Ability Remake: 
Evelynn, the Widowmaker[]
In an upcoming patch we'll be revisiting two of the first champions to grace the Fields of Justice: 
Twitch, the Plague Rat, and 
Evelynn, the Widowmaker. These champions haven't been as viable as we'd like them to be due to problematic long-term 
stealth 
mechanics. For Evelynn, her core ability Shadow Walk allowed her to remain invisible for long periods of time, ultimately forcing players to stay on the defensive and favor cautious play. Since we want the action to remain a fun and fluid experience throughout the match, we decided to update these champions with some new stealth abilities.
Because Evelynn has always been the consummate assassin in League of Legends, we really wanted to preserve that bloodthirsty feeling of stalking an enemy champion. Instead of traditional 
invisibility, however, we decided to retool Shadow Walk into a new form of persistent stealth. Whenever Evelynn is out of combat, this passive version of Shadow Walk will kick in after a short period of time, reducing the range at which enemy champions can see her. Additionally, while in this state Evelynn will be invisible to all 
Sight Wards and minions, though turrets and 
Vision Wards will still be able to spot her as normal.
This new version of Shadow Walk will allow Evelynn to close in on an enemy, positioning herself closer to melee range while she waits for the opportune moment to attack. To help her initiate in an appropriately predatory manner, her new 
Dark Frenzy ability can give her the Movement Speed boost she needs to quickly close the distance on an unsuspecting target. Additionally, we've modified 
Ravage so that it not only functions as a nuke but also provides an Attack Speed bonus to help her quickly take down her victim. Should she score a kill or assist, the cooldown on Dark Frenzy is reset, allowing her to either redouble the attack or escape and vanish as quickly as she came.
Evelynn also faced challenges participating in team fights. To give her some additional staying power when entering the fray, Evelynn can employ her new ultimate ability 
Agony's Embrace. This new ultimate targets an area, dealing damage and slowing the enemies it hits. In addition to its offensive effects, Agony's Embrace also grants Evelynn a significant damage shield for each enemy champion caught within the target area.
Combined with the strategic advantage of Shadow Walk, this shield can give the Widowmaker the tactical advantage she needs to quickly reach and tear down a high value target in a team fight. For even more added punch in these group situations, we've also increased the range on 
Hate Spike and updated it to strike multiple enemy targets in a line each time it's cast. This added team fight utility combines with Evelynn's new persistent stealth to keep her alive and dangerous even in the more advanced stages of the game when group action is more prevalent.
- Abilities
- Shadow Walk
true sight. Additionally, Evelynn rapidly regenerates Mana while stealthed.
- Hate Spike
- Dark Frenzy
- Passive: Evelynn's spell hits grant her a stacking Movement Speed buff.
- Active: Evelynn breaks free from any slows affecting her and gains a massive Movement Speed boost for a short duration.
- Ravage
- Agony's Embrace
slowing them. She then gains a shield based on how many enemy champions she hit.Full Relaunch[]
/Dev: State of Champion Update, January 2017[]
- Team Alpha – Large Rework Team
Next Project: Evelynn
Let's talk about Team Alpha's next project, the mysterious mystery wrapped in mystery, Evelynn! While Evelynn's archetype as a sexy shadow assassin has aged well, we feel she can be greatly improved if we rebuild her from the ground up. The first thing we want to address is Evelynn's kit. Our three big design goals with Evelynn's kit are to solidify her as the Assassin she was meant to be (not the diver she has become), add a bit more satisfaction on ability use, and increase her game health. Specifically, we want to make her map presence less oppressive in the early game. We think PermaStealth is a cool and unique trait, so we don't plan on removing it but we do think there is a healthier version of it that will allow us to shift power elsewhere in Evelynn's kit.
We also want to answer the question “Who the hell is Evelynn and where does she come from?” Our Worldbuilding team gave Evelynn a small story when Yorick was released, but that was just to hold her over until we had a chance to flesh her out more and make sure her narrative is more than just skin-deep. Lastly, we want to do a large overhaul to her visuals. Evelynn's theme of a sexy shadow stalker has been very resonant with players, but the execution is well below our current standards. Look forward to seeing (or not seeing) an Evelynn VGU in the future!
