With the new year comes the first patch for League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. League Patch 12.1 brings some small changes before the new season officially kicks off on Jan. 7. These changes include buffs to Gangplank and Diana along with nerfs to Immortal Shieldbow and the long awaited changes to Teleport.
League Patch 12.1 buffs and debuffs
First, the buffs; Gangplank and Diana both received slight boosts for their early phases in the game. Gangplank had his PARRRLEY cooldown and mana cost decreased to help smooth him over from the previous nerf to Grasp of the Undying. Diana, now more of a jungler, had her passive’s ability power ratio and its damage to monsters increased to help with her clear speed.
The final thing on the buff list is Force of Nature. The item has had its magic resistance ratio increased to 25% and stack duration increased to seven seconds.
As for the nerfs, Rek’sai and Sona are on the chopping block alongside Eclipse, Immortal Shieldbow and Wit’s End. For the Champions, Rek’sai’s Furious Bite and Tunnel spells have been nerfed due to high elo abuse. Meanwhile, Sona has had her base armor growth reduced along with a cooldown increase to Songs of Clarity.
Patch 12.1 increased Eclipse’s ability cooldown to eight seconds for melee champions, essentially reverting previous buffs. Immortal Shieldbow is finally receiving nerfs after months of terrorizing solo queue. The patch reduced its base attack damage to 50 and passive shield to 275-650, based on player’s level. Wit’s End’s build path has changed; it now builds out of Hearthbound Axe, Null-Magic Mantle and a Pickaxe while its magic resistance has been reduced to 40.
Teleport changes in League Patch 12.1
The balance team has decided that Teleport has been too influential of a Summoner Spell in the early stages of the game, citing the bot lane as a main pain point for players and developers alike. Teleport will now have a 360 second cooldown at all levels and can only be used on allied towers. The spell will change to Unleashed Teleport after 14 minutes, after tower plating falls, and have its cooldown reduced to 240 seconds. The spell will then also be castable on wards, minions, towers and certain ally abilities like Thresh’s lantern.
