Review: Aurora, the new League of Legends Champion

It’s been some time since the release of Smolder, and Riot Games needed to give us an idea already of ​​whom the new cast member would be to join the game in 2024. Announced through the mini-game Spirit of Hearth-Home, which we covered, and you can check it out Here, Aurora is a rabbit-vastaya with magical abilities linked to the spiritual world and a lore full of references.

Let's take a look at all the details and aspects of this champion, who is now available to be played on the test server, the PBE, and has everything to come to Live Servers later this week.

Who we previously only knew as a bunny-eared girl completely covered in Freljordian cloaks and large round glasses, as she was presented in Spirit of Hearth-Home, was revealed through her in-game appearance and splash art. Both came with a high level of detail and impeccable art, worthy of Riot's standards for more modern releases.

Her splash art has a very specific focal point in the lights on her hand and the reflection on her glasses, making it clear right away that she is a character with magical powers. The glasses are now actually transparent and show his violet eyes, very blue-ish, a color that will be repeated a lot in the rest of the typical look of someone who came from the Freljord.

Unlike champions like Ahri or Sett, Aurora has a slightly higher level of “animalistic aspects” of a vastaya, with rabbit fur on her entire body and not just on her tail, ears and hair, as we usually see. This gave Riot a brief excuse to put in some fanservice, yes, with a short skirt and exposed thighs, even if coming from a place where the colder climate of Runeterra is prevalent.

It is interesting to see that most of her clothes, such as her coat and blouse, are made or detailed in crochet, something that was briefly mentioned during the first teasers and official comments about the champion as being one of her favorite hobbies.

The magic wand in her hand is the same one that Ornn forged during his comics and mini-game, and now we can see it in more detail and better understand its shape. Another highlight of her design was the addition of a large witch's hat, which gave Aurora a unique silhouette in the game, along with her long rabbit ears.

Nicknamed “The Witch Between Worlds”, Aurora came to show a small new side of the Freljord and connect some loose ends in the region's dark history. With references and contacts with other iconic characters from the universe, we will give a brief summary of key points that explain who the new champion really is.

Born in Aamu, an isolated village in the Freljord that is home to the Bryni, the rabbit-vastaya, Aurora was always different from other children as she grew up. It's not in her biography, but Riot officially mentioned that the character is on the autism spectrum, which is an excellent addition to the cast and was represented with great taste.

Normally isolated because she was different, Aurora ended up making friends with what many believed to be her imaginary friends, but were nothing more than spirits who communicated with her through the spiritual world, a plane different from the material one which coexists with Runeterra, and that the character has the innate power to see it.

Inspired and motivated by her great-aunt Havu, Aurora grew up learning to enjoy being herself, embracing both her personality and her abilities. Over time, she began to help spirits get rid of their anguish and move on to the spiritual plane in peace.

On one of her trips to help more spirits, the Vastaya met Haestryr, a deformed, weak and feral creature, who ended up being calmed by Aurora and eventually becoming the reason for a great journey that the champion decided to follow.

Seeking help from place to place, failing in several attempts, Aurora met with Udyr, who unfortunately was also unable to help, but suggested seeking the wisdom of the Old Gods. That's how Aurora followed all the clues to find Ornn in Hearth-Home, where she got answers about who Haestryr - or Hestrelk, in modern languages ​​- is, but still without knowing how to actually help him.

In addition to learning about Ysjarn (Anivia) and Valhir (Volibear), Aurora was also gifted with a magic wand forged by Ornn himself, and now travels through the material and spiritual worlds, always seeking more knowledge to acquire.

Aurora's story is calm, comforting and joyful, unlike many tragedies we usually see in champions’ biographies. Here, we just have a powerful witch, who grew up embracing the most unique aspects of her personality and has a major goal in her life to acquire as much knowledge as possible.

As usual, Aurora's lines also reveal a lot about her personality and her interactions with Runeterra, especially with the Freljord and its legends and Gods.

In addition to special lines for Ornn and Udyr, she also has lines written for Lissandra, Anivia, Volibear and Ashe. Additionally, Briar, Illaoi, Kindred, Lulu, Veigar, Swain, Yone and Yuumi are together in the cast of characters with whom Aurora has specific phrases when meeting in-game. Let's see some of them:

With Ornn:

"Well met, Ramhaurg! I have so much to share with you since we last spoke!"

“It's such a relief to have you here, Ramhaurg. Our other colleagues are so... loud."

With Lulu or Veigar:

“Same hat? Same hat."

With Swain:

“I recognize those ravens. Are you their owner? Or, do they own you?"

Expanding the Anima Squad universe once again, Aurora is coming to the launch of the line's new skins as one of the champions chosen to be part of it. His theme as a rabbit character fit perfectly the opportunity, and the skin's design is matching the rest of the design and aesthetics that we already knew from previous skins.

Her voice lines are not changed, this being just a common skin with different effects for skills and in-game appearance. His lines, however, have a stronger echo effect in Battle Bunny, to better match its entire futuristic theme.

Aurora is a versatile, agile control mage with a lot of mobility and solid damage. Her Burst may be high, but her kit is centered around high movement capacity and consistent damage rather than more explosiveness. Let's take a look at her skills.

Passive: Spirit Abjuration

Another “3-Hit Passive”, Aurora stacks a charge on an enemy she attacks or hits with a damage ability. Upon completing three stacks, the victim takes bonus magic damage based on their maximum health, healing Aurora for a small amount and granting movement speed for a few seconds.

Q: Two Fold Hex

Aurora launches a thin, not very long-ranged magic missile, dealing magic damage and marking enemies hit. The ability can be reactivated within a few seconds to consume the mark and damage all enemies the projectiles pass through until they return to Aurora.

W: Across the Veil

Aurora makes a leap into the spiritual world, becoming invisible for a short duration.

E: The Weirding

Aurora unlocks a portal to the spiritual world that causes a rupture in front of her, throwing her back a little and causing damage to enemies, as well as slowing them down.

R: Between Worlds

Aurora creates an arena that no one can leave (except with Flash or Blink-type abilities). This arena causes damage to enemies when summoned, slows down anyone trying to leave it and gives Aurora the ability to move between the ends when touching the bubble wall.

Despite having relatively high damage in her passive, Aurora continues to make it difficult for the enemy team to have mobility and consistency. Her cooldown times are short, and the fact that her basic attacks also accumulate passive stacks means that it can be reactivated very frequently, which gives her even more movement speed, regeneration and constant damage.

So far, content creators on YouTube and Twitch are varying between Full AP builds or a mix of AP, Attack Speed ​​and Movement Speed. With this, Aurora has unlimited Kiting potential, assimilating herself to Gameplays such as Lillia or Gwen, and can even become a Hyper Carry in the Late Game .

We missed having a new wizard, a vastaya, different and unique mechanics. Smolder was a great launch just like Hwei, but an agile and fun frenetic gameplay dynamic finally came with Aurora.

The champion can become a nightmare or a blessing in ranked queues, depending on who picks it. Riot specified that her design is more suitable for solo lanes (Mid or Top), but her kit is so complete and dynamic that it wouldn't be surprising if she appeared in unconventional and unexpected positions.

It's not long before Aurora enters the Live Servers, and we can't wait for her arrival. She's the type of champion who will certainly entertain players and bring some extra flavor to the Rift.