The newest Teamfight Tactics Set is out, called "Dragonlands." It's a complex iteration of an Auto-Chess game, especially in comparison to other Sets that Riot Games has released in the past. There are some simple and easy-to-understand returning Classes like Bruiser and Assassin, but many of the Origin Traits specifically have some fascinating gimmicks tied to them such as Ragewing, Mirage, and Shimmerscale.
Since the Set is coming to Xbox Game Pass soon, it's the perfect time go over each Origin in Teamfight Tactics: Dragonlands, one by one. Here's everything players need to know about how they work, for both TFT veterans as well as new players who will be coming in once it hits Game Pass.
Astral: The Hyper-Roll Origin
Astrals are basically the Yordles of this Set, and players who love to Hyperoll will gravitate towards them. Every 5th Shop with at least 3 Astrals on the field has a very high chance of having Astral Champs in it. This basically guarantees that a player who is hyper-rolling to get this 5th shop to appear will get some early-game 3-Star units. Additionally, this Origin grants bonus AP to the entire team, starting at +5 and ending at +60 with 9 Astrals on the field.
Some things to note:
- The border of the Shop UI glows gold when the next Shop Refresh will be the Astral Orb and 5th Shop.
- The Astrals that appear in the Astral Shop are still based on the Level Percentages, so there's no way to get an Aurelion Sol early.
- Riot developers have already stated that the next TFT patch will reintroduce the Astral Emblem, making it possible to 3-Star any unit early on using this re-roll strategy.
Guild: Works In Every Team
The Guild Origin is by far one of the more unique and adaptable Origins added in Set 7. The five Champs in this "friendly Adventurer Guild" Origin each have a bonus tied to them. When put on the field, that Bonus is then applied to the entire team, but is extra powerful on Guild Champions depending on how many Guild Origin Champs are on the field. The bonuses each Guild Unit grants to the team are:
- Sejuani: +100 Health
- Twitch: +10 percent Attack Speed
- Ryze: +10 AP
- Talon: +10 AD
- Bard: +2 Mana per Attack
- Guild Emblem: +3 percent Omnivamp
There are a ton of Augments that synergize well with this Origin, and a lot of Team Comps are easy to just add a Guild unit into. Are enemy teams dealing a bit too much damage? A Sejuani could help. Swiftshot units not Attacking fast enough? Throw a Twitch in there. Guild is built for players to mess around with, and it's incredibly fun to do so.
Jade: Don't Stop Attacking
Slow down League combat? Nope — instead, speed it up even more with the Jade Trait. Jade is another odd Origin, and can feel more like a positioning puzzle. Once the Jade Trait is active, a small green Jade Statue then appears on the field (or multiple statues, depending on the Jade Trait level), which can be moved around. Allies that are placed adjacent to these statues get bonus Attack Speed and Healing every two seconds based on their Max HP. When the statues are destroyed they deal a third of their health as Magic Damage to nearby enemies.
While this sounds pretty simple, there are some aspects of Jade that players need to know:
- Statue buffs don't stack, meaning there's no reason for players with two Jade statues to bunch their team up in a bit group.
- The Max HP Healing per two seconds percentage is based on the Jade Trait level, starting at 2% and maxing out at 25%.
- Statues explode in a 1 Hex-wide AoE around them, incentivizing players to put them near the front or at least in front of the backline as a defensive wall.
Mirage: The Mixed-Bag Origin
Mirage is essentially just the Mutant Trait from last Set with a new name. For those who don't know, the Mutant Trait changed between a set list of possible effects every game, and Mirage works the same way. There are seven different effects in total that the Mirage Trait can cycle between per TFT game, and these vary widely. One deals reflect damage to enemies on hit, another provides bonus Health and AP for every victory, one possbility grants a Mercenary Trait-type chest of Loot after every combat, and much more.
Because of this, Mirage builds drastically change from game to game. This is part of the reason why it's such a fun Origin to include overall, as the Mirage Units have so many different uses and playstyles to experiment with.
Ragewing: An Enraging-ly Good Trait
To explain it as simply as possible, all characters with Ragewings build "Rage" instead of Mana. When their Rage meter is full, they use their Ability and then "Enrage" for four seconds, gaining a ramping Attack Speed and Omnivamp buff depending on how many Ragewings are on the field. While enraged, they don't generate any Rage (AKA Mana), making it take much longer for them to be able to "enrage" again.
Ragewings is one of the higher-ranked Traits in the Set at the moment (partially thanks to Sett and Xayah), simply because just about every Unit in it is great on its own. Though sadly, just like the Champion herself needs a rework, it's very likely that the Shyvana unit in TFT will be changed in the near future as well.
Revel: The "Cherry On Top" Trait
Revel is incredibly simple. While active, Revel Champions launch a firework after they cast their ability that hits a random enemy champion. The amount of damage this firework does is based on the level of the Origin. The description may make it sound like the fireworks might apply to every ally while the Revel Origin is active, but it's only Revel Champions.
