/dev: Unleashing Mayhem in ARAM

Gamers, get ready for a seismic shift in the way you experience the Howling Abyss. The next evolution of League’s beloved All Random All Mid mode arrives with patch 25.21, introducing ARAM: Mayhem. This new mode is designed to inject a fresh dose of controlled chaos into the single-lane brawls you know and love, all while preserving the core identity that makes ARAM so popular. Following the significant updates from Season 2, including new maps and the Champion Cards reroll system, we felt the time was right to truly rock the bridge by introducing a powerful new element: augments.

This new experience, which you could cheekily call AARAM, grants each champion four to five augments that dramatically supercharge their capabilities. Imagine transforming Sona into an unstoppable tank or sending Mordekaiser zipping down the lane at breakneck speed. If you’ve enjoyed modes like Arena or Teamfight Tactics, you’ll recognize the concept. For the uninitiated, augments provide massive, game-altering buffs that far surpass the power spikes from leveling abilities or buying items in a standard ARAM match. Our goal isn’t just to create pandemonium; it’s about unlocking creative new playstyles that still feel authentically like a 5v5 random champion clash on one lane. By injecting this mayhem directly into your champion, we keep the soul of ARAM intact while giving you wild new powers to experiment with.

The augment selection process begins at the match’s start, where you choose one of three options. Additional augments become available as you reach levels 7, 11, and 15. You can claim them upon death, though rumor has it a secret augment might let crafty players recall to base to shop and select their new powers, adding a layer of strategic depth.

The inspiration for ARAM: Mayhem struck last year. We saw the incredibly positive player response to Wild Rift’s AAA ARAM, a rotating mode that let players earn augments mid-match. Its fun, fast-paced nature in a relaxed 5v5 setting was a hit. Simultaneously, Arena was captivating players with its strategic blend of deckbuilding and 2v2 combat. This led us to a compelling question: Could we merge the strategic depth of Arena with the exhilarating, sugar-rush feeling of Wild Rift’s augmented ARAM?

A rapid two-day prototyping session between an engineer and a designer answered with a resounding yes. The initial concept was straightforward, take the augments from Arena and drop them into ARAM (though the engineering was admittedly more complex). The result was immediately thrilling. The fusion of ARAM’s frantic teamfights with high-impact augments felt fresh and exciting, and even in its earliest, roughest form, it still felt genuinely like ARAM.

What began as a small experiment quickly expanded into a full-scale project with a dedicated team brainstorming hundreds of new augment ideas. The list includes clever concepts, potentially game-breaking powers, and some truly cursed creations, like the mysteriously named ‘I’m a Baby Kitty, Where is Mama?’

Players will recognize many favorite augments from Arena, but we’re also introducing over 40 completely new ones. Some are designed to function exclusively within the unique context of ARAM: Mayhem. Take ‘King Me,’ for instance. Using a transporter into the enemy base “Kings” you, granting fantastic bonuses. It playfully asks why the chicken crossed the Howling Abyss, with the clear answer being rewards, an upgraded item, a prismatic augment, and, most importantly, a powerful aura.

Perhaps you want to build your entire strategy around the Mark/Dash summoner spell, Snowball. The ‘Biggest Snowball Ever’ augment can quadruple, or even quintuple, its size, knocking up enemies on impact. Pair it with ‘Snowball Upgrade’ to deal area-of-effect damage upon hitting a target, and then add ‘Fetch,’ which lets you pick up allies’ Snowballs to refresh your own cooldown. This opens up absurd possibilities. What if everyone could channel the power of Nunu? What if Nunu could become double Nunu? With ‘Fetch,’ you could theoretically achieve triple or even quadruple Nunu status, creating glorious, unforeseen horrors on the Rift.

Designing this mode presented unique challenges, particularly concerning gameplay clarity. Unlike Arena, where you typically focus on one or two opponents, ARAM teamfights involve all ten players, which can quickly become visually overwhelming. We discovered that several augments ported directly from Arena had persistent, “always-on” visual effects. An example is ‘Center of the Universe,’ which creates orbiting stars. Imagine that effect overlapping with rings and circles from nine other champions in a single lane, it became an indecipherable Venn diagram of visual noise.

Our solution was a careful evaluation of all available Arena augments. We removed any effects that were persistently active, as modifying them would create confusion for players familiar with their Arena versions. However, we found a way to preserve the functionality of auto-cast augments by significantly reducing their frequency. To compensate, we dramatically increased their impact when they do trigger. This ensures they pack a serious punch in teamfights while keeping the on-screen action readable and enjoyable. This approach allows us to maintain the fast-paced, fun skirmishes that define ARAM, even when everyone is wielding reality-bending new powers.

(Source: League of Legends)