Pulsefire Ekko

First game I played with Pulsefire Ekko I got a quadra kill in a teamfight near baron pit. Correlation, not causation, sure. But the skin just felt right from the jump. Ekko already has one of the smoothest kits in the game and slapping a time-cop aesthetic on top of it hits harder than you’d expect for 1350 RP.

What Pulsefire Ekko actually brings to the table

New VFX across the board. His Q sends out this clean holographic blade trail that reads way better in lane than base. You can actually track the return path clearly, which sounds minor but in a heated trade pre-6 against something like a Syndra, knowing exactly where your Q boomerang lands matters. The W zone gets a full Pulsefire treatment with these layered hex-grid particles. Looks techy. Feels precise. When you land a good W stun in a jungle skirmish the whole thing pops with that digital blue and your enemies know they messed up.

E proc animation is subtle but clean. Short blink, digital afterimage, done. No clutter. His R rewind has the best change though. The ghost trail turns into this data-stream visualization and the snap-back explosion goes full sci-fi. Been using this in Diamond for a couple seasons now and the ult VFX still look fresh to me.

New recall animation too. Ekko messes with some kind of time gauntlet, very on-brand for the Pulsefire line. Voice lines stay base, no new VO here. Standard for an Epic tier skin. Not gonna lie, I think Ekko’s base voice holds up fine anyway so its not a dealbreaker.

The Pulsefire line and where Ekko fits

Pulsefire as a skinline has been around since the original Ezreal Ultimate skin. The theme is time-travel enforcement, futuristic armor, clean holographic effects. Ekko fits naturally. The champion literally rewinds time in his kit so putting him in a line about temporal policing just makes sense. Kinda feels like Riot should have done this sooner honestly.

Released May 14, 2020. Mid-season 10. David Villegas and West Studio handled the artwork, and they nailed the splash. Ekko mid-leap with that gauntlet glowing, cityscape behind him. Good composition. (Random aside: I had this as my desktop wallpaper for like three months after release.)

7 chromas available. Chrono is the standout for me, the dark blue and red combo reads like some kind of alternate-timeline villain version. Amethyst hits a completely different vibe, the purple energy effects against Ekko’s darker armor look premium. Pearl exists if you want that clean white look but personally I think it washes out some of the detail on the Rift. Shop has it at 1350 RP, permanent availability.

Should you pick up Pulsefire Ekko?

Real verdict: this is a solid Epic skin that doesnt try to be more than it is. The VFX upgrades are meaningful without being distracting. I played maybe 40 games with it last month in ranked and the ability clarity is genuinely good. You always know where your Q is, your W zone reads clean, your R snap feels impactful.

Ekko has a stacked skin catalog at this point. Project Ekko exists. Star Guardian Ekko exists. True Damage exists. But Pulsefire holds its own because the theme alignment is so natural. Time cop skin for the time kid. Could be wrong here but I think this might age better than some of his flashier options.

If you’re an Ekko one-trick climbing through ranked, 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. The chromas give it longevity too. Swap to Chrono when you’re feeling the dark energy, back to base Pulsefire when you want clean. There’s enough variety to keep it in rotation for a long time. Not the single best Ekko skin full stop, but it’s in the conversation. Especially if you like the sci-fi lane over the music or fantasy themes.

Worth it for mains. Decent pickup even if Ekko is just in your champ pool for specific comps. Skip it only if you already own three Ekko skins and dont need another.