League of Legends Patch 12.3: Ahri reworked, Zeri nerfed and more
More changes have come to the Summoner’s Rift after the release Patch 12.3 for League of Legends (LoL). While there are a couple of champions were buffed, several player favourites have received a nerf, including Zeri, the game's newest champion who came with Patch 12.2.
The new patch also released their latest rework for Ahri, who hasn’t had changes in the last two years, as well as several adjustments on Fighter items.
Here are the biggest changes included in League of Legends Patch 12.3:
Ahri’s Rework
LoL’s Nine-tailed beauty has finally received attention after getting no updates for the last two years, and Riot is releasing her rework in this patch.
The developers admitted that “Ahri’s unique identity as a highly-mobile mage assassin has eroded over the years,” and the rework released addresses this to bring her original identity back.
Her passive has been refreshed so that there’s a partial ultimate reset. As a result, there will be less fleeing and more hunting for the Nine-tailed Fox on the Rift.
Players were given a preview on her rework last month, and while most of these changes have remained the same since testing, there have been a few tweaks after some player feedback. Here are the adjustments since her rework preview:
Base Stats
Health Growth: 82
Health: 500-1894 (levels 1-18)
Base Health Regeneration: 5.5 > 2.5
Armor: 21-80.5 (levels 1-18) > 18-77.5 (levels 1-18)
Orb of Deception (Q)
(added) Damage per pass: 40/65/90/115/140 (+35% AP) > 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP)
Fox Fire (W)
Updated: Heat-Seeking: Updated missile targeting and last-hitting logic
Charm (E)
(added) Damage: 60/90/12/150/180 (40% AP) > 80/110/140/170/200 (+60% AP)
(added) Mana Cost: 70 > 50
Some VFX and SFX were also updated, although her upcoming Art and Sustainability (ASU) update has not yet been released for this patch.
Champion Buffs
Only three champions are receiving their dose of buffs for this patch, namely Lillia, Quinn, and Brand. Nami also received a significant buff, but also a nerf to balance this adjustment out.
Lillia
Lillia’s Lilting Lullaby (R) will lull her enemies to sleep for longer “so she can follow up with her spells and help her teammates more consistently at early levels”. As a result, R’s Sleep duration increased from 1.5/2/2.5 seconds to 2/2.5/2.5 seconds.
Quinn
The speed of Demacia’s Wings was nerfed last year, and since this is one of the things that makes her unique, the devs are bringing it back. System changes have also impacted her abilities so buffs are being given to her to improve her gameplay satisfaction.
Heightened Senses (W)
Bonus Attack Speed: 20/30/40/50/60% - 28/36/44/52/60%
Skystrike (R)
Flurry Damage: 40% AD > 70% AD
Brand
Some changes on the Burning Vengeance are focused on his passive, but devs also gave attention to his ultimate skill.
Passive
Blaze it – Mana refund upon killing an enemy now also occurs if Brand’s ability last hits a target that was not already Ablaze.
Pyroclasm (R)
Pyroclasm's fireball now prioritizes bouncing to nearby enemies before bouncing back to Brand at full range. Pyroclasm will still prioritize bouncing to enemy champions first (before minions or monsters), regardless of range.
Nami (Adjustments)
Honestly, our Tidecaller has been pretty strong, even in Pro play, but developers want to keep her a priority in the meta, so they’re adjusting her passive to make the buff she gives to allies feel more significant. To balance this out, a nerf on her E has been given.
Passive – Surging Tides
Bonus Move Speed: 45 (+20% AP) for 1.5 seconds > 90 (+20% AP), decaying over 1.5 seconds.
Tidecaller’s Blessing (E)
One hit damage (her hitg): 25/40/55/70/85 (+20 AP) > 20/35/50/65/80 (+20% AP)
Champion Nerfs
A total of eight champions got nerfs for this patch, including Akshan, Amumu, Caitlyn, Corki, LeBlanc, Senna, Twisted Fate, and Zeri, who just got released in Patch 12.2.
Zeri
The Spark of Zaun had been too powerful both in the PBE and upon release, so the balance team continues to adjust this champion.
The nerfs are a good thing, but I think the addition of the crit on her Lightning Crash can be lethal in team fights and skirmishes.
