All the LoL Arena 2024 changes you should know

Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, has announced the return of the LoL Arena game mode with tons of new changes. Here are all the details you need to know before dropping into Arena.

Arena is meant to be a fast and casual game mode that's less intensive and time-consuming than games of Summoner's Rift. The mode first debuted in 2023 with the Soul Fighter game mode as an eight-player 2v2v2v2 mode. It's been gone for several months, but will return during the mid-year with some serious modifications.

The previous maps for Arena will be sticking around, joined by a completely new map that Riot Games is referring to as the "Koi Pond." The Koi Pond is made up of three circular islands separated by terrain walls and a river. However, this map isn't as reliant on mobility as it might seem.

Throughout matches that take place on the Koi Pond, a secondary area called the Bloom Bridge will spawn. The Bloom Bridge will allow players to cross between areas of the new LoL Arena map without needing to use mobility tools. There will still be Blast Plants and Hextech Portals, but those offer less information and higher risk of dying.

The other huge change to Arena is that instead of 2v2v2v2 lobbies, the player count will double to account for eight two-player teams. In order to account for this, Riot has previewed a much larger central lobby map, able to hold all of the new teams. The larger lobbies are part of Riot's attempt to increase the diversity of gameplay experiences in any given match of Arena.

The next biggest change is a rework to the item system that will apply only to Arena. The first change is the biggest, a new class of items called Prismatics. These are non-purchasable, incredibly powerful items that can completely change how a champion plays. Three examples given in Riot's preview are Flesheater, Reality Fracture, and Shield of Molten Stone. Flesheater gives Adaptive Force, Lethality, and Magic Penetration. It also shreds Armor and Magic Resistance, and heals on takedown based on the enemy's maximum health.

Reality Fracture is a Prismatic item that grants Ability Power, Attack Speed, and Health. It also makes attacks and abilities summon Voidgrubs periodically, turning you into a summoner with a single item slot. Finally, Shield of Molten Stone grants Health and Armor and increases Armor by a percentage of itself. Its ability gives players a chance to completely block auto-attacks, with that chance scaling off of their Armor.

But how do you get Prismatic Items if you can't buy them? The answer is Anvils. Anvils are a new consumable that helps give a permanent upgrade, either by granting an item or a permanent stat boost. Anvils can be purchased, and are separated into tiers: Prismatic, Legendary, Stat.

Prismatic Anvils grant a choice of 3 Prismatic items, Legendary Anvils offer the same but are limited to a single class (Fighter, Tank, Mage, etc), and Stat Anvils offer a statistics boost. All of their offerings are random, but offer a fun and less-monotonous way to spice up your build with powerful options.

Cameos, the Soul Fighter-themed apparitions of champions that would modify certain rounds, are returning. However, not all of them have made the cut. Riot said they were unhappy with Cameos that took away player agency and felt set in stone. With that said, Riot has announced that Lux, Sett, Thresh, Pyke, and Jhin will all make a return to LoL Arena in 2024.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more League of Legends news and updates.