Embracing Agony, Evelynn[]
Not much new to say about Evelynn that I didn't say in my last blog. Expect Evelynn to be more of a “modernization” rather than a complete reboot, similar to Warwick's VGU. Evelynn should still be the same sexy, stealthy, shadow assassin we all know and love, but with new tricks that allow her to function as the assassin she is meant to be in the modern league environment. Like all our VGUs, Evelynn will also be getting some charming new visuals and lore to go with the new gameplay tools we are giving her. She's still a little ways off so expect more details when we get closer to her release.
Emerging from the Shadows[]
With Evelynn slowly stalking her way to release, we can start to talk a bit more about how she's shaping up. We want to play up Evelynn's “PermaStealth” identity by giving her some new tools to use from stealth. This should further emphasize her unique gameplay and also reward Evelynn players for mastering her shadow form. Evelynn's stealth is essential to her identity, so we will also be adding unique visuals for her stealth form to make it look as special as it is meant to be.
We're also going through and updating her narrative and place in Runeterra. In fact, one of our current champions already had a run-in with Evelynn after her parents embraced the lashes of agony. I'll let you guys comb through the lore to figure out who's life was sent down a much darker path thanks to Evelynn's sadistic proclivities.
It'll still be awhile before the updated Evelynn's eviscerating her enemies on spikes of hatred, but expect to see her (or, more realistically, not see her) sometime after the new Vanguard mentioned above.
Champion Update: Evelynn[]
The demon Evelynn lures in prey with a beautiful lie: the voluptuous façade of a human woman. Once her victim succumbs to her charms, she subjects them to unspeakable torment, gratifying herself with their pain. And yet, humans expire so quickly during agony's embrace. Any one dance grants Evelynn only a tiny morsel of pleasure—just enough to tide her over until the next feeding.[5]
- DEMON SHADE
- HATE SPIKE
- LUST DUST
Evelynn briefly curses a target champion or monster, briefly revealing her location to her target. Hitting the cursed target with basic attacks or Eve's other spells will expunge the curse, refunding Lust Dust's mana cost and significantly slowing the target.
If the curse lasts for at least a couple of seconds, expunging it will charm the target. If the target is an enemy champion, their magic resistance will be reduced for a few seconds. If the target is a monster, the length of the charm will be increased and the spell will deal bonus damage.
Casting Lust Dust does not break Demon Shade's camouflage.
- WHIPLASH & EMPOWERED WHIPLASH
Whiplash -Evelynn impales an enemy with her lashers, applying on-hit effects and dealing damage as a percentage of the target's maximum health. Evelynn is then granted a short burst of movement speed.
Entering Demon Shade upgrades Evelynn's next Whiplash into Empowered Whiplash.
Empowered Whiplast -Evelynn pulls herself to her target before impaling them, then deals Whiplash's effects to her target and all nearby enemies.
- WIDOWMAKER
- PLAYING AS EVELYNN
Evelynn - Teamfight
As Evelynn, you're a living nightmare for your opponents on the Rift. When you sprinkle on your crush, they'll know they're being stalked, but they'll have an idea of your location for a fleeting instant. The next few moments are emotional torment for your victim.
Once you've finally emerged, you've got precious few moments to enjoy your handiwork. Burst your opponents as quickly as possible with 
Hate Spikes, and stick to them with 
Empowered Whiplash. When you've had your fill, 
Widowmaker lets you slip back into the shadows.
- TIPS AND TRICKS
- Now that Evelynn's camouflage doesn't kick in at the start of the game, she's less of an early threat to lanes. But when Widowmaker activates, its built-in untargetable effect makes her one of the best level six towerdivers in the game.
- Landing charm reduces your target's magic resistance. This makes Eve a particularly good pick when you have lots of musing teammates who can easily follow up on your engages.
