The LoL 14.4 patch notes have arrived and it brings with it some significant changes. As usual, the new LoL patch will introduce champion nerfs and buffs as well as some item changes.
The upcoming LoL patch also addresses some problems, fixing bugs and implementing some system adjustments. These system adjustments will impact gameplay, either directly or indirectly.
So without further ado, let's find out everything about the upcoming LoL Patch 14.4.
LoL patch 14.4 release date
Patch 14.4 arrives at League of Legends on Thursday, 22 February, according to the Riot Games patch schedule.
We expect the patch to go live around 5pm GMT. However, this can change depending on your region and its time zone, so make sure to bear that in mind.
Now let's take a look at the expected champions buffs and nerfs coming in Patch 14.4.
LoL 14.4 patch notes
As mentioned above, Patch 14.4 will introduce plenty of champion changes, with nerfs, buffs and balance changes. These changes will have a huge impact on the game meta, both at the casual and professional level.
It's worth noting that, these are just the expected changes as Patch 14.4 is still in a preview stage. The exact champion nerfs and buffs will be revealed shortly, once the patch has been tried out on the PBE.
However, we already know which champions will be receiving a buff, a nerf or an adjustment.
Ahri, Jayce, Kai'Sa, Lulu, Renekton, Soraka, Thresh and Volibear will get buffed. These champions have been underperforming as of late, with some even falling out of the meta completely. So it makes sense to buff them.
When it comes to nerfs, Aurelion Sol, Bard, Fiora, Kalista, Maokai, Urgot, Varus and Zyra are the champions that will get struck by the nerf hammer.
These champions have dominated the Rift as of late, especially Maokai who has an incredibly high win rate in every rank. So at least in the case of Maokai, Varus and Kalista nerfs were necessary.
As for the champions that will be receiving an adjustment, they are K'Sante, Rek'Sai and Smolder, LoL's newest champion.
You can take a look at all the champions' buffs and nerfs below.
Champion buffs
- Ahri
- HP per level increased from 96 to 104
- (Q) Orb of Deception AP ratio increased from 45% to 50%
- Jayce
- Base AD increased from 57 to 59
- (Hammer W) Lightning Field Mana restore increased from 10/12/14/16/18/20 to 15/17/20/21/23/25
- Lightning Field base damage per tick increased from 35/50/65/80/95/110 to 40/55/70/85/100/115
- (Hammer-E) Thundering Blow now roots target on cast similar to Lee Sin (R) Dragon's Rage
- Kai'Sa
- (R) Killer Instinct range increased from 1500/2250/3000 to 2000/2500/3000
- Lulu
- (Q) Glitterlance second bolt damage increased from 25% to 50%
- (E) Base damage increased from 80/120/160/200/240 to 80/125/170/215/260
- (E) Base shield increased from 75/115/155/195/235 to 80/125/170/215/260
- Renekton
- (Q) Champion healing increased from 12/18/24/30/36 (+15% bAD) to 12/20/28/36/44 (+17% bAD)
- (E) Cooldown reduced from 16/15/14/13/12 to 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds
- [R] Bonus HP increased from 250/400/550 to 300/500/700
- Soraka
- (Passive) Bonus Move Speed increased from 70% to 90%
- (Q) Heal increased from 50/65/80/95/110 to 60/75/90/105/120
- (R) Cooldown reduced from 160/145/130 to 150/135/120 seconds
- Thresh
- Base Armor increased from 28 to 31
- (E) Base damage increased from 75/115/155/195/235 to 75/120/165/210/255
- [R] The Box cooldown reduced from 140/120/100 to 120/100/80 seconds
- Volibear
- (Q) Thundering Smash bonus move speed increased from 8/12/16/20/24% to 12/17/22/27/32%
- (E) Sky Splitter cooldown reduced from 13 to 12 seconds
