Monsters Attack Mechanics Overview

In TFT, anyone can be a hero—chubby ball dragons, sword-wielding penguins, and of course monstrous Threats like Bel’veth, Urgot, and Zac. You see, in TFT: Monsters Attack! the only thing a champion needs to become a hero is a Hero Augment.

And just what are Hero Augments? Well, keep reading (and I’ll keep typing) to find out about the new mechanics coming in patch 12.23 with TFT: Monsters Attack!

Hero Augments

Hero Augments allow you to choose one of three options to empower a champion as the leader of the super squad you assemble. As stated above, at TFT, we believe anyone can become a hero—which is why every champion in Monsters Attack! has two unique Hero Augments. One Hero Augment will allow your Hero to lead through solo-carrying your squad to victory, while the other option allows them to tap into the leadership principles of that slacker in your group project, by inspiring their teammates to do the heavy lifting together.

Hero Augments will unlock wilder and more varied compositions as you learn to play around their potential. They’re strong—heroically so. Which is why we have controls to keep everything as balanced as possible. Yes, even Spatulopolis residents believe in equal access to opportunity.

For instance, all players are offered a Hero Augment at the same time with options of units all of the same cost bucket. Hero Augments will also be semi-tailored for your board, meaning you’ll get some fairly intuitive choices to fit the comp you already have. And no matter which Hero Augment you pick, you’ll always receive a copy of the champion it heroicized.

You’ll get to choose from one of three Hero Augments, just like regular Augments. Your offerings will be of the same cost bucket, ranging between units of plus or minus one gold. In TFT, calculation won’t make a Hero, but playing flexibly with Augments sure can.

1-cost, 2-cost, 3-cost…Unlike some of our silver screen heroes, a champion’s net worth doesn’t prevent them from becoming a Hero. Hero Augment options change as the game goes on with 1 to 2-cost units being the most commonly offered at early stages, 2 to 3-cost units being most common during the Stage 3-2 selection, and 3 to 4-cost units being most common at Stage 4-2. 5-cost unit Augments can also be seen at Stage 4-2, but this is pretty rare. And forget your alignment charts at home, because Threats have their own Hero Augments as well!

Speaking of Threats, there’s a section on them later on. For now, let’s jump into some Hero Augment examples. Just keep in mind that I’m writing this well before PBE. The presentation (UI/Augment visuals) will change, and the Augments are subject to changes as needed for balance purposes.

Gangplank, 1-cost, Get Paid

Gangplank’s supportive Augment has an econ twist that’ll have players living out the pirate fantasy of collecting piles o’ gold.

"When Gangplank or his allies kill an enemy, they have a 25% chance to drop 2 gold. Gain a Gangplank."

Yasuo, 2-cost, Spirit of the Exile

This support Augment allows your whole team to live the lone samurai’s edgelord fantasy.

"Yasuo and his allies gain 25% Attack Speed if they start combat with no adjacent allies. Gain a Yasuo."

Jinx, 2-cost, Get Excited!

Classic Jinx gets a classic carry Hero Augment.

"When Jinx gets a takedown, she gains 100% bonus Attack and Move Speed for 5 seconds.

Gain a Jinx."

Nilah, 3-cost, Gifted

Nilah’s carry Hero Augment proves that sharing is carrying.

"Nilah gains 30 AP. At the start of combat, your strongest Nilah grants her nearest ally a temporary copy of one of her items. Gain a Nilah."

Nilah, 3-cost, Jubilant Veil

Nilah’s supportive Augment is the perfect choice to protect your other frontline Duelist carries.

“At the start of combat, your strongest Nilah grants herself and allies within 1 hex in the same row immunity to crowd control for 20 seconds. Gain a Nilah.”

Bel’Veth, 4-cost, Voidmother

Bel’Veth’s flex Augment overwhelms your foe with distracting (and destructive) Voidspawns.

“At the start of combat, your strongest Bel'Veth creates 2 Voidspawns with 75% Health nearby. Gain a Bel'Veth.”

Zed, 4-cost, Contempt for the Weak

With Zed’s supportive Augment, everyone becomes a mobile reset machine!

