TFT Set 8.5 Guide: How to Play Riftwalker (2024)

Welcome to another in the series of our How to Play TFT trait guides.

Riftwalker is a new trait coming in Set 8.5. The trait itself is quite small, so it will be interesting to theory craft and learn about how to best utilize this new trait.

Let’s get right into the guide.

If you haven’t checked out all of the Set 8.5 information yet, check out outSet 8.5 Reveal Page!

How Riftwalker Works

When you field all 3 Riftwalker units, or have the (3) Riftwalker bonus active, you will summon a Zac.

This Zac scales based off the star level of the Riftwalker units you have on board. So far, it does not seem like this Zac will be extremely powerful, (like Cultist in Set 4).

Instead, Zac will have a similar effect to Nomsy in Set 7. Depending on where you position Zac, he will gain the class trait of the closest Riftwalker unit. This means you can make Zac into an additional Renegade, Hacker, or Mascot.

Riftwalker Trait Bonus

Riftwalker: Riftwalkers open a gap between dimensions and summon their ally Zac, who grows in power based on the star level of Riftwalkers. Zac gains the last-listed trait of the closest Riftwalker.

Riftwalker (3):Summon Zac

Riftwalker Synergy

Considering that there are only 3 Riftwalkers, there isn’t much synergy between the units. Zac allows you to get 2nd trait bonus, which is nice considering the opportunity cost of playing all 3 Riftwalkers.

Here’s a list of the traits you can branch into with the InfiniTeam units.

Renegade
Hacker
Mascot

Of the Riftwalker traits, I am the least excited about Hacker. While Pyke looks to be a strong unit, and Hacker may be powerful, the trait likely will revolve around Jhin carry. Jhin doesn’t benefit from the Hacker trait, as you definitely don’t want to send him into the backline.

Riftwalker Champions

Let’s briefly go over each Champion in the Riftwalker trait and what you can do with them.

Note:Some of the Champion images are not updated to the correct images. They will be placeholders for now until we get the correct images.

Pyke – Riftwalker + Hacker

Pyke is the 2-cost Riftwalker with the Hacker trait. His ability provides a strong CC effect, so he is a solid unit to pickup regardless of your board. The Hacker trait is also useful assuming you are able to fit it into your team comp.

Outside of Riftwalker teams, Pyke can be a strong inclusion for any comp that’s looking to use the Hacker trait. Now that Hacker gives Omnivamp to the rider (even if they are not a Hacker), we may see more Hacker comps than just Zed from last set.

Vex – Riftwalker + Mascot

Vex is the 3-cost with the Mascot trait. It’s a bit of a weird trait to have Mascot, as she isn’t a traditional tanky unit. We saw Yuumi comps do well with the Mascot trait, and Vex may be in a similar situation. There likely will be some potential in a Vex reroll comp with Mascots.

It’s a bit more awkward since Vex is a 3-cost, where as Yuumi was a 2-cost. Also fitting Jhin into the comp for Riftwalker may be too much. We’ll have to see.

Jhin – Riftwalker + Renegade

Lastly, we have Jhin. Jhin is always a 4-cost carry and he usually is a solid pick whenever he is present in a set. Renegade was somewhat notorious last set for being a difficult comp to play. You had to run low cost units like Sylas and Camille in order to reach 6, and Viego was not always a consistent carry.

With the addition of Jhin, there is potential of a 5 Renegade Jhin/Viego carry comp. This is perfect as they don’t overlap items too much and can be solid dual carries.

Outside of that, Jhin may also be good in a simple 3 Renegade “Good Stuff” comp where you just run strong late game units along with Jhin in the backline.

Best Riftwalker Augments

There are a lot of different Augments to choose from with the newHero Augmentssystem.

The Best Hero Augments will change over time as the meta evolves and patches change things. Other than the Hero Augments, here are some general augments to keep in mind.

Renegade / Mascot Heart + Crest + Crown

At the time of writing, we don’t know for sure if there is a Riftwalker Heart/Crest/Soul. Even if there isn’t, having a bonus Renegade or Mascot trait bonus can be very powerful. Renegade Heart or Emblem allows you to reach the new 7 Renegade, and Riftwalker is an important part of getting there.

The same goes for Mascot. If you have a Mascot Heart and 3 Riftwalker in, you only need one more Mascot to reach 4 Mascot. This also lets you hit 6 Mascot easily without needing to find Nunu early on. This can be a very powerful mid game as you have a ton of healing on your team.

Stand United

I’m currently under the idea that Riftwalker teams will likely splash a lot of traits. Since the trait itself only requires 3 units, it can be very flexible in adding in more traits. The Riftwalker units (Hacker, Mascot, and Renegade) also don’t have any bonus AD or AP, so having Stand United can be a good damage boost compared to on something like a Spellslinger team.

Jeweled Lotus

This one is more team specific, but with Vex being a potentially strong unit, and Viego being a flexible addition to the team as well, Jeweled Lotus is a strong Augment to have. Viego synergizes with Jhin as they are both Renegade and can both make use of Jeweled Lotus. Jhin may be too unsafe in the second row, but Viego has enough tank stats to justify it.

Riftwalker Team Comps

The Set isn’t even out on PBE yet at the time of writing this article. As I was able to play in the Preview, I have some insight, but expect optimal team comps to evolve a lot once the set comes to PBE and then releases.

Note: At the time of writing this article, our builder doesn’t support or include the bonus trait from Zac. In time, we will make sure to update this to reflect the game better.

Jhin and Viego Riftwalker Team Comp

[Link to Builder]

This first team comp is the comp I’m most confident in when it comes to the Riftwalker trait. Going 5 Renegade is very achievable with Zac providing a bonus Renegade. The other units in the team comp also all provide a useful trait and good utility.

With this comp, you are able to Hacker in Viego, which may be unnecessary as his ability targeting will change based on the enemy’s formation.

Even still, having dual carries that use mostly different items is a strong combination to have.

6 Mascot Riftwalker Team Comp

[Link to Builder]

This comp looks to use Vex as the main carry, with Mascots to provide a very strong frontline. Jhin is also there to hold extra AD items. The viability of this comp hinges a lot on how good Vex is at being a main DPS. If Vex is too weak, this comp will fall flat completely.

Mascots in general are also a bit more of a meme comp compared to others. If they’re too good, it’s huge problem for the balance. If they’re a bit too weak, they often fall flat completely. Even still, I plan to give this comp a few tries.

Admin Warwick Riftwalker Team Comp

[Link to Builder]

Lastly, this comp looks to make the most out of the Hacker trait in Pyke to provide Onmivamp for Warwick. A Hacker Warwick with Omnivamp is definitely something to be worried about.

Admin is also quite easy to fit in, and you can potentially even splash in Renegade for Jhin as well. One thing to note is that this comp doesn’t make use of the Laser Corps trait for Warwick. We may see that Laser Corps is the stronger trait for Warwick, especially if you have a bad Admin bonus in game.

Conclusion

Overall, Riftwalker looks to be a very flexible trait in the upcoming set. While the trait does incentivize Jhin as a carry, there are also a lot of other 4-cost units that you can splash into the comp and still make work.

As long as the Riftwalker units aren’t too underpowered, I expect Riftwalker to be a very strong flex trait to go for in most games.

We hope you enjoyed this guide, and hopefully it helps you climb some ranks. Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out ourmeta team comps page, or head to ourTeam Builderto try and come up with your own comps.

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