Riot Games reveals durability changes in League of Legends patch 12.10

Riot Games is all set to “slow the pace” of League of Legends with the new game Patch 12.10. The new update will bring champion durability changes that will increase the survivability of each League champion and open a new window of opportunities for counterplay. 

To make the game fair for every champion, Riot has, for the most part, always tried to balance the game with rather mild nerfs and buffs. In its latest patch preview, however, the publisher revealed a big durability update that will reportedly slow down the game’s pacing.

The team believes that damage in League is generally too high, but there are no specific champions or items to blame. As a result, the team decided to reduce the game’s total damage by enhancing the defensive stat line for all champions. 

Major changes

According to the developer, patch 12.10 will buff the Base Health, Armour Level, Health per Level, and Magic Resist per Level stats to increase the durability of champions. To ensure that these changes will only add more endurance to champions and won’t disrupt the meta, Riot will also nerf sustain-based stats. Moreover, Baron Nashor and Turrets may receive buffs to guarantee they deliver enough damage.

Riot has also acknowledged that a quick death of a champion makes it difficult for players to determine what killed them, which can make a team fight “abrupt and confusing”. By adding more durability, the developer aims to create an opportunity for fair and fully-fledged team fights that embrace critical decision making as well as high-skill individual play.

The next major change concerns champions with burst damage. According to the patch preview, champions in this category are highly rewarding because they don’t require the use of their full skillset to make a kill, making the experience “less satisfying”. 

After the durability update, players using high-burst champions will have to either invest more resources or use the champion’s entire kit in order to make an instant kill. This means they will be able to kill squishy targets from full health if players use their whole skillset correctly. If the high-burst champion has a significant level or gold advantage, using half of their kit should suffice. 

The Summoner’s Rift dev team said on the upcoming game changes:

“We want to reassure you that we aren’t trying to create a meta where there are no kills by 15 minutes into the game. A sizable amount of players enjoy high-kill games, it leads to more exciting pro metas, and it rewards good play with kills which is much more satisfying than just forcing someone to recall.”

More details on the update are to be revealed in the coming weeks. Here are the key features players can expect to be included in the path 12.10:

• Less damage dealt and taken by champions
• To acquire quick kills, burst champions must commit more resources 
• More chances of counterplay
• Extended Skirmishes and team fights 

Patch 12.9 will be released on the live server on Wednesday, May 11th, followed by Patch 12.10 on May 25th, according to the official League of Legends schedule.

Header – Riot Games