Bilgewater: Curse of the Drowned Skins

Bilgewater: Curse of the Drowned is one of those skinlines that flew under the radar for most players but stuck with anyone who actually used the skins in game. Three skins total. All Epic. All 1350 RP. Vladimir, Diana, and Kayn got the treatment between 2017 and 2018, and honestly the line punches way above its weight for how small it is. Not gonna lie, I slept on these for a while until a friend locked in Dark Waters Vlad in a ranked duo session around season 9 and I had to ask what skin that was. The deep ocean color palette with those teal and dark blue particles just hits different on the Rift compared to the standard Bilgewater pirate stuff.

What Sets Bilgewater: Curse of the Drowned Apart

Most Bilgewater skins lean hard into the pirate fantasy. Cannons, ships, rum barrels, the whole aesthetic. Curse of the Drowned goes a completely different direction. Think deep sea horror. Drowned spirits. Ocean floor darkness with bioluminescent accents. The shared color palette across all three skins is this dark teal and deep navy blue, almost black in some lighting, with bright aqua particle effects that pop against Summoner's Rift.

The splash arts are what sold me initially. Each one has this underwater depth to it, like the champion is submerged or emerging from dark water. Vladimir's splash especially. The way the blood pools mix with ocean currents in the artwork is genuinely unsettling in a good way. Diana's has this moonlit underwater vibe that ties her lunar identity into the drowned theme without it feeling forced.

Kinda feels like Riot wanted to explore what Bilgewater looks like from below the surface rather than on deck. The VFX across the line share these watery, flowing particle effects. Blues and teals replace whatever the champion's default color scheme is. On Vlad specifically, his blood abilities becoming dark water pools changes the entire feel of playing him. Could be wrong here but I think this is one of the few skinlines where every single entry justifies its price tag without a weak link.

Compare it to something like the main Bilgewater: Burning Tides line or even the Bilgewater Mercs stuff. Those lean campy and fun. Curse of the Drowned is darker. More serious. The kind of skins you lock in when you want your champion to feel threatening in loading screen. (Random thought: the line reminds me of those deep sea creature documentaries, the ones where everything glows in pitch black water. Same energy.)

Worth mentioning that the particle work on all three is above average for 1350 RP Epics from that era. 2017-2018 was when Riot started really investing in Epic tier quality, and these skins benefited from that shift. The recall animations all have underwater themes too. Small detail but it ties the line together in a way some bigger skinlines dont manage.

Best Bilgewater: Curse of the Drowned Skins

With only three skins this is less of a ranking and more of a breakdown, but there's still a clear hierarchy in my experience after playing all of them across multiple seasons.

Dark Waters Vladimir is the standout. Full stop. Been running this skin on Vlad since I picked him up as a secondary mid pick in season 10 and I keep coming back to it over newer options. The Q feels satisfying with the dark water swirl, and his E charge-up has this deep ocean pressure visual that makes the ability feel heavier. Teamfights with this skin are genuinely beautiful in a chaotic way. All that teal water splashing everywhere while you're trying to proc your empowered Q in the middle of five people. The pool (W) turning into actual dark water instead of a blood pool is the single best ability reskin in the set. Not sure if it's just me but Vlad's model in this skin also reads better in lane. The silhouette is cleaner than base, easier to track your own champion during hectic fights.

Dark Waters Diana takes second. The lunar theme translating into an underwater moonlight aesthetic works surprisingly well. Her passive proc has these water ripple effects that look clean during jungle clear or when you're diving the backline. The crescent blade becoming more of a coral or deep-sea weapon shape is a nice touch. I played maybe 40 games on this skin last season when I was spamming Diana jungle in Diamond and the R especially looks fantastic. That rush-in with water trailing behind you. Clean.

Soulhunter Kayn is the interesting one. Came out in 2017, same year as Kayn's release if I remember right. The skin works well in base form and Shadow Assassin, but Rhaast form (red Kayn) loses some of the oceanic feel because the color shift fights the skin's palette. Still a solid Epic. The wall-walk particles with the water effects are cool. But if you're primarily a Rhaast player, you might feel like you're only getting half a skin. Fair warning, in ranked games I've noticed the blue Kayn form on this skin can be slightly harder to track in river fights because the colors blend. Advantage or disadvantage depending on which side you're on.