- Be mindful of how you use your Q when clearing camps. Land the initial cast of Hate Spike on the biggest baddie in the camp so your subsequent casts deal bonus damage to it. And, as with pre-rework Evelynn, try to maneuver the smaller critters in the camp into a line so you're not just spiking the trees.
Champion Insights: Evelynn[]
Evelynn's old identity was... a bit confusing. She was a badass shadow assassin who'd slit your throat and disappear before the blood dripped but was also inexplicably blue and quite scantily clad for a professional hitwoman. Plus, she might've been an assassin in the world of Runeterra, but in reality (or at least in-game) she didn't always play like one.
New Eve is still a shadow assassin, but she's also a demon. A succubus demon. Who wants to make you very, very happy... before tearing your flesh off.[6]
- BORN OF A THOUSAND SCREAMS
Evelynn doesn't want the quick and easy target. For her, the real enjoyment comes from luring in unsuspecting prey, getting their hopes up, and then replacing their exhilaration with torment. “She's messed up,” says narrative writer John 'JohnODyin' O'Bryan. “Evelynn feeds on happy people because she thinks they have more to give.” If someone is already at the bottom, there's no room to fall, and where's the fun in that?
A quick and simple death is never enough, though. Evelynn attracts her target with the promise of physical pleasure, striving to elevate them to their absolute pinnacle of happiness, before revealing her true intentions. It's about seeing the hope in their eyes fade into fear and turning their anticipation into agony.
“Pain for her isn't as delicious if it's just physical,” says concept artist Gem 'Lonewingy' Lim. “It's much more satisfying when it's also mental and emotional.”
Evelynn s l o w l y tortures her prey until there's nothing left for her to take. But even the sweetest kill isn't enough to sate her hunger, and as soon as the warmth leaves their body, she's already looking for the next target.
She'll stalk them in the darkness, waiting for the moment when they're most vulnerable before using her command of the shadows to once again take a human-like form. Evelynn's perfected her female facade over centuries, honing her seductive skills victim by victim.
Where does a demon like this come from? “We knew Evelynn had acquired a taste for inflicting pain,” says JohnODyin. “So I asked myself, 'What's the point in Runeterra's history where there was so much suffering, it could've created a demon like that?'” The answer was clear: Evelynn was born from the amount of agony present in the most recent Rune War. The Runeterrans' colossal loss and suffering nourished the young demon, and she's been chasing that feeling ever since, one victim at a time.
- STALK AND SEDUCE
Evelynn's livelihood hinges on her ability to attract prey and make them feel excited and hopeful, so she's deliberately shaped her human appearance to do just that. “If Miss Fortune is a 10/10 on the sexy scale, Evelynn needed to be an 11/10. It's what her character deserves,” says Lonewingy. Exaggerated proportions, dramatic poses, running in high heels—Evelynn's not constrained by biological limitations.
From the beginning stages of conception, Evelynn never had clothes... well, she never had human clothes. For one, Evelynn isn't human. She's a demon imitating a human form, so she uses shadows to mimic clothes rather than dealing with the inconvenience of a physical closet. And two, having Evelynn wear human clothes would make her seem more like a generic girl in a bikini rather than the powerful demon sadist she really is. Eve's attractive appearance is a weapon—not a fashion choice.
The biggest challenge of redesigning Evelynn was finding a way to communicate her stealth that wasn't just “let's make her model semi-transparent for 75% of the game.” Lonewingy went hard in the creepy, horror-inducing designs at first: Spider legs, cracked porcelain skin with shadows pushing their way out, the cavity of a missing eye you could peer into and see three eyes within. “Then the team and I were like, 'Alright, let's hold back a bit so players still feel like they're playing an attractive succubus,'” says Lonewingy.
Evelynn's stealthed (or demon shade) form is kind of how she really looks, but not exactly. It is the form she takes while stalking her soon-to-be toy from the shadows. There's no need for Eve to hide her demonic lashers or horns in the darkness—she's free to stalk as she pleases, waiting until her target is most vulnerable before revealing herself as a beautiful woman. “My goal for Eve's demon shade form was for it to feel like you are the shadow stalker hunting down your prey,” says Lonewingy.
