Riot Games Unveils New LoL Champion in Briar — What’s Her Abilities?

League of Legends welcomes its latest champion to its roster.

Riot Games recently revealed Briar, the Restrained Hunger, as its newest addition to LoL's champion roster in the game's upcoming 13.18 patch.

LoL's 13.18 patch is due for launch on Sept. 13, along with new skins coming a day later into the LoL client, per Early Game.

Briar Character Summary

Briar is a Noxian like Swain and Sion, though her appearance says she isn't your typical Noxian. The Black Rose made Briar from hemomancy (blood magic) to create a living weapon - she must consume blood to fuel herself, explaining her everlasting thirst for blood.

Unfortunately, the Black Rose kept Briar in a frenzied state despite the sentience they gave her, forcing her into a perpetual bloodthirsty rage. For an organization as calculated and discrete as the Black Rose, such attention-drawing behavior is unacceptable.

As a result, the Black Rose confined Briar in a pillory after failing two missions. Her pillory is locked using a hemolith gemstone, which has magical properties that help restrain Briar and refocus her mind.

In time, Briar learned how to fiddle, loosen, and unlock the restraint, but she kept it on because of the presence of mind and mental clarity it gives. Thanks to this clarity, her time in her cell became a period of reflection, learning, and a desire to want an identity of her own - not as a mindless killing machine.

Briar Abilities Overview

As a result, Briar's abilities focus on controlling her inherent bloodlust and rage, releasing them only when the time is right.

Her passive, Crimson Curse, grants Briar increased healing speed based on her missing health, allowing her to recover from near-fatal encounters quickly. Meanwhile, her passive allows her attacks and abilities to apply a stackable bleed for a short period.

The bleed deals physical damage based on the number of stacks and Heals Briar for a percentage of the pre-mitigation damage. Because of Briar's nature, she has no base health regeneration, while her abilities cost health to cast.

Her first active ability, Head Rush, has Briar leap to a target, stunning them for a short duration and dealing physical damage and armor reduction. Her second active ability, Blood Frenzy/Snack Attack, has Briar leaping to a location and entering a blood frenzy, self-taunting the nearest enemy champion/creep for a short period.

While in Blood Frenzy, she gains attack and move speed, while her attack deals physical damage around the main target. Players can recast this ability to empower Briar's next attack; it deals missing health physical damage and heals Briar for a large percentage of the damage dealt.

Her third active skill, Chilling Scream, is Briar's self-healing mechanism. She charges up a scream that removes Blood Frenzy and gathers energy, giving her damage reduction and self-healing. Once released, Briar unleashed a scream that deals damage based on how long it was charged.

A fully charged Chilling Scream knocks back enemies, dealing additional damage to anyone hitting a wall and stunning them. The skill also slows enemies for a short period regardless of charge time.

Briar's ultimate, Certain Death, has Briar kick a hemolith and fly to the location of the first champion hit, marking them as her prey. She deals a large amount of physical damage to everything nearby once she lands while also causing nearby enemies to flee.

During the skill's duration, she enters an empowered Blood Frenzy and will pursue her prey until they or Briar dies. Killing Briar could be difficult during this time as she gains Armor, Magic Resist, and additional Move Speed to chase her prey down and live to hunt again.