In most cases, Revel is just a nice added bonus to a team comp, and is never the main focus. But when a player manages to use it well, Revel can dominate a lobby easily.
Scalescorn: No Dragons Allowed
Scalescorns are essentially the "anti-dragon" Origin that are meant for players who aren't running a Dragon on their team this game. While this Origin is active (and a Dragon isn't on the field), Scalescorns deal bonus magic damage based on the Origin level and take 20% reduced damage from enemies over 2200 Health.
Early on, it can be a bit difficult to get a unit to 2200 HP, but in the late game, Scalescorns are a force to be reckoned with, especially since they usually have one extra unit on the field as their opponents are running Dragons, which take up two slots. Unfortunately, the Dragonlands (which Riot could explore in their MMORPG) and all the new Dragons introduced in this Set are incredibly hard to ignore, meaning that Scalescorns isn't played too often.
Shimmerscale: Spend Money To Make Money
Shimmerscales are another incredibly unique Origin. When active, this Origin spawns unique and complete items (not components) that have money-gathering effects. These items also usually have some component of them that is dependent on the current amount of Gold the player has. For example, Goldmancer's Staff gives 1 AP per Gold in the bank and caps out at +80 AP (80 Gold).
This Origin incentivizes players to save money, and also helps them generate more of it. Plus, unlike other items, Shimmerscale items can easily be un-equipped by "benching" the unit the item is on. Tis is especially convenient for mobile players, who know the pain of putting a component on the wrong Unit. The higher the Trait, the more Shimmerscale Items the player gets. There's a decent-sized list of potential items, such as:
- Needlessly Big Gem
- Mogul's Mail
- Goldmancer's Staff
- Gambler's Blade
- Draven's Axe
- Determined Investor
- Diamond Hands
- Crown of Champions
Shimmerscale is all about making money, and it would be neat to see this idea develop even further. Maybe in the future, players could invest Gold to "build" their own Chemtech Drake or something like that.
Tempest: A Sudden Strike Of True Damage & Attack Speed
The description of the Tempest Origin is worded awkwardly, and has been confusing a lot of players. Here's why:
- The Attack Speed buff is the last part of the description and is a separate sentence. Many players didn't realize it only applies after the lightning strikes 8 seconds into the combat.
- The percent Damage part of the 2/3/6/8 Origin active refers to the true damage the lightning strike deals. It's not a damage buff for Tempest champs.
That said, once the player understands how the Tempest Origin works, they'll find themselves trying to force it every game. The juicy damage that the lightning strike inflicts and the team-wide 1-second CC is incredibly useful.
Trainer: The "Build-A-Dragon" Trait
For the Trainer Origin, players will want to get Tristana and Heimerdinger as early as possible to get the Nomsy ramp started. Every round, Trainer Champs feed Nomsy, which is a new unit that appears on the Field once this Origin is active. The amount of "Snax" they feed it is based on the Star Levels of the Trainer Champs (1 Snax for 1-Star Trainers, 2 for 2-Star, and so on).
As the game goes on and the rounds continue, Nomsy will keep getting extra Health and AP from these Snax. Every 25 Snax it gains another Star, gaining extra Armor, Magic Resist, Health, and AP. There are a few other aspects of this Trait players should know about ahead of time:
- There is no cap to Nomsy. Even if it's at Max Star Level, it will still gain bonus Health and AP per round based on the number of "Snax" it's fed.
- Nomsy counts as a "unit" or "champion" on the field, so Augments with descriptions that apply to all units (such as Celestial Blessing or Makeshift Armor) will buff it as well.
- Guild Units also buff Nomsy.
- Nomsy's "Snax" isn't an item, and Nomsy doesn't have any item slots, so no effect that applies to units or Champs with "items" will apply to Nomsy.
Whispers: Who Needs Armor & Magic Resist Shredding Items?
Whispers is another interesting Origin. It works as a "core" Trait, or as a trait to build if the player isn't planning on building any Armor or Magic Resist items. When Whispers Champs deal attack or Ability damage to Champs, they "shrink" them, reducing their Armor and MR by 40% for 6 seconds. Then, when they damage those same shrunken Champs, they gain stacking bonuses of Attack Damage and AP every time damage is triggered. There are a couple caveats to these bonuses:
- They are only gained while damaging shrunken champs.
- These bonuses aren't permanent, only for the round.
- They do not stack with other Shredding Items, so don't build them with this combination.
Right now, this is basically just an Elise Comp (other than Sy' Fen, one of the new powerful Dragons who desperately needs some lore), as that Unit is so incredibly strong. However, the Whispers Trait is a perfect one to pivot into if the lobby seems to have a lot of tanky items throughout it. It's also a bit odd this primarily purple Origin doesn't feature the new Champion, Bel' Veth, but maybe she'll join in a mid-Set update.
Teamfight Tactics is available for Android, iOS, PC and Mac.