Principal Teamfight Tactics game designer Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer and Riot Statikk discussed the results of Patch 11.3 and plans for 11.4 in today’s episode of Post Mortem.
Patch 11.3 featured smaller changes with the intent to let the meta play out prior to additional adjustments. Many players weren’t happy about the end result, however, with one-cost re-roll comps dominating the meta. But the patch wasn’t a total failure. A number of issues were brought to light, according to Statikk, providing the balance team data needed for adjustments in the upcoming Patch 11.4.
“Patch 11.3 didn’t play out in an exciting way at the end of the day,” Riot Statikk said. “The meta ended up being very heavy on the lower cost units and strategies felt stale by the end.”
A positive change that did take place—and was possibly overshadowed by the dominant one-cost champions—were adjustments to the Dragonsoul trait. By reworking the trait, it “made a big difference and made Dragonsoul a lot more fun to play,” Mortdog said. Individual changes to Brand and Tristana were also positive, putting the one-cost champions in a spot that’s ideal for all one-cost units.
The Divine trait was improved upon with Patch 11.3, according to Statikk and Mortdog, but still needs work going forward. And the nerf to Spirit left the trait in a “good spot,” where it’s still playable but not too dominant.
Both Statikk and Mortdog agree there are too many “dead units” within Slayer and that tweaks to individual champions are being considered towards improving the trait. Darius is another issue, struggling at one and two-star, but capable of becoming a dominant threat if buffed too much.
In Patch 11.4, Riot will address one-cost champions’ domination over the meta in Patch 11.3. A B-patch in 11.4 might be necessary, despite a number of nerfs to one-cost units taking place.
Related: Riot reveals big TFT meta shift in Patch 11.4’s tentative changes
Patch 11.4 is scheduled to drop on Feb. 18 and is currently live on PBE servers. Players can expect a number of major changes to take place in the upcoming update, with many of the TFT Patch 11.3 issues being addressed.
