The Hallowed Seamstress, Gwen, will undergo some significant changes in the next big patch of League of Legends.
Matt “RiotPhroxzon” Leung-Harrison just announced the rough outlines of 12.12b and 12.13 balance changes, where he revealed that Gwen will receive an adjustment. The changes are akin to a mini-rework and have been revealed by Twitter account Spideraxe30.
Riot will shift everything around for the Hallowed Seamstress, who hasn’t lost her popularity among pros and casual players alike after the 12.10 update. Her True Damage and great scaling were enough to keep her in the meta, and her pickrate has been steadily rising among pros. She can be blind-picked, so she is a high priority on both sides of Summoner’s Rift.
12.13 Gwen’s changes:
Passive – Thousand Cuts:
AP Ratio decreased from 8%/100 AP to 6%
Q – Snip Snip!:
Base Damage per Snip increased from 9/12/15/18/21 to 10/14/18/22/26
Final Snip Damage increased from 45/60/75/90/105 + 25% AP to 60/75/90/105/120 + 35% AP
Sweet spot True Damage reduced from 100% to 75%
Minion Damage reduced from 100% to 75%, but now Executes Minions below 20% HP
W – Hallowed Mist:
Duration of the Mist reduced from 5 to 4 seconds
Resistances increased from 12/14/16/18/20 + 5% AP to 17/19/21/23/25 + 7% AP
E – Skip ‘n’ Slash:
Cooldown refunded now scales, from 50% flat to 25/35/45/55/65%
Bonus Range increased from 50 to 75
Damage increased from 10 + 15% AP to 15 + 20% AP
Cooldown increased from 13/12/11/10/9 to 13/12,5/12/11,5/11
R – Needlework:
Damage per Needle increased from 30/55/80 + 8% AP to 35/65/95 + 9% AP
Now Gwen has to wait 1,5 seconds before Recasting, but Attacking a target is no longer necessary.
Gwen in the Meta
These changes are extensive, as Riot really wants to deal with Gwen, but they are not looking to remove her from the meta. They aimed her level 1 strength with the E changes, but they made her scale better, which should strengthen her already strong late game. Riot also made it easier to use her ultimate, but decreased the burst of the ability, as now you can’t use all three recast in melee range. This, and the True Damage reduction on her Q means that she should be worse into Tanks, or rather, players can pick Tanks into Gwen and have a chance at winning the match. The Execute on her Q should make it easier for her to clear, but ultimately could mean nothing, as the overall damage of the ability seems to be nerfed. The Hallowed Mist duration reduction is a welcome change, however, as the W has been the most problematic part of Gwen’s kit.
These changes could make Gwen a weaker laner, but her late-game will still be very strong, and players have already picked her for that stage of the game, rather than the first half. While the powers of the Seamstress have shifted, it remains a question if these changes will affect anything in the grand scheme of things.
