League of Legends 14.2 Patch Notes - release date, champion buffs, nerfs, skins, more

January 24 is the official League of Legends 14.2 patch release date, and we have new details on its champion buffs, nerfs, skins, and more.

League of Legends 14.2 Patch Notes

Following the refreshing changes brought by LoL Patch 14.1, which introduced a vibrant look and a substantial dose of Void to Summoner's Rift, the upcoming second update of the season appears to be geared towards game balance. Expected to address outliers through champion and item adjustments, LoL 14.2 Patch also brings a visually exciting Primal Ambush skin collection to enhance the 5v5 encounters.

Here's a rundown of what we know so far about LoL 14.2 Patch.

LoL 14.2 Patch Overview

While the highly anticipated dragon ADC, Smolder, may not make an appearance in the 14.2 Patch, players can anticipate key changes affecting various dynamics in this patch. In an effort to enhance gameplay accessibility, Riot is actively working on significant adjustments and new itemization and map modifications. 

Laners will need to adjust to the new layout, while junglers will need to understand their new routes. Though we don't currently have official details about specific balancing changes, leaks have revealed that Cho'Gath's R ability may be modified to offer a 2.5 cast range every stack, up to a maximum of 25. 

Riot also seems to be working on a number of modifications after the new items go live, so in addition to several balance improvements, the upcoming LoL 14.2 Patch will also include some SFX tweaks.

Patch 14.2!

Ranked
- We're making some changes to reduce how lenient tier boundary demotions are. While we think making a tier boundary is a big milestone, we also need to be demoting people more honestly to ensure the ranked system functions properly
- We're also continuing to… pic.twitter.com/cNUgtnAj3W

— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) January 17, 2024

LoL 14.2 Patch: Champion Buffs

In the recent tweet from @RiotPhroxzon, it's highlighted that several champions are undergoing buffs due to the removal or reworking of core items that previously had great synergy with them. Champions affected include Ahri, Camille, Darius, Ezreal, Garen, Gragas, Gwen, Hwei, Illaoi, Karma, Karthus, Shen, and Veigar.

Several champions are slated for buffs in LoL 14.2 Patch, aiming to improve their viability and impact on the game. As per the data revealed thus far, key champion buffs include:

Ahri

• E: Charm Cooldown: 14 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds

Camille

• Base Stats: Cooldown: 20/15/10 seconds (levels 1/7/13) ⇒ 18/14/10 seconds (levels 1/7/13)
• Q: Precision Protocol Bonus Movement Speed: 20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 30/32.5/35/37.5/40%

Darius

• Q: Decimate
• Mana Cost: 30/35/40/45/50 mana ⇒ 25/30/35/40/45 mana
• Healing based on Missing Health per Target: 13% per target (up to a maximum of 39%) ⇒ 15% per target (up to a maximum of 45%)
• E: Apprehend Passive Armor Penetration: 15/20/25/30/35% ⇒ 20/25/30/35/40%

Ezreal

• Q: Mystic Shot Damage: 20/45/70/95/120 (+130% AD) (+15% AP) ⇒ 20/45/70/95/120 (+135% AD) (+15% AP)
• W: Essence Flux Damage: 80/135/190/245/300 (+60% bonus AD) (+70/75/80/85/90% AP) ⇒ 80/135/190/245/300 (+100% bonus AD) (+70/75/80/85/90% AP)
• R: Trueshot Barrage Damage: 350/500/650 (+100% bonus AD) (+90% AP) ⇒ 350/525/700 (+120% bonus AD) (+90% AP)

Garen

• W: Courage 30% Damage Reduction Duration: 2/2.75/3.5/4.25/5 ⇒ 4 seconds at all ranks
• E: Judgement Damage per Spin: 4/8/12/16/20 (+0−8.2 (based on level)) (+32/34/36/38/40% AD) ⇒ 4/8/12/16/20 (+0−8.2 (based on level)) (+36/37/38/39/40% AD)

Gragas

• Base Stats:
• Armor Growth: 4.8 ⇒ 5
• Health Growth: 109 ⇒ 115
• R: Explosive Cask Cooldown: 120/100/80 seconds ⇒ 100/85/70 seconds

Gwen

• Passive: A Thousand Cuts Damage: 1% (+0.65% per 100 AP) of the target’s maximum health ⇒ 1% (+0.72% per 100 AP) of the target’s maximum health

