Developer Update: Bandle City Region Reveal, 2021 Roadmap and Lab of Legends Upgrade

Riot have revealed that the 10th region coming to Legends of Runeterra in August will be the magical homeland of yordles – Bandle City! The set that introduces LoR’s final region will be divided into four expansions (including the first-ever PvE-oriented expansion), with the last expansion of the Bandle City set to be released in February 2022.

Alongside those big news, the developers have shared a roadmap for the rest of 2021 and also announced their massive plans for new PvE content coming to the game.

Patch 2.13 will introduce a big expansion for Lab of Legends, called ‘Lab of Legends: The Saltwater Scourge’. It is a new PvE RPG-styled progression mode that takes the original Lab of Legends formula to the next level. The developers said that this is only the first step and they have even bigger plans regarding PvE content in the future.

Read more below about what’s coming for LoR throughout the rest of the year. And log into your game client on July 28 at approx. 11 AM to experience the new PvE mode Lab of Legends: The Saltwater Scourge when Patch 2.13 goes live!

New region: Bandle City

Game Director Andrew Riot Umbrage Yip described Bandle City as “a region that’s everywhere and nowhere, full of magic, whimsy, mischief and lot’s of yordles”. It will be the final 10th region that will round out the core Legends of Runeterra card pool.

Yip also clarified that LoR will eventually have all the champions from LoL universe. Your favorites from Void or Ixtal will all be introduced into the game at some point, and they will be included in existing regions that make the most sense for them.

Bandle City set will consist of four expansions total. Three of them will follow the standard formula that we’ve seen so far.

The first one will be called ‘Beyond the Bandlewood’ (to be released in August), the second one will be named ‘Magical Misadventures’ (December), and for the third one we don’t have the name yet, but know that it will be released in February.

All of these ‘core’ expansions of the set will continue developing Bandle City story and lore – Yip even says that players can expect ‘more content than usual’ with these updates.

But that’s not all! What’s brand new and exciting with this set is that it will also include a mysterious PvE-oriented expansion, featuring ‘a major PvE event unlike anything that has been tried before’. It will be released in November.

Below you can check out the Official LoR Roadmap for 2021, as well as the expansion release schedule:

New PvE mode: ‘Lab of Legends: The Saltwater Scourge’

Head of the Labs team Riot Exis describes this new mode as a ‘PvE experience that expands on the original premise of Lab of Legends, bringing its crazy combos to a brand new adventure with an RPG-style power progression and map exploration’.

In The Saltwater Scourge adventure, you can choose to play as Miss Fortune, Tahm Kench, or Twisted Fate. The official description of the mode reads:

“You will level up as you take on enemies and build a deck strong enough to defeat the dethroned reaver king Gangplank.

“Treasure awaits, with each encounter offering new powers, cards, or gold to aid you on your quest. As you grow in power, the choice is yours: carefully build your strength by challenging weaker enemies, or push forward more aggressively to take on higher-level bosses.

“Even if you fall in battle, death in this mode is just another beginning, with a chance to refill your health and complete your mission at the price of a lower adventure score. Oh and don’t forget to stop by the shops to stock up during your adventure – just don’t ask where the wares are from.”

Lab of Legends: The Saltwater Scourge will be available on July 28 with Patch 2.13.