Infernal Varus

First time I saw Infernal Varus load in on the enemy team, I thought it was a Legendary for about half a second. The VFX hit that hard. Played against it maybe three times before I caved and bought it myself around late 2019, and honestly its been in my Varus rotation ever since. Not my only pick for him, but the one I keep coming back to when I want the arrows to feel heavy.

What Infernal Varus actually brings

So the base model turns Varus into this volcanic demon archer. Dark charred skin, cracked with molten lava lines running through his body and bow. The bow itself looks like it was forged inside a volcano, which I guess is the whole Infernal fantasy. Banger design choice.

The VFX are where this Epic earns its 1350 RP. Q charge-up glows with this deep orange heat that intensifies the longer you hold it. Release a fully charged Piercing Arrow and it trails fire across the lane. Feels satisfying to poke with, especially when you snipe someone through fog of war. W passive stacks show as these burning marks on enemies, and the proc detonation has a lava burst effect that reads clean in teamfights. Not gonna lie, the W pop feels more impactful than base Varus by a lot.

E – Hail of Arrows drops a field of magma instead of the usual blight pool. Covers the ground in this molten texture that actually looks threatening. Good visual clarity for your team to see the slow zone. R is the showpiece though. Chain of Corruption sends out these flaming tendrils that spread between enemies, and when it locks someone down the fire effect wraps around them. Landed a 3-person ult last Tuesday in a Diamond ranked game and the visual payoff was genuinely satisfying.

Recall animation is new too. Varus channels fire through his bow and erupts the ground beneath him. Short, clean, no filler. Voice lines stay base, same VO as default Varus. Standard for an Epic tier skin, no complaints there.

The Infernal line and release context

Infernal Varus dropped September 5, 2019. Season 9 if I remember right, or maybe the tail end of it. West Studio handled the artwork, and they captured the molten aesthetic perfectly in the splash. Varus stands center frame drawing back a flaming arrow with destruction behind him. Clean composition.

The Infernal skinline is one of Riot’s older thematic families. Kinda feels like they revisit it every couple years to add a few more champions. Infernal has skins across a bunch of champs at this point. Varus fits the theme naturally since his kit is all about projectiles and area denial, which translate well to fire effects. The Infernal line works best on champions with visible ability particles, and Varus checks that box hard.

5 chromas available for this one. Peridot swaps the fire palette to this toxic green that honestly reads more like poison than flame, interesting look though. Rose Quartz goes pink-magenta which sounds weird on paper but actually pops in game. Ruby deepens the reds if you want to stay on-theme but push it darker. Could be wrong here but I think Pearl might be the cleanest of the set, the white-fire look gives off a divine vibe that contrasts the demon model in a cool way.

Worth the 1350 RP?

Real verdict: if you’re a Varus main looking for a solid Epic skin with strong VFX, Infernal Varus delivers. The Q and R visuals alone carry this skin. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. Not the flashiest Varus option compared to something like Cosmic Hunter or Project, but it holds its own.

(Random aside: I use the Infernal Varus splash as my League client background and it still looks good years later.)

Been running this in ranked on and off for five seasons now. The fire effects dont get old, the model is distinct enough to feel premium, and the chromas give you options if you want to mix it up. Shop has it, permanent availability, no vault nonsense. For ADC players who lock in Varus for poke comps or late-game scaling builds, this is a reliable skin that punches above its price tier. Skip it only if you already own one of his Legendaries and never rotate skins. Otherwise, solid pickup for any Varus player climbing through ranked.