TFT 18.1 officially launches: Season 18 "Mystic Great Forest" introduces a series of mechanical changes

TFT 18.1 marks the beginning of Season 18 – Mystic Great Forest, featuring numerous major changes from the graphical foundation, the Spirit mechanic, to the Upgrade and Crafting systems. This is considered one of the largest-scale updates in Teamfight Tactics in recent times.

TFT transitions to Unreal Engine

The most notable change in version 18.1 is TFT's transition to Unreal Engine, paving the way for Riot Games to upgrade graphics and effects in the future. However, the conversion process also brings some initial inconveniences, such as larger update sizes and potentially longer loading times during the early stages.

Some features like the minimap, tactical pings, or spectating friends' matches are temporarily hidden for redesign.

On the mobile version, devices with iOS having only 2GB RAM and Android devices with 2GB or 3GB RAM will no longer be supported. On PC, players need Windows 10 build 19041 or later, a graphics card supporting DirectX 11 and Shader Model 5.

Spirit becomes the central mechanic of Season 18

Season 18 is named Mystic Great Forest, set in a mystical forest with entirely new traits and classes.

The signature mechanic of the season is Spirit, divided into 7 groups: Champion, Combat, Hybrid, Shop, Gold/XP, Risk, and Equipment. After every two shop refreshes, a new Spirit may appear for players to purchase during the preparation phase.

From Stage 5 onwards, every two Spirit appearances guarantee at least one Combat Spirit, allowing players to be more proactive when pivoting their late-game compositions.

The Shopping Round also officially returns, with the possibility of offering more expensive champions or a larger number of units.

Riot heavily adjusts combat mechanics

From TFT 18.1, after a champion's crowd control effect ends, they will continue attacking their original target, instead of automatically switching to the nearest enemy. This is a very noteworthy change for carries tasked with diving the backline.

Forgotten PvE rewards from round 4-7 onwards will also automatically carry over to the next PvE round.

The Opening Encounter system has been adjusted to reduce randomness, while adding options such as Complete Item Packages, Re-roll Packages, and the Forge of Items.

Crafting and Upgrades see widespread changes

A large number of Augments have been modified or reworked. Reunion Birthday now grants a 2-cost 2-star champion, a component item upon reaching level 6, and a 5-cost 2-star champion upon reaching level 9.

In the Crafting group, Manazane's Sacred Sword and the Plagueborn Abomination officially return. Meanwhile, Death's Dance, Titan's Resolve, and Last Whisper have been removed from the system.

With such a massive amount of changes, TFT 18.1 almost forces players to learn the meta from scratch. The Spirit mechanic, along with changes to targeting, items, and upgrades, promises to make the early Season 18 ranked climb significantly more unpredictable.