She also had a few bugs that needed to be fixed, and these were all addressed in this patch.
Base Stats
Move Speed: 330 > 325
Basic Attack
Full Charge Damage Based on Target’s Max Health: 3-20% based on level > 3-15% based on level
Lightning Crash (R)
Chain Lightning Magic Damage: 10/20/30 (+15%AP) > 10/15/20 (+15% AP)
Static Shock (New): Chain Lightning Magic Damage can now critically strike.
Bugfixes
Zeri's E - Spark Surge will correctly vault over Trundle's E - Pillar of Ice and glide over Anivia's W - Crystallize wall instead of dashing through them
Fixed a bug where several of Zeri's VFX would not display correctly upon reconnecting to the game
Akshan
Akhsan’s been a pain to play against, don’t you agree? He’s powerful on any lane, but especially in the top lane. We think the nerfs on his passive are much-needed, because sometimes, he really does fight dirty.
Passive – Dirty Fighting
Bonus Move Speed Upon Cancelling Second Shot: 35-75 (level 1-18) > 20-75 (level 1-18)
Three Stack bonus Magic Damage: 20-175 (level 1-18) > 10-165 (level 1-18)
Amumu
Our Sad Mummy has been a bit too jolly on the Summoner’s Rift since he has new toys that made him too strong this season. The balance team decided to pull his strength back for a more level-playing field, so he doesn’t just ignore abilities too much.
Base Stats:
Armor Growth: 3.5 > 3
Armor: 30-89.5 (levels 1-18) > 30-81 (levels 1-18)
Tantrum (E)
Maximum Passive Damage Reduction: Up to 100% per instance of physical damage > Capped at 50% per instance of physical damage
Caitlyn
The Piltover Sheriff has been banned too many times even in Pro play because she’s such a strong bully against many popular late-scaling marksmen. Nerfing her wave control and scaling was the dev team’s solution for this one.
Base Stats:
AD Growth:L 3.8 > 3.4
Attack Damage: 62-126.6 (levels 1-18) > 62-119.8 (levels 1-18)
Piltover Peacemaker (Q)
Damage against Secondary enemies: 60% > 50%
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where Caitlyn's ult would incorrectly get a cooldown refund if she was feared during its cast
Corki
Another dominator on the Summoner’s Rift, Corki’s been so popular on Pro Play that jokes on Twitter like “b_n Corki” (bin Corki, ban Corki) have trended for a bit in the LCK (League of Legends Korea Championship).
His First Package has now been delayed and the packages restock for a longer time, so he doesn’t terrorize other lanes too well.
Passive – Hextech Munitions
First package arrives after: 8 minutes > 10 minutes
Packages restock every: 4 minutes > 5 minutes
Leblanc
Another favorite in Pro play since last year and with all the item changes, it seems like she’s gotten too strong lately. Devs are “tapping down her first-maxed skill to curb her early burst and waveclear”.
Distortion (W)
Base Damage: 75/115/155/195/235 > 75/110/145/180/215
Senna
I remembered thinking to myself last patch that Senna’s buff might still make her too strong as an ADC, even if it was intended to make her a better Support Marksman—and it did happen., as it “overwhelmingly increased her ADC win rate.”
Devs wanted to bring her ADC and Support roles closer together in strength, so the Passive soul drop rate for her farm is reduced to one soul for every six minion waves.
Passive – Absolution
Minions and lesser monsters that Senna kills have a 10% chance ⇒ 2.7777% chance to spawn a Mist Wraith (all else unchanged)
Twisted Fate
Another favourite pick on Pro Play, the balance team decided to cut his abilities’ base stats “so he has to buy more AP to dish out big damage instead of opting for his usual utility builds”.
Wild Cards (Q)
Magic Damage: 60/105/150/195/240 (+65% AP) ⇒ 60/100/140/180/220 (+70% AP)
Stacked Deck
Bonus Attack Speed: 20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 10/17.5/25/32.5/40%
Items
There have been plenty of changes for Fighter Items, and initially, many have thought, “why are we giving more AD next patch?”
Preseason 2021 changes have given many options for Fighters, but in effect, this made the likes of Irelia and Xin Zhao much tankier than necessary.
