The new champion has finally been revealed! Jhin, the Virtuoso will be coming to the League soon. He makes use of the new bullet mechanics that Graves showcased with his passive, Whisper.
Every fourth shot Jhin takes always critically strikes and adds extra damage that is calculated based on his target’s missing health. Jhin should be an interesting champion for he will have low mobility, does not gain attack speed through items, and his critical hits deal less damage than normal critical strikes. Instead, any attack speed and critical strike chance he obtains through items, runes, and masteries will ADD to his attack damage. Jhin is already shaping up to be a very interesting choice.
Jhin’s other abilities also have interesting interactions. His first skill, Dancing Grenade, will bounce up to four times after being thrown onto an enemy. This allows Jhin to farm in lane safely and to harass the enemy team effectively because if the grenade kills an enemy unit, it will do extra damage on the remaining bounces.
His next skill, Deadly Flourish, has a passive and an active facet to it. If Jhin attacks enemy champions, uses Captive Audience, or any allies damage a champion, they become marked. If Jhin uses Deadly Flourish, he fires a long range skill shot damaging the first enemy champion struck but will damage minions until the skill ends. If Jhin strikes an enemy champion that is marked with Deadly Flourish, they will be briefly rooted, and he will gain a movement speed burst. Jhin’s third ability is Captive Audience, which is a trap ability.
The trap will be armed after being place on the ground, and if an enemy champion walks over it, the trap will reveal and mark them with Deadly Flourish as well as create a large slowing zone. The zone will damage enemies remaining inside it after a brief moment. Finally, Jhin’s ultimate ability is Curtain Call. He will fully assemble Whisper, his weapon, and have the ability to fire 4 shots that deal damage to the first enemy champion hit based on missing health while also slowing them.
His 4th shot deals increased damage and is guaranteed to critically strike. His ultimate is also unique in that he will not be able to move. It is an extremely long range but only in a certain angle and will reveal any enemies marked with Deadly Flourish.
The Virtuoso’s abilities will make him an interesting choice in a champion. His kit appears to be what a marksman would be suited for, and indeed his ultimate is long range to support this idea. However, he has an average basic attack range. He could possibly be used in the middle lane on the Summoner’s Rift, but his low mobility may hurt him there. Jhin will be able to kite and chase well due to his movement speed bursts from critical strikes. I believe he will be useful in a zoning team composition due to his traps, his grenade, and his ultimate having such a large range. His low attack speed though seems to indicate he may be used in a more caster role, dumping his abilities and getting off his 4 attacks before waiting again.
Jhin will be released on the PBE soon, and to get the official rundown on him you can visit the League of Legends website here. He has a very interesting kit that will make him a unique choice in team compositions. It’s interesting to note he is a marksman released relatively closely to another, Kindred. However, both of these champions are vastly different than sitting in the traditional marksman role. The last true marksman to be introduced was Kalista which was over a year before. Riot is continually pushing the envelope with new ideas, thinking outside the box, and as such, new champions coming to the League of Legends are unique and refreshing.
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