League of Legends 2023 Preseason Patch 12.22 is on the horizon as chemtech returns, along with new items, jungle pets, and more.
Every year, the end of a season means Riot will bring about numerous changes and additions to League of Legends. While last year’s preseason did not bring about cataclysmic changes, this year’s update will be significant enough to be called a shake-up.
There is so much to parse into with the upcoming patch, as you cannot pinpoint a change as a highlight. We have Chemtech returning to the fray while the jungle is getting pets, little munchkins that will walk along jungle players and kill monsters. Then, we have new items, changes, system updates, etc. There is a lot going on with this preseason patch.
Many of the little changes were also pulled and will be done another time, so we are in for many more changes in the future. Thus, in Patch 12.22, we are set to get a bunch of changes and additions. Hence, let’s dive straight into the 2023 Preseason Patch 12.22 details and when the update will release.
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LoL Preseason Patch 12.22 Release Date
According to Riot Games, Season 12 Ranked season will end on Tuesday, November 15, at 12:01 AM local server time. With the end of Season 12 Ranked, League of Legends Preseason Patch 12.22 will release on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.
LoL Patch 12.22 release time and server maintenance:
- NA: 3:00 AM PT
- EUW: 5:00 UK time
- EUNE: 3:00 CET
The Chemtech Rises Again
Chemtech is returning to Summoner’s Rift as the drake has been re-energized with a new rift and buffs. The dragon itself has undergone many changes, while the Chemtech Rift has new plants. So let’s talk about the Chemtech changes on two fronts, the Drake itself and the Chemtech Rift Terrain.
Chemtech Drake
Standard Buff
Grants Tenacity and Healing/Shielding Power to the team that does the killing blow (5% for both Tenacity and Healing and Shielding Power per stack)
Soul
Champions deal 10% more damage and take 10% less damage when below 50% of their maximum health.
Chemtech Terrain
The terrain of the Chemtech rift is changing significantly. The theme of the chemtech colors is still the same, but the plants are augmented in the terrain. All the plants do additional effects and will do more in games. The video below shows the plants in action.
Blast Cone
The Blast Cone propels you to double the distance from the normal plant.
Stim Fruits
Honey Fruits upgrade to Stim Fruits in the Chemtech terrain. The Stim Fruits will no longer slow champions. Instead, champions will receive a small shield when consuming the individual fruit.
Stalker’s Bloom
Scryer’s Bloom will morph into Stalker’s Bloom. The Stalker’s Bloom will reveal vision via a cone towards the direct hit and a circle around the plant. Additionally, the champion that used the plant will receive bonus movement speed toward any revealed enemy champion. Lastly, any revealed wards will be reduced to 1 HP.
Jungle Changes
Let’s now head to the jungle as we get Pets, camp alterations, leashing range changes, new smites, and many more. Let’s jump into all of that.
Jungle Items, Pets, and Smite
The jungle items have been upgraded and made many changes. The new item is divided into three tiers along with the smite, which we will discuss later in this article.
Jungle Item Tier 1
Jungle item tier 1 is the first item junglers will buy at the start of the game. There are three different jungle items that add a different pet for the item chosen. Also, the item can be upgraded twice up to tier 3. Here are the specifics.
- Item Gold Price: 350 Gold >>> 450 Gold.
- Adds a pet that upgrades with the item.
- The pet deals 20 base damage + 15% Bonus AD + 10% AP + 4% bonus HP true damage per second to all monsters in a camp.
- Heals for 70% per second of the above damage dealt.
- The effect occurs and continues as long as a camp monster has been attacked in the last two seconds.
- Smite Summoner Spell that upgrades with the item
- True Damage: 450 >> 600 true damage to monsters.
- Does not heal anymore
- Upgrades to Unleashed Smite when jungle item upgrades to tier 2.
- Two types of Treats: Buff Treats and Camp Treats
- Buff Treats spawn over time from 2:30 minutes in the game and every 1 minute from that point forward. Buff Treats stack up in a buff bar, and 1 from the buff bar is fed to the pet each time a large monster in a camp is killed. Each buff treat consumed gives 50 gold.
- Camp treats are gained every time a large monster is killed. That treat is fed to the pet.
- Evolves to Tier 2 when 20 treats are consumed and Tier 3 when 40 treats in total are eaten.
