Riot is planning some massive changes for the Worlds 2022 patch.
With the League of Legends World Championship right around the corner, Riot has shared their balance changes for the Worlds patch.
Worlds 2022 will be played on League of Legends patch 12.18, but unlike the previous two Worlds-focused patches, it will be a small one. Because according to Riot, they have already made multiple changes since the playoff patches, and they don’t want to “upend the meta.” However, the nerfs they are planning for the final patch will affect the Professional play meta and solo queue.
League of Legends Lead Game Designer Riot Phroxzon has previewed the upcoming League of Legends patch 12.18. As the preview states, the champions receiving the nerfs are Miss Fortune, Kalista, Hecarim, Kayn, Lulu, Kayn, and Nocturne. In addition, they also plan on buffing Ashe, Thresh, Lee Sin, and Nasus.
All the previewed changes will be available in patch 12.18 PBE for testing. The total changes are scheduled to go live on Wednesday, Sept 21, 2022.
Miss Fortune Nerfs Patch 12.18
- HP Growth: 107 >>> 103
- AD Growth: 2.7 >>> 2.4
Miss Fortune just received a mini-rework in patch 12.17. The changes shifted her towards a traditional crit/attack speed ADC rather than a lethality one. The mini-rework also touched on her AP build variant, making it slightly less oppressive in the lane.
The changes were excellent for Miss Fortune, but Riot may have overturned the numbers. Even with the recent hotfix nerfs, she is pretty overpowered.
Miss Fortune has a 25% pick rate and a whopping 21% ban rate. Unfortunately, she also has an above-average win rate of 53%, making her borderline broken right now. As a result, in patch 12.18, Riot will tune her damage numbers to keep her balanced.
Kalista Nerfs Patch 12.18
- Base HP reduced 604 >>> 564
Kalista has been in a strange position since her release in 2014. She is a very skill-expressive champion and has been hard to balance. Kalista takes a lot of practice and good coordination with the support player; thus, she is mainly picked in Professional play. However, recently, she has been quite oppressive in the Pro-play scene. So, Riot is nerfing her before Worlds 2022.
Hecarim Nerfs Patch 12.18
- Q:
- Bonus AD ratio reduced 95% >>> 90%
- Ramp damage reduced +6% per 100 bonus AD >>> +5% per 100 bonus AD
- W:
- Healing reduced 30% (+2.5% per 100 bAD) >>> 25% (+2% per 100 bAD)
Just like Miss Fortune, Hecarim also received a mini-rework in patch 12.17. The rework pushed Hecarim towards a bruised-esque playstyle, and it worked well, maybe too well. As it stands, Hecarim has a 17% pick rate in solo queue and a massive 28% ban rate.
So, Riot games are planning on touching Hecarim’s damage numbers and putting him in a balanced spot.
Kayn (Rhaast) Nerfs Patch 12.18
- Q:
- HP % Ratio per 100 bonus AD reduced 5% >>> 3.5%
Red Kayn, aka Rhaast, has been very strong for the past few months. Ever since his eclipse build started gaining popularity, he has been dominant in the jungle.
Kayn is a champion that snowballs quite well, and his Rhaast form allows him to snowball even better. Unfortunately, eclipse build along with Rhasst’s innate healing makes him unkillable if ahead and has been frustrating for many.
Thus, Riot is planning on nerfing him by reducing his healing.
Lulu Nerfs Patch 12.18
- W:
- Cooldown increased 17-13s >>> 17-15s
- Polymorph duration reduced 1.25-2.25s >>> 1.2-2s
- Movespeed reduced 30% >>> 25%
Lulu has been one of the most pick/banned supports in professional play, along with Yummi. She can pair up with almost any ADC, but most importantly, she works very well with the best meta ADCs, Zeri & Sivir. Furthermore, her ability to save teammates and crowd control is unparallel. So it is pretty easy to see why Lulu is being targeted.
Nocturne Nerfs Patch 12.18
- AD Growth: 3.1 >>> 2.6
The Nocturne changes are odd as he doesn’t have a good win rate or pick rate. Sitting at only a 51% win rate with only a 5% pick rate, Nocturne is in an average spot. Although, his ultimate ability paired up with certain champions can be pretty oppressive.
