Riot confirms some much-needed nerfs for Aurelion Sol, Caitlyn, Gangplank, and others in the upcoming patch.
The League of Legends Patch 13.5 preview is finally out, and from the looks of it, we are getting a ton of changes.
Firstly we will be getting another batch of Jungle changes. Since the Preseason 2023 changes, the Jungle meta has shifted towards an early-game snowball meta. Every Jungler in the game now clears three camps and ganks Bot or Top. Whichever Jungler manages to make their ganks successful snowballs and wins the game.
This is quite unhealthy for the game, and for the last couple of patches, Riot has been trying to balance Jungle’s dynamic. They changed how Kill Experience worked and also nerfed the catch-up experience last patch, which mitigated some of the problems. Now, on Patch 13.5, they are removing the Enemy Jungle Damage Reduction and buffing gold gained from the camps to incentivize early clear and invades.
We are also getting the long-awaited Yuumi Rework this patch. The Rework aims to make Yuumi more new player friendly and lessen the frustrations of playing with and against yuumi. Hopefully, this iteration of Yuumi won’t be overpowered as the last one.
The Azir Mini-Rework is also coming with the patch. Riot is trying to lessen the gap between Azir in professional play and Solo Queue. So they are shifting some power from professional play to Slolo queue.
They are also buffing some top laners like Aatrox, Kennen, and Tryndamere and nerfing Aurelion Sol, Caitlyn, Gangplank, Twitch, and others in this patch.
Additionally, we are getting the new Broken Covenant skins for Riven, Xayah, Rakan, Vladimir, Cho’Gath, Nocturne, and Miss Fortune.
Read More: League of Legends Patch 13.5 Notes: New Changes, Release Date, and More
Patch 13.5 Nerfs
Here are all the nerfs coming to Patch 13.5,
Champion Nerfs
Aurelion Sol
- Base Stats:
- HP Growth: 100 >>> 95.
- Armor Growth: 4.8 >>> 4.3.
- Q – Breath of Light:
- Bonus Magic Damage Burst AP Ratio: 40% >>> 35%
The Space Dragon has been performing too well, it seems. Even after multiple nerfs, Aurelion Sol remains the most banned champion in the game, with a 62% ban rate. So, Riot is nerfing him again on patch 13.5
Caitlyn
- Base Stats:
- Base AD: 62 >>> 60.
- Base armor: 28 >>> 27.
Caitlyn is currently one of the strongest Marksmen in the game. She has an oppressive laning phase, high range, and scales pretty well. Additionally, she is performing very well in Professional play. Thus she is getting nerfed in Patch 13.5.
Gangplank
- Passive – Trial by Fire:
- Base Damage: 55 – 310 >>> 50 – 250.
- E– Powder Keg:
- Recharge time: 18 – 14 seconds >>> 18 seconds at all levels and ranks.
- Charges now are shown below Gangplanks HP bar to all champions.
Gangplank is one of the strongest Top Laners in the game right now. He has a pretty safe early game, scales like a monster, and even if you shut him down in the early game, he can make a comeback thanks to Q poke and First strike. Additionally, he got massively buffed with the Critical Strike changes.
Rammus
- Base Stats:
- AD Growth: 3.5 >>> 2.75.
- Q – Powerball:
- Damage: 100/130/160/190/220 >>> 100/125/150/175/200.
Rammus has always been a strong champion, especially in the lower-tier play. But recently, he has been performing well even in the higher play tier of play. He has a 52% win rate with a 6.5% ban rate in Platinum+ right now. Thus, he is being targeted in this patch.
Twitch
- E – Contaminate:
- AP Ratio: 35% >>> 30%.
Twitch has been terrorizing the solo queue for the last couple of patches, especially the AP Support Twitch. Once Twitch hits level 3, he starts roaming around the map, ganks other lanes, and essentially becomes the second Jungler. Facing one Jungler is hard enough, but a second Jungler is a tad too much.
Xayah
- Base Stats:
- AD Growth: 3.5 >>> 2.75.
- Q – Powerball:
- Damage: 100/130/160/190/220 >>> 100/125/150/175/200.
Xayah is tied with Caitlyn as two of the best Marksmen in the game. But unlike Caitlyn, who is only strong in Professional Play, Xayah is also strong in Solo-Queue. She also has a ton of damage and has self-peel with her R ability. Additionally, she received an indirect buff because of the recent Critical Item Changes. So, in this patch, Riot is looking to tone her down a little.
Yorick
- E – Mourning Mist:
- Bonus Ghoul Damage: 40% >>> 30%.
The Yorick nerfs are quite surprising, as he doesn’t have a high win rate or play rate in Platinum+. These nerfs are mainly aimed towards the lower level of play as he currently has a very high win rate up to Silver, having almost 56% win rate in Iron, 54% in Bronz,e and 53% in Silver.
System Nerfs
Seraph Embrace
Seraph Embrace has been one of the strongest Items ever since the Rework. The item is very gold efficient and provides simple too many stats. So Riot, this patch is finally nerfing it.
Jungle Changes
- Sweeping Lens: 90-60>>> 120-60 (Based on the average level in the game)
- Jungler Lane XP for first 14 minutes: 75% >>> 40-75% based on game time (linear scaling from 0:00)
- Gold Per Camp:
- Gromp: 70 >>> 80 Gold
- Blue: 80 >>> 90 Gold
- Murkwolf: 50 >>> 55 Gold
- Smaller Murkwolf: 13 >>> 15 Gold
- Razorbeak: 30 >>> 35 Gold
- Smaller Razorbeak: 7 >>> 8 Gold
- Red: 80 >>> 90 Gold
- Medium Krug: 5 >>> 10 Gold
- Smaller Krug: 13 >>> 14 Gold
With the change,s Riot is looking to strip some of the power from the early game ganking Junglers to farming Junglers and incentivize more invades.
Release Date
The aforementioned nerfs will be included in Patch 13.5, which will be released on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
