3 of League’s new Mythic items to receive quick buffs following launch of 2023 preseason

The 2023 League of Legends preseason has been live for just over a day, and Riot Games is already hitting the game with a series of balance changes. The game’s 12.22b patch, which is scheduled to come out later this week, buffs six champions, while hitting four items with balance changes, too. 

With the release of Patch 12.22b, players should expect a few of the game’s new and returning items to be buffed just in time for the preseason. The B-Patch will buff two new tank-focused Mythic items, Radiant Virtue and Jak’Sho, the Protean. The two items are being buffed in order to give tank players more options in the top lane when it comes to their build paths. 

“It’s intended that players can flexibly purchase Mythics 1st/2nd depending on the game,” lead League designer Matt Leung-Harrison said in a tweet earlier today. “Sometimes it’s right to buy Sunfire -> Mythic and sometimes Mythic -> Something else. We don’t want to force tanks to buy Sunfire every game for wave clear.”

Tanks are a major focal point of the 2023 League preseason.

With three new Mythic items to choose from, as well as the downgrading of other tank-centric items including Sunfire Aegis and Turbo Chemtank, tanks and their builds should look much different in 2023 than they did throughout all of this season.

Related: Every new, returning, updated item in 2023 League preseason

“[We’re] waiting to assess the balance of all the items in the tank system with more games and then reshape individual champs accordingly (eg. if they need more/less wave clear, how much wave clear pets should give, etc.),” Leung-Harrison said.

Beyond the buffs to tank Mythics in the patch, a returning League item in Rod of Ages is also being buffed. RoA is one of four past items returning to League this preseason, the others being Iceborn Gauntlet, Catalyst of Aeons, and Spear of Shojin. The only item being nerfed in Patch 12.22 is Ravenous Hydra. 

The release date of Patch 12.22b is currently unclear at this time, although its launch should be expected sometime within the next week-plus.

Patch 12.23 isn’t expected to arrive until Dec. 7, which means 12.22 will be live for three weeks instead of the traditional two that League patches usually run for.