Teamfight Tactics

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Teamfight Tactics
Developer(s)	Riot Games
Publisher(s)	Riot Games
Series	League of Legends
Platform(s)	Windows macOS Android iOS
Release	Windows, macOS June 26, 2019 Android, iOS March 19, 2020
Genre(s)	Auto battler
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Teamfight Tactics (TFT) is an auto battler game developed and published by Riot Games. The game is a spinoff of League of Legends and is based on Dota Auto Chess, where players compete online against seven other opponents by building a team to be the last one standing. The game released as a League of Legends game mode for Windows and macOS in June 2019 and as a standalone game for Android and iOS in March 2020, featuring cross-platform play between them.

Based on Dota Auto Chess, a mod for Dota 2, the game centers around eight players who construct teams to fight one another and be the last player standing.^[1] The battlefield consists of hexagons, where players can strategically place units on the hexagons on their side of the game board between rounds. During each round, a short battle automatically commences, with two players matched randomly for that round, or else paired against computer-controlled enemies, frequently called PVE rounds. In the rounds against computer-controlled enemies, each enemy has a chance to drop gold, units, or items that the player can use.^[2] Health lost from losing a round is calculated with a combination of set damage per round and how many units an opponent had still alive.

The game consists of several stages, with each stage consisting of seven rounds, with the exception of stage 1. Stage 1 consists of three rounds of computer-controlled enemies. On round four of each stage, there is a feature called the "Carousel", in which players have access to a free rotation of units with random equipped items to select from. During these shared rounds, the two players with the lowest health are able to choose their units first, followed by the next two players with the lowest health, and so on. If there are players with similar health points, the game will randomly choose the order.^[3] On the last round of each stage, players will face computer-controlled enemies.

Players accumulate gold during rounds and can save it to build interest, which further increases their income per round by +1 gold for every 10 gold they have.^[4] Interest income is capped at +5 gold per round, with exceptions for augments that overrule the limit.^[5] Players can also gain additional income per round with "streak bonuses" by either winning multiple rounds in a row or losing multiple rounds in a row.^[4][6] Streak bonuses increase at a threshold of 3, 5 and 6+ respectively, each tier granting +1 gold per a round.^[6][7] With this gold, players can either reroll the five units automatically offered to them in their shop at the start of each round, purchase units from their shop or purchase experience points to increase their level. The higher a player's level, the more units they can place on the board, scaling in tandem (a player can have 2 units on the board at level 2, 5 units on the board at level 5 and so on), the boards unit capacity can also be modified by certain items and augments acquired throughout the match.^[4][8] Higher player levels also increase the average rarity of units in the shop. Unit rarity is separated into category's based on cost, ranging from 1 to 5 gold per unit, higher rarity typically featuring more powerful abilities.^[9] Each unit is able to be upgraded to tier 2 if three copies of the same unit are found in the shop or Shared Draft. A champion can be further upgraded to tier 3 by collecting three tier 2 copies (9 in total). Upgrading a champion increases their maximum health, attack damage, and the strength of their unique ability.^[10]

With some exceptions, units have a health bar and a mana bar. Taking damage from enemy attacks or abilities will lower a unit's health but increase a unit's mana. When a unit's health reaches zero, they are effectively removed from the round. When a unit's mana bar is full, they cast a unique ability. Some units may start the round with some percentage of their mana bar full, but units generally start the round with no mana unless equipped with special items.^[11][12]

Items play a pivotal role in team fight tactics by providing bonuses to the holder (such as damage, health and armour) as well as granting them, or other units around them, special effects.^[13] Items are separated into three main categories: components, completed items and miscellaneous items. Components offer comparatively lesser buffs to the holding unit and typically do not offer any special effects, however when combined with another component on the same unit, will transform into a completed item. Completed items typically offer better stats and unique effects to strengthen the players units.^[14][13] Items can primarily be gained through carousel rounds, computer controlled enemy loot combat rounds or through augments.^[13][8] Each unit has three equip-able inventory slots that can be used to hold any combination of completed items, components and special items such as emblems, which grant units additional traits.^[13][14]

