14 DAY TRIAL // League of Legends will get a brand new champion update soon for Karthus the Deathsinger, in order to improve his character model, but also his voice acting, animations, and help flesh out the lore behind him, according to developer Riot Games.
League of Legends went online back in 2009, and among the original champions in the multiplayer online battle arena title was Karthus, a lich from the Shadow Isles that unleashed a barrage of powerful magical abilities.
However, since then, Riot has rolled out a lot more champions while improving the actual game in a variety of ways.
As such, in recent months, it's started overhauling some of the original characters in order to improve their quality.
After Twitch, Karthus is the next champion to get a makeover from Riot Games.
First and foremost, his voice and his background are getting more details, thanks to a new voice actor and a better definition of his Shadow Isles origin.
"Updating Karthus gives us a chance to expand his breadth of character so he again fills a unique niche. New Karthus has significantly expanded voice over (over 200 script lines, all voiced by a new actor!) and characterful animations that really nail his personality," the studio said on its website.
What's more, the character model is finally getting some love and care, as Riot can employ its expertise with recent heroes to ensure that Karthus feels brand new.
"Updating Karthus means we can apply all the tech and knowhow that we’ve picked up since launching the game. For example, we’re actually going to animate his robes so he doesn’t look like a jellyfish in his idle state, and we’re building a whole range of Lay Waste animations so he Qs with variety."
While his appearance will be tweaked, he'll still retain his imposing presence and won't require any small changes depending on the region of the game. Apparently, Riot was forced to make a few tweaks in order to avoid causing controversies in some territories of the world.
"On top of that, we’re greatly increasing the fidelity of his model. Karthus looks a little different – we’ve made him less bare-bones – because we now have the tech and expertise needed to display the level of detail that a withered necromancer visually demands. In addition, the change means players around the world can enjoy the same awesome Karthus without us having to switch things up for various cultural sensibilities."
Karthus is going to become available on the League of Legends public beta environment soon enough so that players can try the new version out before it's released to all players worldwide.