League of Legends: Wild Rift — All the info (Mar. 9)

Updated March 9, 2021 (10:00 a.m. ET): Today, Riot Games announced the launch date of an open beta for League of Legends: Wild Rift in North America. If you live in North America, you will have full access to the game on Android and iOS starting March 29, 2021.

Players who already had access through the closed beta program will continue to access this new beta. Riot Games also openly invites new players to immerse themselves in the world of League of Legends.

Months after rumors of a League of Legends mobile game surfaced, Riot Games made it official during its tenth anniversary. League of Legends: Wild Rift is an entirely new game, however, and not just a mobile port of the world’s most popular game.

What is this new mobile MOBA? Read on for everything you need to know about League of Legends: Wild Rift!

What is League of Legends: Wild Rift?

League of Legends: Wild Rift is a new mobile reinterpretation of the world’s most popular game, League of Legends. Riot Games has completely rebuilt Summoners Rift (now Wild Rift) for mobile, redesigning many of the game’s most popular champions and skins.

The gameplay is still 5v5 MOBA action, but with a unique mobile spin. The map is a bit smaller, you can use skills with dual stick controls, and play times are 15 minutes for phones. It’s also Riot Games’ first foray into mobile space. However, given the company’s connections with mobile gaming powerhouse Tencent Gaming, expect a higher degree of polish than its competitors on mobile platforms.

How much does it cost?

Like the game it is based on, Wild Rift will be completely free to play, with in-app purchases for skins and other cosmetic content. Similar to the PC version of League of Legends, all champions can be unlocked through gameplay alone. Of course, you can just buy them outright to speed things up.

Riot is committed to making the game even more playable than LoL, with more champion giveaways as you level up. Blue motifs serve as free currency (similar to the blue essence from the PC version) and can be used to unlock more champions. Poro coins are another currency used to buy cosmetics such as champion poses, emotes, and bullets. You can also use Poro Coins to buy a random skin, though it will take a while to save.

The paid currency, called Wild Cores, is used for champions, skins and other cosmetic items. Currently, skins are based on existing LoL skins, but future skins may be original for the mobile version.

What is the League of Legends: Wild Rift release date?

Although an official release date has not yet been announced for Wild Rift, the regional beta is now available in many parts of the world. After a limited alpha, players in Europe, Vietnam, Oceania, Taiwan, Turkey, Russia, the CIS, the Middle East and North Africa can now play.

The Wild Rift Open Beta will begin in North America on March 29, 2021. You can now pre-register on the Google Play Store or the official website for more information.

How do you play Wild Rift?

Wild Rift has the same skill system as LoL PC, but with a mobile control layout. As with many other MOBA mobile titles, this means a dual control stick scheme where the left stick is used to move your character and the right stick is used to aim your skills.

Many champion abilities have been adjusted to make them easier to use on touch screens. For example, instead of shooting him down in a straight line, you can aim Ashe’s ultimate enchanted crystal arrow. Long-range skill shots also shrink the camera to make it easier for them to land on off-screen enemies.

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All champion skills now have an active component, although they maintain the same general purpose. To better suit the new control scheme, Riot turned point-and-click skills into skill shots. These changes make the game more accessible to mobile and console gamers, but allow a high cap for competitive play.

Automatic attacks and certain skills also use a new automatic targeting system for creeps and champions. There are two additional auto attack buttons that you can use to target towers or crawlers for more control. Farming is also much easier with a new color indicator for the last hit.

Riot Games has also made slight tweaks to items, although they still generally play the same role as PC LoL. The main exception to this are active items, which now act as enchantments for boots. Each player can only buy one enchantment. So choose wisely between Zhonya’s stasis, QSS, salvation healings and so on!

Jungle and support items have also been removed. Smite now has built-in passive abilities, and gold generation for supports is now accounted for in a different way. Fending off and sweeping wards, however, remains an important part of controlling the map.

Overall, Riot accelerated Wild Rift gameplay to make mobile gaming possible. Instead of the 25-50 minute games in LoL PC, Wild Rift has 15-18 minute games. It is possible that ARAM-style game modes could further reduce this, although so far only the Wild Rift map has been previewed.

How is the Wild Rift map?

The Wild Rift card is similar to the PC LoL card with some very important changes. The biggest change is that the map is flipped so your base is always in the lower left. The upper and lower lanes have been renamed into single and duo lanes accordingly. This change ensures that your fingers never cover important parts of the screen, no matter what team you’re on.

Inhibitors have been removed and their function burned into the towers that used to protect them. Nexus Towers have also disappeared, and the Nexus itself is fighting off attackers.

The jungle layout has also been tweaked and optimized to be able to play faster. Drake buffs have been changed to have a more active effect as well. For example, Ocean now gives Drake a damage vampire instead of passive regeneration. If you defeat the Elder Dragon towards the end of the game, it will have three times the effect of the Drakes before it.

What champions are there in Wild Rift?

There are currently more than 50 champions available in the Wild Rift Beta. This includes most of the classic champions like Annie, Malphite and Nasus, as well as later releases like Seraphine, Yasuo and Camille. Riot Games has redesigned and rebuilt each champion from the ground up, so not all of the latest skins are available at launch.

It’s worth noting that there are no intentions to bring the full LoL roster from 150+ to Wild Rift. Obviously, Riot is focused on the champions who best fit the new control scheme. In the future, the developer could even release Champs for cell phones only. Here is a full list of the Wild Rift champions we’ve seen so far:

Wild Rift Champions:

Is League of Legends: Wild Rift cross-platform?

League of Legends: Wild Rift will be available for phones and consoles, but Riot Games doesn’t offer cross-play between the two. Cross-play with League of Legends PC is also out of the question as they are completely separate games. Not even champions or other unlocks are transferred from your LoL PC to the Wild Rift account.

However, certain events will overlap between the two games, and Riot could offer cross-play between mobile devices and consoles in the future.

Which phones are Wild Rift compatible?

Riot Games is committed to making its Keystone Mobile title playable on a wide variety of devices. For Android, this means devices roughly equivalent to the Samsung A7, or devices with the following specifications or higher: 1 GB RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, Adreno 306 GPU. On iOS, it should run on all versions later than the iPhone 5s.

In the early betas, developers focus on reducing packet loss, battery drain, and data usage. More powerful phones offer full 60 fps support, but the goal is to lower the bar as much as possible so everyone can play.

Will league PC progress and champions carry over to Wild Rift?

No. Although you can link the two accounts, the two games will progress differently. However, seasoned League of Legends players can earn special rewards for the years they have spent playing. Details on what these rewards actually are are pending.

Will there be a Wild Rift Pro scene?

There aren’t any specific plans for an LCS-like Wild Rift Pro scene, but it’s definitely on Riot’s radar. Right now the focus is on getting the gameplay right, but there will be a ranked mode for players above level 10. Stay tuned to find out more as the game is close to launch.

Can i play Wild Rift on a pc emulator?

Yes, you can technically play Wild Rift on a PC using an emulator. However, Riot Games has not yet decided how to address the issue. Right now, Riot isn’t going to ban you (unless you’re cheating). In the future, the company can change its policies.

That said, playing on a PC doesn’t give you much of an advantage. Because of the two-stick control scheme, a mouse and keyboard can actually be an obstacle.

That’s all for everything you need to know about Riot Games’ first mobile game! Are you looking forward to the Wild Rift? Let us know in the comments below!