14 DAY TRIAL // Riot Games has just confirmed that the next champion in its hugely popular League of Legends multiplayer online battle arena title is Braum, a bulky character suited to the tank role with quite a few interesting abilities.
League of Legends may have started life as a variation on the already-popular Defense of the Ancients (DotA) mod for Warcraft 3, but it quickly gained a life of its own, thanks to the commitment of Riot Games and to the growing eSports community centered around the title.
After launching a few big updates and an entertaining April Fools prank, Riot has just revealed the next new champion for League of Legends – Braum.
The new character is a bulky individual who can pull of all sorts of clever tricks and act as a tank for support and sharpshooter champions.
"Braum is a strong and resilient melee support capable of making game-changing plays while saving his team from a barrage of enemy attacks. He forms symbiotic bonds with the marksman he fights alongside, forming a wall between the two teams and leaping to the aid of his allies as he transitions into a late game tank," Riot said on its website.
The list of abilities is quite impressive, starting with his passive one, in the form of Concussive Blows. This attack stacks on an enemy alongside other ally attacks and, once it reaches level four, it stuns them and inflicts bonus magic damage. In order to keep this from getting spammed, the target cannot get attacked via Concussive Blows for a "moderate duration," according to Riot.
His active skills are quite intriguing, starting with the Q one, Winter's Bite, which propels freezing ice from Braum's shield in a straight line, dealing magic damage, slowing foes, and applying a stack of Concussive Blows to the first target hit.
The W ability is called Stand Behind Me and allows the champion to leap to the aid of a nearby ally, positioning himself between the teammate and the nearest enemy, granting both Braum and his ally bonus armor and magic resistance.
The E skill is named Unbreakable and makes Braum raise his shield in a chosen direction to negate the damage from the first attack and reducing the damage of subsequent ones as long as the shield is raised.
Last but not least, the R skill is Glacial Fissure and sees Braum slam his shield into the ground, sending out a huge long-range skillshot that knocks up and damages all enemies caught by the attack, while leaving behind a strong slow field.
Braum is now live in the League of Legends PBE and will be released for all players soon enough.