The hangry jungler has almost landed in Summoner's Rift! The League of Legends community is already hyped about the new upcoming champion Briar, the Restrained Hunger, following her leaked splash art and the brand-new teaser trailer released on the LoL client.
The recent gameplay leaks are building up more anticipation for the latest upcoming champion Briar. Riot has been surprisingly hush-hush about her, revealing little-to-no information compared to previous champions. Let's take a look at Briar's release date and her potential abilities.
Briar's release date is estimated to be September 27, 2023, which is League patch 13.19. She should be live on PBE servers before her official release. Riot Games will give players around three weeks to test any kinks and see if she's overpowered before her release. Riot Meddler has said Briar's release will co-align perfectly with the 2023 LoL Worlds update, as both players and professionals alike will get to sink their teeth into the young vampire champion.
According to the released lore, Briar is a 2,000-year-old Noxian vampire held captive in a castle. Due to her uncontrollable hunger and rage making her "hangry," she is an unpredictable and dangerous force to be reckoned with. Check out her teaser trailer below!
She'll be the 165th League champion to join the growing roster after Naafiri. Riot Lexical, a Product Lead at the League Studio, has interestingly said Briar will be the first vampire champion to join the game, even though Vladimir has vampiric abilities.
While we are still in the dark about the specifics of Briar's abilities, League of Legends Briar has been likened to "Warwick but better." She is specifically designed to be a female jungler, with the potential to transition to other lanes like Top once she's settled into the meta.
In true vampire fashion, she will have a life-stealing spell to satisfy her insatiable hunger, a blood frenzy mode, and even a shield break. The most exciting part of her appearance is that she is noticeably blind, relying on her keen sense of bloodlust and smell to attack enemies. Briar is also confined in a pillory (handcuffs with her head in the middle), suggesting she'll break through her restraints and unleash her true strength.
Here's a brief rundown of Briar's kit so far - remember that none of this has been officially confirmed by Riot, and we don't yet know the specific names of her skills. We will update this section once more information has come to light.
Unlike other champions in the game, Briar will have no form of innate health regeneration. Instead, her attacks will apply a stacking bleed that self-heals for a portion of the damage dealt. Her healing will increase based on her missing health. Her abilities will also cost health.
Briar leaps to a unit, stunning them and breaking their armor.
Briar can break free from her pillory and chase down the nearest enemy, beginning her blood frenzy and fervent hunger. She won't stop her Blood Frenzy until her target is dead or if she casts her "E" ability.
While active, Briar has bonus attack and movement speed. Recasting W makes her next attack "chomp" the next enemy she hits, dealing extra damage based on missing health and healing Briar for a portion of the damage dealt.
Casting Chilling Scream will break Briar out of her Blood Frenzy as she gets back into the pillory. She releases a powerful scream that damages and slows enemies within range, which can be charged fully.
While casting E, she will take reduced damage and deal some of her maximum HP. When E is fully charged and released, her scream knocks back enemies and stuns them if they hit a wall or other terrain.
Briar kicks a knife that hits an enemy with a global range. She can then dash to the target hit, fearing all nearby enemies upon contact and dealing mass physical damage. While in her Berserk mode, she enters an empowered Blood Frenzy, gaining additional Magic Resistance, Armor, Lifesteal, and Movement Speed. She will pursue her prey until one of them dies.
That was our bite-sized breakdown of everything we know about the new LoL champion Briar. It'll be interesting to see her roaming around the Jungle, how she performs in LoL Worlds, and her impact on the meta.
If you want more League of Legends content, check out our best female champions, the rarest skins, summoner spells, and our ARAM guide!