It’s time to welcome the next mid lane mage who comes after Hwei.
Riot Games designed Aurora abilities around a core character concept: she transcends the veil between spirit and material worlds.
Hailing from the Freljordian village Aamu, she belongs to a vastayan tribe called Bryni, hence her all-natural bunny ears!
Able to see spirits since young, she found it challenging to connect with her peers growing up. Instead, she turned to nearby spirits, finding solace and companionship in them. “I see the spirit realm and material realm simultaneously,” she says.
Holding a strong desire to unlock more mysteries in the spirit realm, she left her village to travel across the Freljord.
On her journey, she befriended a forgotten demigod, Hestrelk (or Haestryr), a brother of Ornn. This turn of events led her to develop a new goal — develop the strength necessary to aid her friend in need.
Aurora abilities in League of Legends
Summary of Aurora abilities in League of Legends
ONE Esports got to playtest Aurora in an exclusive preview before her release on PBE and live servers.
She is a mid-range skirmisher mage. Here’s a brief overview of how League players can conceive her abilities.
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS AURORA ABILITIES | ONE ESPORTS’ TLDR | QUICK RUNDOWN |
Passive – Spirit Abjuration | Favors attacking the same target multiple times. | Attacking an enemy three times does bonus magic damage, gives her additional movement speed, and empowers her healing for a brief duration. |
Q – Twofold Hex | Priority damage ability. Linear spell that has similar mechanic to Xayah’s QE. | Cast once to deal damage and mark targets. Casting a second time draws back spirit energy, dealing magic damage to enemies passed through. |
W – Across the Veil | Stealth and reset upon kills. Her only “get away” spell outside of ultimate. | Stealth is not immediate — after hopping, she turns invisible upon landing as an animation cue. Can go over selected thicker walls. |
E – The Weirding | Slows enemies. | Slight displacement where she hops backwards. Can only go over thin walls. |
R – Between Worlds (ultimate) | Massive AOE circle that you cast in a direction. Two portals appear after a brief duration that only Aurora can enter once. | Enemies who attempt to cross the AOE circle take magic damage, be slowed, and get pushed back towards the center, that is, be displaced. |
How Aurora’s stealth mechanic, Across the Veil, works
We asked Ray Williams, League of Legends QA Engineer, how exactly her invisibility works. He said that LoL players can compare it to Vayne’s and Kha’Zix’s invisibility.
Aurora will briefly go into a shimmer silhouette with an audio cue when players cast W. “Champions such as Katarina and Morgana will be able to detect her by their ultimates becoming available,” Ray clarified with ONE Esports.
Why is there a delay before the portals appear during her Between Worlds ultimate?
“We experimented with the R portal appearing immediately, but found that it was an effective way to instantly trap enemies without giving them opportunity to react,” Ray said. “As such, there is a delay to give enemies time to dash out or react to the inbound damage.”
During ONE Esports’ playtest, we also found that if the portal appears next to wall or barrier, her emergence is a bit awkward. Players might feel a little stuck.
This is because her ultimate is designed to place her in the closest valid location within the circle, Ray explained.
In the example above, I used her ultimate near top lane, which covers a large area. I entered the portal comfortably from the tri-bush.
However, because the exit portal is located opposite, which overlaps with Baron Pit’s wall, Aurora got pushed out to the next valid location.
Passive – Spirit Abjuration
If Aurora damages an enemy 3 times with her spells and attacks, she will deal magic damage and exorcise a spirit to her, entering Spirit Mode and gaining movement speed and empowering her healing for three seconds.
For every additional spirit following Aurora, the bonuses from Spirit Mode are increased by 5%.
Q – Twofold Hex
Fire a blast of cursed energy in a direction, dealing magic damage to enemies hit and marking them with spirit energy.
Recast: End the curse, drawing back the spirit energy to herself, dealing magic to enemies passed through.
W – Across the Veil
Hop in a direction. Upon landing, enter the spirit realm, becoming Invisible and entering Spirit Mode for several seconds.
Takedowns on enemy champions reset the cooldown of this ability.
E – The Weirding
Send out a blast of spirit magic dealing magic damage in an area and slowing them.
Aurora hops backwards slightly on cast.
R – Between Worlds
Send out a pulse of spirit energy that deals magic damage and slows enemies.
The area merges with the spirit realm, granting Aurora an empowered spirit mode, and allowing her to travel from one end of the area to the other.
Enemies who try to cross the threshold will take magic damage, be slowed, and be pushed back toward the center of the area.
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