Getting more context on the direction of LoL 13.18 patch’s changes
One of the things that has allowed a 14-year old game like League of Legends stay fresh in a rapidly evolving industry is it’s frequent slating of in-game adjustments. Its fast-paced, hyper-competitive scene demands changes to its play structure every now and again, and the latest one places its focus on balance across all competitive ranks.
Considering the proximity of the 13.18 patch to the game’s largest annual tournament, Lead Designer and balance boss Matt Leung-Harrison posted a highlight of the most important changes coming to League of Legends on their official Twitter.
Full 13.18! Chatting about some of the changes:
Trynd: +50 range (from last patch) was a big buff, but we think moves him in the right direction by putting as much skill expression in his spacing game as possible, rather than in being range restricted and stat checking you when… pic.twitter.com/ctJmMOehD7
— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) September 7, 2023
In the Twitter Blue post, we get more context on the direction the team wanted to take in regards to game-wide balancing. Note that all of these planned changes are only preliminary, and not all of them will make it to the live servers. That said, the planned patch 13.18 meta shift involves nerfs for a problem champ across all tiers and increased lethality on a popular off-support. Here are the biggest things to expect from 13.18.
LOL 13.18 Patch Notes
Tryndamere, Jarvin IV nerfed
Among those on the nerfs column, the biggest names that stand out include the barbarian king and Demacia’s exemplar. Both health and attack damage (AD)-based nerfs are intended to hit both of these champs, likely in response to Tryndamere’s recent range increase. The decrease on the HP he gets per level up (115 >>> 108) to dampen his success in the early game. “The changes hopefully mean he’s less likely to randomly win the lane at level 1/2 and be easier to collapse on/burn his ult later in the game.”, Leung-Harrison remarked.
Senna, Irelia buffed
Riot’s giving more love to the support role with increase critical strike damage on the redeemer. The intended changes are set to double her original AD (91.5 >>> 100%), and a new change lets hits from her W AoE count towards her passive. Moreover, Irelia might be getting her ultimate faster, as the 13.18 patch draft gives her lesser cooldowns on Vanguard’s Edge. If this comes through, the blade dancer will be able to go toe-to-toe with hard toplane match-ups like Sett and other scaling champs into the midgame.
Crown of the Shattered Queen Gets an AP Buff
Noticing the unequal power balance among different types of AP champs in the midlane, the Lead Designer explained that the planned buffs were there to make Crown a more viable Mythic for “traditional mages” that go up against an Azir or Aurelion Sol (think Xayah or Ahri.) This being the case, Crown of the Shattered Queen received a +15 to its AP, while having its Safeguard weakened in exchange for longer uptime in the 13.18 patch notes.
Statikk’s Waveclear Gets Slashed
Last on our list is the Statikk Shiv, a popular item build option for Marksmen champs and pesky Yasuo players alike. This item’s whole schtick is faster waveclear, where you kill the enemy minion wave before they can. Unfortunately, in their quest to give ADCs a wider build options, the trusty knife is taking a major nerf to its minion kill passive to make room for the Stormrazor, which got a +5 to its AD on the patch 13.18 notes.
When will Patch 13.18 Go Live?
It’s normal for fans of the 14-year old MOBA to closely follow the frequent tweaks done to their favorite champions. We’re all still recovering from Naafiri’s deadly dash into the scene back in July, and we’ll soon meet League’s next creature of hunger once Briar makes her chaotic debut on September 13. In both cases, players on the Rift were able to survive thanks to paying attention to the 13.18 patch notes. And the next one gives you more than one thing to watch out for.
And that’s everything major that was covered in the 13.18 patch teaser. As we await the final patch notes to come out, make the most out of the current competitive scene with our 13.17 guide.
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