Riot Games added a brand new champion to the already extensive roster of playable characters in its multiplayer online battle arena game, League of Legends, in the form of Kalista, the murderous specter.

Granted, the murderous component of her personality has something to do with the fact that she herself was treacherously slain and is now looking for vengeance.

Even more, her quest for vengeance, twisted by the horrific power of the Shadow Isles, granted her immense powers and amplified the scope of her mission: she now seeks retribution against betrayers of all sorts, with the aid of the appropriately titled Spear of Vengeance.
The bread and butter of Kalista

The new champion starts the game with a unique item in her inventory, The Black Spear, which can be consumed in order to bound Kalista to an allied champion for the remainder of the match. When the soul binding is accepted, it enables Kalista to use the Fate's Call ability, and grants the Soul Marked passive buff.

Kalista's passive ability, Martial Poise, enables her to hop in the selected direction when a move order is issued, after her current attack is completed, instead of canceling her attack animation. Her leaps are longer when she moves away from her current target.

When using her Q, Pierce, Kalista throws a spear that damages the first enemy that it hits, adding a stack of the Rend debuff on the target, and also proccing her passive, Martial Poise.

Her W ability, titled Sentinel, has 2 components, a passive one, that deals bonus magic damage whenever Kalista and the ally she has bonded with attack a target at the same time, and an active one that calls forth a sentinel spirit to patrol back and forth in a line a couple of times, keeping watch over a designated area and alerting whenever an enemy champion is spotted.

Her E ability, Rend, enables her basic attacks and Pierce to puncture and lodge in their target for a short duration, and activating the skill rips the spears from Kalista's enemies, slowing them down and dealing increased damage.

Her ultimate, Fate's Call, teleports the bound ally next to Kalista's current position, making them untargetable and disabling their spells, but offering them the ability to dash in a target direction, knocking up any enemies in the area of effect.

Kalista's impact on the game

The new champion is a marksman who can cooperate with her bonded ally in order to deal a lot of extra damage, and has the potential to chase down enemies relentlessly.

However, she does need a lot of support from her marked ally, and solid communication and cooperation are necessary in order to fully exploit her arsenal of moves.

She can hold her own by herself though, and her passive enables her to kite flawlessly, repositioning herself after each successful attack, hopping out of danger, but she lacks a reliable escape mechanic, so backline positioning and careful protection from her allies are required for her to thrive.

Her passive buff enables her and her Soul Marked companion to push through minion waves with haste, and her sentinels can keep an eye out for ambushes and concerted attacks from the enemy team.