League of Legends dev reveals massive Akali nerfs coming in Patch 10.3
Riot GamesAkali is set to receive some major nerfs in the next League of Legends update, patch 10.3.
Having been one of the most powerful champions in the game over the last couple of years, it seems Akali is about to take a significant hit in the next update.
Lead Gameplay Designer Mark Yetter often offers fans a preview of what’s coming in the next League of Legends patch, and after some testing on the PBE he revealed the finalized changes that will be introduced for Akali in patch 10.3.
I’ll have some more details in the Gameplay Thoughts tomorrow, but with it already on PBE – here’s the updated Akali changes. W CC reveal and R2 speed removed in favor of some early Q cost increases. pic.twitter.com/aDUsE3g1LG
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) January 23, 2020
Perhaps most significant is the change to her Five Point Strike, which is getting a massive increase in energy cost across the board. Not only does the ability start at a much higher cost, but what once was the energy cost at level 1 is now only hit at level 5.
Meanwhile, a change to her ultimate will now require the ability’s first use to be targeted on a champion within range, rather than simply allowing her to dash in whatever direction the player chooses. This change is likely to significantly reduce the versatility of the ability.
Finally, likely the least significant of the three is an adjustment to her movement speed while in her Twilight Shroud, with the speed increased slightly but now decaying over two seconds.
Riot GamesThe full change list can be seen below:
Five Point Strike (Q):
- Energy Cost: 100/95/90/85/80 >>> 140/130/120/110/100
Twilight Shroud (W):
- Akali gain 20/25/30/35/40% movement speed while in her shroud >>> Akali gains 30/35/40/45/50% decaying movement speed for 2 seconds on cast.
Perfect Execution (R):
- R1 Targeting: Free Targeted >>> Enemy Champion Targeted
- R1 Target Range: 625
- R1 Dash Distance: 625-675 based on distance from enemy
While many fans will undoubtedly be pleased to see Akali finally getting a big nerf, others have argued that the changes might be overkill, with the champion potentially set to go from being overpowered to being irrelevant, without landing in the competitive middle ground that players are hoping for.
Exactly how the changes will affect the champion’s win rates remains to be seen, with update 10.3 scheduled for February 5.