Fans the world over are excitedly waiting for Riot Games’ Runeterra MMO, but what will the League of Legends MMO’s classes be?
Riot Games has announced for a while that it is working on an MMORPG set in the world of Runeterra, the fictional realm created for the studio’s MOBA. It’s still a long way away, but lots of information can be inferred about it from Riot Games’ other properties and titles. Classes are a huge part of RPGS, and while the developer hasn’t announced anything, there’s already a defined class system that could be easily ported over to the new MMO. Here are our best guesses at what the League of Legends MMO classes will be when the game finally comes out.
These could be the League of Legends MMO Classes
Some players may not realize it, but League of Legends already has a very well-defined class system for its champions that could easily transfer over to the MMO. These are meant to group the characters in the MOBA by what they excel at and what they contribute to a team. Here are the classes, what they do, and how they could transfer over to the MMO.
Controllers
Controllers are defensive casting-focused characters who focus in on defending allies by protecting them and hindering enemies. Controllers tend to be supportively focused and best at enabling other characters rather than taking the spotlight for themselves. Controllers have two subclasses: Enchanters and Catchers.
Enchanters
Enchanters are the most ally-focused class, with their strengths being healing and protecting their allies. These characters are very low on damage and easy to kill, as their strength is turning allies’ specialties up to 11, in an MMO these would be the healers and buff-focused characters who stand in the back and keep their party alive.
Catchers
Catchers are Controllers whose defensive focus is more proactive than Enchanters. Catchers focus on locking down individual threats or even areas of the map in order to buy space for their carries. In an MMO these would be squishy characters focused on debuffing, crowd control, and utility rather than directly buffing allies.
Fighters
Fighters are exactly what they sound like, individually powerful characters who can both take serious hits as well as dish them out. Like in many classic RPGs and tabletop RPGs, Fighters are brute force incarnate, standing toe-to-toe with the toughest enemies. Fighters have two subclasses: Juggernauts and Divers.
Juggernauts
Juggernauts eschew any finesse for unsubtle brutality, trading any mobility for the ability to run face-first at enemies and clean through them. In an MMO, Juggernauts would be the frontline characters who are able to sunder defenses, kill smaller enemies on their own, and contribute to damage without sacrificing durability.
Divers
Divers are the more mobile counterparts to juggernauts, trading durability for the ability to get themselves in and out of dangerous circumstances without any help. Divers may not be able to face-tank as well as Juggernauts, but they are better able to “dive” in on enemy damage threats and eliminate them without any help thanks to their increased utility. In an MMO, these would be damage-heavy front liners who can’t take a raid boss alone but can dodge their attacks and contest other classes for DPS.
Mages
Mages are exactly what it says on the tin, characters whose main focus is powerful magical abilities that deal damage, lock down targets, or keep the path clear for the allies. Mages have three subclasses: Burst, Battlemage, and Artillery.
Burst
Burst Mages are the most straight forwards of the Mage subclasses, sharing some of their identity with the Assassin subclass of Slayers. Burst mages focus on sudden and massive bursts of damage, as the name implies. In the League of Legends MMO, they would likely be DPS characters focused on building up to singular powerful abilities to shred enemies apart.
Battlemage
Battlemages are tankier mages who focus on getting into the action and consistently using high-impact abilities. They don’t have the sheer damage of Burst Mages, and they’ll never be as durable as Fighters or Tanks, but they hold a powerful middle ground that keeps them self-sufficient at both doing damage and staying alive. In an MMO these would be flexible characters focused on frequent ability rotations and powerful internal synergies to allow them to play a hybrid role.
Artillery
Artillery Mages are incredibly long-range and squishy Mages who keep themselves safe through sheer distance. These characters tend to focus on chipping down enemies slowly before using key abilities to finish them off. Artillery mages would likely take the form of classic casters in an MMO, standing far back to drop huge AoE spells and powerful peeling abilities to help their team.
Marksman
Marksman is the only League of Legends class without any subclasses. Marksman characters are consistent damage dealers whose ranged basic attacks provide the vast majority of their damage. Often Marksman characters are low on mobility and ways to protect themselves and rely on allies to make the space they need to deal damage and keep them safe. In an MMO, these characters would be the more consistent counterpart to Artillery Mages, with less of a focus on powerful abilities and more passive damage synergies.
Slayer
Slayers were once simply known as Assassins in League of Legends, but that definition has been expanded to include less burst-heavy archetypes. Slayers are squishy but versatile damage dealers meant to deal with a variety of targets from enemy tanks to damage dealers. Slayers have two subclasses: Assassins and Skirmishers.
Assassins
Assassins are straightforward, squishy characters with tons of front-loaded damage meant to pop squishy targets in the blink of an eye. Usually, Assassins have the mobility to close the gap onto exposed targets, kill them, and get out. In an MMO these would be characters similar to the archetypal Rogue, slipping in and out of combat to drop ridiculous bursts of damage. Assassins share some similarities with Burst Mages, but they often trade range for more damage.
Skirmishers
Skirmishers often lack the freeform mobility of their Assassin cousins, but trade that slippery aspect for the ability to rip through any target that comes their way, including tanky targets with tons of health and defenses. In an MMO, Skirmishers would be midline damage dealers who fight a few steps back from Juggernauts and Tanks, using their tanky teammates to soak the damage they can’t while dishing out serious damage. Skirmishers often lack the ability to safely get out of fights, relying on conditional tools instead.
Tanks
Practically every type of RPG, MMO or otherwise, has the Tank archetype. Tanks trade damage, mobility, and utility for utter durability and survival tools. Tanks are the unkillable meat shields who stand between their team and the most terrifying enemies, keeping damage threats at bay and slugging it out with tough bosses and elite enemies. Tanks rely on their team for damage and healing, buying space and time for allies by being the first person into a fight and the last one out.
Vanguard
Vanguards are proactive, offensive Tanks that take the fight to enemies. Vanguards lock onto targets that threaten their allies and lock them down, occupying them with crowd control and debuffs so that the Vanguard is the enemy’s sole focus. In the League of Legends MMO, these would be what most players imagine as the typical Tank, taking aggro from enemies and face-tanking bosses.
Wardens
If Vanguards are the proactive Tanks, Wardens are their reactive, defensive cousins. Wardens excel at peeling threats off of vulnerable allies, keeping them safe from threats that try to seek their squishy party members out with excellent defensive tools. Wardens lack the ability to isolate enemies and engage fights as easily as Vanguards, but are uncontested at protecting squishy classes like Mages and Marksman characters. In an MMO, Wardens would take the form of utility-focused tanks that can keep hordes and elite enemies alike from harming key teammates.
Specialists
Specialists are the final class, and they lack the cohesive shared identities of the other classes. Specialist is an umbrella term in League of Legends for characters who don’t quite fit the other classes or subclasses. Many of these characters once belonged to other categories, but were reclassified into the more general Specialist family. This includes many characters previously labeled as Zone Controllers, who use telegraphed mechanics to lock down sections of space with damage, crowd control, and other negative effects. This class is the least likely to translate to an actual class in the League of Legends MMO, but it’s possible that these sorts of characters would fall into their own classes that don’t exist in the MOBA.
