[PBE] My first impressions on SET 11 and how the traits work

Set 10 is almost over, Set 11 is almost upon us. I've managed to play several games on PBE, so here I'll give you my impressions on the new mechanics and traits as well as what those ones do.

In this set, you'll encounter characters, giving various effects. Some last for a few rounds, others only for the round they're encountered, and a few rare ones have effects that last for the rest of the game. Among them, Kayn is special, since he'll appear at the start of the game, and announce when he'll come back. When he does, the game will stop and your position will determine your final place. Make sure to play a strong board !

It's quite refreshing, but can sometimes feel frustrating, for example when you get an encounter that offers you a boon in exchange for gold after you've rolled down to stabilize your board, since you obviously can't know who you'll encounter even if you can see when you'll encounter someone. It can sometimes replace the portals that still exist, leading to a game without special rules.

Storyweaver is set 11's summoning trait. When it's active, you'll get Kayle, who will get a special item at 3/5/7. You'll get a choice between 3 each time. Kayle will be strengthen based on your Storyweavers' star levels and in return, they'll get some bonus Health.

I haven't been able to play that trait much, but based on what it felt when I faced them, it's a pretty solid comp. Despite being 1 and 2 cost, Garen and Sivir are quite sturdy, and when you get to late game, Irelia is a beast.

Fated needs you to hover one unit on top of another, and after a few seconds they'll be linked, giving them both 20% bonus Health. This will activate their special Fated bonus, similar to the Ionia bonuses in set 9. What changes, though, is that both members of the pair will get both bonuses. When you add more Fated units, all of them will benefit from the Fated bonuses of the pair, and these bonuses will be strengthen.

It's in my opinion one of the currently strongest traits. You just need to link Yasuo with Thresh in early game to give them both a 350 Health shield and 25 AR/MR at the start of the fight, then link Thresh and Ahri after getting to 5 Fated so all your Fated units have 50 AR/MR and 60 AP. Finally, with 7 Fated, you'll want to link either Ahri and Syndra to give all seven units 90 AP and 30% bonus damage, or Thresh with Sett to get 75 AR/MR and a whopping 45% Omnivamp.

If you manage to put your hand on 3 Fated emblems (and get to level 10), all your Fated units (so basically your whole board) will benefit from 300% of EVERY Fated bonus, giving way too many stats. Incidentally, the Fated emblem gives the wielder the following Fated bonus : the units benefitting from it heals for 3% of their Health every 3 second. But I think it's not strong enough to consider linking the wielder to another Fated unit.

Heavenly is like the comeback of Guild that was in set 7. Just like then, Heavenly units will give to all of your units a unique bonus (for example, Neeko gives Health). That bonus will be stronger based on the unit's star level, as well as your number of unique Heavenly unique.

That trait is very good both when maxed out and as a support trait. You can even play a reroll comp, playing Kha'Zix 3, Neeko 3 and Soraka 3, but know you'll most likely be contested.

Dryad gives your Dryad units 250 bonus Health as a base. Then, it gives a flat AP amount, and bonus Health that stacks based on the number of enemy units you've killed. What makes it quite strong is that the count is kept on the trait, so you won't have to worry about swapping a unit you've kept since early game for another one.

Gnar reroll is currently one of the strongest reroll comp, and when it's equipped with Bloodthirster, Titan's Determination and Hand of Justice, he become a real pain to down.

Inkshadow will give you special items that you'll be able to equip to any units. These items have strong stats and effects. On top of that, after getting to at least 5 Inkshadow, they'll get bonus damage and incoming damage reduction.

A solid supporting trait with strong high cost units. Volibear, Kai'sa and Udyr can easily be played with several other traits, giving you a free item.

Ghostly is a bit similar to set 3's Battlecast. Every 6 instances of both damage dealt and received, 2 ghosts will haunt enemy units, increasing the damage they receive. Those ghosts will transfer to other enemy units upon the haunted's death. Also, Ghostly units will heal regularly a percent of their Health.

