There has been a lot of progress on Udyr’s VGU since Riot last checked in. They are planning to do another blog early next year with a lot more info but wanted to talk about a few small things before then.
When Riot shared their last update, many fans liked where his hair landed, but there was some uncertainty with his antlers. Player feedback has been discussed and it was decided that it was important to keep the antlers because they add a unique differentiator for his silhouette and readability and because they provide a focus for his druidic power. However, Riot agree that the designs needed work because they were large and demanded a lot of attention. So they started with a new spread of smaller antlers, and have landed on something that is more of a druid focus and less of a sharp evolutionary weapon.
The defining aspect of Udyr is, of course, his stances. In Udyr’s last dev blog, Riot shared the idea of evolving Udyr’s theme by making each of his stances associated with a Freljordian demigod. Fan response was overwhelmingly positive, which got Riot, even more, focused on the prospect of connecting Udyr to Runeterra in a much stronger way!
It seems that they've decided to lock in this direction, and will be talking about it more in the next blog.
Riot Games
Riot also wanted to add something to Udyr’s design that expressed the friendship he cultivated with Lee Sin while in Ionia. To do this, they added a headwrap given to him by Lee Sin that he now uses as part of his hand wraps. In our opinion, it will add a bit of humanity to a champion that has been defined to his connection to animals for all of his existence.
After all, Udyr is a victim of powerful forces which leave him a scarred man in need of help and guidance, and not just a wild, berserking, druid that acts as a conduit to these forces of nature.
