Updated on January 15, 1:08 p.m. (GMT+8): Added detailed numbers posted by Riot Phroxzon, Viktor nerf, and Feats of Strength changes. Fixed minor typos.
League of Legends Lead Gameplay Designer Matt “Riot Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison posted a preview of LoL patch 25.S1.2 today.
In the tweet, he mentioned that the team is focusing on Feats of Strength boot upgrades and Atakhan because they do not believe they are balanced.
The preview included Swiftplay changes where the opposite is happening: Atakhan is appearing in Voracious form much more often than in Classic, so the team is reducing his frequency in this mode moderately.
LoL patch 25.S1.2 notes preview
State of AD carries and tanks in LoL patch 25.S1.2
Riot Phroxzon acknowledges the ongoing community discussions around tanks and mentioned that the team will continue monitoring the situation.
At the same time, the game devs would like to make ADCs — the natural counter to tanks — more effective at dealing with them by considering adjustments to items like Yun Tal and Lord Dominik’s Regards to make them more effective at tank-busting without making them significantly more powerful overall.
Currently, tank-busting item builds aren’t performing well enough against tanks. This change will help differentiate these builds from items that are better suited for taking down squishier champions, like Collector, Riot Phroxzon explained.
LoL patch 25.S1.2 champion buffs
- Evelynn
- Master Yi
- Kayn (blue)
- Smoulder
- Yuumi
LoL patch 25.S1.2 champion nerfs
- Cassiopeia
- Tahm Kench
- Viktor
Cassiopeia can’t buy boots so the game devs gave her a buff pre-emptively, but it was a lot stronger than they anticipated compared to Feats of Strengths rewards so they’re pulling it back.
“[Viktor] has been sporting pretty strong performance for a while, despite the influx of new players on him. Looking to take a bit of damage out,” Riot Phroxzon wrote.
Rune and item buffs
- Domination — vision runes
- Yun Tal Wildarrows
Several Domination users experienced a loss of power due to the replacement of the Domination minors.
The balance team plans to buff that row, but not enough to completely compensate because they want to encourage players to explore other options like Sorcery, First Strike, and more.
Afterward, they’ll address specific champions who remain underpowered. For this patch, they’re starting with champions like Blue Kayn and Evelynn, who were particularly affected.
System nerfs
- Bloody Roses EXP
- Voracious Atakhan effect
Riot Phroxzon revealed that Voracious Atakhan is showing up in less than 15% of games. At the same time, they’ll decrease his effect’s power slightly because of its potency.
“We know some people will say ‘extremely OP’, and while we agree it’s strong we also want to give it some time and exposure for counterplay to be developed (trading objectives, wait it out, other, etc.),” he wrote.
The team also aims to tone down Bloody Roses a bit further. They’re not a central element contributing to the gameplay depth, so they want to adjust them to the lowest power level that still makes them rewarding to pick up.
System adjustments
- Lord Dominik’s Regards
- Voracious Atakhan more frequent
- Mortal Reminder
- Feats of Strength
The Feats of Strength competition between the two teams initially had these requirements: Score First Blood, destroy the first turret, slay a total of three epic monster camps.
In LoL patch 25.S1.2, Riot is changing First Blood to first to three kills, Riot Phroxzon updated.
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