Seraphine is the newest star in the LoL sky. The new champion has been tested on the PBE servers since mid-October. On October 28th, patch 10.22 brings the musician to the live servers.
Seraphine, “the dreamy goldthroat,” will make her debut on October 28 before the broad masses of League of Legends players. When she was announced, she was already attracting a lot of criticism for her resemblance to the champion Sona. Whether this was justified remains to be seen, as it’s now high time to take a look at the skills and playable strategies with the new champion.
🌊⭐ PBE PREVIEW: K/DA ALL OUT Seraphine pic.twitter.com/XJjflZyD5z
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) October 13, 2020
Solo performance in the middle?
As a singer, Seraphine loves the spotlight – and could possibly deliver a grandiose show on the mid-lane. With her passive ability “Stage Presence”, the musician is able to automatically perform every third of her used ability a second time.
With Seraphine’s Q ability this would come in handy: “High Note” is an AoE spell whose damage is greater the lower the HP of the champs hit. If a simple cast of the spell is just barely enough to kill, the passive ability can be an excellent remedy.
High Note” also allows the singer to effectively kill Minion Waves on her own, allowing her to farm gold on the mid-lane on her own.
To increase the damage of the “Dreamy Goldthroat” and thus strengthen her in the mid-lane position, items like “Athena’s Unholy Grail” can be purchased for her.
Duet on the Bot-Lane?
Where Seraphine can shine especially, would be in the match-up with an AD-Carry on the Bot-Lane. Since her HP is generally not very high, and some of her abilities get stronger near allies, the support position for Seraphine would be conceivable.
The W-capability of the new champion is especially worth mentioning here. With “Surround Sound” Seraphine gives herself and surrounding allies a shield and increased movement speed. Should she herself have had a shield before by some sort of effect, the ability will turn around and heal her and her team members – a very useful skill for a supporter.
K/DA ALL OUT Seraphine is taking the stage! Learn more about the new Ultimate Skin for our rising star below!
🌟 https://t.co/OYAiw7zBdK pic.twitter.com/cWq0QOULan
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) October 12, 2020
Seraphine has her audience under control
But Seraphine’s kit only becomes really interesting when you take a closer look at her E ability and her Ultimate. On E is “Beat Drop”, a spell that slows down enemy champions for a second – but not only that. Already slowed champs are fixed, already fixed characters are consequently stunned – for one second.
The increased effect of the E skill opens up interesting possibilities in Seraphine’s item build. An item that provides its attacks with a slight slowing of the opponent from the start – for example “Rylai’s Cristal Scepter” – ensures that “Beat Drop” never slows down opponents again, but rather directly stuns them. If the spells are then cast at the right timing, the passive ability can take hold and directly double the E, which would lock the opponent in place for two seconds.
Seraphine’s kit is completed with the ultimate ability “Encore”. This ability enchants the opponent and gains range with every champion hit. So it’s clear that status effects on three of her abilities are the key elements. Items for them should be adjusted accordingly and support these effects – similar to “Rylai’s Crystal Scepter”.