- MY PLEASURE, YOUR PAIN
Possibly the most iconic part of Eve's kit is her high-uptime stealth. This mechanic was pretty fair in most situations, but it proved to be so frustrating on a jungler that Evelynn was tuned out of the jungle for everyone else's sake. Still, permastealth was so attractive to junglers and Evelynn fans that they'd always find a way to make it work (Smite+Revive, anyone?), and it became clear that Evelynn was going to stay in the jungle no matter how weak or strong she was. “We knew this was something players really wanted, so we committed to finding a way to implement it that feels good for everyone,” says game designer Stash 'Stashu' Chelluck.
The main problem with permastealth in the jungle is that it becomes very difficult to track the jungler's location. Early iterations of Evelynn's stealth revolved around giving some type of information to her enemies. For example, one iteration was a cloud that covered about ¼ of the map. It moved along a predetermined path throughout the game, and everyone could see it on their minimaps. If Evelynn was in the clouded area, she'd be invisible, but if she was somewhere else, she wasn't. “These types of mechanics ended up feeling very chore-like for the Evelynn player,” says Stashu. “It was a lot to play around but didn't have a very satisfying payoff.”
Instead of playing the information game, Evelynn's stealth was delayed until level six. This gives laners time to set up vision defenses, farm, and play aggressively without the paranoia of having an invisible Eve in their lane at level two. But once Evelynn hits six, no jungler (or carry) is safe from her demonic shadow stalking.
The rest of her kit was designed to balance the innate strength of being an assassin who also has a high-uptime stealth, while still giving her the tools to kill people. For example, Eve's W marks a target, giving them a heads up she's somewhere nearby, but if they don't gtfo in 2.5 seconds, they'll be charmed when she strikes. Plus, the whole thing feels very... Evelynn. Your screen turns pink as she whispers into your ear, and then you wonder if she's coming from the river, or the brush.
Or perhaps, she's already right behind you.
Media[]
- Related Music
- Related Videos
- Main article: Summoner icon
- Main article: Emotes
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Trivia[]
- Evelynn and Coven Evelynn are voiced by Mara Junot, whom also voices her in Legends of Runeterra[7], 2 Dreadway Deckhand, 6 Genevieve Elmheart, 2 Mask Mother, 8 Sanctum Conservator, 6 Sheriff Lariette Rose and 4 Voice of the Risen in the same game, Jules and Shoola in Arcane and Jenda'kaya in Ruination.
- Evelynn's Japanese voice actor is Mie Sonozaki, who also voiced Japanese Cassiopeia.[8]
- Evelynn's Japanese voice actor is Mie Sonozaki, who also voiced Japanese
- K/DA ALL OUT Evelynn promotional materials are also voiced by Mara Junot.
- Her vocals are provided by Madison Beer, Kim Petras, and Bea Miller.
- The exclamation mark that appears when Evelynn is spotted references the one from Metal Gear Solid.
- The stealth rework itself was also inspired by it.
- The same exclamation mark appeared when Rengar used Thrill of the Hunt to warn his enemies he is nearby, before it was replaced by a unique icon resembling his eyes peeking through darkness during the Assassin update.
- The same exclamation mark appeared when
- The stealth rework itself was also inspired by it.
- Her title, Agony's Embrace, was the name of her old ultimate.
- Her ultimate was named "Widowmaker" during early reveals, which was her original title.
- Her
- Allure was formerly called "Lust Dust" in early reveals.
- Evelynn is the third emotion eater, after Tahm Kench and Fiddlesticks:
- Tahm Kench consumes his victim's possessions and loved ones while savoring their psychological anguish.
- Fiddlesticks feeds off of his victim by reenacting their fears and traumas until they inevitably die.
- Evelynn physically torments her victims and leeches off their affliction as they're dying agonizingly.
- Tahm Kench
- During early reveals, Shadow Evelynn didn't have her headdress on, and Tango Evelynn's skin was toned differently before it was changed to match her splash art.
- Evelynn's voice actress is Brett Pels, who also voices Syndra.
