Nearly 1 hour of video to present the major developments of 2XKO
Since its revelation in 2019, the fighting game by Riot Games set in the universe of League of Legends has evolved significantly. Announced under the name Project L, it became 2XKO at the beginning of last year. A few months later, on August 8, an exclusive playtest called Alpha Lab gave some lucky individuals the opportunity to try the title, in addition to demos presented at major events like Evo and Combo Breaker. This allowed the development team to get feedback from players to continue improving the game. With Alpha Lab 2 arriving soon, Riot Games wanted to provide a complete update on the improvements made over the last six months.
Listening to the community, Alpha Lab 2 is approaching
Fans of League of Legends and its derivative projects know well that Riot Games is keen to satisfy fans while trying to win over new ones. The quality of the Arcane series broadcast on Netflix is just one example among many of this commitment that pleases. With 2XKO, the studio does not break the rule. It's not for nothing that the development takes so much time. As the developers prove with the video below, the team is doing what is necessary to refine every aspect of this new fighting game. This is why the tests are multiplying. It allows them to get maximum feedback to fix what is wrong and improve what needs to be improved.
For about 57 minutes, executive producer Tom Cannon explains, along with two of his colleagues (Shaun Rivera and Daniel Maniago), all the work done over the past six months in preparation for Alpha Lab 2. Even though the plans for its deployment have been disrupted, he assures that this new playtest will take place between April 18 and 20, 2025. However, to experience 2XKO from home, you will need to reside in the United States, Canada, or Brazil. Of course, you will need a valid Riot account and either a Windows PC or a PlayStation 5. Access on Xbox Series X|S will also be possible but only for those who played the Alpha Lab last August on this platform. Selected individuals will receive an email a week before the start of the test.
Improvements galore
With the first Alpha Lab, players could embody Ahri, Braum, Darius, Ekko, Illaoi, and Yasuo. During the next session, everyone will also be able to test the gameplay of Jinx, whose integration into the roster was confirmed last November (https://full.life/news/post/league-of-legends/jinx-dans-2xko). Alpha Lab 2 will also allow the discovery of two new fusions, modifiers providing unique skills to your team or influencing combat strategy. Specifically, we will have the Acolyte fusion and the Titan fusion.
With the first mentioned, only the main champion will fight. The support champion will not replace him on the field but will grant him a bonus of life points and a defensive bonus as soon as he falls below 30% of life points. He will also be able to use other abilities. With the second, your main champion will benefit from numerous buffs. In return, the support champion will remain passive on the bench during the match.
Speaking of Fusions, the developers have chosen to remove the Impulse fusion. They preferred to replace it with an Impulse combo system. Behind this name hides an option to activate or not during the selection of champions. This allows for an automatic combo to be triggered easily. Not only does it guarantee a certain sense of spectacle, but this feature ensures that novices feel a sense of power without requiring a deeper investment in learning combos.
A similar decision was made with the Fury fusion, which has been replaced by the fury interruption. This triggers at the moment of a KO and allows for a 25% increase in damage dealt and a reduction by the same percentage in damage received.
Another new feature of Alpha Lab 2 that will interest the most competitive people. For the first time, developers will test the integration of a ranked mode. The matchmaking will bring together players of the same level. Then, over the course of battles, they will earn points that will allow them to aim for higher levels and thus face increasingly formidable opponents.
In addition, many modifications have been made to the basic gameplay. Those who wish can discover all the changes directly on the game site. That being said, we note that the development team has revised several visual elements to ensure the best possible visibility during battles, whether it be in terms of the size of the champions or the elements of the HUD. Finally, new tutorials have also been added to allow novices to better understand the gameplay before tackling online human opponents.
