League of Legends Lillia: What you need to know about the whimsical new jungler

LoL Lillia is officially the next League of Legends champion, and she's making her way to Summoner’s Rift very soon. A whimsical, spell-casting jungler, the Bashful Bloom is likely to thrive on the edges of fights, leaping into the fray to blow up a couple of enemies before scampering quickly back to safety.

As we don't have long to wait before League of Legends Lillia joins Riot's free-to-play MOBA, here's when the new jungler arrives, her abilities and items, and how to get the most from her when she's added. Here's everything you need to know about Lillia.

LoL Lillia release date: When is she coming out?

Riot has already confirmed that Lillia will release during patch 10.15, so expect to be able to play her on or shortly after Wednesday, July 22.

LoL Lillia abilities

Lillia is much less complicated than some of League of Legends’ more recent arrivals, like Sett or Aphelios. As a jungler, her complexity is likely to be most keenly felt in her early clear, particularly when it comes to managing her mana and setting up her early ganks.

• Dream-Laden Bough (Passive): Lillia’s skills apply Dream Dust, dealing 5 percent max health magic damage over three seconds. Damage is capped against jungle monsters, but not against minions or champions.
• Blooming Blows (Q): Passively, Lillia gains bonus movement speed (scaling with ability power) for five seconds every time she hits this ability, stacking up to five times. When she activates Blooming Blows, she swings her censer in a circle, dealing magic damage. Enemies caught in the outer edge of the hitbox will take additional true damage.
• Watch Out! Eep! (W): Lillia takes aim at an area around her, moving towards it and winding up a powerful strike. Enemies at the centre of the area of effect take increased damage.
• Swirlseed (E): Lillia throws a projectile which deals damage where it lands, revealing enemies hit and slowing them for three seconds. If the projectile misses, it rolls forward until it hits an enemy or collides with terrain.
• Lilting Lullaby (R): When Lillia casts her ultimate, she causes all enemy champions affected by Dream Dust to become Drowsy, gradually slowing them over 1.5 seconds until they fall asleep for two seconds. Sleeping units cannot move or act during this time, unless damaged by an enemy with non-periodic damage. If sleeping units affected by Lilting Lullaby are awakened by damage, they take additional magic damage.

Lillia gameplay tips

Lillia isn't your average jungler. Her limited defensive stats, lack of reliable hard crowd control (CC), and spell-casting focused kit set her apart from many other champions that feel most at home in the jungle. What she does have, however, is some impressive clear: All her abilities have some area-of-effect component, and her damage is amplified by her passive. 

Thanks to the passive aspect of Blooming Blows, she’s also fast, able to stack up movement speed before galloping off to another camp or into a lane. Start your jungle clear with both Blue and Red Buff before moving on to Gromp—trying to take on multi-target camps like Razorbeaks or Krugs could be risky without all of your abilities up.

When it comes to ganking, things get a little trickier. Post-level 6, Lillia can use Lilting Lullaby to lock down characters, but to do so you’ll need to have hit them at least once before to proc Dream-Laden Bough, and its extremely long cooldown means you’ll need to find another way of forcing a fight. The slow from Swirlseed will help set up ganks, and the speed from Blooming Blows will let you stick to fleeing enemies, but it might be worth trying to match Lillia up with champions with more reliable CC; Think Twisted Fate, Taric, or Sion.

Later in the game, Lillia is going to be all about burst, so it’ll be important to pick your targets well at the start of the fight. You’ll want to use Blooming Blows regularly to help you stack up your movement speed, allowing you to jump nimbly past the front line and towards the squishier carries (or to get out of trouble if things turn sour). Then apply your passive, activate your ultimate, and aim to burst your target down by cycling quickly through your skills. Try not to outstay your welcome, though: Most of Lillia’s cooldowns are pretty long, and with no extra mobility or sustain built into her kit, over-committing could prove costly.

The best items to use as Lillia

At the start of a game, a Hunter’s Talisman and a Refillable Potion seem like your most viable choices. That Talisman should build into a Stalker’s Blade with a Runic Echoes enchantment as soon as possible, while Sorcerer’s Shoes will help maximise your early-game burst. 

As you enter mid-game, consider items that focus on cooldown reduction and ability power, but be prepared to adjust based on the biggest enemy threat. Morellonomicon, Zhonya’s Hourglass, and Banshee’s Veil could all provide valuable stats to counter healers, physical damage dealers, or mages. Items like Protobelt and the GLP-800 are also decent alternatives, offering extra mobility and CC. 

Towards the late-game, where your greatest aim will be to blow up carries, items like Void Staff and Rabadon’s Deathcap should give you the extra burst you need.