League of Legends patch 12.5: Seraphine buffed; Ahri, Master Yi nerfed

League of Legends (LoL) Patch 12.5 is here, and the developers have given the players a “relatively light patch” on Wednesday (2 March).

The patch comes with buffs and nerfs for only eight champions, some changes to the Hullbreaker, and, as always, a new line of skins for some of LoL’s favourite champions — this time the Bee Skin.

Still, we wanted to make sure you’re quite updated, so let's take a deeper look into these changes:

Champion Buffs

Four champions have been given buffs on their skills or stats in patch 12.5 — Kennen, Miss Fortune, Samira, and Seraphine.

Kennen

Once a formidable champion in the top lane at Worlds 2021, Kennen’s presence seems to have dwindled this season, especially with the emergence of off-meta enchanter picks in the top lane.

A buff was given to his Electrical Surge (W) to increase his AP and AD. Kennen has been struggling in the laning phase recently, so this buff should help him with that.

The significant buff in Kennen’s AD in combination with the AP increase will help him shock the top lane and contribute more in meaningful team fights.

Electrical Surge (W)

Basic Attack Bonus Magic Damage at Full Stacks: 20/30/40/50/60 (+60/70/80/90/100% bonus AD) (+25% AP) > 35/45/55/65/75 (+80/90/100/110/120% bonus AD) (+35% AP)

Miss Fortune

An update on the Bounty Hunter’s W will help her strut away faster toward where she needs to be, whether it be an escape in the skirmishes, toward the lane that she needs to defend, or a team fight that she can easily contribute to.

Strut (W)

I am Speed (Updated): Miss Fortune now spawns with the maximum amount of movespeed granted by Strut's passive.

Samira

The Desert Rose has been pretty squishy, so it’s been hard for Samira to win both in the laning phase and make an impact in team fights since she can easily be bursted down by other champions.

The devs have decided to adjust her health and armor to address this. A lower cooldown on her ultimate ability, Inferno Trigger (R) will allow her to use it more than once, which can be impactful in team fights.

While this helps Samira a bit, we think other champions that have been too strong should still be addressed, since it isn’t only Samira who suffers from this issue.

Base Stats

Health Growth: 88 > 94

Health at Level 18: 2020 > 2128

Armor Growth: 3 > 3.5

Armor at level 18: 77 > 85.5

Inferno Trigger (R)

Cooldown: 6 seconds > 5 seconds.

Seraphine

The Starry-Eyed Songstress had quite a lot of buffs this patch. She’s been a star in the mid lane but support players have expressed their interest to play her in the Support lane, where she was originally meant to be. We think Seraphine’s performance in the Support lane has been quite lackluster but the buff on her Surround Sound ability should help in that regard.

Matt “RiotPhroxzon” Leung-Harrison, Lead Designer for Game Balance & Preseason of the Summoner’s Rift team, added more context on the buffs for Seraphine, saying that “the intention is a buff to support, as she’s underpowered there.”

He also said that they aim to continue supporting Seraphine in the mid lane.

The reduction in the mana cost of Surround Sound will allow her to heal her teammates more and can be much stronger in the late game. The reduction on Beat Drop’s cooldown also helps her feel safer in the laning phase in general.

Surround Sound (W)

Mana cost: 50/70/90/110/130 > 50/60/70/80/90

Cooldown: 26/25/24/23/22 seconds > 28/26/24/22/20 seconds

Shield: 75 to 225 (levels one to 18) (+45 percent AP) > 60/80/100/120/140 (+40 percent AP)

Ally Shields: 50 to 150 (levels one to 18) (+30 percent AP) > 60/80/100/120/140 (+40 percent AP) (Allies now receive the same shield amount as Seraphine)

Healing (If already shielded): five percent (+1.125 percent per 100 AP) of missing health per ally in range > 5/5.5/6/6.5/7 percent (+0.75 percent per 100 AP) of missing health per ally in range

Beat Drop (E)

Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds > 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 seconds

Champion Nerfs

This patch is nerfing four champions in the roster.

Foremost among them are Ahri, whose popularity soared after her rework was released in patch 12.3, and Master Yi, who was mentioned to be under monitoring by the devs in patch 12.4 for potential nerfs.

Also, two other powerful champions, Gwen and Xin Zhao, are getting much-needed nerfs in this patch.

