Patch 12.14 to introduce sustain nerfs, Drakes and Rift Herald buffs

Jaxon Published July 17, 2022

League of Legends is diving into another Public Beta Environment (PBE) cycle after the release of Patch 12.13 this week. Patch 12.14 is set to feature many impactful pro-play-focused changes as Riot could shake up the meta before Worlds.

Riot Games’ lead designer, Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, has revealed the upcoming 12.14 PBE changes on his Twitter. 

[twitter url=”https://twitter.com/RiotPhroxzon/status/1548204641501847552″]

Riot is confused: what’s their goal for Patch 12.14?

Unlike Riot Games’ decision to increase champion durability and early game survivability on Patch 12.10, the new patch brings “pro bloodiness changes,” Phroxzon says.

The patch features nerfs to sustain mechanisms, including healing from all Potions and the Biscuit Delivery rune. It also brings nerfs to many Resolve tree durability runes: Second Wind, Bone Plating, Conditioning, and Guardian. 

Riot also plans to buff early damage runes Scorch and Sudden Impact to increase the overall damage output. Tenacity and slow resistance on Unflinching are getting a nerf, as is Exhaust’s damage reduction at early levels.

More team fights on the horizon

As if split push comps were even remotely viable lately, Riot decided to force teamfights even more.

“They are less understandable/enjoyable for viewers who enjoy watching teamfights,” Phroxzon said, referring to split push metas. He added that “advantages (in split push metas) play out over long time frames, are overly focused on unsatisfying strategic advantages.”

Since split pushing is boring and Top lane is a very enjoyable role to play in this meta (not really), Riot is adding to their misery by increasing Teleport cooldown by a full minute before the 14-minute mark.

Your mission: contest neutral objectives or lose

As if Dragons weren’t impactful enough, Riot has decided to significantly increase the buff of each individual Elemental Drake and of Cloud Soul on Patch 12.14. Although Drakes will be tankier and harder to take down, they will be safer to take, as they will deal less damage.

Riot’s insistence on contesting early to mid-game objectives doesn’t stop there: on 12.14, the first Rift Herald will give 200 local gold on top of 100 gold to the killer, whereas the second summoned “Shelly” will have 75% more health.

According to Phroxzon, Patch 12.14 will be the last set of major changes for Worlds’ meta balance. If true, we are set for a heavy teamfighting and objective-focused meta for the rest of the year.

The changes are untested on the PBE and could still receive adjustments in the upcoming weeks before the patch goes live on July 27th.