League of Legends Vex first look: Abilities, release date, launch skin, and more

Despite heavy criticism, the Rise of the Sentinels event brought lots of content during its run in all of Riot’s games, with the biggest ones being the debut of Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel, and Vex, a new Yordle champion who helped Viego during his journey to conquer Runeterra and recover Isolde’s soul.

Now, almost a month after the event's conclusion, Riot has finally shown the first look for this new mage champion, featuring powerful abilities thanks to the power of her shadow, along with a gloomy but charming attitude. 
Let’s take a look around everything known about Vex, the Gloomist.

League of Legends Vex: First look and abilities

Vex will be League's first new Yordle since 2016, being a mid-lane mage who hates sunshine, happiness, and champions who dash all over Summoner's Rift.

She is a dispirited, darkly-dressed Yordle champion, who played a very important role within the Ruined King’s story, as she served as the one who gave power to the Ruin’s expansion within Runeterra, while also following Viego as a loyal sidekick.

Initially, she was slated to be launched during the Sentinels of Light event before Akshan, however, a change of focus in her abilities delayed her release to give her a more prominent role within the mid lane, moving from being a classic mage to a burst mage.

Looking into her skill set, all of her abilities are powered by her mysterious shadow, which seems to be sentient but also follows every one of Vex’s orders, and as we learned from her development updates, all of her abilities will feature new tech to show the full potential of her burst power, with glooming and stunning effects.

Passive - Doom ‘n Gloom

Doom - Periodically, Vex becomes empowered by Doom, causing her next basic ability to interrupt dashes and Fear enemies.

Gloom - Whenever nearby enemies 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.

League of Legends Vex: Release date and launch skin

Vex’s launch will be accompanied by the new Dawnbringer-themed skin, as she will be available during the Night & Dawn event along with new skins for Kayn, Yone, and more.

This skin will be priced at 1,350 RP, so get ready to buy it if you love her gloomy style.

Last but not least, the Gloomist is slated to be released on 23rd September during patch 11.19, meaning she will be available in the PBE very soon.

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