- Ignores Armor and MR from jungle monsters.
- Gains increased mana regenerations based on missing mana inside the jungle and river.
- Bonus XP for monster slain increased from 60 to 75 XP.
Jungle Item Tier 2
The tier 2 item is almost the same as the Tier 1 item.
- Unleashed Smite:
- Deals 900 True Damage on Monsters.
- Also deals 20-160 true damage to champions and slows them down by 20%.
- Upgrades to Primal Smite when jungle item evolves to tier 3.
- Pet Evolves, but stats stay the same.
- The pet deals 20 base damage + 15% Bonus AD + 10% AP + 4% bonus HP true damage per second to all monsters in a camp.
- Heals for 70% per second of the above damage dealt.
- The effect occurs and continues as long as a camp monster has been attacked in the last two seconds.
- Evolves to Tier 2 when 20 treats are consumed and Tier 3 when 40 treats in total are eaten.
- Ignores Armor and MR from jungle monsters.
- Gains increased mana regenerations based on missing mana inside the jungle and river.
- Bonus XP for monster slain increased from 60 to 75 XP.
Jungle Item Tier 3
Tier 3 upgrades the pets to their fullest form, and each of the pets gets individual buffs.
- All pets reduce the incoming damage by 30% as long as at least two allies are near the jungler.
- Individual Pet buffs:
- Red Pet (name unknown): Gains stacks up to 100 over time and when killing monsters. Consume at maximum stacks to deal 4% damage based on the enemy’s maximum HP over four seconds. Also gives 30% slow for 2 seconds.
- Green Pet (name unknown): Gains a 75-330 HP shield when killing monsters or while out of combat. Also, gains 20% tenacity/slow resistance while the shield lasts and 3 seconds afterward.
- Blue Pet (name unknown): Gains 45% MS when entering a brush for 2 seconds or gains 60% MS for 2 seconds after killing a large monster. Both effects MS decays over 2 sec, but the duration refreshes when inside a brush.
- Buff Treats spawn timer changes from once per minute to 1:30 minutes per treat.
- Primal Smite:
- Deals 1200 true damage to monsters
- Also deals 50% AoE damage to nearby monsters not targeted by the smite.
- Damage and Slow to champions are the same as the tier 2 jungle item.
Camp Stats Changes
Camps are also being changed to compensate for the pets, new smites, and such. Here are all the changes to the camps.
- All Camps:
- More Health
- Less Attack Damage
- Heals 25-76 (based on level) + 2.25% maximum HP when a large monster in a camp is killed.
- Restores 15-49 (based on level) + 2.25% maximum mana when a large monster in a camp is killed.
- If the large monster in a camp is dead, the camp will despawn after a few seconds if the camp is not being attacked.
- Krugs:
- Large Krugs no longer split into two medium Krugs. They now split into four small Krugs instead.
- Possible reduced gold and XP due to fewer Krugs.
- Gromp’s Auto Attack Range:
- Reduced from 250 range to 175 range.
- Heal changed to the healing of all camps listed above.
- Rift Scuttler:
- No longer has a shield
- Spawn timer moved back from 3:15 minutes to 3:30 minutes.
Camp Leashing Changes
- Leash Range is now visible to all players
- All camps have reduced Leashing Range barring Gromp.
- Patience slowly restores in combat as long as the monster is not losing any.
- The camp soft resets now instead of a hard reset.
- When the Patience of the camp reaches 0, the monsters will start moving toward its camp. The monster can be aggroed before it completely resets as long as it is in leash range.
- HP also regenerates during that phase.
- Will hard reset after 3 seconds of not being attacked
- Rift Herald also has these leashing changes.
Communication Systems
Ping Wheel
Many new pings are being added to the game, and the ping system is to improve communication in-game. The ping wheel is also being changed to accommodate the new alerts. The old pings are in cardinal directions, while the new pings are in diagonal directions. The new pings are as follows:
- Push (top right icon)
- All-in (bottom right icon)
- Hold (bottom left icon)
- Bait (top left icon)
Vision Ping Wheel
Enemy vision pings also get a wheel to make vision-related communication much easier. Enemy Vision Pings are as follows:
- Vision Cleared (Left icon)
- Enemy Vision (Middle Icon)
- Need Vision (Right Icon)
Objective Voting
Players will now be able to vote for Objectives as to whether to take them down or not. It works similarly to the surrender voting, except the UI looks much better overall. This will help players to improve communication.
