Nearly half a decade after his initial release, Riot Games has provided League of Legends fans with information regarding how Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper, came to be, and how he opened the support role to more players and possibilities.
In a new developer post, Riot Karnifexlol and various members of Pyke’s development team explained various facets of the creation of Pyke, including how the team landed on his abilities and what it took to create his deep-sea sound effects.
While the team appeared to have a good direction of Pyke’s overall narrative, his unique position as an assassin support opened up room for lots of experiments.
The dev blog detailed that Pyke’s Q once acted differently than it does now, where upon successfully skewering an enemy, it would drag them back and root them in place. However, the developers found this mechanic, on top of the mobility and kill pressure the champion already had, would make Pyke too strong. This led them to the current version of the ability, and its unique nature to drag closeby enemies behind Pyke.
Brandon “Riot Sound Bear” Reader, manager of sound design, elaborated on the creation of Pyke’s sound effects, with many of them being follies involving water in some capacity. The sound team kept in mind throughout the creation process that Pyke should embody fear, particularly that of something jumping out from the deep of the ocean.
“You know when he’s getting close to you. It’s supposed to feel scary,” Riot Sound Bear stated in the dev blog. “It’s a horrific feeling that somebody is going to come out and get you. It’s the feeling of being submerged in surround sound.”
Since his release, Pyke has remained a powerful support option due to his mobility and unique ability to provide his allies with gold.
He currently has a 51-percent win rate in Platinum and above according to OP.GG, and occasionally appears in professional League play internationally as well.
