Dragon buffs are taking a beating in League’s upcoming patch

The preseason had big implications for League of Legends, quite literally changing the landscape of Summoner’s Rift. 

Almost all of the changes have been well received by the community, but the strength and overvalue of dragons have caused some concern. To combat this, Riot has targeted them in its latest micropatch and substantially nerfed their buffs and souls.

The Elder, Ocean, Infernal, and Mountain Dragon buffs and souls have each taken a hit in time for Patch 9.24b, expected to release sometime next week. 

The full changes to dragons

The duration of the Elder buff has been reduced by 30 seconds, while its burn damage has been decreased from 90 to 270, to 75 to 225. 

The Infernal Dragon buff’s AD and AP percentage have been reduced from five to 20, to four to 16 percent. And its soul has had its damage reduced from 90 (+25 percent bAD) (+15 percent AP) (+3 percent bHP) to 80 (+22.5 percent bAD) (+13.5 percent AP) (+2.75 percent bHP). 

The Ocean Dragon buff has been reduced from three to 12 percent missing HP heal to 2.5 to 10 percent. And its soul mana will go from 180 (+40 percent bAD) (+25 percent AP) (+10 percent bHP) over three seconds to 160 (+36 percent bAD) (+22.5 percent AP) (+9 percent bHP) over four seconds. 

The armor and magic resist gain on the Mountain buff has also been reduced from eight to 32 percent, to six to 24 percent. And its soul shield has dropped from 225 (+20 percent bAD (+15 percent AP) (+15 percent bHP) to 200 (+18 percent bAD) +13.5 percent AP) +13.5 percent bHP).

The Cloud soul, on the other hand, received a movement speed after ultimate cast buff from 40 percent for three seconds to 50 percent for six seconds. 

How will the changes impact the game?

Overall, these changes to the dragon buffs and souls will help straighten out the late game. In the current state of League, dragons take too much of a priority due to their scaling strength.

The team with the dragon advantage almost instantly has an advantage—especially in the case of Ocean and Infernal—and can always fall back to a five-vs-five at the 30-minute mark. 

The nerfs will stop the dragon’s late-game potential and help balance out the preseason.