Hwei

• E: Subject: Torment Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11 seconds ⇒ 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds
• EQ: Grim Visage Flee Duration: 1 second at all ranks ⇒ 1/1.125/1.25/1.375/1.5 seconds

Illaoi

• Base Stats:
• Base Mana: 300 ⇒ 350
• Mana Growth: 50 ⇒ 60
• Health Growth: 109 ⇒ 115
• Passive: Prophet of an Elder God Missing Health Heal upon Tentacle Hit: 4.5% of missing health ⇒ 5% of missing health

Karma

• Base Health: 604 ⇒ 630
• Q: Inner Flame Damage: 70/120/170/220/270 (+50% AP) ⇒ 70/120/170/220/270 (+70% AP)
• E: Inspire Shield Strength: 80/120/160/200/240 (+45% AP) ⇒ 80/125/170/215/260 (+60% AP)

Karthus

• Q: Lay Waste Damage: 43/61/79/97/115 (+35% AP) ⇒ 45/65/85/105/125 (+35% AP)
• W: Wall of Pain Magic Resist Reduction: 15% ⇒ 25%

Shen

• Base Attack Damage: 60 ⇒ 64

Veigar

• Base Health: 550 ⇒ 580

LoL 14.2 Patch: Champion Nerfs

The reasoning behind champion nerfs, as explained by Riot Phroxzon, is focused on those champions with exceptional synergies with new items like Sundered Jax, Liandrys DoT champs, and Fizz Stormsurge. Champions receiving nerfs are:

Blitzcrank

• Base Armor: 40 ⇒ 37
• E: Power Fist Damage 200% Total AD (+25% AP) > 180% Total AD (+25% AP)

Fizz

• Q: Urchin Strike Magic Damage: 10/25/40/55/70 (+50% AP) ⇒ 10/25/40/55/70 (+45% AP) (Note: 100% AD physical damage and on-hit effectiveness unchanged.)
• W: Seastone Trident Total Magic Damage Over Time: 20/30/40/50/60 (+40% AP) ⇒ 20/30/40/50/60 (+30% AP)

Jax

• E: Counter Strike Minimum Damage: 55/85/115/145/175 (+70% AP) (+4% of target’s maximum health) ⇒ 40/70/100/130/160 (+70% AP) (+3.5% of target’s maximum health) (Note: Maximum damage values are still 2x the minimum damage values.)

Rumble

• Q: Flamespitte Damage: 135/150/165/180/195 (+110% AP) (+6/7/8/9/10% of target’s maximum health) ⇒ 125/140/155/170/185 (+110% AP) (+6/7/8/9/10% of target’s maximum health)
• E: Electro Harpoon Magic Resist Reduction: 12/14/16/18/20% ⇒ 10/12/14/16/18%

Teemo

• E: Toxic Shot Magic Damage On-Hit: 14/25/36/47/58 (+30% AP) ⇒ 14/25/36/47/58 (+25% AP)
• R: Noxious Trap Charge Charge Time: 30025/20 seconds ⇒ 35/30/25 seconds

LoL 14.2 Patch: Champion Adjustments

Along with the long list of buffs, certain champions will also see adjustments to their kit to improve their mechanics and interactions. Notable champion adjustments in LoL 14.2 Patch include:

Briar

Passive: Crimson Curse

• Healing Amplification: 0.5% per 1% missing health ⇒ 0.4% (+0.025% per 100 bonus health) per 1% missing health
• Bleed Tick Rate: 1 second ⇒ 0.5 seconds (Note: Total bleed damage and duration are unchanged.)

Q: Head Rush

• Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+80% bonus AD) physical damage ⇒
  60/90/120/150/180 (+80% bonus AD) (+60% AP) magic damage
• Defensive Reductions: 10/12.5/15/17.5/20% armor reduction ⇒ 10/12.5/15/17.5/20% armor and magic resistance reduction
• Healthy Hits: Q now applies on-hit effects and lifesteal

W: Blood Frenzy

• Bite Heal: 36/42/48/54/60% of damage dealt ⇒ 25/30/35/40/45% of damage dealt (+5% of Briar’s maximum health)
• Less Critical Strikes: W no longer critically strikes for 5-65(+5% AD) bonus damage. (Note: W can still critically strike like a basic attack for 100% total AD.)

