EB24 About League of Legends - Patch 12.4 Analysis by Yoshi

Hello, Summoners! Zeri has already become a common pick among others but she needs to step aside because the 17th of February Riot introduced to us Renata Glasc, The Chem-Baroness! I will do the best I can to let you know what she brings to the game. One of her spells provides a feature that has never appeared ever before! Sounds cool, right? Despite this, we encountered many nerfs and buffs. However, the biggest shuffle in the league will bring in the upcoming champion :). My name’s Yoshi and in this blog, we shall present:

- Champion changes

- Item changes

- Upcoming skins

- Summary

Let’s start with Renata Glasc!

Champion changes

 Renata Glasc

Abilities

 Passive - Leverage

Renata Glasc’s basic attacks mark her enemies and deal bonus damage. Damage coming from Renata’s allies consumes the mark, which results in dealing additional damage.

Q - Handshake

Renata Glasc sends out a missile from her robotic arm that roots the first enemy hit. She can reactivate the ability to throw the enemy in a target direction, damaging enemies hit and stunning them if the thrown target is a champion.

W - Bailout

Renata Glasc grants an allied champion or herself ramping Attack Speed and Move Speed toward enemies. If the ally gets a takedown on an enemy champion, the buff duration resets. If the ally would die while Bailout is still active, their health is set back to full but they begin burning to death over 3 seconds. The ally can stop the burn by getting a champion takedown before they die.

E - Loyalty Program

Renata Glasc sends out chemtech rockets that shield allies and damage and slow enemies they pass through. The rockets also apply their effects around her on cast and in an explosion at max range.

R - Hostile Takeover

Renata Glasc sends out a cloud of chemicals that causes enemies to go Berserk, increasing their Attack Speed and forcing them to basic attack anything around them. Berserk enemies prioritize attacking their own allies, then neutral units, then Renata Glasc's team, then Renata Glasc herself.

The whole fact that Renata Glasc has in her kit revive and Berserk effect is somewhat ridiculous. Her impact as support is so strong that it might dominate the Summoner’s Rift Entirely. Hey, maybe you will have the opportunity to have your sweet revenge on feeding Yasuo! I personally am excited that Riot wants to bring something unique to the gameplay as it will surely mess up the meta for a while after release.

Aatrox Q - The Darkin Blade

Sweetspot Damage 150% ⇒ 160% - Buffed

The change was applied due to fighter item changes from the previous patch. Riot still keeps an eye on Aatrox but doesn’t want him to fall behind in the meta. This is a reasonable change.

Amumu E - Tantrum

Physical Damage Reduction 2/4/6/8/10 (+3% bonus armor) (+3% bonus magic resist) ⇒ 5/7/9/11/13 (+3% bonus armor) (+3% bonus magic resist) - Buffed

Amumu is in a weird spot right now. Riot nerfs him to the point that makes him practically forgotten.  However, once he receives buffs he becomes overpowered. I think Riot should focus on adjusting something else because this might be a mistake of changing Amumu’s Tantrum every single time. I think the change is a strong buff, but E should not be a spell to focus on. Changes on Q could probably apply more significance to his gameplay.

Ashe R - Enchanted Crystal Arrow

 Missile Speed 1600 ⇒ 1500 (+200 per second of travel time), up to 2100 - Buffed

I find this as a very strong buff for Ashe because it takes so little to overpass 1600 missile speed now. Genuinely speaking, the Arrow becomes faster and faster. This is very strong across the map.

Blitzcrank

Base Stats

Base Health Regeneration 8.5 ⇒ 7.5 - Nerfed

On lower ranks, Blitzcrank became a too commonly picked support.  This might be due to the huge amount of enchanters, which Blitzcrank is a very good counter for them. However, Riot wants to chill out some of his presence on the Fields of Justice.

Dr. Mundo

Base Stats

AD Growth 4.2 ⇒ 3.5 - Nerfed

Attack Damage 61-132.4 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 61-120.5 (levels 1-18) - Nerfed

 R - Maximum Dosage

Cooldown 110/100/90 seconds ⇒ 110 seconds at all ranks - Nerfed

I don't fully agree with the changes that were applied here. Dr. Mundo is not that popular on the background of current top laners in season 12 meta. This is a sad change that may affect him appearing even less on the top lane.

Illaoi

Base Stats

Attack Speed 0.571 ⇒ 0.625 - Buffed

 W - Harsh Lesson

Bonus Physical Damage 3/3.5/4/4.5/5% (+2% per 100 AD) of target's maximum health ⇒ 3/3.5/4/4.5/5% (+4% per 100 AD) of target's maximum health - Buffed

Illaoi has dropped in the view of other top laners. She was only taken by a few one tricks that were playing her for dedication. Riot wants to change it by buffing her key ability’s attack damage scaling. It will increasingly stack itself, adding changes on items, so it will give her a little push towards other champions on Rift. I think that change is well deserved.

