Zeri is the newest champion for League of Legends.
Riot Games had no idea what they had when it came with the one hundred fifty-eighth champion, Zeri. The company didn’t really have much choice in the matter, when you are a character that’s part of a show as wildly popular as Arcane, it would be nearly impossible to keep things under wraps.
We first caught glance of Zeri when she was teased in Arcane’s Netflix trailer. That was all before the cat got out of the bag. On January 4th, Riot accidently leaked the backstory and several details accidentally in patch 12.1. Since then, there was nothing left to do but to ride it out until her eventual release.
Zeri Release Date
Zeri’s release date is during patch 12.2 later this month, and the 12.2 update will arrive in League of Legends on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
Ryan Mirales, Riot’s lead champion producer, stated that the new Runeterra character was originally slated for a late 2021 release to tie into Arcane’s premiere event, but “development changes” forced them to push the back the champion’s release. Though it should be noted that even though they missed the 2021 release, the changes ensure that Riot “stay true” to their plans.
Zeri Champion Trailer
Zeri’s Biography – League of Legends
Zeri’s biography revealed much about her origins and motivations. More importantly, it provided a brief description of how her abilities will work on Summoner’s Rift, including a heavy hitting rifle that’s powered by her own electricity.
Here’s everything we know about League of Legends champion Zeri – expected release date, early ability leaks, what they look like, and more.
Who is Zeri?
Zeri was raised in a large working-class family. She grew up surrounded by warmth, care, and many strong opinions. Life was hard in the undercity, but Zeri drew strength from community. And that never more true than when we she decided to stand up to the chem-barons.
Zeri always had a unique relationship with electricity. Her emotions fueled her powers, and seeing what the barons are doing to her home, she felt a great need to act. She fought hard as a singular resistance. But against the nearly endless resources of the chem-barons, she was outmatched.
Returning home, she expected to see faces of disappointment. What see got was the love and support she’s always had from the beginning. She was no longer alone. With the help of neighbors, Zeri’s mother fashioned together a rifle crafted from the materials given by the peole of the Entresol, the people Zeri fought for.
The gun’s ammo was Zeri’s emotions, its conductive barrel amplifying her powers directly from her hands. Paired with her jacket, she could better control her voltage, charging up to shoot semi-precise electric bursts.
She stood up for them, they stood up with her. Zaun is not perfect, and neither is Zeri but sometimes a spark is all it takes to change the world.
Zeri’s Abilities
Zeri’s abilities classifies her as an ADC character. ADC is an abbreviation for Attack Damage Carry, a term that originated in League of Legends and is used to describe a role whose primary objective is to push towers and deal ridiculous amounts of damage late in the game, typically with basic attacks.
This is the complete list of Zeri’s abilities and their descriptions:
- Passive – Living Battery
- Zeri gains Move Speed whenever she receives a shield. When she damages an enemy shield she absorbs its energy, shielding herself.
- Burst Fire (Q)
- Passive: Zeri’s basic attack deals magic damage, scales with AP, and is treated as an ability. Moving and casting Burst Fire stores up energy in Zeri’s Sparkpack. When fully charged, her next basic attack will slow and deal bonus damage.
- Active: Burst Fire shoots a burst of 7 rounds that deal physical damage to the first enemy hit.
- Burst Fire scales with AD and is treated like an attack, with the first round applying on-hit effects. Its cooldown matches Zeri’s basic attack timer.
- Ultrashock Laser (W)
- Zeri fires an electric pulse that slows and damages the first enemy hit. If the pulse hits a wall it fires a long range laser from the point of impact.
- Spark Surge (E)
- Zeri dashes a short distance and energizes her next 3 casts of Burst Fire, causing them to pierce through enemies. She will vault over or grind along any terrain she dashes into, depending on the angle. Hitting a champion with an attack or ability reduces Spark Surge’s cooldown.
- Lightning Crash (R)
- Zeri discharges a nova of electricity, damaging nearby enemies, and overcharges herself for a moderate duration. While overcharged, Zeri gains increased damage, Attack Speed, and Move Speed. Attacking enemy champions refreshes the overcharge duration and adds another stack of Move Speed. While overcharged, Burst Fire’s damage concentrates into a faster triple shot that chains lightning between enemies.
After sprinting a short distance, Zeri charges up her next three bursts of Burst Fire, which can rip through her enemies. She can either jump or grind her way through any obstacle she comes across, depending on the angle. Spark Surge has a cooldown that can be reduced by attacking or using an ability on a champion.
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We do have a hint in the form of Riot’s latest League of Legends roadmap, wherein its newest marksman will be bringing “the feeling of a shooter game” to the Rift.
From everything we know about Zeri’s backstory, expect to see plenty of gun-based attacks. As well as plenty of movement tech. (courtesy of that shooter game feeling). Explosives may also be in play, potentially her Ultimate, maybe.
“We wanted to create a kinetic marksman who’s always on the move, pulsing with sparky determination. A champ who plays the game at a machine-gun pace and brings the feeling of a shooter game to the roster.”
Finally, the developers want to explore more unique basic attack concepts within their game. That’s something that could be uniquely Zeri as a champion.
Zeri’s Character Skins
Zeri’s release skin is called Withered Rose Zeri:
Who voiced Zeri in League of Legends?
The voice behind Zeri is Vanille Velasquez, a talented Filipina voice actress, who is also the voice behind the newest Valorant character, Neon. Vanille Velasquez confirmed that she had been cast in each of the roles after auditioning for them both.
Also check out this awesome video by Remus on the new champion Zeri’s Lightning ADC Champion 2022 splash art, lore, biography and abilities speculations: