Battle Queen Qiyana

First time I saw Battle Queen Qiyana load in, I thought Riot finally gave her the royal treatment she deserved. Been maining Qiyana on and off since her release, and this skin just clicked from game one. The splash alone sold me. Regal. Sharp. Everything Qiyana’s personality demands but cranked up with that fantasy queen aesthetic that the Battle Queens line nails pretty consistently.

What Battle Queen Qiyana actually brings to the table

So the model itself is clean. Qiyana gets this ornate battle dress with gold trim and deep jewel tones, crown included obviously. The ohmlatl redesign is where I think the skin earns its keep though. New VFX across the board, and for an Epic tier skin at 1350 RP, they didnt hold back on the particle work.

Her Q elements each get distinct visual treatments. Grass element has these sharp green crystalline shards, ice gets a frosted blue burst thats satisfying to land in lane, and rock element reads heavier with deeper gold particles. Not gonna lie, the rock Q specifically feels more impactful than base even though its obviously identical mechanically. Placebo or not, I’ll take it.

W swaps look crisp. You can actually tell which element you’re holding at a glance better than some of her other skins, which matters when you’re trying to combo fast in a teamfight. E dash trail has this golden streak that looks great when you’re diving the backline. Her ult is the highlight for sure. Big regal explosion, gold and purple VFX spreading across the terrain. Locked this in for maybe 30 ranked games last December and the R never got old.

New recall animation too. Qiyana does this whole throne conjuring thing. Fits the queen fantasy perfectly. Voice lines stay base, no new VO, but honestly Qiyana’s base voice is already top tier sass so I dont mind.

The Battle Queens skinline and where Qiyana fits

Battle Queens dropped December 10, 2020. Late season 10, right before preseason chaos. The whole line had this chess-meets-fantasy-royalty vibe going on. Qiyana, Diana, Katarina, Janna all got skins in the set. Kinda feels like Qiyana was the poster child for Battle Queens though. The theme just matches her lore energy perfectly – she literally thinks she should be queen of Ixaocan.

8 chromas total if you want variety. Obsidian is my personal pick, goes full dark royalty and the contrast on her abilities pops harder against the Rift. Coronation is the event chroma with that pink and teal split that reads unique in game. Pearl exists for the clean white aesthetic crowd. (Random aside: I use Obsidian in ranked and Pearl in norms, no idea why I do this but it’s become habit at this point.)

The Battle Queens line is one of Riot’s mid-tier skinlines honestly. Not as iconic as Star Guardian or PROJECT but solid execution. Qiyana arguably got the best version out of the bunch. Maybe Diana comes close with the Prestige variant but base to base, Qiyana wins.

Should you pick up Battle Queen Qiyana?

Real verdict: 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX, new recall, strong model. You’re not getting new voice lines at this price point and thats expected for Epic tier. Could be wrong here but I think this sits comfortably in Qiyana’s top three skins.

True Damage Qiyana has the prestige factor and the music theme. Shockblade is more recent with updated tech. But Battle Queen Qiyana has this specific elegance that neither of those hit. If you’re a Qiyana one-trick climbing through Diamond, you probably already own this. If you’re picking up Qiyana and want one skin to start with, this or True Damage are your two real options.

Shop has it, permanent availability, no vault nonsense. Spammed this in Diamond for about two weeks straight back in season 11 and honestly the skin just hits different when you’re styling on people with the Q combos. The VFX make your plays look cleaner than they probably are. Every Qiyana main I’ve run into in solo queue around 2 AM on weeknights seems to rotate between this and True Damage. There’s a reason for that.

Skip it if you already have three Qiyana skins and dont play her regularly. Worth 1350 RP if you main Qiyana or even just pick her as a secondary mid. S-tier Qiyana cosmetic, been saying that since it dropped and havent changed my mind five seasons later.