The LoL Arena 13.14 Micropatch hit some underperforming champions, but mostly took down some problematic ones.
League of Legends’ newest game mode, Arena 2v2v2v2 finally hit the live servers this Wednesday! This new mode focuses entirely on champions fighting champions without the burden of friends, objectives, macro plays and more than 2 opponents! The mode is already extremely popular and the community has praised the developers for the breath of fresh air that Arena offers.
While Arena is already pretty good, changes to its balance are always needed – which are separate from the balance updates in Summoner’s Rift, so the balance team needs to pay more attention to the game mode that Riot Games wants to make permanent after a while. The release is pretty okay, with all kinds of champions being viable in Arena, but some picks like Kayn, Mordekaiser, Shaco and Taric are rampant – and since each team only gets 2 bans, the devs need to address the OP champions. Fortunately, they’ve already released a micropatch specifically targeting Arena, which should bring the top picks back to earth.
LoL Arena 13.14 Micropatch: All the changes of the first Live Arena Patch
Enthusiasts:
Only two champions were hit that were supposed to be strong picks for the new mode, but failed to meet the Arena standard:
- The two champions were Zoe and Lux, both of whom received increased passive AP ratios, which increased from 20% to 35% in Arena. This should help mitigate their damage, which is the focus of mages like them.
Nerves:
The nerfs were far outnumbered by the buffs as there were far more champions outplaying everyone else. Not only that, these picks were frustrating to face as they offered little counterplay, but the balance team has found ways to keep consistent while also making them less annoying to play against:
Annie:
- Tibbers has been hit hard, as he takes reduced damage when summoned, his AP and AD attack ratio is down, as well as his Aura damage
Heimerdinger:
- His turrets now deal less damage, both regular and Ultimate. While this seems like a huge success, Heimerdinger’s entire kit was slightly tweaked, so his damage has been reduced by 5% (similar to the champion balance changes in ARAM)
Illaoi:
- Her passive heals missing HP, her Q tentacles now have less bonus damage in Arena mode, and she takes more damage when played in 2v2v2v2 mode.
Kayla:
- Her damage was a bit too high, so Aspect of Justice now has 10% damage reduction.
Forest:
- Kayn has been one of the best champions in Arena thanks to his E and Ultimate, with Shadow Kayn and Rhaast being viable. Riot Games found a simple fix for his strength: he now takes 5% more damage while taking 5% less.
Shaco:
- A little surprising that Shaco is THAT strong, but if you think about his boxes, his stealth, and the area that closes after a while, you can see that he could be a problem. The balance team gave his Q ability -30 Haste, so he can’t disappear as often before. His fear of Jack-in-the-Box is also mitigated as it no longer scales with level.
Taric:
- Arena’s most notorious champion, who works with almost any bar while still being a threat himself, Taric’s passive damage has been halved for 2v2v2v2 mode, while his W gives less Armor to both himself and his ally. While he isn’t a very popular pick in Summoner’s Rift, he has been terrorizing the Arena, so it was time to take down the pretty boy.
System changes:
Some items and enhancements were also changed to give them more durability – or in the case of Rageblade, less, as the Mythic item has been toned down a bit:
- Rageblade now deals less attack speed, attack damage, and ability power
- Dashing Augment Ability Speed increased to 200 from 150
- Arena Crit damage modifier increased from 1.75 to 1.9 to give crit-based champions a bit more of an edge
Hello to all Arena players now that we are live! Thanks for playing!
We have a micropatch coming. This won’t solve everything, but we’re looking to hit the biggest offenders here and help out some struggling champions/classes. Additional context on thread access.1/5 pic.twitter.com/JwOpwhUvNg— Madness Hero (@MadnessHeroo) July 22, 2023
Riot Games have also provided some insight into the future of Arena. They’ll keep a close eye on disappointing champions like Shaco and such, and as players provide more data, they’ll deviate from the ARAM balance they assumed for 2v2v2v2. They also talked about Assassins and Artillery Wizards, which are among the weakest champion subclasses in fashion. Small maps and a lack of hiding places is not a good environment for these types of characters, so they will think of ideas to please these champions. The hero of madnessthe developer who shared the full changelog also mentioned that they are already working on changes in Arena 13.15, which will target bruisers like Mundo and Jax, while also addressing the problematic Marksman+Enchanter duo.
Arena mode is a lot of fun, feeling like it did when Crystal Scar was released 10 years ago. It’s great to see that Riot Games didn’t just put a new mode into League of Legends without planning it, and they want it to become one of the core parts of League of Legends. Don’t forget to follow ESTNN for the latest LoL content and check out our latest Arena articles!