So the ranking: Vlad > Diana > Kayn. All three are good. None are bad purchases. But Vlad's skin is genuinely one of his best options period, which carries the line.

The Champion Roster

Three champions. That's it. Vladimir, Diana, and Kayn make up the entire Bilgewater: Curse of the Drowned roster, and honestly thats both a strength and a weakness. Small roster means every skin got attention and care. But it also means the line never got the chance to really expand its identity.

Vladimir fits the drowned theme perfectly. A hemomancer whose abilities are already liquid-based? Converting blood to dark water is the most natural skinline fit I can think of. Zero stretch required. Diana works because her lunar connection gives the underwater scenes that eerie moonlit quality. Moon reflecting off dark ocean water. Makes sense thematically even if she's not the first champion you'd associate with Bilgewater.

Kayn is where it gets slightly more forced. He's a shadow assassin with a darkin weapon. The connection to drowned spirits and ocean depths is thinner. Soulhunter as a concept bridges the gap okay, like he's hunting souls of the drowned, but it requires more mental gymnastics than the other two. Still looks good in game though so maybe thematic fit matters less than execution.

Real talk though, this line is begging for more champions. Imagine a Curse of the Drowned Nautilus. Or Pyke, who already has Bilgewater lore connections. Fizz would be almost too obvious. Nami could work if they went dark with it instead of her usual cheerful aquatic vibe. Illaoi with drowned god tentacles? Come on Riot. (Sidebar: I've been saying this in Discord servers for years and people always agree but Riot never delivers. The line just stopped after 2018 and that was that.)

The 2017-2018 window was a specific era for Riot's skin production. Lines got small batches and sometimes never returned. Curse of the Drowned seems to have fallen into that category. Three skins across two years and then silence.

Tier and Pricing Breakdown

Simple breakdown here. All three skins are Epic tier at 1350 RP each. No Legendaries. No Prestige editions. No Mythics. Just three solid Epics.

For 1350 RP each you're getting new models, new particles, new recall animations, and new sound effects. Standard Epic package. Voice lines stay base for all three, which is expected at this price point. No new VO for any of them.

The consistency is actually nice. You know exactly what you're getting with any Curse of the Drowned skin. 1350 RP, Epic quality, strong particles. No bait-and-switch where one skin in the line is clearly lower effort than the others. Might be overthinking it but I think the uniform pricing and tier actually helps this line feel more cohesive than skinlines that span from 520 RP chromas to 1820 RP Legendaries with wildly different quality levels.

Total investment to own the complete line: 4050 RP. Thats less than the cost of two Legendary skins. For a complete collection of a thematically tight skinline, that's reasonable. During Your Shop rotations or sales you could potentially grab all three for under 3000 RP if you get lucky. Been there, done that one Tuesday night at like 1 AM when my shop refreshed and Dark Waters Vlad showed up at 30% off.

No chromas exist for any of the three skins. This was pre-chroma-explosion era for most skinlines. Shame, because an Obsidian Dark Waters Vlad with even darker water effects would go hard. But it is what it is.

Should You Buy Into Bilgewater: Curse of the Drowned

Depends on who you play. If you main Vlad, Dark Waters is arguably his best skin and I'd recommend it over every other option he has at the same price point. The ability reskins just work. Spammed it in Diamond for two seasons and still havent gotten tired of it.

Diana mains have more competition. She's gotten several strong skins since 2018. But Dark Waters still holds up visually and if you want something darker than her usual aesthetic, its worth the 1350 RP. Kayn mains should grab Soulhunter if they primarily play blue Kayn. Rhaast players might want to look elsewhere.

For collectors, this is an easy complete set. Three skins, all available, all the same price. Quick grab. The line probably wont expand at this point so what you see is what you get.

Straight talk: this is a small skinline that does everything right within its scope. No filler skins. No obvious cash grabs. Just three well-executed Epics with a unique dark ocean aesthetic that still looks good on the Rift years after release. Not every line needs fifteen champions and a Prestige edition to be worth your attention.