Plenty of exciting changes are in store with League of Legends patch 14.3, the third patch of the year! In celebration of the fiery Year of the Dragon, Riot Games are finally releasing Smolder, the highly anticipated draconic ADC, onto Summoner's Rift, alongside eight new draconic-themed skins to commemorate his arrival.
If that's not enough, players are being treated to a whole roster of champion balance changes, with more to be added soon in these early patch notes for LoL 14.3.
Read on for the complete list of champion buffs, nerfs, item changes, and new skins coming to League of Legends servers in patch 14.3!
According to the official Riot Games patch schedule, League of Legends patch 14.3 will go live on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. League patch 14.3 will be rolled out steadily across the day according to different server timezones, beginning with the Oceanic server at around 10 AM AEST.
Here are all the critical LoL patch rollout times for the remaining servers.
As always, Riot Games will disable all matchmaking and competitive queues for several before the update goes live on servers, so make sure you don't get into any ranked games. LoL patch 14.3 looks huge regarding sheer content and balance changes, so server downtime may take longer than usual.
The biggest change coming in LoL patch 14.3 is the arrival of the MOBA's 167th champion, Smolder, and the first to be released in the 2024 season. Smolder is super exciting to fans, not only because of his strangely humanoid/Spyro-like face but also because he is a dual champion. His "MMOOOOMM" Ultimate summons his mother, who rains fire down on anything threatening her kin, making him unlike any other champion seen before on the Rift.
As Season 14 saw a complete item systems overhaul, Riot Games is still trying to find that sweet spot. As such, another bucket load of popular items will be seeing some significant changes in League of Legends patch 14.3, including Kraken Slayer and Luden's Companion, to name a few.
If you fancy a fresh look for your favorite champions, the new League patch has you covered! Heavily inspired by Chinese mythology and the glorious Year of the Dragon, Riot Games have taken it upon themselves to craft more Heavenscale skins for fan-favorite champions. Here are all the new skins going live during the League of Legends patch 14.3 cycle
All the below champion buffs and nerfs are only tentative changes and won't be set in stone until Riot Games implements them onto live servers on February 7. These early patch notes are all taken from the Public Beta Environment (PBE).
(Q) Breath of Life
(W) Astral Flight
(E) Singularity
(R) Mantra
(Passive) Dream-Laden Bough
(Q) Blooming Blows
(Passive)
(Q) Bramble Smash
(E) Sapling Toss
(R)
(Q) Bone Skewer
(W) Ghostwater Dive
(E) Phantom Undertow
(W) Jack in the Box
(E) Two-Shiv Poison
(Passive) Shepard of Souls
(Q)
(E) Mourning Mist
(R) Eulogy of the Isles
(W) Satchel Charge
(Q) Deadly Spines
(W) Rampant Growth
Many items are getting tweaked for the upcoming patch. Remember that just like the proposed champion changes, these are early notes that aren't yet set in stone and are still subject to change.
The newest champion on the block, Smolder the Fiery Fledging, will officially launch with patch 14.3. He'll debut as an ADC, with his gameplay revolving around farming gold and steadily scaling in his damage. Take a look below for a quick rundown of all his abilities.
When Smolder gets a champion takedown with his Q ability, he gains a stack of Dragon Practice, increasing his basic attack damage.
Smolder's Q ability steadily evolves throughout a game as he gains stacks. Each ability deals AoE fire damage and can even execute at 225 stacks.
Smolder sneezes, which can CC enemies by slowing their movement speed. Hitting champions also causes AoE explosions for more bonus damage.
When active, Smolder takes flight, gaining movement speed and ignoring terrain for 1.25 seconds. Smolder also automatically targets the lowest health enemy nearby during this ability.
Smolder cries, summoning his draconic mom from above. She breathes scorching fire in a target location, dealing extra AoE damage and slowing enemies caught in the center. This ability also heals Smolder in the process.
That was all our information on the next upcoming League of Legends patch 14.3, going live on February 7, 2024. We're excited to see Smolder's fiery entrance onto Summoner's Rift and see how he impacts the meta in the future, alongside all these new item changes.
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