Everything You Need to Know About Neeko in League of Legends
Neeko is one of the coolest champions in League of Legends since her rework, and becoming an ally is actually OP now, but what about the rest of the chameleon on the Rift?
Neeko is our favorite chameleon champion in League of Legends, in fact she is the only one. When Riot Games gave her a mini rework back in Patch 13.9 earlier this season, Neeko got a fresh take on life in League of Legends, so this is everything you need to know about the adorable, yet deadly lizard girl, as Nidalee calls her.
Neeko’s abilities in League of Legends
Neeko’s abilities thrive from the mini-rework, and whilst not all of her kit was affected and changed, it now works in conjunction a lot better.
Passive: Inherent Glamour
Neeko’s passive allows her to hold a collection of disguises (Sho’Ma) she can change into instantly, with four of these being the four champions on her team.
She can also add an allied on “neutral non-champion” as the fifth disguise, although she can discard it if she wants a different one instead. The units Neeko can transform into are:
- Non-epic monsters
- Minions
- Traps
- Wards
- Pets
- Jungle plants
Our tip for using Neeko’s passive successfully is to change into an allied champion or any other disguise before you use your ultimate ability. This way, enemies you are trying to hit cannot see the channel time of your ultimate, and it is a guaranteed instant knock up!
Q: Blooming Burst
Neeko throws a seed that deals up to 260 AP damage in a small AOE circle. This explodes again if the seed kills an enemy or hits a champion or large monster. This can happen twice, meaning one of Neeko’s Qs can explode three times! The subsequent Q explosions do about 50% of the damage of the original.
This is great for clearing waves, especially if you combine it with your E, which we will talk about in a little bit. Making sure that your Q gets the kill on minions is vital as it allows you to wave clear much faster.
W: Shapesplitter
Neeko’s W is Shapesplitter, which gives her an empowered auto-attack after using her basic attacks. This is the passive part of her W, and when she uses her empowered auto-attack, she gains movement speed. This is great for keeping up with enemies, or kiting if need be, and was the birth behind the on-hit Neeko build.
The active part of Neeko’s W allows our lovable Chameleon to create a clone of her current form, meaning if you are cosplaying as your allied Darius, you can throw another one forward in a straight line.
Neeko also becomes invisible for half a second, with a three second movement speed buff, meaning that Neeko can trick enemies when she is trying to escape.
If you want to have a bit of fun with your clone, send it to its target location and start recalling or using an emote, such as dancing or laughing, and the clone will copy you. This is actually really good for using your clone to scout out vision by making it recall in a bush, and enemies often engage onto it whilst you recall safely!
E: Tangle-Barbs
Tangle-Barbs is a skillshot root ability which has Neeko throw a circle in a straight line, rooting all enemies it passes through. It can root for up to 1.5s at level 5, and it also has a pretty neat trick.
If you want to root an enemy champion, we recommend throwing it through a minion wave, rather than trying to hit the enemy straight up. This is because if the root hits an enemy, it will increase in size, speed and increase the duration of the root to 3 seconds at max rank!
R: Pop Blossom
Neeko’s Pop Blossom received a large chunk of the rework, which now charges up for 1.25s and knocking up enemies in a large AOE circle around her. As we said earlier, use this in teamfights when you are disguised, as 0.5s of the channel is hidden this way.
Enemies are knocked up for 0.6s then stunned for 0.75s when they get slammed into the ground, making it a great segway into Neeko’s empowered E!
When was Neeko released in League of Legends?
Neeko is nearly five years old, and we can’t quite believe it! She was released in Patch 8.24, on December 5, 2018. She came alongside the Snowdown Showdown 2018 event, which was the inspiration behind Winter Wonder Neeko, her first skin in League of Legends.
Where is Neeko from in League of Legends?
Neeko is an Oovi-Kat in League of Legends lore, and sadly she is the last of them. They are a long lost tribe of Vastaya, which is an umbrella race that Xayah and Rakan belong to.
She has been wandering Runeterra for a while, making friends with champions such as Nidalee, Milio, and even Ezreal.
Neeko age in League of Legends
Whilst Neeko in game is designed to seem like a late teen or character in her early 20s, she is actually a couple of hundred years old!
All we know about her birth date is that it was earlier than 816 AN, meaning she has to be at least 181 years old.
Hopefully we get more lore about Neeko when Riot Games release a new Vastayan champion down the line.
Neeko’s Voice Actor in League of Legends
Neeko’s voice acting is very interesting as Riot Games wanted to go for the approach of somewhat broken speech, implying that whatever language you hear Neeko in, isn’t her first and native one.
For this, they drafted in Flora Paulita, who voices both the English and Portuguese voice lines for Neeko.
Obviously, you are not all Neeko one-tricks, so if you are interested in other League of Legends champions and their comprehensive guides, we have a whole collection for you to binge.