Riot is adding a lot to League of Legends this pre-season. They're bringing back the Chemtech Drake and Speak of Shojin, but there is much more on the table in terms of updates for 2023. So let's go over what to expect in Season 13 of League of Legends.
Each year Riot stirs up the meta with huge changes in the preseason. This year is no different with Riot adding the Chemtech drake back into the game whilst making huge jungle changes, as well as bringing back old OP items like Spear of Shojin.
But there are more changes being added to the way we can communicate in the game without adding voice chat. So, what quality of life changes is Riot adding in 2023 to League of Legends?
LoL Preseason 2023: New Ways to Communicate
League of Legends players have had to deal with the same ping wheel for forever. On the other hand, Wild Rift players have got to enjoy multiple pings to better communicate with their teammates without needing voice chat. Now, it seems like Riot is still not going to add voice chat to LoL, but they will improve the ping wheel.
We're going to have our usual danger, enemy missing and on my way pings, but Riot has decided to make the ping wheel bigger, adding in four new pings.
- Returning Pings: Retreat, On My Way, Assist Me, Enemy Missing
- New Pings: Push, All-In, Hold, Bait
New Vision Ping Wheel
Riot is also going to add an entirely new ping wheel which is solely focusing on vision. Since vision is a key element to the game, it's important to keep track of where the enemy has wards and where you and your team might need vision as well.
These are the new vision pings in League of Legends:
- Vision Cleared
- Enemy Vision
- Need Vision
Off-Screen Pings to make Communication More Clear
Another small change that should make communication better is that pings, no matter from how far away, will be shown on your screen rather than just in the corner on the map.
The enemy missing ping will show op on your screen no matter the distance of the person who pinged is, while the Retreat, On My Way, Assist Me, Hold, All-In, and Push pings will only be displayed if they’re pinged within 3000 units of your screen's edge.
Objective Voting Added in Preseason 2023
Sometimes pinging an objective just isn't enough for your team to get behind you when you want to steal Baron under the opponent's nose. That's why Riot is going to add a new feature which should make it easier for a team of 5 randoms to get onto the same page ahead of an objective – Objective Voting.
So, now you can vote on objectives and whether you want to contest them. A similar image will appear on the screen to the forfeit vote, so make sure you don't mistake it for the other!
Updated Vision System
Riot is also going to update the vision system in League of Legends to help players keep a better overview of everything going on in League of Legends. So, two ward timers are being added to the game, one for allies and one for enemies.
Allied Ward Timers
Placing wards and knowing when they'll expire sometimes gets confusing, which is why Riot is going to add ally ward timers into the game once the preseason goes onto the PBE for testing.
This visual aid will indicate on the mini map when allied wards are about to expire without you having to physically zoom into the ward on the map and checking manually. The wards on the map will change appearance when they reach 60 and 30 seconds before they expire.
Enemy Ward Timers
Now, it's also annoying not knowing when an opponent placed a ward, and how long they'll still be active, right? That's why Riot is also going to be adding enemy ward timers for anyone who managed to find an opposing ward within 10-seconds of it having been placed down.
If you ping an enemy ward that you saw them place within the last 10 seconds, a perfectly accurate ward timer will appear until the ward is removed or expires.
Loadout and Ability Recommendations
Since Riot is wanting to move away from third party apps that help players with runes, match-ups and such, they're adding in their own suggestion system which will take the data from previous games so players new to the game know which runes and builds work best on the champion they want to play.
New Rune Page and Summoner Spell Suggestions
As just mentioned, Riot is going to add in suggested runes, as well as summoner spells into the client. What Blitz had been doing before will now be automated by Riot and players will be able to opt into the changes suggested or go with their own builds.
Recommended Ability Levelling
Not only is Riot going to add some quality of life changes to the client, they're also going to add some into the game as well. If you're playing a new champion and have no clue which abilities to level when, then you can trust the new recommended ability levelling tool which will be added to the game in the 2023 preseason.
These are all the communication and quality of life changes Riot is looking to add to make the game easier for beginners, as well as encourage players to try out new picks on the fly.