League of Legends patch 12.5 notes: Master Yi & Gwen nerfs, Bee skins

League of Legends patch 12.5 is here ⁠— and Riot is keeping it on the small side. This time around we have nerfs to fan-favorites like Master Yi and Hullbreaker, Gwen and the recently-reworked Ahri, but not many buffs are on the cards.

League of Legends has seen its fair share of metas in Season 12 alone, most notably the enchanter Smite top strategy that took over solo queue just a month ago. Now it’s Hullbreaker decimating the meta, and that’s the big talking point of League patch 12.5.

The top lane-centric bruiser item has taken Summoner’s Rift by storm since the fighter item rework, and now junglers and some mid laners are even taking it. But, as expected, Riot nipped that in the bud ⁠— somewhat ⁠— for the March 1 patch.

It’s not the only change coming, but there’s only a few in League patch 12.5.

The recently-reworked Ahri was nerfed, same goes for Master Yi’s new meta build and Gwen jungle. As for buffs? Kennen, Samira, and Seraphine all got some love this patch cycle. No changes to Renata Glasc, League’s newest support, this time around after her hotfix nerf either.

Here’s what you need to know about League of Legends patch 12.5.

What’s coming in League of Legends patch 12.5?

Master Yi nerfs target Duskblade build

Riot have had their eyes on Master Yi’s Duskblade build for a few weeks now, and after delaying the trigger pull in patch 12.4 they’ve finalized the changes for the March update.

Nerfs to the Wuju Bladesman exclusively target his Duskblade of Draktharr build, which has seen him catapult up the tier lists. Riot added on-hit damage to his Q, Alpha Strike, while reducing its base damage to entice players to build crit-centric items. His E will also do less base damage.

• Read More: Neeko skyrockets to top of League meta after mega buffs

However, there are some quality-of-life fixes in there, allowing Master Yi players to buffer abilities during Alpha Strike.

The recently-reworked Ahri is having her time in the sun, but the developers pulled down the shades slightly to make her a bit more mana-hungry. Gwen’s jungle clear got nerfed, while Xin Zhao’s dominance on the meta might end with a big change to his ultimate.

Finally, the Hullbreaker nerfs now makes the item less viable on ranged splitpushers like Quinn or Urgot, who could find success with the fighter item. It remains largely unchanged for melee carries, however.

Seraphine “buffs” helps her in support, but nerf other roles

Seraphine leads the charge with League champs copping a big balance change this time around — although, whether  the buffs stick, remains to be seen.

The Piltovan songstress has fleeted in and out of the League meta, but she sits firmly below other enchanters as of late as a support. Riot targeted the healing and shielding on her W, Surround Sound, to change that. It costs less mana, scales better into the late game, and gives a stronger baseline heal.

Her scalings got cut back to compensate, firmly buffing her in support while keeping her equal in power across other roles.

• Read More: Elise getting big update in League Season 12

Samira also got some base stat buffs as well as a nice ultimate cooldown decrease, letting her “spin-to-win” more often in fights. Kennen also received bonus damage on his W-infused auto attacks.

New Bee skins

The cosmetics keep coming in the League of Legends updates, with four new bee skins coming in patch 12.5.

Riot have been surprised by the player engagement on this skinline, which has been making repeat appearances over the last couple of seasons. Four new champions will be pollinating the flowers dotted across Summoner’s Rift in their bee-inspired outfits.

• Heimerstinger
• Nunu & Beelump
• Orbeeanna
• BZZZiggs

You can bee-line to the in-game store and grab them ⁠— plus their eight Chromas a piece ⁠— once the update launches.

You can find the full League of Legends patch 12.5 notes below, courtesy of Riot Games.

League of Legends patch 12.5 notes

Champions

Ahri

W: Fox-Fire

• Mana cost: 25 ⇒ 30
• Damage: 60/85/110/135/160 (+30% AP) ⇒ 50/75/100/125/150 (+30% AP)

E: Charm

• Mana cost: 50 ⇒ 60

Gwen

Passive: Thousand Cuts

• Monster max damage: 10 (+25% AP) ⇒ 10 (+15% AP)

E: Skip ‘n Slash

• Bonus attack range: 100 ⇒ 50

Kennen

W: Electrical Surge

• Basic attack bonus modifier damage at full stacks: 20/30/40/50/60 (+60/70/80/90/100% bonus AD) (+25% AP) ⇒ 35/45/55/65/75 (+80/90/100/110/120% bonus AD) (+35% AP)

