As we cross into 2024, the fourteenth season of League of Legends has finally arrived! The launch of patch 14.1 marks the start of this new season, breathing fresh life into Riot Games' popular MOBA with a host of gameplay changes.
This first update of the year is a hefty one, as it will implement all the changes introduced by Riot Games during Preseason 2024 into live servers. Here's a comprehensive guide detailing everything you need to know about the inaugural patch of Season 14.
LoL Patch 14.1 release date
League of Legends patch 14.1 was released on January 10, 2024, coinciding with the start of the first split of the ranked season. This is the first patch of 2024, bringing forth a multitude of changes, including a new ranked split structure, a revamped item system, a redesigned Void-themed map, and more.
All major changes coming in Patch 14.1
Here are the main changes that Riot developers have experimented with in the League of Legends Preseason 2024 which has gone live in Season 14.
Item system overhaul
As mentioned early last year in the "Preseason & Ranked Changes | Dev Update", it was announced that Mythic items are set to be removed from the game.
In an effort to diversify builds, Riot Games introduced the Mythic items system in 2021. However, this addition to the item hierarchy had an unintended consequence: it streamlined builds and subsequently stifled creativity.
Riot devs acknowledge that the Mythic item system does not align with their desired direction for League. The current state of the game could greatly benefit from this item overhaul, potentially introducing a much-needed sense of build diversity to the game.
This sweeping item overhaul was spearheaded by Riot Games' aim to demystify the item system and shift power from items back to the champions themselves, granting players greater flexibility in their build paths.
We have compiled all removed and new items, as well as all reworked items in our LoL Season 14 guides here, so be sure to check them out:
- All Removed and New Items in LoL Season 14
- All Major Item Reworks in LoL Season 14
Terrain and map changes
Riot developers have unveiled plans to make substantial adjustments to the terrain of Summoner's Rift in Season 14. This is particularly exciting news considering that the map has not undergone any significant changes since it was redrawn in 2014, aside from the addition of Elemental Drakes.
For Season 14, Riot plans to revamp the entire jungle, paving new jungle paths that allow for more security when moving between lanes. At the same time, these adjustments provide solo laners with increased agency and protection from potential ganks by enemy junglers.
These map changes aim to introduce more symmetry to Summoner's Rift, placing both the red and blue sides on equal footing. Some of these map changes include:
- New jungle and gank paths
- Three Baron pit formations
- Midlane brushes pushed further back
- A wide wall positioned directly across major objectives
- and more
Here is a comprehensive guide on "All LoL Season 14 Map Changes" for your reference!
Map objectives changes
The Void's influence is expanding across the Rift, and League of Legends Season 14 is set to unleash a wave of transformations in the jungle.
The menacing Baron Nashor and beloved Rift Herald (Shelly) are getting a massive rework. In Season 14, Baron will take one of three forms when he emerges, each form provides the same classic buff, but alters how he fights and determines the shape of his pit:
- Hunting Baron
- Attacks: blasts all nearby enemies with lightning from above
- Baron pit: no changes
- Territorial Baron: creates a wall in front of the pit
- Attacks: pulls champions near him with his handy new hands
- Baron pit: creates a wall in front of the pit
- All-Seeing Baron
- Attacks: opens a Void Rift that creates a "damage over time" zone within the new tunnel pit.
- Baron pit: closes off the front and opens up both sides, creating a tunnel
These new forms introduce diversity in how Baron fights unfold from game to game.
Players can now also ride Shelly into battle! Upon crushing the Eye of the Herald, Rift Herald will spawn as usual, and any allied champions can right-click the Herald and jump onto it, allowing the rider to steer Shelly (similar to Sion's ultimate).
On top of that, the Baron Pit has new residents in Season 14: Voidgrubs and Voidmites. If you manage to take down some Voidgrubs, your entire team will gain the permanent buff, Hunger of the Void. This buff grants bonus damage over time to structures, making it a valuable asset in sieging enemy turrets and inhibitors.
Ranked system changes: 3-ranked split structure
In an effort to improve the ranked experience and speed up the ranked climb, Riot Games plans to introduce a three-split ranked structure in 2024: January, May, and September 2024. This means that, from Season 14 onward, there will be three ranked resets per year, instead of just one.
Riot Games has acknowledged that the current year-long ranked structure can feel like a real grind, with a long gap until a fresh climb. They also recognise that there is a down period at the end of the year where a lot of players want to play ranked but can't.
The new three-split ranked structure is designed to address these issues. With three ranked resets per year, players will have more opportunities to climb the ladder and earn ranked rewards. Additionally, the shorter split lengths should make each split more impactful and exciting.
New skins for 14.1
Excitingly, Riot Games will kick off 2024, the Year of the Dragon, with a set of new Dragonmancer skins. It was revealed that the following champions: Kassadin, Fiora, Vayne, and Rakan are set to receive a Dragonmancer skin, with Rakan also obtaining a Prestige Edition of his skin.
Hwei buff, QoL changes, and bugfixes
In addition to the sweeping gameplay changes mentioned above, players can also anticipate the usual Champion buffs and nerfs, along with bug fixes and other adjustments.
Hwei Base Armor increased
In terms of Champion balance changes, the tortured Ionian painter, Hwei, will be the only one receiving changes. To address his fairly low win rate, Riot has buffed his Base Armor from 18 to 21.
QoL Changes
- Trinket wards have been updated to display the same visual effects as controllers when placing them. This is intended to further clarify the range that wards cover, especially with the terrain changes releasing this patch.
- Qiyana R knockback duration has been increased slightly to reduce chances of knockback not overlapping with wall stun
- Neeko R knockup will no longer move enemies outside of the stun range
- Shaco’s R clone will now mirror spell animations and recall visuals
- The amount of time required for Jarvan IV to reactivate his ultimate to lower the walls has been reduced from 1 to 0.75 seconds
- Sylas’passive attacks are now single target for primary targets for the purposes of other systems. For example, this will let him proc Press the Attack or killYorick Ghouls while his passive is available
- Fixed a bug that caused Dark Harvest and Heartsteel to reveal Neeko when she's disguised
Bugfixes
- Mordekaiser R will no longer bring Akali Shroud with her through dimensions
- Qiyana’s W > Q fast buffer no longer sends her Q towards the 0,0,0 map coordinate
- Shaco’s R Clone will spawn with the same mana as Shaco and copy jungle mana regeneration (if he is a jungler)
- Kog’Maw’s W no longer cancels his auto attacks when the W buff ends
- Fixed a bug that caused Fizz’s R water VFX to not show for the Fizz player
- Fixed a bug that caused Hwei’s EW to expire before reaching a moving target
- Fixed a bug that caused Neeko’s W to scale with ultimate ability haste
- Fixed a bug that caused Hwei to cast a different ability from the same subject if his previous cast was interrupted by an item usage
- Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Hecarim’s E to critically strike with 0%critical strike chance.
That was everything you need to know about the LoL Patch 14.1!
Wild Rift Baron Lane Tier List (4.4C) | How To Target Champions Only | S14 Rift Herald Rework Divides Community | S14 Changes to Bot Lane | Best Hwei Ability Combos | All S14 Major Item Reworks
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