“Zed grants all allies Attack Speed. Upon takedown, they dash to a new target, tripling this bonus for 2.5 seconds. Gain a Zed.”

Syndra, 5-cost, Empowered Reserves

Syndra’s supportive Augment is a cross between the Cluttered Mind Augment and Preparation. It rewards hectic benches by synergizing with Syndra’s ability to throw benched units into play.

“At the start of combat, Syndra, her allies, and your benched units gain 5 bonus Ability Power for each unit on your bench. Gain a Syndra.”

Alright, we’ll have a few more Hero Augment samples interspersed, but for now, let’s chat Threats!

Threat

Destructive tendencies, wild tempers, self-aggrandizing attitudes—and those are just the heroes of the set. The monsters—err, I’ve been told they go by “Threat” champions—seem to have a knack for solo-missions with the sole motivation of wreckage. Threats are more powerful than other units of their same tier, but they don’t benefit from any trait synergies. Their sheer power makes them splashable and flexible whenever you have an open slot, but it also makes them perfect item holders if you get an early Threat drop.

Alright let’s meet some Threats.

First off Rammus (3-cost). Our most (internally) divisive unit to date is more than just OK—but will Mort be okay now that his nemesis has entered the Convergence? Rammus is a frontliner that counters Attack Damage comps with his passive armor gain and ability, Sand Slam, which powers our spiky-boy up to then leap into the largest group of nearby enemies. He briefly knocks them up, dealing magic damage that scales with Armor, and reduces their Attack Damage for a few seconds.

We’ve already mentioned Bel’Veth (4-cost), but since I’ve been spamming her on the Rift (yes I can play League of Legends too) I want to highlight her exciting debut in TFT. Bel’Veth’s ability, Endless Banquet, has her dash around her target and unleash a flurry of attacks (scaling with Attack Speed) that reduce her target’s Armor and Magic Resist. Each time she casts, she’ll gain bonus Attack Speed for the rest of combat. While Threats don’t benefit from the Threat trait, they do benefit from Emblems. I’ve had a great time slamming Duelist Emblem on her in vertical Duelist comps.

Perhaps the scariest Threat, Fiddlesticks (5-cost) is the only one with an additional trait. Corrupted keeps Fiddlesticks dormant at the start of combat and when allied champions die, he absorbs their soul, gaining Ability Power. After falling below 40% Health or when all allies have died, Fiddlesticks comes alive, casting Dark Harvest and jump(scaring) the largest cluster of enemies. For the next few seconds, he deals massive magic damage as he drains the life from nearby enemies and heals for a portion of the damage dealt.

Scary stuff, but never fear, because this item mechanic we’re talking about next is a good palate cleanser.

Item Anvils and PVE Encounters

In Mort’s /Dev: Dragonlands Learnings piece, we discussed just how impactful Treasure Dragon has been for Dragonlands. The Treasure Dragon helped finalize builds by allowing you to get one core item for your team without enabling comp forcing too much. This was a huge improvement over Raptors, which had the chance to offer random items that weren’t useful for a comp you’d already committed to. Alas, the Treasure Dragon can’t leave the Dragonlands (something about unstable magic and Dragon Shrine Augments again, which I might remind you is your fault).

That being said, we’ve learned a ton from the Treasure Dragon—most importantly, how nice it is to have more autonomy in finalizing your build. So with that in mind, we are introducing the Item Anvil for TFT: Monsters Attack! Item Anvils will drop starting with the Stage 4-7 PVE encounter with a component Anvil, which will give you the opportunity to choose from one of three item components.

Further Completed Item Anvils will drop with PVE encounters in Stage 5-7 and 6-7. These PVE encounters are a bit different, featuring one of three different titanic Threats! Aurelion Sol, Urgot, and Zac are attacking Spatulopolis, and it’s up to you and your assembled super squad to stop them. Successful defeats of these monstrous foes will drop full Item Anvils. Once consumed, these Anvils allow you to choose from several completed items. No more random second Sunfire Cape, or AD item in an AP comp!

Hero Augments, monstrous Threats, Item Anvils, and towering Zacs. That’s a lot, but there’s still much more to come. Right now you can read more about our Dragonlands takeaways from Mort. As for more content on Monsters Attack! I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll be seeing you soon.