bit more, very teal atm and on ult seems very white. Possibly darker effects on Marauder, which btw the ult is bugged?

Blitz - the open hand on Q is finally here! Wondering possible for the skins too? Also just an idea but possible to make the shield size scale with well, the shield size? Purple E on Rusty seems odd with the other stuff is still the default blue, I like both versions but either one or the other should be tweaked for consistency. Piltover Customs W effect color should be on his other stuff too a fiery shield and fiery punch. New passive needs to be updated too so its not just the default one across all his skins

Cait - seems too fiery? especially on headshots. But it could make sense on the ult. New trap snare effect is nice too. Not a fan of the white net. Lunar Wraith effects could feel more spectral-y

Jax - love it, E stun range is really nice but seems a bit faint, also Angler doesnt align well

Renekton - really clean sounds love the ult activation and ending, Pool Party/Renektoy should get some separate sounds as those dont seem to make sense with the new metallic thing going on

Erablier4/16/2019, 9:30:01 PM2 votes

Holy cow, Riot actually acknowledged Rusty Blitzcrank.

The visual effects on all of the are looking very nice

AFilthyCaitMain4/17/2019, 1:17:33 AM2 votes

So my comment has two parts: The first is a bit offtopic.

So what is the riot stance on giving Caitlyn a VU of some form (Given this update here, there must be no major update in the foreseeable future)? Whether it be an Ezreal kind of vgu or whatever. I don't think it needs much explaining as its pretty much common knowledge that Caitlyn's design is mega outdated. Would appreciate some form of comment on this, but I don't really expect one.

Next, her starting VFX on her autos looks clipped, which kind of is hard on the eyes

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/484654108825878550/567877125445648395/unknown.png

Finally, the trap/empowered headshot vfx is BEAUTIFUL

Zoli Ben4/16/2019, 8:53:33 PM2 votes

Can Piltover customs and iBlitz get unique ult because both are 1350?

BadPiriPiri4/17/2019, 1:50:50 AM2 votes

Nice update.

Cait one is one who I liked the most but it could have some clarity issues because it seems to be magic damage instead of physical damage.

Akideon4/16/2019, 9:33:46 PM1 votes

looking really nice. I like updates on some older champions. I could see this kind of update working well on champions like Rammus and Pantheon as well

or maybe even these Amumu Fiddlesticks Leona Rumble Zilean

Eevarin4/26/2019, 11:18:09 PM1 votes

Hey, first of all, I'm loving the VFX updates, but I had a question. A lot of the VFX updates are changing colors to blue and I have a friend who has Tritanomaly, which basically means he sees blue as green. So as these updates have been coming out he's been having a harder and harder time playing the game. I was just wondering if there was any intention of adding a colorblind mode to the game. Thanks in advance.

Dochasach4/22/2019, 8:25:17 PM1 votes

Below I have listed my thoughts on each Ashe skin regarding her VFX update. Please note that all of the comments below are my own personnel opinion and something I would personally like to see.

Freljord Ashe For a 520RP skin, the VFX are fine.

Sherwood Forest Ashe Once again, for it being a 520RP the VFX are fine

  • Personnel note, there is a tiny hint of a teal colour in her W and E. Wish it could carry over to the rest of her abilities, but it is 520RP so it isn't that big of a deal

Woad Ashe Same thing as Sherwood Forest Ashe :)

Queen Ashe This skin is 975RP (As well as Legacy) and personally I would have liked to see more changed to the VFX, colour wise. Maybe more of a white colour on all of her abilities with a slight gold accent (As her dress has gold on it).

Amethyst Ashe For a 975RP skin I really like it, even if it just the base VFX with a purple colour! :3

Marauder Ashe With this being a 750RP skin I can say that nothing needs to change really. I think it is fine as it is. :)

For Heartseeker Ashe, PROJECT: Ashe, Championship Ashe, and Cosmic Queen Ashe no changes were made (Except for her Q) so I have no comments about these skins. :)

To see a comparison of Ashe's Old and New VFX watch the video below! | Video By: SQUPO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoh2vaYw0z4

If you have any questions or your own opinions then leave me a message and I will be glad to respond! [slayer-jinx-catface]

Original Post: https://boards.pbe.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/client-new-features-feedback/EEJ79rZm-thoughts-on-ashe-vfx-update

D0P3ST4/23/2019, 4:22:16 PM1 votes

Can you guys please fix the God Staff E animation? Rn, you are actively hindered by taking the skin, as the animation is much easier to cancel then any other E or basic attack animation due to the wind up, and I feel looking into see if it can be better optimized would make the skin feel so much worse to play then the others.

sAyCo4/26/2019, 9:49:23 AM1 votes

Fiddlesticks?