League of Legends news » Fizz Mechanics Preview

Greeting, summoners!

At Riot, we like to provide a variety of champion styles, archetypes, and roles. Sometimes, we like to release a champion with an understood, defined role (such as Graves), while with others we try to shake up the traditional roles and offer a different way to impact the game. Fizz, the Tidal Trickster, is a perfect example of this. He splashes down somewhere in the melee assassin space, but in ways that change the role a bit -- especially compared to other assassins like Akali or Talon.

Fizz is able to pressure high-value targets like an assassin, but makes frequent use of evasive abilities and favors sustained damage over burst. This creates a different sort of hit-and-run gameplay style that allows this little amphibian to dance around the battlefield, using evasion to stay alive and keep the opponent guessing.

The primary way Fizz keeps enemies on their toes is with Playful/Trickster – a stance that has him pole vault on the end of his trident and become un-targetable. Fizz can activate the ability again to move off of the trident in any direction he chooses, dealing (literally) splash damage when he lands. In this way he can dodge big spells, dodge heavy damage in teamfights, and escape for another set of attacks shortly thereafter. Proper use of Playful/Trickster rewards good reflexes and situational awareness, since it has a powerful effect and short duration. Timing is everything.

Fizz also has something else up his sleeve that’s sure to impress, and is slightly out-of-role for an assassin. He starts by tossing a seemingly-innocent fish that sticks to a target. Then, just when they think they’re safe, it’s shark time! That’s right! A giant shark erupts from the ground and chomps down on the target and nearby friends. There’s really nothing else to say about this – a giant shark eats them, and it’s awesome.

It’d been awhile since we’d done a more whimsical character with a lighthearted theme, and Fizz fits the bill just right. Offering both a unique visual style and innovative gameplay to match, Fizz should really appeal to people who want to be -- both literally and figuratively -- slippery.