League of Legends (League of Legends) is testing one of the most fundamental changes: the WASD key system as an alternative to the traditional “mouse + click” control to move.
This new moving system is directed by Riot to help control the champion more intuitive for both new players and players to return after the break. If the community is successful and tested on PBE successfully, WASD will be applied in non -ranking modes, and then approach the ranking. This will be one of the biggest control changes in the game history, which can completely change the player's experience.
The developer confirms that both WASD and “mouse + click” will be retained, and will be closely monitored to ensure no options bring outstanding competitive advantage. Players can choose the control style that best suits their habits and play.
From an eSports perspective, a professional player will probably still be loyal to “mouse + click”, so it is difficult to change big at the competition level. Anyway, the League of Legends players have to use a lot of keys, from skills, supplements to camera control, so adding WASD can be considered as the natural expansion of the game mechanism, not a sudden “great surgery”.
It would be interesting to try champions like Kalista with WASD, because her skill set asked to use mice to shorten after every normal attack. This can create a new learning curve. Many players are famous for their ability to click extremely fast to avoid skillshot, so the question is that WASD will make it easier or more difficult?
Although it is too early to know how this change will affect the meta, this move shows that Riot is willing to test the core elements to attract new players, especially those who are familiar with WASD. For veteran gamers, this is an opportunity to experience Summoner's Rift in a new way: less using mice, more “key”.