League of Legends is introducing the Broken Covenant skins for Cho'Gath, Miss Fortune, Nocturne, Rakan, Riven, Vladimir, and Xayah.

Unfortunately, Xayah and Rakan will not be getting a joint recall animation, and will no longer receive them in future skins, either. Here is what Riot Games had to say about the matter:

“I want to address a piece of feedback that we also received during the Arcana skins release regarding Duo Recalls, which is starting to be brought up again now. The Skins Team Production Leadership has analyzed both the feedback and data we get from our live servers, and they have found that the pick rate for Xayah and Rakan to be in the same team is fairly low, as well as them both using the same skinline within the same game is almost accidental (essentially limited to a very small sub-set of duo players). Due to that, the Skins Team Production Leadership has agreed that unique Duo Recalls within a specific skinline is a feature that we will not be carrying over to future Xayah and Rakan skins.”

– Riot DW Platypus

“Jumping in to help give some more context. Also jumping in because I go Mega Gnar when folks say the skins team is lazy (they aren't) or that they don't care (they do) which I see coming up in this thread. When we created Xayah and Rakan (I was part of the team) we wanted to try a lot of new things – a shared recall animation being one of them. It took a lot of work, blending animations from two champs that could come together at any point during either recall. We also didn't really know if players would care or use it that much, but because of their theme it was worth it to try something new. Many years later it's clear that only a very small fraction of players use the joint recall with the same skin when Xayah and Rakan are on the same team, so we default to the base shared animation. When we look at how long it takes to add this special animation for how little use it gets, we are forced with a hard trade off. Continue doing it, or put the effort into something that will be more meaningful for more players? We try not to make those trade-offs because it always sucks for some group of players. But we do have to make them sometimes because we have limited time and resources to do everything.

We can do better sharing the trade-offs with you all (like we did recently on the less new champs to work on more new game modes) but we're not making them because we're lazy and don't care – and I really don't want the team to stop taking chances on things like a shared recall because they're worried it will set a precedent that will forever bind them.

But also – keep telling us what trade-offs are okay with you and which aren't. That does help us get the info we need beyond statistics and we are listening, even if the end decision is one you don't like I hope you will understand the reasoning.”

– Jeremy “Riot Brightmoon” Lee

Broken Covenant Skins

This new skinline is part of a new universe skin called Forsaken Hymn, set in a world that is at war between the Aspirants and the Neverghaasts.

“For years the Aspirant congregation has fought the Neverghaast sect over Aspira, the breath of life. To the congregation, Aspira is a gift one returns upon death to enter the afterlife. But the Neverghaast, cursed with an eternal thirst for breaths, believe there is only one life and it must be lived to excess. The war rages on, with no end in sight…”

Broken Covenant Cho'Gath

“A living weapon of Nocturne's design, Cho'Gath is meant to cleanse the world of the Neverghaast. Empowered by sacred artifacts from the congregation's crypts, it has remained dormant while Nocturne feeds it prisoners to build its power. Despite its maker's intentions, nothing will be able to sate the monster's hunger once it fully awakens.”

Broken Covenant Cho'Gath simply looks monstrous in this splash art. The longer you look at the art the more of his features you can make out, which makes the whole image look creepier especially when you notice his skeletal fingers and exposed ribcage.

In-game, the skin looks a little desaturated, but the way that the “hands” dangle is still a little unsettling. The Q provides a nice sense of scale as buildings and towers appear instead of spikes.

Post-PBE changes:

  • Vorpal Spikes (E) SFX volume has been increased

Broken Covenant Miss Fortune

“A devout Aspirant, Miss Fortune is the public face of the congregation. She has a single-minded focus on revenge against the Neverghaast, not just for murdering her parents, but for also corrupting Riven. Sarah can't believe her best friend helped the enemy and doesn't regret shooting her, because as long as the Neverghaast live, evil will fester.”

Broken Covenant Miss Fortune rocks the black and white warrior nun outfit with a matching halo atop her head. The red ambient lighting from outside the covenant glass accentuates her hair really nicely, giving a way to identify that this lady is indeed Miss Fortune, if you somehow missed the two massive guns.

The best touch in this skin, apart from the recall animation, has to be the little detail of Miss Fortune's halo remaining in-game. Although without it, the skin would simply look like her other skins as it has a common MF color palette of black, red, and gold.

Post-PBE changes:

  • Adjusted color of crystalline part on her pants (now it’s deeper / more saturated)
  • Added small amount of bling sparks for Bullet Time (R) VFX
  • Bullet Time (R) projectiles are now unique

Prestige Broken Covenant Miss Fortune

“Every year, thousands make the pilgrimage to the Gala, hoping to catch a glimpse of Miss Fortune's latest look. Never keen on shunning her faithful, she always treats each devotee as if they were a fellow family member. Even so, her rivals know to not cross her, lest they feel her wrath.”