Off Screen Pings
Pings can now be seen off-screen using indicators on the edges of the screen. Enemy Missing pings will show on the screen wherever pings are coming from. Other pings will only be seen if your champion is within 3000 units of the alert.
Ward Visual System
Allied Ward Tracking System
Since Allied Ward timers are hard to track, new ward visuals are being added on the minimap when the wards are close to expiring. The appearance of the wards on the minimap will change at 60 seconds and 30 seconds left before the ward expires.
Enemy Ward Tracking System
Ward tracking is harder, especially for Enemy Wards. If you or a teammate pings an enemy ward within the first 10 seconds of the ward being placed, a timer generates for that. The timer accurately depicts the time left for the ward and stays until the ward expires.
Loadout and Ability Recommendations
The new loadout recommendations will feature optional rune pages and summoner spells in champion select. The recommendation will be available to see on the rune edit page using a button after the champion is locked.
The recommendation will show up to 3 rune and summoner spell setups to choose from. This system will be updated once every patch to stay up-to-date with the overall meta.
Ability recommendations will also be given in-game to ensure players are in line with the meta. This will also be updated once every patch.
Gameplay Changes
Many changes are being done to the turrets and the lanes. Let’s talk about them.
Turret Changes
The turrets are undergoing some changes to incentivize aggressive gameplay early on.
- Gold Per Turret Plate: 160 >>> 175 Gold per plate
- Bonus Resistances Per Plate: 35 >>> 40 resistances added per plate destroyed.
Mid Lane Changes
Mid Lane is getting multiple changes to balance it out for the future meta.
- Experience Multiplier Gained from Minions: 93% >> 95% Experience
- Mid Lane Gold Change: All Minions will give 1 less gold. Cannon minions will give an overall 11 gold less since 10 gold was less from the previous nerfs.
Top Lane Changes
The top lane is getting the same change in terms of experience as the mid lane changes.
- Bonus Experience Multiplier Gained from Minions: 93% >> 95% Experience.
Bottom Lane Changes
The bot lane is set to receive slightly less experience.
- Bonus Experience Multiplier Gained from Minions: 24.73% >>> 22% Experience.
Preseason Item Changes
Many items are being changed or added to the game. These include new Mythics, new Legendaries, and changes to existing items.
New Mythic Items
Heartsteel
Heartsteel was previously named Still-Beating Strength, Goliath’s Ascendancy, and Goliath’s Ascendiary. After undergoing multiple item changes, the item is still ready to go. Here are the stats.
- Build Path: Kindlegem + Crystalline Bracers + Giant’s Belt
- Gold Cost: 3200
- 800 HP
- 200% HP Regeneration
- 20 Ability Haste
- Passive – Colossal Consumption:
- Charge up a powerful attack against a champion over 3s while within 700 range of them. The charged attack deals 125 + 6% bonus physical damage and grants you 10% of that amount as permanent maximum health
- 30 seconds cooldown per target
- Mythic Passive: Grants 1% Increased Health and 6% Champion Size per Legendary item.
Iceborn Gauntlet
Frostfire Gauntlet is being changed to Iceborn Gauntlet.
- Build Path: Sheen + Kindlegem + Chain Vest
- Gold Cost: 3000
- 400 HP
- 50 Armor
- 20 Ability Haste
- Passive – Spellblade:
- After using an ability, your next attack is enhanced with an additional 100% base AoE AD and creates a frost field for 2.5 seconds.
- Enemies that move on the field are slowed by 15% + 0.004% maximum hp of your champion.
- The primary target is crippled, applying a 100% stronger slow on them and reducing their damage by 10% against you for 2.5 seconds.
- 1.5 second cooldown
- Mythic Passive: Gain 50 Health, 5% Tenacity, and 5% Slow Resists for every Legendary item.
Jak’Sho, The Protean
A new item, previously named Icathia’s Endurance, is another tank item being added to the game.
- Build Path: Aegis of the Legion + Kindlegem + Ruby Crystal
- Gold Cost: 3000
- 400 HP
- 30 Armor
- 30 Magic Resist
- 20 Ability Haste
- Passive – Voidborn Resilience:
- For each second in champion combat, gain a stack granting 2 Armor and MR, up to 8 stacks max.
