Vex: The Gloomy Mage is the latest League of Legends champion to be revealed, and she’s playable on live servers this month.
Vex is a mid-lane mage, ‘who hates sunshine, happiness and champions who dash all over Summoner’s Rift’.
She is the first new Yordle character since 2016 and will launch alongside her Dawnbringer Vex skin on September 23rd during patch 11.19. Vex, the Gloomist, was first revealed during the recent Sentinels of Light event.
The little goth girl with an attitude has captured the hearts of League of Legends players for being a champion that isn’t perfect – the community responded well to her reveal with many appreciation posts cropping up on social media.
Vex uses a shadow that follows her to deal damage and give her extra mobility.
Her ult has already produced some interesting results, as can be seen from this play by streamer Pants Are Dragon, who ults Katarina just before she teleports, making Vex fly through the air across the map towards her:
Riot Cashmiir said in a recent dev post that the team wanted a Yordle that was “something darker, something… angsty.”
“I became an adult in the ‘90s, and Vex isn’t all that different from the surly ‘90s slacker,” said principal narrative writer John ‘JohnODyin’ O’Bryan.
“She’s kind of too cool for everything. Beyond that, a lack of motivation is something that me, and a lot of other people, identify with. I really wanted Vex to resonate with anyone with a history of depression. Who the f&^% hasn’t wanted to not get out of bed and go do what they gotta do? But with Vex, we leaned more into the teenage feel of apathy and angst more than outright depression.
“A question I kept coming back to during development was: ‘Can you make a MOBA champ that doesn’t want to be a MOBA champ?’
“I found that question super compelling. We never know how a champion’s going to land, but Vex is a bigger gamble than we usually take. I think some people will really love her, and some won’t.”
“She’s kind of too cool for everything. Beyond that, a lack of motivation is something that me, and a lot of other people, identify with. I really wanted Vex to resonate with anyone with a history of depression.”
JohnODyin, Riot Games
Riot said Vex came about to counter champs with dashes.
“Every so often, Vex’s next basic spell fears and interrupts dashes. And whenever an enemy dashes near Vex, they’re marked with Gloom and then her next basic attack, Q, or W deals bonus damage and refunds cooldown on the fear. Basically, the more an enemy dashes, the more damage she deals and interrupts their dashes,” added game design manager Bryan ‘Riot Axes’ Salvatore.
We’ve listed all of Vex’s abilities below. And to help you play her well, UK streamer Vicksy has produced a Vex guide on Mobafire.
Vex Abilities:
Passive – Doom ‘n Gloom
Doom – Periodically, Vex becomes empowered by Doom, causing her next basic ability to interrupt dashes and fear enemies.
Gloom – Whenever a nearby enemy dashes or blinks, they become marked with Gloom. Vex’s next basic attack against a marked enemy detonates the mark, dealing bonus damage and refunding part of Doom’s cooldown.
Q – Mistral Bolt
Vex launches a wave forward, dealing magic damage to enemies it passes through. After a short delay, the wave accelerates but has reduced width. Mistral Bolt detonates Gloom on any marked enemies it hits.
W – Personal Space
Vex gains a shield and emits a shockwave, dealing magic damage to enemies around her. Personal Space detonates Gloom on any marked enemies it hits.
E – Looming Darkness
Shadow flies to a location, increasing in size as it travels. On arriving, Shadow deals magic damage, slows, and marks enemies hit with Gloom.
R – Shadow Surge
Shadow flies forward, marking and dealing magic damage to the first enemy champion hit. Vex can then recast this ability to have Shadow pull her to the marked target, dealing additional magic damage.
If the marked target dies within a short time of taking damage from Shadow Surge, Vex can cast Shadow Surge again within a few seconds.
Related article: Back in July, Riot revealed the most recently launched champion: Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
