They imprisoned him, chained, they thought he was powerless and no longer a threat. Time passed and with each day of complacency the chains stopped being a shackle and slowly became a weapon. So, it became a matter of when he would escape. What tied him now ties his enemies and whatever power they had it is now his to command. Their biggest strengths are they greatest weaknesses.
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| Category: | Legacy |
| Price: | 1350 RP |
| Concept: | Sylar as a dark spirt. |
| Model: | Major model changes for Sylas. |
| Particles: | New particles for his abilities, auto-attack and recall. |
| Animations: | New recall animation. |
| Sounds: | New sounds for his abilities, auto-attack, critical hits, taunt, joke, dance, death and recall. |
| Splash Art: | Is it a throne for the Lunar Wraith to sit? Or perhaps a temple he has no respect for? Is the location next to a mountain or inside a dark cavern? What is clear is that there are spirits whom seem to emanate from the Wraith. The rest is too foggy to see. The Wraith in question is barely visible with a side pose which makes his look difficult to discern. There’s a clear supernatural, twisted effect on his left arm which ends in a spectral hand. A large vambrace gives way to a set of links with lazily opened eyes. Metal looks barely bronze-like under the pale light but there’s a subtle touch of it. Sylas looks confident and without worries as if his power allowed him to defy any being he could face. While this gives some personality to the portrayal a quick comparison with the in-game model shows that the depiction is too partial and oblique to give a good representation of the actual skin. This is the crux of this splash art: it’s too unclear in the service of mood. There’s a clear mood in the scene but with a weak background there isn’t a concrete context and the portrayal doesn’t add any meaning either; only personality to Sylas’ appearance. The result is a splash art that ends up obscure and not very useful as an example of what the skin is about. |
| Rating: |  |
| Conclusion: | If Lunar Wraith Sylas’ style looks heavily based on his classic persona it’s because the skin is quite superficial. The design is evidently the same but with a faint eastern style and hardly much of a supernatural angle. The fur and adornments don’t seem to add much to the style so that the feel is rather familiar. The chains styled like chimes with eyes are the most notable change. Particles, for the most part, are re-colours of the classic ones. They are homogeneous, all in blue, without any highlights; unlike Classic. There’s nothing remarkable about them except that the passive, Petricite Burst, shows some faint spirits when whirling the chains around. Sounds are most distinct for the chime-like tone added to the chains. The chains, moved in most actions, get a different feel: more ornamental and mystic. The problem is that it’s still a metallic sound which merely reflects the chain’s new design and it’s subtle. As far as new additions go there’s the odd spirit howl for Hijack and that’s it. The new recall shows that the chains are a source of power for this Wraith which makes some sense. The problem is that the supernatural angle of the chains isn’t really visible in the rest of the skin. Between the weak, generic glows and the lack of distinct sounds they are merely decorative. The consumption and release of spirits is what ends up being more interesting yet less intrinsic to the skin’s theme. All in all, Lunar Wraith Sylas fails at defining a new identity for the Unshackled. Not only is there too much of Classic in the skin but wherever the skin dares to add some personality it does so shyly and without distinct elements. This makes Lunar Wraith Sylas a skin with little to offer but there’s a bit to like if we look closely. |
Conclusion
As a release skin Lunar Wraith Sylas is disappointing. The new identity is hardly defined and there’s a noticeable reliance on the classic counterpart. This leaves the skin being rather shallow even if there are a few things to like. Being legacy and expensive certainly doesn’t help matters. For fans of the Unshackled, it’s the available, flawed option they have. However, perhaps waiting for a new option isn’t a bad idea at all.
4 Responses to “League of Legends: Sylas Skins’ Review”
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At this point, i just flat out sick of first skin is legacy. But in this case, it’s acceptable since is nothing special. Even chromas won’t save this from being double chain star.
It’s not the theme problem, it just how awful the execution in this one. If i think of a theme better than this, i would pick an ogre kind of monster and shaved off his head (prisoner would do that, how can he shaved his beard ?).
Until his next skin, great review 😀 .
Glad that you like the review. Unfortunately, Lunar Wraith Sylas is a rather lacklustre skin unlike other Lunar Wraiths. Considering other similar skins, it shows that, as you mention, the concept isn’t bad but it’s the execution’s fault.
Hopefully, next skin will have a great concept and an adaptation that makes it shine; we can hope but let’s do so with a good amount of skepticism. As things are nowadays, release legacy skins make little sense. Perhaps, if the skin is removed after a year available it guarantees that a new skin will be released so that the champion isn’t left without options.
Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that the skin should feel special and release skins as well as visual upgraded ones tend to rely too much on the classic template. In practice, a release legacy skin doesn’t offer any benefits to players and it’s dubious what Riot gets from them; Riot must get something or they would stop, though. Maybe, what they get isn’t worth the price.
I would love to say that this is some level of Riot tricks that on holiday, they would take advantage on releasing the champion and lock away it skins so player have to buy hextech boxes to get it in some matter or what.
Kinda fine if they deliberately make the skin in awful way until the good skin came out or throwing a legendary one just like what they did with Kayn. Extra Money style !
Like on my comment, i am sicked for his skin and could or could not buy it regarding how i like to play him. Base on your page 😀 Zero, i believe this is the worst release skin so far and knock behind Sir Kled, and hey that thing is like 975 RP and available.
And that my opinion, your welcome to see it.
They’ve had a legacy release skin in the past, if memory serves, and it went legacy after a year and a new one was released. It certainly wasn’t paritcularly good in any way and this seems to show that Riot is fine with that business model. For all the player focused preaching that Riot has their actions don’t align well with their words.