- At max stacks, become empowered and instantly drain enemies around you for 3% of your max health as magic damage and healing you for the same amount (reduced to 1% against minions and monsters).
- Your resists are increased by 10% until the end of combat
- Mythic Passive: 5 Armor and Magic Resist for every Legendary item.
Radiant Virtue
Another tank item that offers a different passive and an alternative to Jak’sho, The Protean.
- Build Path: Aegis of the Legion + Kindlegem + Ruby Crystal
- Gold Cost: 3000
- 400 HP
- 30 Armor
- 30 Magic Resist
- 20 Ability Haste
- Passive – Guiding Light:
- Upon casting your Ultimate, you Transcend, increasing your Max Health by 10% for 9 seconds.
- While Transcended, you and your allies within 1200 range of you gain 15 non-ultimate ability haste and heal for 0.5% of your max health every three seconds. Increased up to 100% based on that champion’s missing health.
- 60 seconds cooldown.
- Mythic Passive: 100 Health gained for every Legendary item.
Rod of Ages
One of the old items of League of Legends and a fan favorite is back as a Mythic item.
- Build Path: Catalyst of Aeons + Blasting Rod + Amplifying Tome
- Gold Cost: 3200
- 60 Ability Power
- 300 Health
- 400 Mana
- 20 Ability Haste
- This item gains 20 Health, 20 Mana, and 4 Ability Power every 60 seconds up to 10 times for a maximum of 200 Health, 200 Mana, and 40 Ability Power.
- Upon reaching max stacks, gain a level, and all effects of Eternity are increased by 50%.
- Passive – Eternity:
- Restores Mana equal to 10% of damage taken from champions, and Health equals 20% of Mana spent, up to 15 Health per cast, per second.
- For every 250 Health or Mana restored this way, gain 25% Decaying Move Speed for 2 seconds.
- Mythic Passive: 5 Ability Haste for every Legendary item.
New Legendary Items
Abyssal Mask
Abyssal Mask is reworked to fit the return of Catalyst of Aeons.
- New Build Path: Catalyst of Aeons and Spectre’s Cowl
- Gold Cost: 3200
- 500 Health
- 300 Mana
- 40 Magic Resist
- 10 Ability Haste
- Passive – Eternity:
- Restores Mana equal to 10% of damage taken from champions, and Health equals 20% of Mana spent, up to 15 Health per cast, per second.
- Passive – Unmake:
- Curse nearby enemy champions, reducing their Magic Resist by 5% + 1.2% bonus Health (max 25). For each Cursed enemy, gain 9 Magic Resist.
- One enemy can only curse a champion at the same time (prioritizes the most potent curse).
Randuin’s Omen
The item was reverted back to a previous version. Hopefully, it works out this time.
- New Build Path: Warden’s Mail + Giant’s Belt
- Gold Cost: 3000
- 400 Health
- 60 Armor
- Active – Humility: Briefly slow nearby enemies by 55% for 2 seconds (60 second cooldown)
- Passive – Rock Solid: Reduce incoming damage from attacks by up to 5 (+ 0.35% of maximum health)%, capped at 40% of the attack’s damage. (same as before)
- Passive – Critical Resilience: Critical Strikes deal 20% less damage to you.
Spear of Shojin
An infamous item is returning to League of Legends to hopefully put it in a better light.
- Build Path: Caufield’s Warhammer + B.F. Sword + Kindlegem
- Gold Cost: 3400
- 65 Attack Damage
- 300 Health
- 20 Ability Haste
- Passive 1:
- Gain 8 + 8% bonus AD Ability Haste (reduced to 75% for ranged).
- 50% less effective for hard CC abilities.
- Passive 2:
- Gain 0-15% Movement Speed (reduced to 75% for ranged) based on missing HP (max at 33% current HP)
Sunfire Aegis
One of the many old Mythic items is being turned into a Legendary Item.
- New Build Path: Bami’s Cinder + Chain Vest
- Gold Cost: 2800
- 400 Health
- 50 Armor
- Passive – Immolation:
- Taking or dealing damage causes you to begin dealing 15 (+ 1.75% of bonus health) magic damage to nearby enemies (increased by 25% against minions and 150% against jungle monsters) for 3 seconds. Damaging champions or epic jungle monsters with this effect adds a stack, increasing subsequent Immolate damage by 10% for 5 seconds (6 stacks maximum).
