In League of Legends' first patch of August, Riot Games are taking no prisoners with a proposed eight champion buffs, one champion nerf, and two champion adjustments. With LoL Worlds coming up at the end of September, it's a balancing act getting all popular pro-play champions ready for the tournament.
Riot Phreak and the rest of the dev team are implementing changes to make the MOBA fairer for all players, like tweaking death timers, adding more item nerfs for ADCs, and buffs for underpicked champions in the meta.
Grab some snacks and get comfy - here are the complete early patch notes for League of Legends patch 14.16.
According to Riot Games' official patch timetable for 2024 and Season 14, League of Legends patch 14.16 will officially become live on Wednesday, August 14, after being on the Public Beta Environment (PBE).
League patch 14.16 will be introduced gradually to accommodate different time zones and global servers. The patch rollout begins in the Southern Hemisphere with the Oceanic server at approximately 10 AM AEST. Other servers will slowly receive the new patch throughout the day.
While League patch 14.16 is implemented, all matchmaking and competitive queues will be temporarily disabled as Riot Games and the balance team smooths out any last-minute wrinkles.
Here are all the crucial timings of when you can expect League patch 14.16 to roll out worldwide:
Riot Phreak is filling in for Riot Phroxzon in patch 14.16, bringing plenty of changes to Summoner's Rift. The targets are champions who are "strictly weak in solo queue." This includes popular characters like Orianna, Syndra, Vi, Azir, and Sylas buffs. Many of these are popular champions in pro play, with Katarina buffs also on the cards. With LoL Worlds on the horizon, getting the balancing right for these champions is crucial.
Bot Lane pairings are also being adjusted in the League of Legends patch notes for 14.16. Specifically, Senna being pushed towards an Enchanter support role, as opposed to her popular Lethality builds. This is because Riot Games has noticed her win rate is languishing at 47-48% and a throw pick in both pro play and solo queue.
According to Riot Phreak on X (formerly Twitter), League of Legends patch 14.16 will also be about shifting away from the "ADCs in every lane," like Lucian being a popular Mid-Lane pick and turning back towards Bot Lane. They'll do this by systematically addressing the strongest ADC systems like the last patch. They'll start with some Lucian adjustments in patch 14.16 and go from there.
Dying on Summoner's Rift will now have major consequences as the death timer for most early-game (pre-Level 10) levels has been increased by 2 - 4 seconds, so it's more punishing when you die in a solo fight or during the early game.
Paying tribute to the most successful esports organization in the League of Legends ecosystem and their 2023 LoL Worlds win, Riot Games are releasing T1's Worlds skins to the Shop so you can channel your inner Faker when on the Rift.
Here are the new skins going live in the LoL patch 14.16 cycle and their price points:
Please remember that these changes are not yet set in stone and could change between now and August 14, when League of Legends patch 14.16 goes live.
(Q) Bouncing Blade
(E) Shunpo
(R) Death Lotus
(Q) Command: Attack
(Q) Shattered Earth/Upheaval
(Passive) Petricite Burst
(W) Kingslayer
(R) Unleashed Power
(Q) Vault Breaker
(Passive) Stone Skin
(E) Nimbus Strike
Please remember that these changes are not yet set in stone and could change between now and August 14, when League of Legends patch 14.16 goes live.
(Passive) Spirit Abjuration
(Q) Twofold Hex
(Q) Phosphorus Bomb
Please remember that these changes are not yet set in stone and could change between now and August 14, when League of Legends patch 14.16 goes live.
(Passive) Lightslinger
(Q) Piercing Light
(Passive) Absolution
(Q) Piercing Darkness
(W) Last Embrace
(R) Dawning Shadow
System death timers are changed across the board, as outlined below:
That covers the League of Legends patch notes for update 14.16, going live next week on August 14, 2024. We are still awaiting official confirmation on specific item nerfs and tweaks to the new champion, Aurora. Rest assured, we'll update this article as soon as we have more concrete information, so watch this space!
Looking for more League of Legends content? Our blog page has the hottest articles on all things LoL, like all champions' release dates, the rarest skins, ARAM, Summoner Spells, dragon buffs, Arcane characters, the Blue Essence Emporium, LoL Arena ranks, and how to uninstall LoL.
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