The 2023 Pre-season for League of Legends is in full swing as the month of December rages on and while the big system changes have started to settle in nicely, there are still some champion, jungle and item balance issues that Riot Games felt the need to address. Although Patch 12.23 is the last patch of the 2022 year before Riot Games goes on their yearly holiday break, the balance team has decided to fire one last round of changes in this week’s 12.23 b-patch.
Here are the final changes players will encounter in the changes that have gone live as of Wednesday, December 14.
Champion nerfs
In the 12.23 b-patch there are a total of eight champions on the nerf list including some of the champions with the highest win rates in the game like Zed, Dr. Mundo and Nilah. When looking at what Riot Games has done to these champions, players can see that the changes are significant as Zed is seeing nerfs to his Q ability base damage as well as his E ability base damage and a longer cooldown time at all ranks after the first one. Dr. Mundo is getting nerfs in multiple departments including base health regen, ultimate ability cooldown and ability health costs. And then there is Nilah who is getting major damage nerfs to her Q and R abilities.
Patch 12.23b changes (coming out on Wednesday 14th).
We're opting to go more nerf heavy this patch to address some of the balance outliers. More on specifics tomorrow. Some champs are getting Riot special, but those that are, we think have viable alternatives that are balanced pic.twitter.com/sZQgo9mxkp
— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) December 12, 2022
Rounding out the champions getting nerfed are Rammus, Janna, Mordekaiser, Hecarim, and Lillia.
Champion buffs
There is just one champion receiving buffs in the 12.23 b-patch and that is Lux who has struggled to find footing in the mid-lane during this pre-season. Lux is seeing her Ability Power ratios increase on her E and ultimate abilities which should allow her to be a better carry at all stages in the game.
System changes
Outside of champion changes are a slew of system mechanics that are being nerfed which include items and jungle gold. The new mythic tank item Jak’Sho, the Protean is having its total cost reduced but will only generate two Armor and Magic Resist per second in combat instead of three. Ravenous Hydra is also getting nerfed from 50% cleave damage for melee champions to 40% while also making the holder lose 60% of their Carnivorous stacks on death up from 50%.
Other than that, the jungle has been a source of a little too much gold so many camps will be seeing anywhere from two to five gold less per kill in the new update.
Published: Dec 15, 2022 04:53 pm