Turbo Chemtank
Another item that is being turned into a Legendary item.
- New Build Path: Kindlegem + Negatron Cloak + Ruby Crystal
- Gold Cost: 2800
- 500 Health
- 50 Magic Resist
- 10 Ability Haste
- Active – Supercharged: Grants 40% movement speed towards enemies or enemy turrets for 4 seconds. Once near an enemy (or after 4 seconds), a shockwave is emitted that slows nearby champions by 40% for 1.5 seconds (90 second cooldown).
New Epic Items
Catalyst of Aeons
An item for the build path toward Rod of Ages as another classic returns to League of Legends.
- Gold Cost: 1100
- 225 Health
- 300 Mana
- Passive – Eternity:
- Restores Mana equal to 8% of damage taken from champions, and Health equals 20% of Mana spent, up to 15 Health per cast, per second.
Existing Item Changes
Aegis
- Price Change from 1400 to 1200 Gold.
Navori Quickblade
- Passive – Deft Strikes:
- Requires 60% critical strike for the passive effect to work.
- Unique with Infinity Edge and the new Spear of Shojin.
- Reduces current non-ultimate ability cooldown to a flat 15% every auto attack instead of the previous 4-20% reduction of non-ultimate ability cooldown on critical hits.
- Skills deal 0-20% damage based on critical chance.
Ravenous Hydra
- Attack Damage: 70 AD >>> 65 AD
- Passive – Cleave:
- Attacks and Abilities deal 60% physical damage for melee champions or 30% physical damage for ranged champions to other enemies within 350 units of the target hit.
- New Passive – Carnivorous:
- Gains 0.6 AD and 0.1 Omnivamp whenever you kill a minion.
- Two times the amount is gained when you kill a champion, large monster, or siege minion.
- This stacks up to +24 AD and +4 Omnivamp. Lose 50% of your stacks on death.
Tiamat
- Passive – Cleave:
- Attacks and Abilities deal 50% physical damage for melee champions or 25% physical damage for ranged champions to other enemies within 350 units of the target hit.
Surrender Changes
Surrender changes are coming as Riot is trying to combat AFKing in games. Thus, they are targeting the early surrender timeframe to let players escape a miserable situation. This change was covered in a previous article.
- Early surrender time for AFKs is being reduced from 10:00 minutes to 3:30 minutes.
Champion Select Anonymity
Riot is also introducing Champion Select Anonymity in the drafts of Ranked Games for Solo/Duo. This is to prevent players from using third-party apps to draw wrong conclusions. The changes have been covered earlier in this article.
- Names will be hidden in drafts for Ranked Solo/Duo.
Preseason Patch 12.22 Balance Update
Besides all the new additions and changes, champions also have balance changes in this patch. Here are all of them.
Buffs
Cho’Gath
- R – Feast: Base damage to non-champions increased from 1000 to 1200.
K’Sante
- E – Footwork: Dash speed towards allies increased from 1600 to 1800.
Nunu and Willump
- Q – Consume: Base damage to non-champions increased from 340-980 to 400-1200 (1-16 levels)
Adjustments
Lillia
- Classified as a melee champion instead of a ranged champion now.
- Based Health reduced from 625 to 605.
- Health growth increased from 104 to 105.
Rakan
- Classified as a melee champion instead of a ranged champion now.
Base Stats Changes
A massive number of base stats are being changed for multiple champions. Here is the whole list of it categorized with the type of base stat changes.
