Riot Games has announced that the adorable new League of Legends jungle avatars are set to hit the Rift when the LoL Preseason 2023 changes land on PBE on October 4, and while they haven’t officially been named yet, the studio has had its fair share of pet names for them throughout their development.
Gone are the days of Emberknife and Hailblade, as junglers will now pick one of three, evolving avatars – a Salamander, Fox, or Cat – that will grant them bonus stats throughout the game that differ based on which one is chosen. It’s a bit like Pokémon, but with a Runeterran twist.
According to Riot, the Salamander avatar provides a shield and extra tenacity, and the Fox gives utility and movement speed. Meanwhile, the Cat will provide slows and extra damage.
Of course, you can’t just craft three cuddly critters and not leave them unnamed internally, and Summoner’s Rift team lead Patrick Noonan tells The Loadout as part of a recent developer Q&A that Rioters have been giving them their own “fun, weird names” – one of Noonan’s favourite of which is ‘Foxy McCloudfox’ for the vulpine avatar.
Unfortunately, Foxy McCloudfox won’t quite make the cut when the Preseason 2023 changes do arrive, though Noonan does note that the names we know the avatars by now (‘Ixtali Ixamander’, ‘Ionian Cloudleaper’, and ‘Noxian Embercat’) aren’t finalised, though they are guaranteed to “resonate with Runeterra and the Summoner’s Rift theme.”
Personally, we think Riot should have out with the thematic, and in with the weird and wonderful – this is probably why we should stick to writing about games rather than writing for games…
Speaking of writing for games, be sure to check out our League of Legends Preseason 2023 changes guide to find out everything you need to know about Riot’s grand plans for Season 13, including the full lowdown on League’s new pets and when they will arrive on live.