New League of Legends champion Zeri revealed: release date, abilities & more

The next League of Legends champion, Zeri, has finally been revealed. A new AD carry from Runetera’s polluted twin undercity Zaun, she’s jumping from Arcane onto Summoner’s Rift ⁠— here’s everything we know about the latest LoL character, including her abilities, lore, and release date.

So, are you ready to “ride the lightning” in Season 12, summoner?

Riot Games has finally lifted the lid on the next League of Legends champion, and it’s looking like a sizzling release. Gone are the days of the Ruination storyline, along with themed releases like Viego, Gwen, and Akshan; say hello to the new Arcane characters now.

LoL’s one hundred and fifty-eighth playable champion, known as Zeri, was teased in Arcane’s Netflix trailer before Riot lifted the lid on several small details relating to the MOBA’s upcoming marksman.

Here’s everything we know about the new League of Legends champion Zeri, including her release date, abilities, what they look like, and more.

Who is Zeri?

Born into a working-class family in the undercity, she worked alone in a resistance against the chem-barons of Zaun who were destroying her homeland. Her electric charm wasn’t enough though, although her efforts inspired those suffering under the chem-barons to rebuild their lives.

With help from Entresol neighbors, she was able to harness and channel her electric energy into a rifle powered by emotions, and a jacket to control her powers.

According to the September 2021 LoL champion roadmap, the latest League of Legends champion will boast hefty helpings of “sparky determination.” On top of that, she may well be hiding more under her mask than meets the eye too.

The Spark of Zaun has a similar personality to Apex Legends’ Octane and Valorant’s Neon. She’ll always be raring to go and fueled by Zaun energy.

Zeri’s abilities

Zeri’s abilities have been confirmed:

• Passive – Living Battery: Zeri gains Move Speed whenever she receives a shield. When she damages an enemy shield she absorbs its energy, shielding herself.
• Q – Burst Fire
  • Passive: Zeri’s basic attack deals magic damage, scales with AP, and is treated as an ability. Moving and casting Burst Fire stores up energy in Zeri’s Sparkpack. When fully charged, her next basic attack will slow and deal bonus damage.
  • Active: Burst Fire shoots a burst of 7 rounds that deal physical damage to the first enemy hit. Burst Fire scales with AD and is treated like an attack, with the first round applying on-hit effects. Its cooldown matches Zeri’s basic attack timer.
• W – Ultrashock Laser: Zeri fires an electric pulse that slows and damages the first enemy hit. If the pulse hits a wall it fires a long range laser from the point of impact.
• E – Spark Surge: Zeri dashes a short distance and energizes her next 3 casts of Burst Fire, causing them to pierce through enemies. She will vault over or grind along any terrain she dashes into, depending on the angle. Hitting a champion with an attack or ability reduces Spark Surge’s cooldown.
• R – Lightning Crash: Zeri discharges a nova of electricity, damaging nearby enemies, and overcharges herself for a moderate duration. While overcharged, Zeri gains increased damage, Attack Speed, and Move Speed. Attacking enemy champions refreshes the overcharge duration and adds another stack of Move Speed. While overcharged, Burst Fire’s damage concentrates into a faster triple shot that chains lightning between enemies.

Riot’s League of Legends roadmap says that newest marksman will be bringing “the feeling of a shooter game” to the Rift.

The roadmap reads: “The new League of Legends bot lane marksman has been charging up and is rearing to finally get on Summoner’s Rift.

“We wanted to create a kinetic marksman who’s always on the move, pulsing with sparky determination. A champ who plays the game at a machine-gun pace and brings the feeling of a shooter game to the roster. 

“We also really wanted to explore more unique basic attack concepts in League.”

Immediate Zeri nerfs hit PBE servers

Riot Games has already started fiddling with Zeri’s abilities and kit power after dropping her onto the League testing servers.

August confirmed “some adjustments would be going out today.”

These include a minor damage drop for her “Q” ability, and a bump in her damage multiplier (3x up to 4x) to mitigate that drop. Her “W” missile speed has also been slowed slightly, and her E now reveals Zeri to enemies when she’s grinding over walls.

Her ultimate is also taking a hit in the rushed January 12 changes, doing less damage early but retaining its power late.

When is Zeri’s release date?

Zeri will arrive on Summoner’s Rift alongside League of Legends patch 12.2, due to launch on January 20, 2022.

According to Riot’s lead champion producer Ryan ‘Reav3’ Mireles, the new Runeterra character was originally slated for a late 2021 release to tie into Arcane’s premiere event, but “development changes” has since pushed that timeframe back.

The changes sees Riot “stay true” to their plans, at the expense of a 2021 release.