League of Legends has been around for a few years, and some champions show their age. A veteran of the roster is now getting a visual update, and players are quite excited.
Which champion is it about? Xin Zhao appeared in LoL in 2010 and is mainly played in the jungle nowadays. Even though he seems a bit wooden with his animations, he is still enjoyed and is quite successful (via op.gg).
Now, 15 years later, Xin Zhao finally gets a new look, which Riot presents in a nice trailer. Players are thrilled.
Lore and Gameplay
What can be seen in the trailer? In the new trailer, you mainly see gameplay of the champion along with illustrated still images that provide little lore snippets about Xin Zhao. You can directly see that Xin Zhao’s animations look significantly less wooden and he now appears like a new champion.
His abilities have not fundamentally changed, but they have prettier animations. His character model is now also more detailed and looks distinctly more like Demacia
than before. As part of the update, some of his skins will also be visually polished.
How is the visual update received by players? Players are mainly excited about the trailer and the new look on YouTube. The story snippets are also well received.
- @gexianhe finds it good that Xin Zhao is in the spotlight:
Finally, Xin Zhao’s name is getting some respect. The man has gone through three whole character developments: from fisher boy to arena champion, to royal guardian, and now he is returning to his homeland.
- Also @Daricies is satisfied with the lore:
Oh, the little Jarvan IV, who trained with Xin, was so cute.
- @aster7159 praises the team:
A desperately needed visual update. The graphics and the music are beautiful, and I love how this shows his strength and growth. I honestly cried a bit, lol, really cool and inspiring.
Other commenters wish for such updates for other champions too. Shyvana, whose update has been announced for a while, is mentioned, as well as champions like Cho’Gath and Malphite.
When will the update be released? The update is expected to be released with patch 25.17. The patch is anticipated to go live on August 27, 2025. Along with the announcement, other updates have also been announced. The largest is probably a new control option: LoL changes its controls after 15 years to attract new players – developers are afraid it might be too strong
