Valorant Champions Tour Champions 2022 is upon us, and developer Riot Games is once again gracing players with an exclusive Valorant Champions 2022 bundle to commemorate the event. Not only will the Phantom be getting a shiny new skin, but for all you butterfly knife enjoyers out there the studio has you covered. Oh, and this year’s bundle has some very special quirks indeed.
Coming in at a cool 6,265 VP as part of the Exclusive Edition Valorant skins tier, the Valorant Champions 2022 bundle will not only feature the aforementioned weapon skins, but also a Gun Buddy, Player Card, and Spray. 50% of the net proceeds will go to participating teams.
One aim of this year’s skins, according to producer Laura Baltzer, is to offer something “aspirational and bold” that allows players to flex as they’re frying lobbies. The other? To “enhance the esports broadcast, while also continuing to build on the competitive feel of every players’ own ranked climb.”
The result of this is the ‘Champion’s Aura’, which allows both weapon skins to evolve based on the number of kills the player has accrued. According to art lead Stefan Jevremovic, the idea originally came about for last year’s skins, but couldn’t be implemented in time. However, the studio has “spent almost a year developing this tech”, and the results certainly sound impressive.
Here’s how the levels work for both skins:
Champions 2022 Butterfly Knife (Melee)
- Level 1 – Custom Champions 2022 model design
- Level 2 – Custom gold VFX swipes, butterfly knife animations and looping animation
- Level 3 – This level contains the “Champion’s Aura,” which has 3 features:
- i. The butterfly knife has a gold glowing outline when the player has the most kills in the game (no ties)
- ii. Every 5 kills, the blade’s design “evolves” and red crystal shards incrementally fill the blade, maxing out at 25 kills
- iii. When the player has 25 kills as well as the most kills in the game, they have a custom inspect animation that embodies what it means to be a champion
Champions 2022 Phantom
- Level 1 – Custom Champions 2022 model design; Champions 2022 logo design; glowing red bullets; custom ADS reticle
- Level 2 – Custom red muzzle flash in the shape of the VCT Spark logo; during inspect, the Champion’s 2022 anthem plays with a custom inspect animation; custom firing audio; when the player gets a kill, there is an on-kill effect which makes the Champions 2022 logo glow
- Level 3 – Finisher and Kill Banner
- Level 4 – This level contains the “Champion’s Aura,” which has 2 features:
- i. The Phantom has a gold glowing outline when the player has the most kills in the game (no ties)
- ii. Every 5 kills, the gun’s design “evolves” and red crystal shards incrementally fill the rifle, maxing out at 25 kills
“With this progressive effect, the skin evolves based on your success throughout the whole match,” Jevremovic says. “The player may not get to see their skin fully in every single game, but when they do, it will feel that much more satisfying.”
Of course, the bottom frag specialists here at The Loadout won’t be seeing those final forms all-too-often in our Valorant ranked games, however we might get a sneak peek during a warm-up Deathmatch here and there…
For those that can’t shell out on the bundle, have no fear as Riot is also dishing out some free cosmetics for tuning into Champions 2022, and playing games throughout the event.