League Of Legends' Gangplank Will Return With New Skin

League of Legends studio Riot Games surprised the community earlier this week by "killing" long-time character Gangplank. However, he won't stay dead for much longer.

In the story for the Burning Tides event, Gangplank was apparently blown up along with his ship by bounty hunter Miss Fortune. However, the newly published epilogue revealed that he survived. He'll be playable once again with the new patch, 5.15, coming later this week.

However, Gangplank will look a lot different when he returns. In his new default appearance, he no longer has his signature coat. I guess his brush with death made him unashamed of his dad bod. His arm, meanwhile, has been replaced by a giant metal prosthetic. You can see the new skin in the center of this lineup:

If you prefer his pre-explosion look, though, you've got an opportunity to earn it. As long as you've played one game with Gangplank since his rework by August 10th, you'll unlock the Captain Gangplank skin for your collection. Riot says the exact cut-off time is 2:00 AM PDT. You can play any matchmade game to earn the skin, even a quick Dominion battle against bots. The only big catch here is that you need to own Gangplank. That's not hard to accomplish, though, considering he's one of the cheaper champions in the game.

August 10th will also wrap up the Burning Tide event. During Burning Tides, players can access a new ARAM map called Butcher's Bridge. In a new Black Market Brawlers mode, teams hire A.I. mercenaries to help their offensive. Special challenges let players earn special summoner icons by playing this new content. Riot also introduced a number of pirate-themed skins for characters like Quinn and Aatrox.

The most lasting changes brought by the event, though, are the reworks for Gangplank and Miss Fortune. Riot revised the ability sets for each character in addition to their appearance. For example, Gangplank can now place Powder Kegs on the battlefield. If he destroys it, the keg will explode and hurt nearby enemies. However, enemies can also defuse it to earn gold.