Kalista

Base Stats

Armor 21 ⇒ 24 - Buffed

This is the same type of change.  Kalista was falling behind in the early game. Riot wants to give her more space to be aggressive on the laning phase. Honestly, I think that she needed that.

Lucian Q - Piercing Light

Mana Cost 50/60/70/80/90 ⇒ 48/56/64/72/80 - Buffed

A little buff for Lucian that should give him just a small touch on the laning phase because the only reason for implementing such a change is to make him more valuable before he gets his core item, Essence Reaver.

Nami E - Tidecaller's Blessing

On-Hit Damage (Per Hit) 20/35/50/65/80 (+20% AP) ⇒ 25/40/55/70/85 (+20% AP) - Buffed

This is the same thing as it is with Amumu, Riot games is not quite sure what to do with Nami to find the balance between being overpowered or completely unplayable. 

Neeko

Base Stats

Gameplay (Hitbox) Radius 80 ⇒ 65 - Buffed

 Q - Blooming Burst

Additional Bloom Damage 40/60/80/100/120 (+20% AP) ⇒ 40/65/90/115/140 (+20% AP) - Buffed

 W - Shapesplitter

Cooldown 20/19/18/17/16 seconds ⇒ 16/15/14/13/12 seconds - Buffed

It’s been a while since a champion received hitbox changes. I can’t really tell what was the reason for such an implementation, but it is almost 25% lower in size.  This sounds scary as we play heroes that rely on skill shots. We also need to watch out for Neeko as her early game wave clearly got buffed.  She may have more impact on the maps than we could think.

Nunu & Willump

Base Stats

Health Growth 82 ⇒ 76 - Nerfed

Health at Level 18 1934 ⇒ 1832 - Nerfed

 Q - Consume

Healing From Champions 60/88/116/144/172 (+72% AP) (+8% bonus health) ⇒ 45/66/87/108/129 (+54% AP) (+6% bonus health) - Nerfed

Since Nunu was quite of a problem for a champion to balance, Riot decreased his survival abilities.  This is due to the fact most people playing Nunu were rushing AP items, which still was not enough for people because Nunu & Willump were quite a problem to deal with. After this change, he should be squishier, as well as more reliable on the items that give him survival angles.

Qiyana Passive - Royal Privilege

Additional Physical Damage 15-83 (levels 1-18) (+55% bonus AD) (+30% AP) ⇒ 15-83 (levels 1-18) (+45% bonus AD) (+30% AP) - Nerfed

We can’t really deny that Qiyana still causes trouble for people to deal with. Her spell kit is so difficult to balance that Riot tries every opportunity to bring her down. Her win rates in higher elo were quite too high. Riot thinks that reducing damage on passive might fix the problem. I think that it is slowly turning into a beating strategy. Qiyana might end up being nerfed over and over again to the point where she becomes unplayable. I think her problem is with the spell kit, which is why she should receive an adjustment to her spells rather than numbers.

Rumble

Base Stats

Base Armor 31 ⇒ 36 - Buffed

This change might help rumble in the early jungle clearing but I do not think it has a really huge impact on the lane. It’s good to buff him because he was falling behind but I do not find that buff any use, despite the jungle.

Sett

Base Stats

Health Growth 93 ⇒ 100 - Buffed

Health at Level 18 2181 ⇒ 2300 - Buffed

This is to adjust the changes that were made to items with an increase of Attack Damage on them. These buffs are necessary for top laners to be viable as they were before changes.

Veigar

Base Stats

Base Armor 23 ⇒ 21 - Nerfed

Armor Growth 3.75 ⇒ 4.0 - Buffed

Armor at Level 18 86.75 ⇒ 89 - Buffed

 E - Event Horizon

Cooldown 18/16.5/15/13.5/12 seconds ⇒ 20/18/16/14/12 seconds - Nerfed

Veigar after Q stacking buff went a bit over the edge. Veigar has buffed late game but with the cost of lowered early game survival. This is a healthy adjustment to that little abomination of chaos. 

Xayah E - Bladecaller

Critical Strike Chance Damage Multiplier Deals 0.5% ⇒ 0.75% more damage per 1% critical strike chance - Buffed

Since the lethal build for Xayah was discovered, the critical build has fallen behind. That change might help that build to shine a little.

