League of Legends: major Wukong changes are coming to the PBE

League of Legends. Photo Courtesy of Riot Games. /

We break down the major changes to Wukong that are coming to the League of Legends PBE later in the year.

Many League of Legends fans were frustrated back when Riot had the fan vote to determine which champion would be reworked next and Wukong was not among the options. Considered one of the most out-dated champions in the game, the Monkey King is currently languishing with a pick rate below 0.75% in both top and jungle.

Today, Riot assuaged all those distraught Wukong mains with news that a mini-reworked kit will be coming before the end of the new year. How is this new kit different from his current kit and how much will it affect the way he is played?

"Passive – Wukong gains a large amount of resistances when near 3+ enemy Champions. In addition, he gains bonus attack range on his next basic attack after using any ability"

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This is almost indentical to his current passive, which gives bonus armor and MR whenever he sees nearby enemies. However, the fact that he gets a “large amount” of resistances only when he’s near three or more champions indicates that Riot is tuning this new kit to be more teamfight oriented. Additionally, if he’s getting a lot of resistances, that means he is more able to build straight damage and health like he currently does (he loves items like Black Cleaver and Steraks Gage).

The increased range on Wukong’s next basic attack after casting an ability is taken from his current Q – Crushing Blow, but it will work more often.

"Q– Passively, Wukong and his clones add stacking marks against their target, increasing the damage they deal by a percentage. Physical damage reduced, but deals bonus magic damage that also heals Wukong."

Riot is shifting the power lost to his passive (the additional range) towards giving him mixed damage (which is always beneficial to a bruiser when enemies are heavily itemizing into armor) and healing. The heal is probably more significant to his jungling ability than laning.

However, the passive aspect is quite intriguing as it indicates that Wukong’s kit will be balanced a lot more around his clones, similar to Shaco.

"W– Wukong now stealths and dashes to a nearby target location (leaving behind a clone), and can be used to jump small walls. The clone lasts a few seconds and can’t move but will attack things close to it for 50% damage (applies on-hit effects)"

This is an incredibly powerful tool for Wukong in terms of jungling, as he’ll gain both a stealth and dash for a sneak-attack gank like a Kha’Zix might. The fact that his W isn’t targeted to enemies like his current E – Nimbus Strike also gives him a lot more freedom to outplay enemies. And, of course, being able to traverse terrain is always a good quality for a jungler to have.

"E- now creates clones that also dash towards nearby targets, masking the real Wukong’s target. The clones are considered units and can intercept spells and be targeted"

The fact that Wukong can create multiple clones that will also dash to nearby targets while Wukong himself is stealthed is pretty nice, but it’s likely more geared towards fights that break out after Wukong’s stealth wears off. The bigger benefit is that clones can block spells and be targeted, meaning players can use the clones to block skill shots and avoid damage.

"R- can now be canceled early by using another ability"

This is a quality of life change, but it could be useful in some small windows. Ultimately, it seems that his R – Cyclone will largely remain unchanged but Wukong will have more tools to get in and out after using it (like the stealth, dash, and all the clones left behind).

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