Twisted Fate

Base Stats:

• Base Attack Speed: 0.651 >>> 0.625 (Note: Attack Speed ratio unchanged.)
• Attack Speed Growth: 3.22% >>> 3%

Passive: Loaded Dice

• Nat 20: Critical strikes now roll an additional 6 sided die that is weighted towards 1 rather than 6.

Q: Wild Cards

• Damage: 60/100/140/180/220 (+90% AP) >>> 60/100/140/180/220 (+90% AP) (+50% bonus AD)

W: Pick a Card

• Blue Crits: 0.575 critical strike multiplier added (increases damage by up to 57.5% based on critical strike chance)
• Red Crits: 0.350 critical strike multiplier added (increases damage by up to 35% based on critical strike chance)
• Gold Crits: 0.250 critical strike multiplier added (increases damage by up to 25% based on critical strike chance)
• QoL Adjustment: Locking in a card now resets Twisted Fate’s auto attack timer
• QoL Adjustment: Pick a Card now affects Inhibitors and the Nex

E: Stacked Deck

• Bonus Attack Speed: 10/17.5/25/32.5/40% >>> 10/22.5/35/47.5/60%
• Damage: 65/90/115/140/165 (+50% AP) >>> 65/90/115/140/165 (+50% AP) (+75% bonus AD)
• QoL Adjustment: Stacked Deck now affects towers at 50% effectiveness
• QoL Adjustment: TF’s deck now becomes fully stacked on spawn

LoL 14.2 Patch - Item Buffs

Riot Phroxzon details the buffs for Horizon Focus, Steel Sigil, and Stridebreaker. The goal is to make Stridebreaker more impactful, especially compared to Horizon Focus, given the superiority of Stormsurge. The items receiving buffs include:

Horizon Focus

• Passive – Hypershot and Focus Range Requirement: 700 ⇒ 600
• Passive – Focus AoE Reveal Radius: 1200 units ⇒ 1400 units

Steel Sigil

• Total Cost: 1200 ⇒ 1100 (Note: Due to the gold decrease to Steel Sigil, the combine costs for items building out of of it such as Death’s Dance and Guardian Angel have had their combine costs increased by 100, but total cost is unchanged.)

Stridebreaker

• Attack Speed: 25% ⇒ 30%
• Total Cost: 3100 ⇒ 3000

LoL 14.2 Patch - Item Nerfs

Riot Phroxzon also addresses substantial nerfs to the double support item and quadra support item. Stormsurge is receiving a significant nerf due to its impact on increased burst damage. Bloodsong stands out as the most effective support item, prompting its nerf. Additionally, Frozen Heart and Riftmaker are considered overly efficient and are being adjusted. The items receiving nerfs include:

Bloodsong

• Expose Weakness Increased Damage: 12% (melee) / 8% (ranged) ⇒ 10% (melee) / 6% (ranged)

Frozen Heart

• Total Cost: 2300 ⇒ 2400

Riftmaker

• Total Cost: 3000 ⇒ 3100

Stormsurge

• Ability Power: 100 ⇒ 90
• Passive – Squall Damage: 100-200 (+30% AP) (melee) / 75-150 (+22.5% AP) (ranged) ⇒ 100-200 (+20% AP) (melee) / 75-150 (+15% AP) (ranged)

Phantom Dancer

• Item Recipe: Hearthbound Axe + Cloak of Agility + 1000 gold ⇒ Zeal + Rectrix + 800 gold

LoL 14.2 Patch - System Adjustments

Season 14 will introduce new Rune Stat Shards providing additional movement speed or tenacity and slow resistance. The aim is to enhance the satisfaction and intuitiveness of choices. These changes are designed to counteract the increased burst in the game, offering more intuitive choices related to early vs. scaling or move speed/tenacity vs. durability. Riot is also considering adjustments to the support item stacking system.

Stat Shard Changes

• In order to let players make more "strategically compelling choices" and not penalize them for making a poor one, Riot is altering the stat shards. More complex shards that are less likely to penalize players—such as non-damage and non-durability options in the Flex row—are being added by the developer.
• Defense shards and Adaptive Force will be modified as a result.

