Another League of Legends champion release, and another day of Dota 2 fans lambasting Riot Games over ripping off another hero from the Valve title—except this time, Hwei actually does look a little too similar to his MOBA counterpart.
Hwei, announced during yesterday’s League World Championship grand final in Korea, is one of the most advanced champions ever. League players use certain key combinations to create magical spells that, depending on which combos are chosen, can deal damage, stun, or buff allies in some way. Sound familiar, Dota fans?
Oh don’t worry, this fact didn’t escape the Dota community, who immediately began comparing the new champ to his peer, Invoker. “Every masterpiece has its cheap copy,” one fan said scathingly, while another believes Hwei is nothing more than a “dumbed down version” of Invoker as his combos have fewer inputs.
In a way, they’re not wrong. When Hwei “invokes” a spell using one of his spellbooks, it places all other abilities of that particular spellbook on cooldown—meaning players can only really cast three set spells back-to-back. Invoker, meanwhile, can access the bulk of his arsenal on command and only has to wait for that certain spell’s cooldown before he can use it again.
This isn’t even Invoker’s “final form” technically with the hero’s DotA version boasting a ridiculous 27 spells at one point. Dota fans questioned whether the League client could properly implement and support a champion as complex as Invoker with Hwei coming close but not quite hitting the mark in their opinion.
Also mentioned were other “ripoff” concepts including Sylas and Viego, who are vaguely similar to the spell-stealing Rubick but aren’t quite as seamless in how spells are stolen and used. At the same time, League champions are certainly becoming more complex—especially after the introduction of Aphelios in 2019—so perhaps the client can handle something a little tougher.
One comparison Dota fans may have missed is Hwei’s similarities to another hero, Grimstroke. Both aim to “paint” the map, wield a giant paintbrush, and utilize vibrant and colorful abilities whilst referencing art. A coincidence, perhaps?
Given Hwei isn’t out yet, perhaps the Dota community is jumping the gun. We’ll know for sure when League’s newest champion arrives on the PBE on Monday, Nov. 20.
