Overview
Swarm | Operation: Anima Squad
Promotional artwork for the Swarm gamemode
Introduction

Swarm is a gamemode available on the League of Legends client. It is based on the AnimaTech alternate universe. It is a bullet hell/heaven type game that breaks from the usual controls of the game. Rather than using the mouse to move, the player uses WASD as directional inputs.

In Swarm, the player(s) (team of up to 4 players) must hold back waves of Primordians as members of the Anima Squad. The enemies become more numerous and more powerful as the match progresses, making survival more difficult.

As you play, you gain access to weapons and passives, which hold the potential to grant you the necessary power, to defeat the waves of enemies. Although failure is initially inevitable, players can purchase permanent upgrades to boost their stats with gold that they collect during matches.

Progression
Character Levels
Leveling Up

To level up, one must gather the experience (XP) required for that level plus 1, e.g., to go from level 5 to level 6, you need to reach 25/25 XP then gain 1 more.

There doesn't seem to be a level cap, but the XP needed for each level increases according to the table below.

After each level up, the player is offered 3 random items of Equipment (Weapons and/or Passives), either new (if there is still at least one empty slot in the player's inventory) and/or upgrades to previously acquired equipment.

Experience

To gain XP, the player must collect XP orbs. These orbs are dropped for various reasons, e.g., by killing enemies and completing Bel'Veth Spires.

There are 3 types of XP orbs that offer different amounts of XP:

  • Blue orb: 1 XP;
  • Purple orb: 4 XP; and,
  • Gold orb: 20 XP.
Lore
AnimaTech Universe

Humandkind is on its last legs, nearly defeated by a high-tech army of deep-sea invaders called the Primordians. Enter Anima Squad elite fighters using salvaged Primordian tech to push back against the end of the world. To save humanity, they will have to fight like an animal.

Playable Characters

All playable characters are member of the Anima Squad.

For gameplay-related information on the playable characters, visit the Champions page.

Artwork of Battle Cat Jinx
[Battle Cat] Jinx

Jinx is a one-cat demolitions squad, her natural destructive impulses turned toward more productive ends: fighting off the Primordians. She's not really a solder, doesn't seem to care about humanity's cause, and doesn't follow orders – but there's no arguing with Jinx's results.

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Seraphine
[Battle Dove] Seraphine

Seraphine was Anima Squad's comms officer, the "girl in the chair"—until she became the first Battle Dove, using her naturally sensitive hearing to operate a new AnimaTech suit that weaponizes sound waves to rock the battlefield! When she intercepts a strange distress call, Seraphine gets her first mission: find the source, and lead a team to the rescue.

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Leona
[Battle Lion] Leona

Leona is Anima Squad's reliable front-line defense, big sister, and official wrangler of its wilder members. Someone has to make sure those fire starters from the demolitions team get safely back to base! Don't think Leona can't bring the pain on her own, though. When it comes to battle, you will hear her roar!

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Illaoi
[Battle Bear] Illaoi

Every Anima Squad recruit knows Illaoi's booming laugh—and her notoriously tough training sessions—all too well. As someone always looking towards the future, it may seem strange that she is also Anima Squad's keeper of the Old Ways. But Illaoi knows that there was life before Final City, and she will ensure life continues long after the war is done.

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Briar
[Primordian] Briar

Briar was an early draft of Aatrox's perfection, but was deemed a "failure"—because instead of using her finaly-honed mind to get back at surface-dwellers, she loves humans! Now that Briar has joined up with Anima Squad, maybe they can show her how to be more than what she was made to be.

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Yasuo
[Battle Wolf] Yasuo

The first captain of the Wolf Squad, Yasuo fought alongside Riven in the early days of the invasion. He disappeared only to reemerge years later a battle-hardened survivalist, still wearing his original suit. He's here to warn Anima Squad that the enemy has evolved—and if they want to survive, they'll need all hands (and paws) on deck.

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Riven
[Battle Bunny] Riven

Riven volunteered for what would eventually become Anima Squad after losing many comrades in the early days of the Primordian invasion. A string of victories later, she is famous: a war hero looked up to by all. ...So why has she suddenly vanished when the world needs her most?

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Aurora
[Battle Bunny] Aurora

As Anima Squad's sole research specialist, Aurora uses her understanding of the Primordians (and PhD in bioengineering) to translate and adapt Primordian technology. While her work has led to incredible advancements in Anima Squad's equipment, her true passion is helping the world understand Primordians as she does.

Gameplay details
Artwork of Battle Cat Xayah
[Battle Bat] Xayah

Bat Squad's egdy hotshot Xayah knows that sometimes you have to strike first and hard to make a statement. Hailing from an attempted settlement outside Final City that was destroyed, Xayah's grudge against the Primordians is deeply personal. Between battles, she uses her stealth training to avoid Seraphine prying about who the guy she's always texting is.

Gameplay details
Notable Allies

The following characters are Anima Squad allies. Although not playable, they appear in the lore of the gamemode and provide assistance during matches.

Artwork of Battle Cat Jinx
[Cyber Cat] Yuumi

When Jinx stumbled onto an old Primordian program, she couldn't help but tinker with it, creating what would become the sentient digital cat behind the Anima Squad interface: Yuum.AI! Now inhabiting a shiny new hologram body, everyone's favorite online helper, bug swatter, and demander of head pats can hop into battle alongside her allies.

Artwork of Battle Cat Seraphine
[Admiral Battle Bunny] Miss Fortune

Sarah Fortune is the second to take on the title of Anima Squad Commander, after her predecessor Riven's mysterious disappearance. They're big leporine shoes to fill, considering Riven's status as a war hero, but Srah is smart, skilled, and courageous enough to forge her own legend in the fight for humanity.

Notable Enemies

The following characters are Primordians, enemies of the Anima Squad. They each as bosses at the end of matches, as a final encounter for the player(s). Each boss appears on a specific map.

Artwork of Battle Cat Jinx
[Primordian] Rek'Sai

Final City built its barricades high, protecting its citizens from countless Primordian threats. Rek'Sai laughs in the face of these obstructions—or at least mimics a laugh in the form of a loud, painful screech. Having evolved to tunnel beneath land, she is the ideal infiltrator, the first Primordian to lay eyes on Final City... but certainly not the last.

Artwork of Battle Cat Seraphine
[Primordian] Bel'Veth

The tide of war has turned, with Primordians scattered and Anima Squad idling safely in Final City. But deep below the tranquil sea, Bel'Veth plots. A creature of incredible intelligence, she grew used to living in Aatrox's shadow, her masterful tactics less bombastic than his brute strength. Now her time has come to rise above the waters and strike.

Artwork of Battle Cat Seraphine
[Primordian] Aatrox

When the Primordians first attacked, humanity was unprepared—unitl Anima Squad formed to become its last defense. But they are safe no longer, for the Primordians evolved in turn. Their apex being is called Aatrox, whose understanding of humanity only furthers his hatred. His flesh has no limits, his sword no mercy. He is the harbinger of Anima's end.

Glossary
This section is currently in development