The biggest changes in League of Legends patch 12.1
The League of Legends (LoL) 2022 Season is now in full swing, with developer Riot Games releasing the game's first patch of the year on Wednesday (5 January).
With the ranked season kicking off anew, this patch's focus is on a soft reset with some item and system balances, changes to tier decay, and most importantly, some changes to Teleport.
Don't know where to begin? Fret not, we've listed down the four biggest changes in LoL's Patch 12.1 you should know about:
Teleport Changes
Changes to the most iconic LoL summoner spell have been under testing since last year, and in 12.1, these are finally getting implemented.
The developers believe that "there's too much disruption happening too early and too often" with the use of Teleport.
"In an effort to bring back some balance, we're reshaping the spell by tempering its offensive capabilities early and then upgrading it later on to retain its exciting mid-to-late game impact," they said.
Aside from its cooldown changing to 360 seconds across all levels, Teleport can now only be used on allied towers.
At 14 minutes, it transforms to "Unleashed Teleport" and can target allied towers, minions, wards, and other allied constructs. The cooldown for unleashed Teleport is 240 seconds.
Changes to Apex Tier Decay
The team also changed decay rules for Apex tiers for ranked gaming (Master, Grandmaster, Challenger) for this season to improve the matchmaking experience.
Diamond decay rules will remain the same.
Banked days for Apex Players: 14 days (instead of 10)
Decay Rate: 75 LP per day
Apex decay floor: Diamond II
Champions Buffs and Nerfs
Diana
The developers have noted that many seem to like Diana in the jungle despite being underpowered.
To respond to this, they've updated her Passive, Moonsilver Blade, bumping up against her AP ratio to 50% and her monster damage ratio to 300%. These buffs will also help her role in the mid lane.
Gangplank
The Dethroned Reaver King's Parrrley was previously nerfed, but this decreased Gangplank's power too much.
To address this, the mana cost for his Q skill decreased by five across all levels, and the cooldown decreased to 4.5 seconds.
Sona
We didn't think Sona deserved a nerf since she's been out of the meta for quite a while now.
But the developers believe that Sona has been "over-performing in skilled play and pushing the limit in other brackets ever since Archangel's Staff was changed in the preseason".
Her armor growth had been reduced to three, and the cooldown to her E skill, Song of Celerity, increased to 14 seconds.
Rek'Sai
The Void Burrower was also given a nerf for this patch since she had been "a bit too strong in skilled play." While her E – Tunnel's cooldown has been increased from 20/23/20/17/14 to 26/24/22/20/18, physical damage from her Furious Bite was given +85% bonus AD.
Item Changes
Immortal Shieldbow
One of the most overpowered items available on the rift has finally been nerfed, and players are rejoicing.
According to the devs, the item has made marksmen and fighters "a bit too immortal," making it very difficult for other players to go against these champions.
The popular AD Mythic is getting a nerf on its damage, dropping to 50 from 55, along with the iconic shield.
Protective Dome, which used to be a big 300-800 shield, has now also dropped to 275-650.
Eclipse
Developers admitted that they overdid Eclipse's buffs in patch 11.23, making some adjustments for the Mythic item. The Ever Rising Moon Cooldown for melees has been increased to 8 seconds.
Force of Nature
This item has been weaker than Spirit Visage, so it warranted a buff to be worth it. As a result, the Absorb Stack Duration increased to 7 seconds, and Dissipate Magic Damage Reduction has risen to 25%.
Ranked Season 2022 Schedule
The Ranked Season begins on Friday (7 January). A soft reset of 5 tiers will be done on all ranked accounts. See the schedule on this link.
Upcoming Skins
The team is still tweaking and improving the Firelights Ekko skin, which was heavily inspired by his look on Arcane, so its release in 12.1 has been delayed.
Instead, we're getting new Elderwood skins for Rek'sai and Gnar.
For more details on Patch 12.1, check here.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
For more gaming news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooGamingSEA. Also follow us on Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.