I haven't been able to test a mainly Ghostly team, but it looked quite strong, and efficient with Morgana and Shen or Illaoi.

Fortune is back from set 4, working a bit similarly to set 10's Heartsteel. When you activate Fortune, you'll cast a dice. The result will tell you how many player combat rounds will pass before the Festival. Before then, you'll stack Luck depending on the stage when you lose against a player. If you win, you lose part of your Luck. And when the Festival is there, you'll gain loot which value will depend on your Luck or you can push your luck (pun intended) to stack more Luck before cashing it out. 5 Fortune will give you back some Tactician health at the start of each player combat round, and 7 Fortune will make you gain Luck regardless of whether you win or lose, as well as make a Festival happen on each player combat round.

It's probably the hardest Fortune-like trait to use since the beginning of this kind of trait, since you will have to get a 3-star unit to be able to activate the trait early on, and if you lose your Luck in mid-game, it will probably ruin your game. Also, having to wait 6 player combat round before finally being able to get some loot that may not even turn the odds in your favor is a severe blow. But if you're lucky you can get several Fortune emblems and get enough gold to swim in and get 3* 5-cost units, or +1 for every single trait.

Umbral is based on the moon, and as such, you will get hexes forming a crescent that will give units placed on them a shield at the start of the round, and Umbral units on them will also execute enemy units below a certain threshold. 5 Umbral will add another set of empowered hexes, 7 will empower all your board, allowing you to position your units much more freely, and 10 (if you manage to get 3 emblems and get to level 10) will give you loot for each executed unit. Needless to say, the shield's Health and the execution threshold will be strengthen the more Umbral units you have.

I have mixed feelings about this trait. The shield is useful, but the hexes force a positioning that can get used against you, and the units are overall better when relying on their class rather than their Umbral origin. I wouldn't play more than 3 Umbral unless I really get more handed to me for free.

Mythic is a bit similar to set 4's Warlord. Mythic units get bonus Health, AD and AD. After 4 player combat rounds, that bonus will be strengthened by 50%.

I really like this composition that works great with Heavenly, but its major flaw is that it heavily relies on magic damage. Also, Hwei is currently very very weak, so it's probably better to stay at 5 Mythic if you have nice side units, or 7 if you can get Tahm Kench 3 and Bard 3 (make sure to have Trickshot activated then). Other than Hwei, every other Mythic is quite good in my opinion.

Porcelain is a trait with few units, but its effect is quite strong. After casting, Porcelain units will receive less damage and get an Attack speed buff, both for 4 seconds.

Lux is a unit that will give some CC and activate Arcanist for Lissandra, but the other three are strong units that will fit in many compositions. A good side trait.

And for the last Origin, Dragonlord works quite similarly to set 7's Tempest. After 8 seconds of combat, a dragon will strike the board, dealing a percentage of enemy units' Health as true damage, and giving all allies Attack speed for the rest of combat.

Just like quite a lot of other traits, this is a good supporting trait, but isn't meant as a main trait.

Just like set 10's Bruisers, this set's ones will give 100 bonus Health for every unit, and a bonus percentage for Bruisers. The addition here is that when you're at 8 Bruisers, they deal 6% of their maximum Health as physical damage on their next auto-attack, every 3 seconds.

As always, it is quite useful to have on the side, but it's now quite a viable main trait if you have an emblem.

Like the previous Duellist, Blademaster and other similar traits, Duellists gain Attack Speed with each auto-attack. When you're at 6 or 8 Duellists, they'll also receive less damage.

A strong early trait, but a bit weak in late game unless you have an emblem.

Trickshot will make the units' attacks and spells ricochet between enemies, dealing slightly less damage.

A decent class that can surprise enemies. Bard 3 is especially strong with two Guinsoo's Rageblades. I didn't test 4 Trickshots, so I'm not sure if it's worth putting in either two of Bard, Teemo and Xayah. Let me explain my point : if you play 4 Trickshot, chances are you'll play around Kai'sa. So you won't put stuff on Bard. Sivir gives adjacent allies Attack speed, so she will help Kai'sa, but the other three ? I'll have to test whether the additional ricochet and the less impactful damage penalty are worth it.

