The League of Legends Patch 13.4 preview has been revealed, with more than twenty champions receiving changes, which makes it one of the season’s most extensive patches. According to top dev Riot Phroxon, who posted this week’s League preview on Twitter, the planned changes should help balance ranged vs. melee supports in the bot lane.
Other balance tweaks will focus on jungle champions and their pathing. Further changes are also scheduled that will focus on snowballing and champion healing.
While most of the nerfs were centered around jungle champions, like Amumu and Udyr, there’s a healthy mix of eleven champions who will be getting buffed, including Veigar, Cho’Gath, Alistar, Ahri, Malphite, Kennen, Viego, Aphelios, Senna, Riven, and Orianna.
Notably, newly reworked champion Aurelion Sol has been left out of Patch 13.4 for the time being, with Phroxzon saying Riot is waiting for pro play to make any decisions on him.
Essential support items like Relic Shield and Steel Shoulderguards will also be receiving buffs in the upcoming patch, which should help achieve Riot’s ranged vs. melee support goals. Paired with the fact that Alistar is receiving a buff, we may see more of the Minotaur on the Rift over the next few weeks.
Read: League devs targeting ranged support meta with 13.4 nerfs
Another Riot dev, Axes, recently suggested making changes in the bot lane should be the key to making the other lanes, like the top lane, more enjoyable to play and that they were looking for ways to resolve early-game snowballing—both of which have now been locked in for this update.
It will be interesting to see how these buffs will affect pick and ban rates and early-game strategies when it’s released on Feb. 23, per the League patch schedule.
