Gwen League of Legends Abilities and Potential Build Preview

Gwen is League of Legends’ latest champion, due to hit the PBE any day now. The Champion was teased earlier in March, with a teaser trailer giving us a few hints at what to expect from her kit. While the trailer was unclear on what exactly she did, it seemed like Gwen had a lot going on with her ability. Riot Games just dropped Gwen’s full abilities, so we can talk about her kit and abilities in full detail.

Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress! 🧵

Once a beloved doll, Gwen is taking her scissors, thread, and needle to protect what she cares about most in the world. Snip and sew through your enemies with this mysterious and determined seamstress! ✂️

Abilities details below! 🪡 pic.twitter.com/Qqae2I8vti

— League of Legends // UK, IE & Nordics (@LoLUKN) March 30, 2021

 

Passive – Thousand Cuts. Gwen’s basic attacks deal bonus on-hit magic damage based on a percentage of her health. Furthermore, the basic attacks she makes against enemy Champions will heal her for some of the damage dealt.

Q – Snip Snip! Gwen rapidly snips her scissors between two and six times, based on the amount of auto attacks stacks on her enemy. Also, Snip Snip deals magic damage in a cone. Gwen will snip twice at a minimum, adding one snip per basic attack Gwen has landed on an enemy.

W – Hallowed Mist. Gwen conjures Hallowed Mist to surround the area near her for several seconds, gaining bonus armor and magic resistance when in it. Enemies outside the Mist cannot target Gwen with auto attacks and target casts or hit her with any abilities. Gwen can drag the mist to her new location if she begins to move out of it, limited to one time per Hollowed Mist cast.

E – Skip ‘n Slash. Gwen dashes a short distance and empowers her attacks. She gains increased range, speed, and on-hit magic damage for four seconds. Attacking an enemy during this time refunds 50% of this ability’s cooldown.

R – Needlework. Gwen can cast Needlework, which throws her needle forward in a straight line. Each cast fires needles in a line that deals magic damage, slow enemies, and applies Gwen’s Thousand Cuts bonus magic damage. Moreso, Gwen cast her ultimate three times, but it requires landing the previous cast of Needlework within 8 seconds to unlock the next cast.

Gwen seems to be the AP Bruiser / Fighter that people have been asking for some time. However, with the new Season 10 items and on-hit changes, the build is a little weird. Gwen could favour on-hit itemization, similar to Urgot and Katarina’s, which technically build AD now. Furthermore, she could also opt for Stridebreaker to keep applying pressure with her Snip Snip stacks. Alternatively, Divine Sunderer is another potentially strong Mythic with the mixed school penetration and the sustain on the proc.

From there, her remaining items will be situational, depending on whether the on hit mixed damage build is good for her. Furthermore, she’ll also need to itemize like most Top Laners. Perhaps she will need a Zhonya’s defensive item to flatter her AP ratios while getting armor to counteract most top lakers like Riven, Jax, Nocturne, Camille, Darius, etc. Only time will tell what exactly Gwen will need, and this is one to keep an eye on as she makes her way into the PBE very soon.