MMR and Matchmaking

• Reducing the amount of games of demotion protection from tier boundaries (eg. Gold to Silver). This should only affect people who seed/promote into the bottom of a rank tier (eg. Gold 4) and then lose many games in a row. It will make no difference if you’ve been in the rank for a while.
• Fixed a bug where a small number of Diamond 1 players would sometimes receive negative LP gains (losing more LP on losses than gaining on wins). Unfortunately, while we cannot immediately resolve this issue for existing accounts, the problem will resolve itself with some games.
• Fixed a bug where players who would be seeded into Iron IV were seeded into Iron II with negative LP gains

Support Items

• One At A Time: The gold penalty now applies globally to anyone who has a support item in their inventory. Additionally, every champion with a support item now contributes towards hitting the minion penalty

Bounty Adjustments

• Bounty Gold: 20-80% of a player’s bounty is reduced depending on team’s gold deficit

Infernal Drake Adjustments

• Ability Haste per Infernal Cinder: 0.3 ⇒ 0.6

LoL 14.2 Patch: Rune Changes

Significant rune adjustments are also slated to impact gameplay. A few of the revealed noteworthy rune changes in LoL 14.2 Patch include:

Unflinching

• Unflinching now provides 2-10 (based on level) Armor and Magic Resist while crowd-controlled by an enemy champion, lingering for 2 seconds once no longer affected by crowd control.
• Unflinching no longer grants Tenacity and Slow resistance.

LoL 14.2 Patch: Gameplay Quality Improvements

• We don’t believe that Kayn should be able to accelerate passive orb gain through runes. We’ve previously adjusted this with First Strike previously and are now doing the same for Aery now. As such, Kayn’s Passive no longer works with Aery.
• Rhaast’s R now heals even if the unit dies during the channel.
• Taric E now ghosts units during the cast.
• Rammus will properly play his AA animation when his W ends.
• Kled Q is no longer variable duration, changing from 1.75-2 seconds to 1.75 flat.
• Evelynn now tracks enemies falling under ult threshold much more often.
• Jayce Hammer E now uses regular knockback instead of fixed distance upon the spell being cast.
• Evelynn W can no longer target small monsters (Medium Krug and larger only). It already cannot target minions.
• Heimerdinger Q and R+Q turrets now update their stats every 1 second, reflecting level-ups, rank-ups, and AP purchases. They no longer snapshot their stats when summoned.
• Teemo’s default adaptive force stat changed: Attack Damage >>> Ability Power
• Yorick’s in-games runes will now replace Glacial Augment with First Strike and Aftershock with Grasp of the Undying. This will affect 0.06% of Yorick players.
• Gragas W now applies against turrets and other structures, dealing 50% normal damage.
• Gragas W now applies damage in an AoE when targeting structures and includes them in its AoE when targeting units nearby.
• Kennen will now respawn with W fully stacked.
• Ornn R and R2 will no longer be able to target allies or the minimap.
• Cho’Gath R now grants +2.5 cast range per stack, maximum +25 range at 10 stacks.
• Cho’Gath R attack range per stack increased: 4.62 / 6.15 / 7.69 ⇒ 4.7 / 6.2 / 7.7
• Cho’Gath R tooltip now displays the range increases if you hold Shift for more info.
• Fizz W now applies to structures at 50% damage. The DoT does not apply to inhibitors.
• Jax W and R now apply to structures at 50% damage.
• Lulu’s Pix moves faster, especially when further away from its target.
• Vayne Q-empowered autos cannot be accidentally canceled.
• Kog’Maw gains an AA range indicator during his W (like Lethal Tempo/RFC).
• Nami R will strike behind her on cast to mirror visuals and similar spells.
• Trundle Q has 25 bonus range.
• Volibear Q has 25 bonus range.
• Nocturne Q trail has 25 units more forgiveness before you count as outside of it.
• Nocturne Q trail now attaches to large and epic monsters in addition to champions.
• Brand’s Passive now damages every 0.25 seconds instead of every 1.05 seconds.
• Nilah W now buffers out of other spells.
• Nilah W can now be cast during other spell windups.
• Nilah EQ is very inconsistent and often doesn’t fire Q—adjusted to be more consistent.
• Wards that would be placed beside a brush are now slightly nudged into them.
• Ziggs’ W should be able to be activated while rooted etc.
• Swain’s Passive will now be tracked in his tooltip and icon.
• Poppy’s buckler will now bounce back to her if her target is dead when it hits.
• Akali’s Passive now extends itself very slightly if attacks are taken in the last few frames before the buff expires.
• Shaco’s clone will now attack the nearest visible enemy champion within 1500 range of it when dead.
• Shaco’s clone will now stop to cast the fake W and will only do so within 300 units of Shaco prime.
• Shaco clone will stop to cast a fake E and will only do so within 575 units of Shaco prime’s E target, this also fakes a missile.