Trait synergies are activated by a team composition that makes use of one or multiple units with the same trait. Each unit has two or three traits and the effective combination of units will activate synergies that benefit the player. Synergies will usually fall into three categories: effects that strengthen allies, effects that weaken enemies, and miscellaneous effects.^[15] Each "set" of Teamfight Tactics corresponds to a unique unit pool, collection of synergies, usable items and augments.^[16]

Augments are in game effects which modify the players match through granting various buffs (such as additional attack damage or other stats), supplies (such as gold, items and units) and rule augmentations (such as reaching beyond the max interest rate, level and tactician health).^[8] Augments are granted at stage 2-1, 3-2 and 4-2 respectively.^[5] Augments range in rarity from silver, gold and prismatic, each tier awarding and unlocking better potential benefits.^[8] Each augment stage, players are given a choice of three augments to pick from, players can refresh each option one time.^[17]

Teamfight Tactics periodically updates its unit roster. Every three months there is a partial rotation, referred by Riot Games developers as a mid-set update, rotating out traits and units which are problematic.^[18] As Teamfight Tactics is a game mode of League of Legends, its patch numbering follows the same as its parent game rather than being labelled differently.^[19]

Teamfight Tactics was based on Dota Auto Chess, which in turn was inspired by Mahjong, where players pick up tiles and discard tiles in order to complete a hand by forming a pair and sets such as a sequence, or three or four identical tiles, while preventing other players from completing a hand.^[20][21] The game was released within the League of Legends client for Windows and macOS on June 26, 2019, and as a standalone app for Android and iOS on March 19, 2020.^[22][23] By September 2019, the game had over 33 million monthly players with 1.72 billion hours of accumulated game time.^[24]

Similar to other free-to-play games from Riot, Teamfight Tactics monetization base around cosmetic consumptions and season passes. It has its own store separate from League of Legends. The player's controllable avatar, called a Tactician (previously "Little Legend"), can be customized by buying avatar cosmetics from the store. Those can be upgraded by buying from loot boxes called "Little Legend eggs" or through star shards that can either be bought in the store or earned from the season pass that lasts for the duration of the set.^[25] Since the release of the Chibi Champions,^[26] Riot refers to these avatars as Tacticians, though the term Little Legend is still commonly used. Note, however, Tactician had been a term to refer to players before that.

Other than the controllable avatar, Teamfight Tactics also has skins for the player board where the combat between players is played. The boards can be bought directly or through bundles in the store. Boards also come with different prizes, while the cheap ones only change the model of the board, expensive ones are interactive and react to player achievement.^[27] Beside that, there is Boom,^[28] cosmetic that modify the damage particles of the Tactician. All Booms released so far are rewards of Battle Pass.

Besides Normal and Ranked game modes, Riot released a faster-paced game mode named "Hyper Roll" in April 2021, streamlining mechanics to decrease game time. Hyper roll gameplay differences include the following: Little Legends only carry 20 health and take 2 damage per fight lost for the first 4 stages, 4 damage from 5 to 7, and 8 damage from anything beyond, 75% increased movement speed, and the carousel is not part of the game.^[29] In early 2022, Riot Games released Double-Up as a new game mode.^[30] a Double-Up game consists of four teams of two players, with each pair sharing a health bar. Each player fights a singular player of a different team at a time, and every fight each player loses subtracts from the shared health bar. There are unique game mechanics such as being able to send champions, items, or other resources to your teammate, as well as joining your teammate's battle.

Riot Games have also released several temporary game modes. Fortune's Favor was the first to be released, spanning from Jan to Feb 2023. This featured opening carousels with 4 or 5 cost units, and loot orbs dropped throughout the game.^[31] Soul Brawl was the next to be released, available to play from July 19 to August 15, 2023. This featured a long Training Phase in which you assemble and power up your team, followed by a tournament bracket to decide the top spots.

Teamfight Tactics is being supported by Riot Games post-launch, with regular balance updates to keep the game fair and entertaining, as well as Little Legend egg drops. The game also updates the game in a big way with "sets". Sets give players more incentive to play the game, changing synergies and introducing new ones, rotating various League of Legends champions into the roster, as well as dropping new season passes. News regarding the current set can be found at the Teamfight Tactics news website.

• Official website