PATCH 13.3: What's new and how to adapt

League of Legends players, get ready for an exciting patch! Patch 13.3 is just around the corner and will go live on Thursday, February 9th for all Riot regions and Friday, February 10th for SEA. This patch will go live a day later than usual, so be prepared for some changes to the Rift.

This patch brings a “brand new” champion to the game: the Aurelion Sol CGU. This celestial entity is sure to shake things up on the Rift, so be prepared for some out-of-this-world action. All about the rework of Aurelion Sol you can find here: Aurelion Sol rework

In addition, the fan-favorite champion Ahri is getting an update, with an ASU that promises to make her tails even fluffier (although this claim is not legally binding). Several struggling melee supports are getting some much-needed buffs, while some popular items like Umbral Glaive and Radiant Virtue will be nerfed. Players can also now surrender at 15 minutes if four out of five players agree.

 

CHAMPION UPDATES 13.3

AMUMU

Amumu, the Sad Mummy, is receiving some adjustments in Patch 13.3. Although the previous changes helped him find new friends in both the jungle and support roles, he has become a bit too popular in these positions. As a result, his Q - Bandage Toss will now have a higher mana cost, going from 40/45/50/55/60 to 45/50/55/60/65. In addition, his E - Tantrum will see a decrease in base damage, going from 80/110/140/170/200 (+50% AP) to 65/100/135/170/205 (+50% AP). These changes are aimed at balancing out Amumu's performance in the game, and keeping things fair for all players. Whether you play him in the jungle or support, these changes will have an impact on your gameplay, so be sure to take them into account when you hit the Rift.

ANNIE

Riot Games has given Annie, one of League of Legends' oldest champions, some well-deserved buffs to her gameplay. The new updates include a fully charged passive on spawn and improvements to her Molten Shield and Pyromania passive. The durability of Tibbers, Annie's trusty bear companion, has also been increased for late-game fights, making her a formidable opponent on the battlefield. With these changes, Annie will not only have a stronger upfront burst damage but will also have the power to hold her own in fights. The new updates to Molten Shield include an increased shield strength, decreased cooldown, and retaliation damage and conditions adjusted to inflict damage against opponents with basic attacks and spells. Additionally, Tibbers' health, armor, magic resist, and movement speed have all been increased, making him a force to be reckoned with in the late game.

JARVAN IV

Jarvan IV is receiving some updates in this patch. His base armor has increased and his W, Golden Aegis, has received a decrease in cooldown, an increase in shield strength that now scales with AD, and a decrease in shield duration. This is intended to turn Jarvan into a relevant backline threat with an increased focus on his AD-oriented builds. The changes to his W, Golden Aegis, aim to reward players who focus on building AD while still keeping the ability useful for low-economy junglers in professional play.

K’SANTE

K'Sante's crowd control capabilities have been causing problems in-game, allowing him to lockdown opponents too efficiently. To balance this, the developers are making adjustments to his kit by decreasing the duration of his Q knockup and stun, reducing the minimum stun duration of his W, and increasing the bonus resistances lost when using his ultimate. These changes aim to make K'Sante a more fair champion to play against and encourage players to focus on isolating their enemies rather than relying on his crowd control abilities. Additionally, the changes to his kit will also make Tenacity a more effective tool against K'Sante.

KASSADIN

Riot Games has made adjustments to the champion Kassadin in an effort to bring him in line with the rest of the roster. The changes target two of Kassadin's core strengths - his ability to trade effectively in the early game and his ability to spam his E in the late game.

The base damage of Kassadin's E, Force Pulse, has been decreased, and its cooldown reduction from nearby casts has also been reduced. Additionally, the base damage and bonus damage per stack of Kassadin's ultimate, Riftwalk, have been decreased. These changes are aimed at reducing Kassadin's overall power and helping balance the champion.

KAYLE

In this patch, Kayle is receiving some updates to help her better showcase her abilities and make her a stronger presence in-game. With the increase in Exalted Bonus Move Speed from her Passive, Divine Ascent, she will have increased mobility to engage and retreat from fights. Additionally, her E, Starfire Spellblade, is seeing improvements to both its passive on-hit damage scaling with AP and the active missing health damage, allowing Kayle to better take advantage of her enemies' weakened state.

KAYN

Kayn, the Shadow Assassin, has been facing some challenges in lower skill brackets. To support the darker version of Kayn, the developers have decided to increase the damage dealt by his passive, The Darkin Scythe. The bonus damage dealt by Shadow Assassin will now be 15-45% of post-mitigation damage to champions, which will be repeated as magic damage for the first 3 seconds of damaging champions. Additionally, the physical damage dealt by Kayn's Q, Reaping Slash, will also be increased, scaling with 80% bonus AD, giving Kayn more power in fights. It's important to note that these changes will not affect Rhaast's damage as he has separate Q values.