LoL 14.2 Patch: Other Changes

• Scryer’s Bloom will no longer reveal champion pets for longer than champions, as that was unintentionally revealing those characters for longer.
• Shifted Tiamat and Ravenous Hydra actives to use attack timers if those are lower than their cast time.
• Momentum items (Dead Man’s Plate, Trailblazer) will no longer lose Momentum when attacking traps or plants.
• A number of champions properly have cooldowns listed on their passives.

LoL 14.2 Patch: ARAM Balance Changes

Nerfs:

• Aphelios: Damage Dealt: 105% ⇒ 100%
• Gwen: Damage Dealt: 105% ⇒ 100%
• Mordekaiser: Damage Taken: 100% ⇒ 105%
• Kayle: Damage Taken: 100% ⇒ 110%
• Teemo: R Maximum Charges: 3/4/5 (levels 6/11/16) ⇒ 2/3/4 (levels 6/11/16)

ARAM Surrender Adjustments:

• Early Surrender at 8 minutes: Removed (Note: Normal surrender time unchanged.)

LoL 14.2 Patch: SFX Changes

Riot is implementing Sound Effects (SFX) changes to enhance gameplay clarity, especially in teamfights. These changes will make spell sounds more distinguishable based on their on-screen position.

Riot Pehrek recently shared some details on the SFX updates coming in the LoL 14.2 Patch on Twitter and the community appears to be pleased with these improvements, as they will help make it clearer where abilities are coming from. He also provided a little comparison video so that players could hear the differences between the before and after.

Heyo, here to share changes our Audio team is making! To help improve gameplay clarity, especially in team fights, the Audio team has made an update to this system to play SFX based on the position of the spell on-screen.
Fight A is the current version, fight B are the changes! pic.twitter.com/2lyVYCYoWj

— Pehrek (@RiotPehrek) January 9, 2024

Also on Twitter, RiotKDan stated that this modification "makes everything have more spread to make it more clear where sounds are playing from." He went on to say that this greatly simplifies the process of determining which abilities originate from which. Generally, sounds seem more expansive and dispersed, which will be fantastic during battles—that is, assuming you really play with the game sound enabled and don't just play music.

LoL 14.2 Patch: New Skins - Primal Ambush

As a new patch is revealed, Riot Games is undoubtedly prepared to take your money in exchange for skins. They get a fresh skin line up their sleeves and this time we have Primal Ambush.

With 14.2 Patch, League of Legends will add new Primal Ambush skins. According to the official League Twitter account, Riven, Sivir, Vi, and Talon are among the champions who will get the opportunity to don additional tribal-inspired outfits in the early months of 2024. All of these skins are of 1350 RP and come under the Epic Skins category.

Primal Ambush Talon splash art

Primal Ambush Vi splash art

Primal Ambush Sivir splash art

Primal Ambush Riven splash art

Also, the Three Honors Akshan is accessible on the PBE for 1350 RP, and it is most likely going to be released along with League of Legends patch 14.2. It is meant to serve as a skin reward for gamers who hit the greatest honor level.

LoL 14.2 Patch Release Date

According to the official patch schedule, the LoL 14.2 Patch is scheduled for release on Wednesday, January 24. As the second patch of Season 14, the 14.2 patch marks one of the 24 planned updates for the year.

LoL Smolder Release Date

Now, you might be curious as to when Smolder will be released in the game as this new dragon ADC has already been revealed to us. Well, we will be able to welcome Smolder, the brand-new and eagerly anticipated Fiery Fledgling, on February 7 with Patch 14.3! 

Following Smolder's presence on the PBE since January 8, Riot confirmed the champion's live server debut with the upcoming patch. Smolder's introduction, after a gap of one and a half years since Nilah's release, adds to the excitement generated by the significant changes introduced in Patch 14.1 and 14.2 Patch.

That's all the information we currently have about the League of Legends 14.2 Patch. In the upcoming weeks, its patch notes should be specified and we'll update this post as soon as we find out more. 

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