With 170 League of Legends champions in the roster, it’s difficult for Riot to find the time to make all of them viable. Some remain constant, while others have fallen to the wayside. Unfortunately for Naafiri, this champion never had the opportunity to shine, but now, they’re getting a fresh coat of paint.
Lead designer August confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that a Naafiri midscope update is in the works, noting more skill expression to her kit, more dogs, and most notably the ability for her to play as a solo laner, but also a jungler. Since this news, players have discussed the potential of Naafiri being more of a jungle champion going forward.
“Just by making her able to jungle is already good enough for me,” one player said on Reddit. Players who enjoy Naafiri have had a rough experience with the champion since her release. At the time of writing, Naafiri has a 1.8 popularity percentage, according to League stats site leagueofgraphs. “This is the first step in making her primarily a jungler. I think it’s the best for her. Her playrate will definitely grow, junglers love creature champions,” another player said.
One of the intriguing parts about this change is the addition of more dogs. It’ll be interesting to see how Riot tackles Naafiri having more dogs in the game, as pets generally have been on the least favorable side of the community. “Was excited for a Naafiri midscope because I like her concept and design, and then they said more dogs and I lost all hope. Every pet champion in this game is super unpopular because they’re clunky as fuck, and Naafiri is no different,” one player said.
According to Riot August, players should expect the Naafiri midscope update to hit the Public Beta Environment servers (PBE) sometime this week.
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