Base AD
- Fiddlesticks: 55.36 AD >>> 55 AD
AD Growth
- Annie: 2.63 AD >>> 2.65 AD
- Ashe: 2.96 AD >>> 2.95 AD
- Draven: 3.61 AD >>> 3.6 AD
- Fiddlesticks: 2.63 AD >>> 2.65 AD
- Kog’Maw: 3.11 AD >>> 3.1 AD
- Singed: 3.38 AD >>> 3.4 AD
- Twitch: 3.11 AD >>> 3.1 AD
- Vayne: 2.36 AD >>> 2.35 AD
Attack Speed Growth:
- Ryze: 2.112% >>> 2.11%
Base HP:
- Fiddlesticks: 650.4 HP >>> 650 HP
Base Mana:
- Draven: 360.56 Mana >>> 361 Mana
- Lucian: 348.88 Mana >>> 349 Mana
- Ornn: 340.60 Mana >>> 341 Mana
- Pantheon: 317.12 Mana >>> 317 Mana
- Samira: 348.88 Mana >>> 349 Mana
- Talon: 377.2 Mana >>> 377 Mana
- Vayne: 231.80 Mana >>> 382 Mana
Mana Growth:
- Darius: 57.5 >>> 58
- Karthus: 30.5 >>> 31
- Malzahar: 27.5 >>> 28
- Swain: 28.5 >>> 29
Base MR:
- Camille: 32.1 MR >>> 32 MR
- Evelynn: 32.1 MR >>> 32 MR
- Rell: 32.1 MR >>> 32 MR
Base Mana Regen:
- Draven: 8.04 >>> 8.05
- Evelynn: 8.11 >>> 8.1
- Jax: 7.58 >>> 7.6
- Malphite: 7.32 >>> 7.3
- Master Yi: 7.26 >>> 7.25
- Miss Fortune: 8.04 >>> 8.05
- Nasus: 7.44 >>> 7.45
- Nautilus: 8.63 >>> 8.65
- Nilah: 8.18 >>> 8.2
- Ornn: 8.01 >>> 8
- Pantheon: 7.36 >>> 7.35
- Quinn: 6.97 >>> 7
- Rammus: 7.84 >>> 7.85
- Samira: 8.18 >>> 8.2
- Shaco: 7.16 >>> 7.15
- Twitch: 7.26 >>> 7.25
- Vayne: 6.97 >>> 7
- Warwick: 7.47 >>> 7.45
- Xin Zhao: 7.26 >>> 7.25
- Zilean: 11.34 >>> 11.35
Mana Growth:
- Amumu: 0.53 >>> 0.55
- Warwick: 0.58 >>> 0.6
Eternal Series 2
Eternals Series 2 is coming out in this patch as we get more new achievements. Not much is known about the Eternals barring more new achievements coming very soon.
ARAM Changes
The ARAM game mode is getting many changes to keep up with the moniker of a different game mode. The changes will be deployed in two patches, Patch 12.22 and 12.23. Patch 12.23 will introduce the refurbished map and some other changes, while Patch 12.22 will get some stats buffs for certain champions along with Clash. Here are the Patch 12.22 changes.
Champion Balance Adjustments
Energy Regen Changes
The following champions will gain 20% bonus energy regen on ARAM.
- Akali
- Kennen
- Lee Sin
- Zed
Tenacity Changes
The following champions will gain 20% increased Tenacity on ARAM.
- Akali
- Ekko
- Elise
- Evelynn
- Fizz
- Kassadin
- Katarina
- Kayn
- Kha’Zix
- Leblanc
- Pyke
- Qiyana
- Rek’Sai
- Rengar
- Talon
- Zed
Ability Haste Changes
A decrease in ability haste is being done for the popular marksman as she runs rampant with spell casts.
- -20% Ability Haste for Ashe
Special ARAM Clash
Clash is coming to ARAM as it will be free to enter, and teams will be put in an 8-team bracket. Each team will play three games, and each player will receive two rerolls each game.
Registration for the Clash will begin on December 5th, and the tournament days will be December 10th and 11th. Players that participate will receive a special icon representing the ARAM Clash.
Skins
The new Space Groove Skins will be coming out in Patch 12.22. The list includes Space Groove Gragas, Space Groove Lissandra, Space Groove Nami, Prestige Space Groove Nami, Space Groove Ornn, Space Groove Taric, Space Groove Teemo, Space Groove Twisted Fate. All the skins will be released on November 17th, 2022, and they will cost a minimum of 1350 RP, barring Space Groove Teemo, which will cost 1820 RP, and Prestige Space Groove Nami, which will cost 125 Mythic Essence. The patch will also release Victorious Sejuani for Ranked Rewards.
Space Groove Gragas
Space Groove Lissandra
Space Groove Nami
Prestige Space Groove Nami
Space Groove Ornn
Space Groove Taric
Space Groove Teemo
Space Groove Twisted Fate
Victorious Sejuani