The Fighter Item changes were done to differentiate item needs for each type of fighter, and tailor-fit each type of item for each subclass. Nonetheless, the dev team promises to keep a watchful eye on how these affect the overall gameplay.
You can click this link to learn more about the reasoning behind these Fighter Item changes.
Mythic Items
Devs mentioned that “not all fighters should be tanky and durable, so items were shifted to become “high health, all-in-one purchases into more unique and offensive options”, with the exception of Trinity Force.
Some changes to item build paths have also changed like Divine Sunderer and Goredrinker. Fighters that need these items would need more time and resources to build them — which makes it harder for them to snowball their lead and damage against their opponents.
Buffs and nerfs were given to both these items, along with Trinity Force.
Build Path: Sheen + Phage + Kindlegem + 700 gold > Sheen + Caulfield's Warhammer + Kindlegem + 700 gold.
Build Path: Ironspike Whip + Phage + Kindlegem + 300 gold ⇒ Ironspike Whip + Caulfield's Warhammer + Kindlegem + 300 gold
Legendary Fighter Items and Components:
Changes to Legendary Fighter Items are similar to Mythic: “Shift health into AD across select items”.
Death’s Dance has also been reworked to intrigue lighter fighters and Sterak’s Gage has been adjusted so that it’s not a “go-to default option for all fighters”.
Some underpowered Legendaries were also buffed or revamped, making them more powerful.
Players will find effects of Death's Dance, Sterak's Gage, Maw of Malmortius, and Blade of the Ruined King all have changes, while Black Cleaver, Ravenous Hydra, Hearthbound Axe and Hex Drinker all have buffs and nerfs.
Total Cost: 3100 > 3300 gold
(Updated) Ignore Pain (passive): Stores [35% for melee/15% for ranged] of post-mitigation physical damage received ⇒ Stores [30% for melee/10% for ranged] of all types of post-mitigation damage received, (not including true damage), which is successively taken as true damage over 3 seconds instead. Now also applies to damage on shields
(Updated) Defy (Passive): Heal for 15% maximum health upon scoring a kill or assist > 175% bonus AD if a champion dies within 3 seconds after you've dealt damage to them. (all else unchanged)
(New) The Claws that Catch (Passive): Gain 40% of your base AD as bonus AD
(Removed) Bloodlust (Passive): After dealing damage to or taking damage from an enemy champion, heal for a portion of your maximum health over 6 seconds
(Updated) Lifeline:(Passive): If you take damage that would reduce you below 30% of your maximum health, gain a shield that absorbs 100 (+[8% for melee/4.8% for ranged] of your maximum health) per stack of Bloodlust) for 4 seconds > If you take damage that would reduce you below 30% of your maximum health, gain a shield equal to 75% of your bonus health that decays over 3.75 seconds
(Updated) Lifeline (Passive): When Lifeline is activated, gain 12% omnivamp until the end of combat (i.e. have not dealt or taken damage for at least 3 seconds)
Total Cost: 3200 gold > 3300 gold
(Updated) Mist's Edge (Passive): Basic attacks deal [10% for melee/6% for ranged] of target's current health > Basic Attack deals [12% for melee/8% for ranged] of target's current health as physical damage (all else unchanged)
Total Cost: 1100 gold > 1000 gold
Combine cost: 450 gold > 350 gold
Turbo Chemtank
Devs admitted that changes to Turbo Chemtank in Patch 12.2 were a "band aid solution".
The team adjusted its slacking mechanics for it to be more for tanking, rather than for speed.
(Updated) Refuel (Passive) Stacks: Gain 5 stacks per instance of damage dealt against champions and large monsters, and 1 stack for every 15 units traveled > Gain 5 stacks per instance of damage taken from champions and large monsters, and 1 stack for every 25 units traveled (still capped at up to 10 stacks for dashes and blinks)
(Updated) Refuel (Passive) Bonus Damage: At 100 stacks, your next basic attack deals magic damage to all nearby enemies, increased by 25% against minions and 175% against monsters > At 100 stacks, your next basic attack deals magic damage to all nearby enemies increased by 30% against minions and 200% against monsters
To learn more about the changes in Patch 12.3, check here.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
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