Lead game designer for Riot Games’ iconic MOBA, Matt ‘Phroxzon’ Leung-Harrison, today posted their plans for League of Legends patch 12.16. He goes into some minor detail about plans to change Diana’s kit potential, while also maintaining that this patch will be conservative so as to not change things too dramatically before Worlds.
Zeri finds herself in the nerf column yet again, leaving a lot of players confused as to what the plan is for the speedy ADC. One ex-main commented below the original preview: “I gave up on her. Nilah for the win.”
Something that appears to be dividing opinion quite dramatically is the decision to buff Irelia. Anyone who plays top lane currently feels a chill down their spine when they get matched against the Ionian blade master, so a buff to any part of her kit could see her fall into the ‘perma-ban’ list for a lot of players.
The last change of note will impact Diana. While she sees neither a buff nor a nerf, her kit is being tweaked to lean more towards AP. Her bruiser build has been getting slightly out of hand of late, so taking away some of her durability while pumping up her damage should increase the skill level to play her effectively.
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 12.16: EARLY NOTES
The full list of planned changes, as per Matt Leung-Harrison’s post:
Champion Buffs
- Tristana
- Zoe
- Irelia
- Caitlyn
- Kai’sa
- Jayce
- Vladimir
- Malphite
Champion Nerfs
- Zeri
- Yuumi
- Draven
- Poppy
Champion Adjustments
- Diana
System Buffs
- Evenshroud
It’s understandable that Riot would want to keep changes to a minimum before such a big event as Worlds – rocking the boat too much at this point would be harmful to the integrity of the competition. As a Zoe aficionado, I’m looking forward to seeing what they have planned for her, although those Irelia changes certainly do leave my stomach in knots.
We’re still waiting on the full list of changes, so why not check out what the current landscape looks like with the League of Legends patch 12.15 rundown, and while you’re at it, do yourself a favour and finally check out how much you’ve spent in League of Legends.