What exactly is left of old Swain, lorewise?

AlistarMilking·1/24/2018, 1:57:13 AM·3 votes·770 views

He's no longer a master tactician, he's no longer a cripple, he doesn't have a limp anymore, he doesn't become a raven-human hybrid anymore, he doesn't have Beatrice anymore (he can't even tell her apart from the other crows when he's feeding them in his joke). Pretty much every noteworthy aspect about Swain's old character has been removed.

I don't understand why some reworks are complete slam-dunk thematic successes like Warwick, Urgot or Evelynn, which take everything a champion is known for, expand upon it and flesh it out into greatness, while others like Galio or Swain simply throw everything out the window and replace an old champion with great potential with a completely unrelated one. It makes it really hard to decide whether I should be hyped or dreadful of new reworks...

4 Comments

GreenLore1/24/2018, 2:11:34 AM7 votes

He's no longer a master tactician

Well that aspect has been toned down(most likely because it is barely present in his kit),but its still appearant that he is a tactician given that he refers to him and Leblanc both moving pawns

he's no longer a cripple,he doesn't have a limp anymore,

I dunno if that really applies here,considering that he has an artificial arm. Not to mention that old Swains dance implied that the whole cripple part was an act anyway(hence why Tyrant Swain,a skin that used to be canon,didn't have it)

he doesn't have Beatrice anymore (he can't even tell her apart from the other crows when he's feeding them in his joke)

Well but doesn't that confirm that Beatrice is still a thing?If Beatrice didn't exist anymore,he couldn't confuse her for one of the other crows.

he doesn't become a raven-human hybrid anymore,

Technically he'd be still a hybrid even if he just grows wings.....

Pretty much every noteworthy aspect about Swain's old character has been removed.

So Swain being basically THE warlock of the game,him using ravens and him being the leader of Noxus were not noteworthy? Not to mention that a lot of gameplay aspects were kept. He still shoots lasers with his Q,still gathers souls with his passive,still has a delayed AOE-spell with his W,still has his nevermove,where he roots an enemy with claws from the ground and he still has an ult,where he lifedrains the heck out of everyone around him.

LordHippoman1/24/2018, 2:03:43 AM1 votes

Swain still refers to the "cripple" thing with the line "And they called me a cripple." Now it's his arm, instead of his leg, which I agree is a bit less visually impactful, but I think a lot of his injured phase has now passed.

Since his full lore isn't out, I can't confirm this, but he makes a lot of mentions of being "reborn", implying something terrible happened to him in Ionia. Just like when old Swain disappeared and returned sans leg plus bird, I'm guessing new Swain probably had a near death experience, and it's only through his demonic pact that he is as able-bodied as we see him now.

Wrathof3001/24/2018, 2:16:20 AM1 votes

He is still a strategist, but is in a position where he can take to the frontlines now. He still is technically a raven-human hybrid its just no longer a full body transformation. Beatrice is still in his lore, but not physically there in game, think of it like how Lee Sin is blind but they don't actually make you play him with reduced vision. The lack of Beatrice is probably a combination of artistic and lore decisions (wouldn't be surprised if Beatrice is actually ALL of the ravens). Quite few things are different the hair, and the crippled walk as you pointed out, everything else is still there but in different amounts compared to old Swain.