Riot Games has unveiled 'Hacks' - a game-changing new mechanic coming to League of Legends' auto-battler mode Teamfight Tactics with the Cyber City set on April 2nd, 2025. This innovative system will modify core gameplay elements like Augments, Shop, and Carousel in ways that benefit all players, adding strategic depth without disrupting competitive balance.
How Cyber City's Hack System Will Transform TFT Gameplay
When Teamfight Tactics: Cyber City launches with Patch 14.1 on April 2nd, 2025, players will experience approximately three Hacks per game. Unlike previous set mechanics that sometimes created imbalanced lobbies, Hacks are designed to provide "variability with agency" - affecting all players equally while offering meaningful choices.
According to Riot Prism's announcement on March 18, 2025, these Hacks represent an evolution of the previous set's Encounters system, but with crucial improvements focusing on player experience and strategic decision-making.
Augment Hacks: More Options, More Strategy
Augments - a fan-favorite TFT mechanic - will receive several exciting modifications through the Hack system:
- Themed Augment Slots: The leftmost Augment slot will feature additional rerolls and show Augments from specific categories including Items, Economy, Chaos, Traits, and more.
- Gold vs. Silver Choice: Players can strategically choose between one powerful Gold Augment or two potentially synergistic Silver Augments.
- Fourth Augment: Some games will feature an additional Augment round, allowing for four total Augments.
- Earlier Timing: Unlike the unpredictable timing from previous sets, Augments may move to earlier rounds, giving players more time to build around them.
What shop modifications will players experience?
The Shop system will also receive Hack modifications that can dramatically change how players build their teams:
- Lucky Shops: Once per stage in a random round, everyone's first shop will contain units tailored specifically to their team composition.
- Two-Star Shops: Occasionally, players will find hacked units appearing directly as two-stars in their shop, providing immediate power spikes.
Carousel and Returning Features
The Carousel - that crucial shared draft at the beginning of rounds - will see creative modifications:
- Tailored Items: Units on the carousel will carry two completed items from their recommended items list.
- Anvil Carousel: A special carousel featuring anvils instead of champions and items.
Several popular features are returning with the Cyber City set, including:
- Treasure Dragon: At Stage 4-7, players can choose from rollable packages of loot, including Augments.
- Hacked Eggs: Players will receive eggs containing loot that scales in power based on hatch time, with an Armory offering eggs of different hatch durations.
Unique Hacks Add Fresh Strategic Elements
The Cyber City set introduces several entirely new Hack concepts:
- Tactician Health: Small amounts of player health may appear in Hacked Loot Orbs, providing crucial survival opportunities.
- Unstable Item Components: Components that transform into different components each round, adding an element of adaptation.
- Take it or Split it?: An Armory offering all players a choice between taking 10 gold or splitting 30 gold among those who choose the latter option.
Sentinel Armory: A New Approach to Unit Selection
One of the most intriguing new Hacks is the Sentinel Armory, which lets players choose one of three Sentinels with three items each. These Sentinels are categorized as Tank, Frontline Attacker, or Backline, allowing for strategic team reinforcement.
The Sentinel Armory system continues in this second demonstration video:
Player-Focused Design Philosophy
Riot's approach with the Hack system demonstrates a clear focus on player experience. Unlike some previous set mechanics that could create frustrating gameplay, all Hacks are designed to be beneficial and impact all players at the same power level.
The development team has emphasized that Hacks inspired by previous Encounters have been redesigned to be more predictable and enjoyable. For example, Augment timing changes will only move Augments earlier rather than randomly shuffling them throughout the game.
Teamfight Tactics: Cyber City with its innovative Hack system launches on April 2nd, 2025 with Patch 14.1. Riot has indicated they'll be collecting player feedback on preferred Hacks throughout the set's lifecycle, suggesting we may see adjustments and refinements with subsequent patches.
For players looking to dive deeper into League of Legends' auto-battler mode, the Cyber City set promises a fresh take on TFT's core systems while maintaining the strategic depth that has made the game mode so popular.