Riot is pulling back early kill power with experience nerf in LoL Patch 13.4

Many League of Legends players have suffered the wrath of some unfortunate early kills that make a match almost unplayable from the first minute onward. It’s the resulting snowball that many teams fail to stop.

But Riot Games is changing up the experience points system in Patch 13.4 to help some players stem the oncoming tide that opening eliminations can bring by lowering the amount of XP that kills give at specific levels.

Although Riot has traditionally wanted League games to move a bit faster, there should always be a chance to come back from a deficit, even if the game state looks tragic. As a result, the devs are dropping kill experience from level three to level nine, which should be enough leeway to find better options on the map, such as farming up for the late game or finding picks on solitary enemies.

Here are all the changes to experience per kill at each level:

• Level one: 42 experience (15 percent of level) ⇒ 42 experience (15 percent of level)
• Level two: 114 experience (30 percent of level) ⇒ 114 experience (30 percent of level)
• Level three: 186 experience (39 percent of level) ⇒ 144 experience (30 percent of level)
• Level four: 258 experience (44 percent of level) ⇒ 174 experience (30 percent of level)
• Level five: 330 experience (49 percent of level) ⇒ 204 experience (30 percent of level)
• Level six: 402 experience (52 percent of level) ⇒ 234 experience (30 percent of level)
• Level seven: 434 experience (49 percent of level) ⇒ 308 experience (35 percent of level)
• Level eight: 500 experience (51 percent of level) ⇒ 392 experience (40 percent of level)
• Level nine: 515 experience (48 percent of level) ⇒ 486 experience (45 percent of level)
• Level 10: 590 experience (50 percent of level) ⇒ 590 experience (50 percent of level)

Additionally, whenever a player takes down an enemy that is a higher level than them, they will now gain more experience as another catch-up mechanic to help with comebacks.

“Especially in the jungle, kills could quickly swing players back into parity with opponents who are substantially ahead from other actions,” Riot Riru said. “Comeback mechanics in League are built to get you within a fighting chance of the opponent, but the comeback system on kills brought you up to their level.”

This change from 16 percent per level difference to 20 percent isn’t too drastic but should be another boost for any summoners trying to claw their way back into a lost cause. League Patch 13.4 is expected to go live tomorrow, Feb. 23.