LEBLANC

LeBlanc has been facing difficulties in different skill levels, and as she is no longer considered a constant threat in professional play, Riot's developers are making changes to provide her with more mana throughout the game. This should help LeBlanc players find success in challenging lanes, snowball more games, and have access to more waveclear and poke opportunities.

LEE SIN

Riot's developers have made some changes to Lee Sin with the aim of making him a viable pick for players even if they don't have lightning fast reflexes and game sense. By increasing the AD ratio on his Q, he now has more mid game damage potential. To balance this out, the base damage on his E has been decreased, but the slow has been increased to give him more utility in the late game. These changes should make Lee Sin more accessible for players without sacrificing his skill expression.

TRUNDLE

Trundle, the Troll King, has been feeling a bit down lately with several indirect and direct nerfs taking a toll on his performance. Riot is looking to bring back some of his power and make him feel like the fearsome champion he once was. To do this, they are reducing the cooldown of his W ability, Frozen Domain, allowing him to use it more frequently and exert more control over the battlefield. Additionally, Trundle has discovered a new passion for dancing and his dance speed will now scale with his movement speed, making him an even more entertaining champion to play and watch.

ZAC

Zac has been one of the top performing junglers in the current meta. Despite some recent nerfs, he still remains a formidable pick in both the jungle and other lanes. In order to bring him in line with other tanks, his scaling damage has been reduced so that he will either have to rely on his team for damage, or opt for greedier AP builds if he wants to threaten squishy targets.

Patch 13.3: Item changes

RADIAN VIRTUE

Radiant Virtue, despite being overpowered, its strength is not fully appreciated due to the unclear benefits of the item. To address this, the upsides of Radiant Virtue will be made more impactful and noticeable while reducing some of its excessive power. This item is intended for selfless tanks who have fewer defensive support options, so its value will be more closely tied to tanks who can afford to purchase more health. The total cost of the item will increase from 3000 to 3200 gold. The cooldown of the passive ability "Guiding Light" will increase from 60 seconds to 90 seconds, and the maximum health gained from this ability will increase from 10% to 15%. The total healing from this item will also increase from 8-16% maximum health over 9 seconds to 12% maximum health over 9 seconds. Finally, the ability haste effect has been removed.

UMBRAL GLAIVE

Umbral Glaive has been seen to be too effective at reducing enemy vision for a variety of champion types, including assassins, supports, and marksmen. While its presence in the game is still valued, adjustments are being made to limit its uptime and ability to destroy enemy wards and traps. The cooldown for Umbral Glaive is being increased to 50 seconds and its ability to deal reduced damage to wards when used by a ranged champion will now only deal 2 true damage instead of 3. Additionally, the item will no longer instantly destroy traps but will continue to reveal them.

Patch 13.3: Runes update

OVERHEAL

Riot Games has recently made adjustments to the Overheal rune in League of Legends. The changes were intended to improve the overall strength of the rune, particularly for marksmen champions who were previously not taking advantage of its potential benefits. The new changes to the rune now provide a larger shield value based on the player's champion level, which should offer improved durability for players who opt to run the Overheal rune in their games.

Specifically, the shield value of the Overheal rune has been increased from 10 + 9% of the player's maximum health to a range of 20-300, depending on the champion's level. This provides a significant boost in protection, from level 5 onwards of course.

MELEE SUPPORT ADJUSTMENTS

The current Solo Queue meta has a balanced ratio of 2 ranged supports to 1 melee support, but the professional scene has a disproportionate ratio of more than 20 ranged supports to 1 melee support. To promote diversity and an enjoyable playing experience, the developers are giving some buffs to certain melee supports in hopes of increasing their presence in the bot lane. The developers will continue to monitor the gameplay to ensure balance and make adjustments if necessary.

Patch 13.3: Tenacity update

League of Legends has recently undergone some changes to the Tenacity system in the game. The goal of these changes is to simplify and clarify the way Tenacity sources interact with each other, as well as to prevent stacking of various sources that nullify crowd control effects.

Under the new system, Tenacity sources from within the same group will stack multiplicatively with each other, while sources from separate groups will stack additively. There are three groups of Tenacity sources in the game, Group A, Group B, and Group C.

Group A includes Mercury Treads, Anathema's Chains, Elixir of Iron, Iceborn Gauntlet, Legend: Tenacity, Unflinching, Mosstomper Effect, and Chemtech Dragon Buff. These sources of Tenacity will interact multiplicatively with each other.

Group B includes Silvermere Dawn Active, Cleanse, and Modes Buffs for URF/Ultimate Spellbook. These sources of Tenacity will also interact multiplicatively with each other.

Finally, Group C includes Brittle (Orrn W) and Courage (Garen W). These sources of Tenacity will stack additively with other sources of Tenacity from different groups.

The changes to the Tenacity system in League of Legends aim to create a clearer, more streamlined system for players to understand and utilize.

Patch 13.3: Jungle adjustments