Prestige Broken Covenant Miss Fortune has ditched her monochromatic habit for a more regal looking look, now accented by gold and purple.

Prestige Broken Covenant Miss Fortune looks a lot more unique than the base skin and stands out from other MF skins – a feat that is quite impressive considering her library of great skins.

Post-PBE changes:

  • Hair color saturation and hue adjusted
  • Strut (W) SFX should now be more audible

Broken Covenant Nocturne

“As the oldest member of the Aspirants, Nocturne is content to lead from the shadows, having long ago exchanged their physical form for pure Aspira. Within the catacombs, they jealously guard the vast well of Aspira the congregation has filled over the centuries, toiling away at the unholy weapon that will destroy the Neverghaast once and for all.”

Broken Covenant Nocturne has the same creepy, ashy vibe as Cho'Gath. Nocturne is shown conjuring power on top of what looks like one of the towers atop Cho'Gath, seeing as how he created the latter in this skin universe.

This has to be one of the brightest Nocturne skins, as he deviates from his normal dark palette and exchanges it for white and gold. It has a regal feel to it and resembles some of the Prestige skins of old.

Broken Covenant Xayah

“Thieves until the end, Xayah and Rakan only cared about each other and shunned the war raging around them. When Rakan ran afoul of the Neverghaast and was almost killed, Xayah agreed to spy on the Aspirants if Vladimir made her partner a Neverghaast. As she reports back from within the congregation, she prays she can find a cure for her lover's curse.”

Broken Covenant Xayah once again shares a splash art with her lover, with Xayah's side being the white and gold side. A small detail that becomes the cherry on top for this image is the mark on her hand, denoting that she carries a piece of Rakan as she undergoes her spy mission.

Broken Covenant Xayah uses the Aspirant Congregation's palette of white and gold in-game. This is also a unique shade for the vastayan  as most of her skins tend to be on the dark purple side.

Post-PBE changes:

  • Small optimizations of hair to make them less flat in terms of color
  • Cape colors have been optimized (especially white part)
  • Added on ground colored glass VFX for Featherstorm (R)

Broken Covenant Rakan

“Rakan's mouth always got him into trouble, and after getting caught stealing from Vladimir and nearly killed, he awoke to find himself a newly turned Neverghaast, thanks to his beloved Xayah. In the time they've been separated while she repays his debt, Rakan can feel his thirsts grow and dreads showing his partner the monster he fears he's becoming.”

Broken Covenant Rakan's side on the lovers' splash art is more crimson, denoting his allegiance to Vladimir and to the Neverghaast Sect.

He uses the Sect's red color palette for in-game VFX. The added effects that resemble stained glass on most of his abilities add a nice, unique touch to the skin.

Post-PBE changes

  • We have adjusted cape color to feel more like ‘blood red’ instead of pink
  • Minor adjustment around eyes

Broken Covenant Riven

“Born an Aspirant, Riven had no doubts about the congregation's evils until she discovered Nocturne torturing and feeding Neverghaast to Cho'Gath. Despite being mortally wounded, she escaped with a prisoner, who turned her into a Neverghaast to save her life. Now an exile with an endless hunger, Riven fights to redeem herself and her corrupted family.”

The stained glass theme continues on as Broken Covenant Riven literally jumps out of a window. Riven's broken blade cracks and shatters in a satisfying manner. She has some sort of headpiece on in the main art, but the shard of glass right beside her reveals her inner fury.

Broken Covenant Riven is one of the better Riven skins in the game and should be a great pickup to any player that likes the champion, The stained glass VFX combined with the shattering SFX makes this skin feel coherent and a different experience compared to other Riven skins.

As a Legendary skin, Broken Covenant Riven also gets a unique VO.

Post-PBE changes:

  • SFX:
    • Sound bug was fixed for Riven's Grunting VO (Base VO no longer plays)
    • Impact sounds were changed to make strikes feel more powerful on Q1 & Q2
    • SFX were added when Ultimate Transformation ends to better signify the changeover
  • Animation:
    • Q attack animations were changed based on feedback
    • The animation is now better synced with hit frame VFX on Q
    • Q Stretching bug was fixed

Broken Covenant Vladimir

“The ultimate Neverghaast, at least to himself, Vladimir cares only about feeding himself and his ego. Though he is not above helping someone for the right price, like that “idiot” Rakan, he has no stake in the war beyond finding the fabled well of Aspira within the congregation. Such power, he smugly reasons, would surely be better in his hands.”

Broken Covenant Vladimir departs from the Sect's crimson and instead appears to be bright purple in this skin. This may be an effort to differentiate this one from his other skins, including classic, as red is a prominent color for the Hemomancer.

In-game, Broken Covenant Vladimir's model is violet and silver, but his abilities retain the red stained-glass thematic of the Neverghaast, albeit with a tinge of violet.

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