Riot rolls out emergency LoL hotfixes as Feats of Strength snowball meta takes over
Riot GamesLeague of Legends is a couple of days into a new season and calendar year, with plenty of changes for players to get to grips with. One of the biggest is the addition of Feats of Strength, but it’s had such a significant effect that Riot has now rolled out emergency changes.
For those who haven’t played yet, Feats of Strength is a new mechanic where teams race to complete two of three objectives – First Blood, first to destroy a turret, and first to take three Epic monster camps in the jungle.
This then unlocks brand new Tier 3 boots for the team that manages it first, a vast improvement over standard offerings like Berserker’s Greaves and Sorcerer’s Shoes.
Unfortunately, the boon this is offering to one team has proved very significant and far beyond Riot’s original intention for the mechanic. In a rapid response, they have dropped a patch that aims to level the playing field a little.
Feats of Strength rewards get some nerfs
Riot GamesIn the twelve games I played since the new season dropped, I won seven and lost five. Every single win came after winning the Feats of Strength race, while every loss happened without the buffed gear.
While this is anecdotal, the advantage provided is objectively huge, and Riot has recognized this quickly. The stats granted by each pair of T3 boots have been nerfed, while some Champions have also seen reductions to their output in Swiftplay.
The full list of changes is as follows:
- Bloody Roses Bloody Rose Spawn Rate from Gloom (Champion Deaths): Slightly reduced Bloody Rose Spawn Rate from Atakhan’s Pit: Slightly reduced
- Armored Advance Shield Amount: 10-140 (based on level) + 4% max health ⇒ 10- 120 (based on level) + 4% max health Shield Cooldown: 12 ⇒ 15 seconds
- Chainlaced Crushers Shield Amount: 10-140 (based on level) + 4% max health ⇒ 10- 120 (based on level) + 4% max health Shield Cooldown: 12 ⇒ 15 seconds
- Spellslinger’s Shoes Magic Penetration: 19 ⇒ 18 Percentage Magic Penetration: 10% ⇒ 8%
- Swiftmarch Movement Speed: 75 ⇒ 70
- Triumphant Sorcerer’s Shoes Bonus Magic Penetration: 4 ⇒ 2 Total Magic Penetration: 16 ⇒ 14
- Swiftplay Changes
- Atakhan Adjusted the thresholds required for Atakhan’s Ruinous form to spawn in Swiftplay so that he should now appear more often.
- Jarvan IV Armor Growth: 5.2 ⇒ 4.7 Q Damage: 80/120/160/200/240 (+ 140% bonus AD) ⇒ 70/110/150/190/230 (+ 140% bonus AD)
- Kayle Attack Speed Growth: 1.5% ⇒ 1% Attack Damage Growth: 2.5 ⇒ 2 W Movement Speed: 24-40% (+ 8% AP) ⇒ 24-32% (+ 8% AP)
- Seraphine Health Growth: 90 ⇒ 95 E Damage: 70-190 (+ 50% AP) ⇒ 70-210 (+ 60% AP)
- Vex Passive Damage: 40-150 (+ 25% AP) ⇒ 40-150 (+ 40% AP) W Damage: 80-240 (+ 30% AP) ⇒ 80-240 (+ 50% AP)
- Viktor Health Growth: 100 ⇒ 92 R Damage per Tick: 65/105/145 (+ 45% AP) ⇒ 60/100/140 (+ 40% AP)
- Ziggs Q Damage: 85/135/185/235/285 (+ 65% AP) ⇒ 85/135/185/235/285 (+ 75% AP) W Cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12 ⇒ 18/16/14/12/10 seconds
More changes are on the way
The changes for Feats of Strength aren’t going to stop there, so don’t get too used to the current format. Over on Twitter/X, Lead Gameplay Designer Matt Leung-Harrison confirmed that the development team is actively working to replace First Blood as a Feat.
What exactly this will look like is unclear, but that alteration won’t roll out onto live servers until 15.2/3, so don’t expect to see it for at least two weeks.
Though Riot is now moving in the other direction, these first couple of days have marked one of the most insane snowball metas in the game’s history. Games are essentially won and lost in the first fifteen minutes, so it might be best to leave that late-game build to one side for the time being.