Zeri Uncharged Basic Attack

Magic Damage 15-40 (levels 1-18) (+4% AP) ⇒ 10-25 (levels 1-18) (+3% AP) - Nerfed

Damage Increase 300% ⇒ 500% against enemies below 35% health - Buffed

 Charged Basic Attack

Slow 20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 14/23/32/41/50% (based on Q rank) - Adjusted

Slow Duration 1.5 seconds ⇒ 1 second - Nerfed

 Q - Burst Fire

Damage 10/15/20/25/30 (+110% AD) ⇒ 9/13/17/21/25 (+110% AD) - Nerfed

BURSTIER BURSTS Burst Fire's critical strikes now also multiply its base damage (in addition to its AD ratio) - Adjusted

Excess Attack Speed to AD Conversion 50% ⇒ 60% - Buffed

 W - Ultrashock Laser

Slow 50/55/60/65/70% ⇒ 30/40/50/60/70% - Nerfed

Cooldown 10 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 13/12/11/10/9 seconds - Nerfed

 E - Spark Surge

Cooldown 23/21.5/20/19.5/17 seconds ⇒ 23/22/21/20/19 seconds - Nerfed

Cooldown Reduction 1.5 seconds ⇒ 1 second per champion hit with charged basic attacks or abilities

 R - Lightning Crash

Bonus Attack Speed 30/35/40% ⇒ 30% at all ranks - Nerfed

Since Zeri is a fresh champion, she still needs a few adjustments to make her balanced. I personally agree with those changes because I was playing Zeri for quite a while and she was outstanding with her mobility and damage early on. I think E nerf hurts here the most since she’s supposed to use her dash as frequently as possible.

Item Changes

Rejuvenation Bead

Total Cost 150 gold ⇒ 300 gold - Nerfed

Base Health Regeneration +50% ⇒ +100% - Buffed

Sell-Back Ratio 70% (sells for 105 gold) ⇒ 40% (sells for 120 gold) - Nerfed

All the items that were assigned to Rejuvenation Bead (Crystalline Bracer, Knight’s Vow and Warmog’s Armor) received the same change, just in case on Knight’s Vow and Warmog’s Armor cost unchanged.

The change was implemented because a recent 3-Bead start has become popular on champions that have a bit of a tough early game, such as Akali or Singed. This nerf is directly targeted at these two because it became a core build path for them. It’s a clever way to play though but it shouldn’t be the main start for these champions.

Support Gold Income Items

Spellthief’s Edge, Relic Shield, Steel Shoulderguards, & Spectral Sickle

GOLD VALUE BOUNTIES Gold value bounties (a.k.a. CS bounties) are now based on the number of support gold income items on each team, rather than assuming each team has one support gold income item - Nerfed

OBJECTIVE BOUNTIES Enemy gold leads are now significantly less likely to lead to Objective Bounties activating if there are two or more support gold income items on your team - Nerfed

TRIBUTE/SPOILS OF WAR (PASSIVE) - MINION FARMING PENALTY Receive diminishing gold from excessive (4 minions per minute) ⇒ (2 minions per minute until 5 minutes; 4 minions per minute thereafter) minion kills. This diminished gold penalty is now also more severe during the first 5 minutes of the game. (All else unchanged) - Nerfed

You probably witnessed some weird meta picks like Karma top or Janna top with smite, right? These champions were not really playing on top lane.  Instead, they were constantly roaming by abusing support items’ gold income and objective bounty system. Even though the top lane could lose like 2 turrets early on, the lead other lanes gained was overloading how behind the top was. In that case, Riot came up with the idea of implementing a limit of support items for each team. If the team has more support item than one, then there is less likely for the team to receive objective bounties and gold value bounties for minions. I personally think that this is one of the most creative ways of taking down such tactic in league. Good job, Riot!

Objective Bounties

BOUNTY LINGER PERIOD 15 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds after Objective Bounties fall off - Nerfed

This nerf is to lower the comeback impact after the first Objective bounty falls off. There was a time when you could take multiple bounties after a won team fight when it was not desirable. 

Upcoming Skins

Admiral Glasc

Shockblade Qiyana

Shockblade Shen

Shockblade Kassadin

Firelight Ekko

Brave Phoenix Xayah Prestige Edition

Summary

We are so excited for the upcoming champion, Renata Glasc! We think she might cause some chem-chaos on the Summoner’s Rift in the upcoming patch. Despite that, there was a huge change to the bounty system and support items. Since they caused a huge problem for every lane, the announced change is an interesting and creative option to add in league. What do you think? Is this a good option to implement to league? You can share your opinion on our socials: 

Instagram | Facebook Page | Twitter | Facebook Group | Discord Server

I hope you’re as excited as we are for the Renata Glasc release. She will be available from February 17th! Have fun playing her and share your opinion about her. That's the end of the 12.4 Patch Rundown! Here was Yoshi, stay tuned to the recent events and content coming up almost every day! See you on the next patch!