“An ADC for ADC enjoyers”: League of Legends devs talk Yunara
Yunara’s head game designer, Riot Yelough, disclosed that they nearly incorporated a feature called ‘wallhacks’ into the latest League of Legends character.
The creators of League of Legends, Riot Games, have shed light on their latest character, Yunara. Lead designer Maxwell “Riot Yelough” Perlman provided additional details about her and revealed some insights into the motivations shaping her gameplay mechanics.
Yunara, The Unbroken Faith
Initially, Yelough underscored that the primary objective in designing Yunara was to foster a “skilled marksman” in the traditional sense. Essentially, this entails recognizing and encouraging strong fundamentals for an ADC (Attack Damage Carry), specifically mastery of positioning, spacing, and orb walking.
As a gamer, I’ve noticed that the latest marksmen characters have been quite distinct – Smolder and Kai’Sa with their unique abilities, Zeri, Samira, Nilah, and Aphelios with their exceptional kits. But Yunara seems to be a fresh approach, deviating from these unconventional designs.
As an enthusiastic fan, I’ve longed for a fresh champion tailored specifically for the core marksman community who, in my view, haven’t had a new weapon to play with since Jinx.
Riot Yelough, lead gameplay designer for Yunara
Because of its traditional structure, Yelough is anticipated to fit seamlessly into the game environment. She aligns well with engaging support characters and some enchanters, meaning her introduction shouldn’t drastically alter the game dynamics like champions such as Senna do. Moreover, he mentioned that she doesn’t harmonize with mage supports, so they won’t become any more annoying than they currently are.
Yelough expressed his desire for character Yunara to be played and enjoyed by people of all skill levels. He believes that the character’s fundamental design doesn’t lean too heavily in one direction or another, making her suitable for those who primarily enjoy the ADC (Attack Damage Carry) role.
Not for ranged top
According to Yelough, Yunara is primarily designed for the botlane position, and they prefer if she’s not played in any other roles. Yet, when Yunara is launched, players are expected to try her out in various roles, similar to how new champions are typically experimented with. However, it’s important to note that Yunara will be adjusted and balanced specifically for the botlane.
Additionally, he mentioned that Yunara’s scaling is almost completely dependent on gold, meaning additional expertise in solo lanes won’t significantly benefit her. Moreover, Yunara struggles with clearing waves, particularly during the early stages of the game.
Mixed damage? No problem
In Yunara’s abilities, she receives some magical damage, which makes her overall damage output varied. Riot Yelough emphasized that even though a player might feel they’re losing value with [Lord Dominik’s Regards], it’s generally more advantageous to have magical damage rather than physical damage that is being mitigated by armor penetration.
Weird interactions
We inquired about how other champions engage with Yunara’s abilities, as per Yelough’s explanation, Viego acquires her base kit and can accumulate her Q ability. Regarding Sylas, he currently gains Yunara’s Q buff during the entirety of his ultimate, but they are still discussing potential changes.
Yunara almost had wallhacks
In terms of scrapped versions and aspects of Yunara’s kit, Yelough has several anecdotes.
One entertaining skill we experimented with that was intriguing but we eventually moved away from was her passive trait, which resembled the sixth sense rune in some ways. This passive ability allowed her to subconsciously remember enemies she had encountered and if a new enemy entered her peripheral vision, she would make them visible – almost as if she possessed actual sixth sense or precognition abilities. However, fine-tuning the rules to feel right and fair was challenging, and in the end, it wasn’t a spell that many people seemed to find enjoyable using. Yelough made this statement.
When is Yunara’s release date in LoL?
It’s anticipated that she will access the PBE server on June 25, 2025. This implies that she is likely to be active on live servers with League of Legends Patch 25.14, which is scheduled for July 16, 2025.
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2025-06-17 14:11