Wardens receive less damage, and this damage reduction gets a bonus during the first 10 seconds of each fight.

A very nice frontline trait, not much more to say about it.

Another defensive trait that gives Behemoth bonus Armor and Magic resistance. Upon a Behemoth's death, the nearest one gains 50% of the trait's bonus.

I don't really like this one, most units of this trait are quite weak in late game. But their dedicated augment can make it worth being played.

Another known trait, that once again gives +1 range to its units, and bonus damage based on the number of hexes between them and their target.

A very decent early trait, but you'll probably settle with only 2 Snipers in late game.

Very similar to set 6's Scholar, Invokers give mana to your team every 3 seconds. At 4 Invokers, they gain more than their allies, and everyone get even more at 6 Invokers.

A very strong trait at every level. 6 Invokers is worth playing as your main trait, and has the advantage of being available without any emblem.

Similar to Assassins of several sets and set 10's Executioners, Reapers can critically strike and get bonus Crit chance. Also, if you have 4 Reapers, they cause enemies to bleed and receive 50% bonus damage as true damage over 3 seconds.

I'm quite perplex about this one. 2 Reapers feel a bit weak, but 4 Reapers feel strong, so it'll be a bit awkward to persist with units that struggle to carry your fights. Also, Kindred and Yone are currently a bit underwhelming in my humble opinion.

Arcanist, like many sets' Sorcerers, will give AP to your team, and more for themselves at upper levels.

A good side trait, but 8 Arcanists felt very very weak. Going for more than 4 Arcanists isn't a good idea right now in my opinion.

Altruist is a defensive supporting trait. Altruists will heal the lowest ally for 15 % of the damage they deal, and give your whole team resistances. Not much to say about it, it's nice to have on the side.

Very similar to set 9's Strategists, Sages give allies placed on the front two rows Omnivamp, while allies placed on the back two rows will receive AP.

A very good side trait, easily put in many compositions, especially in a mix of Dragonlord, Heavenly and Ghostly.

To end this article, I'll list the unique traits that would make this already long article too massive, as well as the special trait that is Exalted.

Lovers : Xayah and Rakan are closer than ever, they're now a 2 in 1 unit. If you put them on the front two rows, you'll get Rakan, who is Altruist, and on the back two rows, you'll get Xayah, who is Trickshot. Note that regardless of which one you put in, the other one will stay on the side and help their partner. Right now, though, Xayah seems to underperform, so I'd choose Rakan.

Great : Every third cast, Wukong grows his staff, getting bonus range and modifying his ability.

Spirit Master : The first time Udyr drops below 50% Health, he'll get healed back to full Health, be untargetable for a few seconds, then swap from a defensive role to a much more offensive one.

Artist : Hwei will empower the middle hex of your bench. After a number of rounds equalling the cost of the unit you put on that hex, Hwei will create a 1 star copy. That number used to be reduced by Hwei's star level, and when you had Hwei 3, he created a 3* version, but it's no longer the case. Maybe it'll be again in the future.

Exalted : Like Mirage and Mutant which changed effects in each game, Exalted is a trait some units will gain, and those units will change each game. Note that units that already have 3 traits won't ever get Exalted. When you have 3 Exalted, you'll gain bonus damage based on your level, and an orb will spawn at the end of the round, containing 1 exp. If you already have the orb, it'll stack the exp and you'll be able to sell it whenever you want to get that exp. If your bench is full, it'll be sold automatically. At 5 Exalted, the bonus damage will be higher.

You'll be able to check which units are Exalted in your game by hovering your mouse over the icon above your shop. You'll also see the units' cost from the color it's written in as well as their traits, allowing you to think about which ones you'll play with whom.

I hope you've learned a few things on the upcoming Set 11. I usually try to make much shorter guides, but this one couldn't really be shorter. See you soon for more practical guides on Set 11 !