devtrackers.gg
Overall:
Overall, we're pretty happy with how the patch has landed.
No critical bugs (there's a few bugs with Rift Herald, Hwei, etc. that we're fixing)
Balance is decent (no champion moved more than 4% in either direction)
Shoutout to QA, Engineering in particular for taking so many measures to ensure patch stability given no Preseason soak period this year.
Our hotfix patch will go live in about 18 hours from now.
This hotfix isn't intended to fix everything that is weak or strong, but mainly tackle the big outliers. (eg. Hexplate seems a bit weak, but we need a bit more time to let things settle before figuring out whether the item needs changing and which parts)
Things coming in 14.2 will be things like the stat shard rework, hopefully some updates to tooltip trackers and adjustments to some items that takes more time to test.
Trends:
Snowballing:
Our early read on snowballing is that it's up a little bit from last season, with games more decisively ending when they reach a snowballed state. So far, it's not so high that we feel we need to take drastic action, other than being a bit more nerf heavy than buff heavy. But we're monitoring closely.
Non-Mana AP:
The big winners were champions like Singed, Teemo, Gwen, Morde, Kayle, Rumble, etc.
They stopped having to buy a stat on Liandrys that they didn't care about (mana) and replaced it with a stat they really like (HP). Karthus is the counter-example here; he cared a lot about the mana and doesn't really care about living longer.
Also, Riftmaker is strong, but we're opting not to Riot special these champions by nerfing it here for now. It seems close to the power level of Liandrys, Rylais, Nashors (possibly a tad stronger, but we need more time to evaluate)
Stormsurgers:
Despite our nerfs to Stormsurge pre-release, it's still a bit strong.
Champions like Fizz, Ekko, Katarina, Kennen, etc. were beneficiaries here.
We're going to nerf Stormsurge and Rocketbelt (smaller), but leave the rest of the AP system intact and see how things shake out after that
Lethality and Hydras:
We made changes to Lethality that make it better early game. Some champions are benefiting from this, like Aphelios (who has lethality in kit) or who frequently purchase Collector (also Aphelios).
We're tapping down these 2 and also bringing up some of the underperforming lethality items like Profane, Hubris.
The Hydras (Profane, Ravenous and Tiamat) also are a bit weak, so we're bringing those up
Fighters and Tanks:
Overall, we think fighters and Tanks will be in a decent spot after the AP's that are strong in top are brought down a bit.
Heartsteel and Stride seem weak though and Titanic looks to be a bit strong. After these adjustments we'll let it sit and re-evaluate after things have settled for a bit.
Supports:
Overall supports look to be in a good spot. We're going to observe a bit more to see how support quest items play out and then evaluate, but Trailblazer looks to be a bit OP out of the items that were added or changed.
Tri Force:
Tri Force doesn't look to be systemically underpowered (even for the champs who lost Sunderer), but for some of the ranged users that were very dependent on 3fold strike, (Corki, Ezreal) they took a hit, so we're buffing them back up.
We're buffing them over champions that have good fallbacks like Vayne.
Champions:
A few more champions in here
Zed buff: Zed was very dependent on Ravenous Hydra last season and took a large hit. Now that he's back to being more single target, we're looking at some buffs to get him back to his normal power level.
Naafiri buff: Even accounting for Naafiri players building wrong and Profane Hydra being a bit weak, she still seems weak. Giving her a bit of a bump to be more performant
Zac buff: Losing Radiant Virtue was a pretty big blow to Zac and we're looking to bring him back up to account for that
Fizz, Gwen, Kayle, Singed, Teemo nerfs: As mentioned above, we think the items are in a decent spot.
These champions either benefitted a lot from stat swaps (typically don't have to waste money on a stat they don't care much about + got a stat they like a lot; typically health)
We're taking care not to "Riot Special" them (nerf them and the items)
https://twitter.com/RiotPhroxzon/status/1745661117068980657
>>> Champion Buffs <<<
Corki
Ezreal
Lux
Naafiri
Zac
Zed
>>> Champion Nerfs <<<
Aphelios
Fizz
Gwen
Kayle
LeBlanc
Singed
Taric
Teemo
>>> System Buffs <<<
Essence Reaver
Heartsteel
Hubris
Profane Hydra
Ravenous Hydra
Stridebreaker
Tiamat
>>> System Nerfs <<<
Collector
Hextech Rocketbelt
Stormsurge
Titanic Hydra
Trailblazer
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