According to Riot Games, this is the first balance League of Legends: Wild Rift patch for 1.0, so players can expect more to come. The three major updates this patch are nerfs to overpowered champions jungler Xin Zhao, support Blitzcrank, and AD carry Vayne.
Take note that based on Riot’s system, updates that only contain balance adjustments and fixes will be categorized with letters.
Jonathan “JCM1117” Chao, Riot’s Balance Lead, also released open beta win rates on five champions excluding Xin Zhao, justifying the nerf to Vayne who tops the chart.
Xin Zhao
Base Stats
- Attack Damage reduced from 70 to 64
- Health per level reduced from 115 to 105
- Armor per level reduced from 4.3 to 3.9
- Magic Resist reduced from 38 to 30
Third skill – Audacious Charge
- Cast range reduced from 6 to 5.5
Ultimate – Crescent Guard
- Cooldown decreased from 80/70/60s to 100/85/70s
Ever been in a game with a fed Xin Zhao? He runs around the map, gets kills, and even though you brought him down to low health, his abilities paired with Conqueror allows him to keep on going.
Acknowledging that he’s an outlier this patch, the balance team is aware that his pick rate and win rate are over the top. “His full combo is sweeping foes off the map, and teammates can’t even touch him if he has his ultimate on,” wrote Riot.
Xin Zhao will therefore take a hit to his base stats, making him squishier than before. Most significantly, his base attack damage has been lowered, and the cooldown on his ultimate increased to 100 seconds at the first tier, lowering his early game power.
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Blitzcrank
Base Stats
- Health decreased from 690 to 650
- Health Regen per level decreased from 1.07 to 0.81
Ultimate – Static Field
- Damage reduced from 250/375/500 to 200/325/450
- Silence duration reduced from 1s to 0.5s
Even when Blitzcrank misses a hook, he can still run up to vulnerable targets and punch them to death. The lowered health and health regen means that opponents will be able to punish him harder for either missing a hook, or mispositioning.
His ultimate damage took a big hit too, dropping damage by 50 at all levels, while the silence duration has been halved. These will certainly give opponents a chance to respond.
Vayne
Base Stats
- Movement Speed decreased from 330 to 325
Passive – Night Hunter
- Movement Speed bonus adjusted from 30 at Level 1 to 15 at Level 1/20 at Level 5/ 30 at Level 9
Second skill – Silver Bolts
- Damage reduced from 50/70/90/110 to 30/50/70/90
Riot’s intention with these nerfs is to target Vayne in the solo lane, specifically by reducing her movement speed. Most significantly, Silver Bolts damage has been decreased by 20 at every level. Overall, this should give players more counter play options. Just don’t pick Darius into her.
Click here for the full patch 1.0A patch notes.
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