The preview of League of Legends Patch 12.5 is here, and with it comes a handful of buffs to champions that have flown under the radar, as well as nerfs to larger offenders in the developing Season 12 meta.
Riot Phlox, designer on the Summoner’s Rift team for League, revealed and detailed the list of buffs and nerfs slated to release alongside Patch 12.5 on Feb. 22. Due to the recent holiday, this patch contains only a small number of changes, but these proposed changes may be enough to shake up the meta in various corners of the Rift.
The current state of the ADC meta, prioritizing champions like Jinx, Caitlyn, and Aphelios, has left many marksmen sitting on the side. Therefore Samira, one of the more recent additions to the growing list of ADCs, will receive buffs to her health and armor gained per level, as well as a reduced cooldown on her ultimate. This lack of diversity applies to the top lane as well, so Kennen’s poke on his W will receive a slight buff. He will also get higher AD and AP ratios.
Seraphine is receiving extensive buffs due to her strange place as an enchanter originally designed for mid lane. Her W, which gives herself and allies a massive shield, will now grant everyone the large shield she used to receive herself, now scaling less with AP. This also affects the heal it gives with her passive. Its mana cost will be reduced, while its cooldown will be increased early, which should stop players from spamming it mid or bot early on in games. Seraphine’s E will also have its cooldown reduced early.
Gwen, Xin Zhao, and Ahri have flourished in professional play over the last patch, leading to some minor nerfs that may remove their pick/ban status. Gwen and Xin Zhao will have their effectiveness in the jungle reduced slightly. Ahri’s recent “refresh” is being tackled with her E cooldown being increased. Her W damage is also being reduced and its mana cost will be increased.
Riot Phlox also detailed extensive nerfs to Master Yi’s Duskblade build announced earlier this week. These nerfs aim to limit Master Yi’s access to continued invulnerability by providing on-hit effects on his Q, hoping to move his playstyle away from the normal Duskblade/Collector combo and one that synergizes well with auto-attacking.
Hullbreaker is the only item being changed in this patch, likely due to the amount of top laners taking this item and winning games through split-pushing. These nerfs specifically target ranged top laners like Graves, halving all of the damage resists that the item grants. Riot Phlox noted that this change impacts Urgot disproportionately, so the team will be keeping a close eye on him.
League Patch 12.5 will be released on March 2. The changes in this preview will soon be available for testing on the PBE and may be altered prior to release on live servers.