Master Yi

Q: Alpha Strike

• Damage: 25/60/95/130/165 (+90% AD), reduced by 75% for subsequent hits on the same target ⇒ 30/60/90/120/150 (+60% AD), reduced by 75% for subsequent hits on the same target
• Bonus damage from critical strikes: 60% (+ bonus critical strike damage %) ⇒ 50% (+ bonus critical strike damage %)
• New – Many foes, many strikes: Each mark of Q – Alpha Strike now applies on-hit effects including his E – Wuju Style (on-hit effects from subsequent hits are also reduced by 75%)
• Updated – Slower but still ready: Q – Alpha Strike‘s cooldown reduction upon attacks now scales down with Ability Haste. For example, if Master Yi has 100 Ability Haste, each on-hit now reduces its cooldown by 0.5 seconds (instead of 1).
• Updated – Take your time: Q – Alpha Strike‘s cast time no longer counts against his E – Wuju Style and R – Highlander active durations (similar to W – Meditate)
• Updated – Wuju believe that: Master Yi can now activate E – Wuju Style and R – Highlander during his Q – Alpha Strike

E: Wuju Style

• True damage: 30/40/50/60/70 (+35% bonus AD) ⇒ 30/38/46/54/62 (+35% bonus AD)

Miss Fortune

W: Strut

• Updated – I am speed: Miss Fortune now spawns with the maximum amount of movespeed granted by Strut’s passive

Samira

Base stats

• Health growth: 88 ⇒ 94
• Health at level 18: 2026 ⇒ 2128
• Armor growth: 3 ⇒ 3.5
• Armor at level 18: 77 ⇒ 85.5

R: Inferno Trigger

• Cooldown: 8 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds

Seraphine

W: Surround Sound

• Mana cost: 50/70/90/110/130 ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90
• Cooldown: 26/25/24/23/22 seconds ⇒ 28/26/24/22/20 seconds
• Shield: 75-225 based on level (+45%AP) ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140 (+40%AP)
• Allies shields: 50-150 (levels 1-18) (+30% AP) ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140 (+40% AP) (Note: Allies now receive the same shield amount as Seraphine)
• Healing (if already shielded): 5% (+1.125% per 100 AP) of missing health per ally in range ⇒ 5/5.5/6/6.5/7% (+0.75% per 100 AP) of missing health per ally in range

E: Beat Drop

• Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds ⇒ 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 seconds

Xin Zhao

E: Audacious Charge

• Cooldown: 11 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds

R: Crescent Guard

• Duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds

Items

Hullbreaker

• Bonus armor and magic resist: 20-60 (levels 1-18) ⇒ [20-60 (levels 1-18) for melee/10-30 (levels 1-18) for ranged]
• Siege and super minion bonus armor and magic resist: 60-180 (levels 1-18) ⇒ [60-180 (levels 1-18) for melee/30-90 (levels 1-18) for ranged]

Bugfixes and QoL Changes

• Fixed a bug where the Magical Footwear rune would grant Viego duplicate Slightly Magical Boots
• Fixed a bug where Viego would permanently gain move speed from Taliyah’s Passive – Rock Surfing after possessing her
• Fixed a bug where Caitlyn’s Q – Piltover Peacemaker would not deal damage if she had a spell shield created by Edge of Night or Banshee’s Veil
• Fixed a bug where Predator and Commencing Stopwatch’s cooldowns were not showing correctly in the scoreboard
• Fixed a bug where Yorick’s Maiden of the Mist would not display an icon on the minimap
• Fixed a bug where Sona’s Passive – Power Chord empowered basic attacks were not being consumed or applied when attacking allies while Berserk
• Fixed a bug where Rumble’s Overheated state would visually disappear faster than it should if triggered by his E – Electro Harpoon
• Fixed a bug where the Maiden of the Mist and Ghouls summoned by Yorick’s R – Eulogy of the Isles would not disappear when he died
• Fixed a bug where Ornn could not use Passive – Living Forge to upgrade items for an allied Viego that had possessed an enemy champion earlier that game
• Fixed a bug where Karthus could leave spawn before the barrier dropped at 15 seconds
• Fixed a bug where casting Vel’Koz’s R – Lifeform Disintegration Ray would cause game replays to crash
• Fixed a bug where champions who go Berserk from Renata’s R – Hostile Takeover would not deal bonus true damage with their Cheap Shot rune
• Fixed a bug where Sett was unable to cast basic abilities if Renata died during his R – Showstopper while he was Berserk
• Fixed several bugs where champions with certain items and runes would incorrectly receive kill credit and gold for killing their allies while Berserk
• Fixed a bug where active item cooldown timers were not correctly displaying for teammates
• Fixed a bug where Rek’Sai’s Q – Queen’s Wrath cast bar did not appear correctly
• Fixed a bug where the “Thanks for Playing in the Cup!” notification did not appear in the last completed match of Clash tournaments
• Fixed a bug where Clash leaders could not see the tier and lanes on requests from free agents
• Fixed a bug where players would not see the honors they received in the post-game lobby while they were still being processed
• Fixed a bug where accounts above level 500 were defaulting to the Level 1 border. They can now be customized by selecting any prestige border instead.

Skins

Heimerstinger

“Now isn’t he just the buzziest little worker bee?”

Nunu & Beelump

“They’re like two bees in a pod. Err… in a hive?”

Orbeeanna

“Careful not to get honey caught in those gears!”

BZZZiggs

“According to all known laws of apiculture, bees shouldn’t be given explosives. Hey! Put that bouncing bomb down, bee!”