Ahri

The nine-tailed fox has been so popular since her rework in Patch 12.3, rising as the top pick in the middle lane according to op.gg stats with a pick rate of 18.72%.

She also gained the second-highest win rate in the middle lane, sitting comfortably with a 53.77% win rate.

The dev team hit her Fox Fire (W) and Charm (E) skills to pull back her bullying power. Ahri users need to be careful about the lack of damage that they were previously used to, and the increased mana cost for both skills.

Fox-Fire (W)

Damage: 60/85/110/135/160 (+30 percent AP) > 50/75/100/125/150 (+30 percent AP)

Mana cost: 25 > 30

Charm (E)

Mana cost: 50 > 60

Gwen

Gwen has been a popular champion since her release last year, and we’ve seen her duel in the top lane traditionally.

However, given the preseason and other changes since this season, Gwen’s presence in pro play has been significant, being a flex pick between the top lane and the jungle. She can easily clear jungles and overpower others in team fights.

We honestly think this nerf is long overdue, but we’re expecting her win rates to drop as well, given that she cannot chase down and complete a kill as easily as she normally would.

In the top lane, however, she can still continue to dominate, so Gwen top players can breathe easy, but take note of these changes.

Passive – Thousand Cuts

Maximum damage against monsters: 10 (+25 percent AP) > 10 (+15 percent AP)

Skip ‘n Slash (E)

Bonus attack range: 100 > 50

Master Yi

Master Yi is one of my favourites to play in the jungle, so I’m personally a bit unhappy about these changes.

But devs specifically targeted “Crit Yi”, so there are still viable ways to make the Wuju Bladesman succeed on the Summoner’s Rift.

Yi won’t be as strong in the early game anymore, but can still scale into a stronger champion in the late game.

Master Yi mains should shift from lethality build items to items such as Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Wit’s End, and Kraken Slayer.

Alpha Strike (Q)

Damage: 25/60/95/130/165 (+90 percent AD), reduced by 75 percent for subsequent hits on the same target > 30/60/90/120/150 (+60 percent AD), reduced by 75 percent for subsequent hits on the same target

Bonus damage from critical strikes: 60 percent (+ bonus critical strike damage percent) > 50 percent (+ bonus critical strike damage percent)

(New) Each mark of Q – Alpha Strike now applies on-hit effects including his E – Wuju Style (on-hit effects from subsequent hits are also reduced by 75 percent)

(Updated) Q – Alpha Strike’s cooldown reduction upon attacks now scales down with Ability Haste. For example, if Master Yi has 100 ability haste, each on-hit now reduces its cooldown by 0.5 seconds (instead of one)

(Updated) Q – Alpha Strike’s cast time no longer counts against his E – Wuju Style and R – Highlander active durations (similar to W – Meditate)

(Updated) Master Yi can now activate E – Wuju Style and R – Highlander during his Q – Alpha Strike

Wuju Style (E)

True damage: 30/40/50/60/70 (+35 percent bonus AD) > 30/38/46/54/62 (+35 percent bonus AD).

Xin Zhao

Xin Zhao has been a staple in pro play these days, garnering a total of 293 games for the first few months of LoL esports competition across major regions, with a 49.8% average win rate.

The balance team is pulling back his engage power and decreasing his ult’s invulnerability.

Audacious Charge (E)

Cooldown: 11 seconds > 12 seconds

Crescent Guard (R)

Invulnerability duration: five seconds > four seconds

Items

Hullbreaker

The nerf on the Hullbreaker will likely prevent ranged players from overrunning the top lane. While the nerf is targeted for ranged players, it shouldn’t affect melee players so much.

Passive – Boarding Party

• Bonus armor and magic resist: 20 to 60 (levels one to 18) > 20 to 60 (levels one to 18) for melee / 10 to 30 (levels one to 18) for ranged

• Siege and super minion bonus armor and magic resist: 60 to 180 (levels one 18) > 60 to 180 (levels one to 18) for melee / 30 to 90 (levels one to 18) for ranged

Skins

The Bee Skins are here and players will be treated to Bee skins for BZZZiggs, Heimerstinger, Nunu & Beelump, and Orbeeana.

These bright and colorful skins should add a dash of sunshine to the Summoner’s Rift.

For more information on Patch 12.5, click 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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