- (R) Stormbringer cooldown reduced from 160/140/120 to 130/115/100 seconds
- (R) Stormbringer turret disable duration reduced from 3/4/5 to 2/3/4 seconds
- (R) Stormbringer no longer grants Crowd Control Immunity but still grants Unstoppable
Champion nerfs
- Aurelion Sol
- (Q) Breath of Light burst bonus magic damage reduced from 60/70/80/90/100 (+35% AP) to 55/65/75/85/95 (+30% AP)
- Bard
- Armor per level reduced from 5.2 to 5
- Base Attack Speed increased from 0.625 to 0.658
- Attack Speed ratio increased from 0.625 to 0.658
- (Passive-Meeps) Meeps damage adjusted from 35 (+14 per 5 Chimes) (+30% AP) to 35 (+10 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP)
- (Q) Cosmic Binding damage adjusted from 80/125/170/215/260 (+65% AP) to 80/120/160/200/240 (+80% AP)
- Fiora
- (W) Riposte Cripple reduced from 50% to 25%
- Illaoi
- (Passive) Prophet of an Elder God damage adjusted from 9-162 (+115% AD) to 9-182 (based on level 1-18) (+100% AD)
- Kalista
- (Passive) Martial Poise bugfix: Boots of Speed now properly affects passive dash distance (buff)
- (E) Rend base damage reduced from 20/30/40/50/60 to 10/20/30/40/50 (damage per stack unchanged)
- Maokai
- Base Armor reduced from 39 to 35
- [Q] Bramble Smash base damage reduced from 70/120/170/220/270 to 65/115/165/215/265
- (R) Nature's Grasp root duration decreased from 0.8-2.6 to 0.75-2.25 (based on distance travelled 0-1000 units)
- Urgot
- Hullbreaker interaction nerf: Skipper stacks are now granted via on-hit rather than on-attack.
- (W) Purge no longer gains Skipper stacks.
- Varus
- Base AD reduced from 62 to 60
- Zyra
- (Passive-Q & Passive-E) Deadly Spines - Thorn Spitter and Grasping Roots - Vine Lasher adjustments:
- Base damage reduced from 20-88 to 16-84 (based on level 1-18)
- Bonus monster damage increased from 40-100 to 60-100 (based on level 1-18)
Champions preview adjustments
- K'Sante
- Base HP increased from 570 to 625
- Base mana increased from 290 to 320
- (R-Q) Ntofo Strikes All Out Slow removed from 80% to 0%
- (W) Path Maker damage armor and magic resistance ratio increased from 50% to 85%
- (R-W) All Out minimum charge time increased from 0.5 to 0.75 seconds (same as base)
- (R-W) All Out cooldown increased from 18/16.5/15/13.5/12 to 24/22/20/18/16 seconds (same as base)
- (E) Footwork untargeted dash speed reduced from 1500 to 900
- (E) Footwork ally target dash speed reduced from 1800 to 1500
- (R-E) All Out untargeted dash speed reduced from 2100 to 1450
- Smolder
- (Q) Super Scorcher Breath number of missiles adjusted from 2 (+1% (Passive) Dragon Practice stacks) to 1 (+1.5% (Passive) Dragon Practice stacks) (rounds up)
- (Q) Super Scorcher Breath still grants a (Passive) Dragon Practice stack if target dies while missile is in flight
- (W) Achooo! cooldown adjusted from 13/12.5/12/11.5/11 to 14/13/12/11/10 seconds
- (W) Achooo! glob damage changed from 70/90/110/130/150 (+25% total AD) (+35% AP) to 50/80/110/140/170 (+25% bonus AD) (+20% AP)
- (W) Achooo! explosion base AD ratio added from 0% to 25%
- W) Achooo! explosion AP ratio increased from 65% to 80%
- (R) MMOOOMMMM! no longer fizzles on death
- Rek'Sai
- Base HP Regeneration reduced from 7.5 to 2.5
- HP Regeneration per level reduced from 0.65 to 0.5
- (Passive) Fury of the Xer'Sai now only generates 50% Fury from Minions
- (Passive) Fury of the Xer'Sai maximum healing adjusted from 10 (+2-10% max HP (based on levels 1-16 every 3 levels) to 0 (+12-20% max HP (based on levels 1-16 every 3 levels)
- (Unburrowed-Q) Queen's Wrath rescripted to act as attacks instead of spells replacing attacks (provides 45% Attack Speed to make it feel similar to before)
- (Burrowed-Q) Prey Seeker damage changed from 60/95/130/165/200 (+50% bAD) (+70% AP) physical to 50/80/110/140/170 (+25% bAD) (+70% AP) magic
- (Burrowed-Q) Prey Seeker cooldown reduced from 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 to 10 flat seconds
- (Unburrowed-W) Burrowed bonus Move Speed changed from 5/10/15 (based on levels 1/6/11) to 5/10/15/20/25 (based on ability rank)
- Burrowed vision increased from 25% to 35%
- Burrowed no longer reduces attack range from 75 to 0
- (Burrowed-W) Unburrow damage changed from 50/85/120/155/190 (+80% bAD) (+0% AP) physical to 50/75/100/125/150 (+0% bAD) (+80% AP) magic
- Unburrow CC changed Knock Up primary target from 1 second and Knock Back and 80% Slow secondary targets for 0.5 seconds to Knock Up all targets for 1 second
- (Unburrowed-E) Furious Bite damage changed from 5/10/15/20/25 (+70% AD) to 0 (+100% AD)
- Furious Bite max fury bonus changed from damage doubled and converted to true damage to additional +6/8/10/12/14% target's max HP physical damage (capped against monsters 60-400 (based on level)
- Furious Bite cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds
- (Burrowed-E) Tunnel cooldown reduced from 26/23.5/21/18.5/16 to 18/17/16/15/14 seconds
- Tunnel recharge time reduced from 10/8/6/4/2 to 6/5/4/3/2 seconds
- Tunnel dashes are faster
- (R) Void Rush base AD ratio reduced from 175% to 100%
Item and rune changes
Patch 14.4 will also introduce item changes, with some items being nerfed, buffed or tuned.
The items that will be buffed are Black Cleaver, Ravenous Hydra, Stridebreaker and Terminus. Mage items such as Archangel's Staff and Seraph's Embrace, among others, will also receive considerable buffs.
Hubris and Runaan's Hurricane will receive a slight adjustment, while the Lethal Tempo rune will be nerfed.
Expected item buffs
- Black Cleaver
- Carve Armor reduction per stack increased from 4% to 5%
- Carve maximum stacks reduced from 6 to 5
- Fervor bonus Move Speed is now granted even if damage is mitigated, now full power for ranged champions (bugfix, was only granting 10 from the old Rage passive)
- Build path changed from Phage + Kindlegem + Longsword + 750 Gold to Phage + Caufield's Warhammer + Ruby Crystal + 400 Gold
- Ravenous Hydra
- Ravenous Crescent now benefits from 150% of your Life Steal
- Stridebreaker
- Breaking Shockwave bonus Move Speed decay time increased from 1.5 to 3 seconds (bugfix), now has a buff icon
- Temper bonus Move Speed is now granted even if damage is mitigated
- Terminus
- Juxtaposition maximum Light and Dark stacks reduced from 5 each to 3 each
- Juxtaposition Armor and Magic Resistance per Light stack adjusted from 3/4/5 (based on levels 1/11/14) to 6-8 (based on levels 8-18)
- Juxtaposition Armor and Magic Penetration per Dark stack increased from 6% to 10%
- Build path changed from Recurve Bow + B.F. Sword + Dagger + 700 Gold to Recurve Bow + B.F. Sword + Recurve Bow + 300 Gold
- Mana Mage Items
- Archangel's Staff and Seraph's Embrace Ability Haste increased from 20 to 25
- Luden's Companion Ability Haste increased from 20 to 25
- Force of Arms (Masterwork Item) Ability Haste increased from 30 to 35
- Malignance Ability Haste increased from 20 to 25
- Enmity of the Masses (Masterwork Item) Ability Haste increased from 30 to 35
Runes nerfs
- Lethal Tempo
- Melee Attack Speed per stack reduced from 9-13.5% to 5-16% (based on levels 1-18)
If you want to learn more about patch 14.4, check out the official full patch notes on the official LoL website here.
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