Swain receiving “mid-scope update” in League of Legends as Riot reinvigorates mage
Riot GamesRiot is continuing with their “mid-scope update” reworks for League of Legends champions, with Noxian Grand General Swain joining the ever-growing list in Season 12. It comes after buffs planned for patch 12.6 were delayed for bigger changes.
Swain has been struggling on Summoner’s Rift for some time. The Noxian Grand General hasn’t really lived up to that title, having been relegated to the support role where he’s most popular nowadays.
Even then, he’s struggling. He’s got one of the lowest pick rates in the game as of LoL patch 12.6, according to LoLalytics.
With that being said, Riot has recognized the need for Swain changes. Buffs were planned for the aforementioned update, but were vetoed days before the patch went live.
The process wasn’t fruitless though. Swain is getting a “mini-rework” in League of Legends Season 12, to the same scale that has been successful for a number of other dated champions in the last year.
Riot GamesSwain mini-rework in League of Legends Season 12: details
Riot divulged the details on Swain’s rework on April 12, and the changes are hitting live servers soon — on League of Legends patch 12.8.
No stone will be left unturned, with developer ‘TheTruexy’ explaining Riot are trying to shift “some of his burst power into investing in Swain’s fantasy of becoming a drain-tanking terror while in [ultimate].”
“We’re upping how often Swain can use R and removing the ‘ticking clock’ on how long he can stay in his form.
“We’ve shifted the power from his Passive pull off allies into more agency for the Swain player themselves,” he added.
Swain update coming to PBE today, featuring…more birds! Aiming for these to help solo lane as well as support. Come try it out! pic.twitter.com/15aLapSQGc
— Tim (@TheTruexy) April 12, 2022
There’s a lot of changes to get through, but the general gist is Swain’s supportive power is getting nerfed in an attempt to make him stronger where Riot intended: in solo lanes.
This includes removing the pull back on his passive (and moving it to his E), as well as buffing his ultimate — which scales wildly into the late game with a halved cooldown of 120 seconds down to 60 at Level 16.
Swain can also maintain permanent uptime on his ultimate by draining nearby enemies, and even use the Demonflare explosion without cancelling the ability.
Finally, Swain’s Q will become a more effective wave clear too with a lower mana cost, cooldown, and more damage.
Given the wild success of the Ahri and Rengar reworks (Janna’s was a success of a different kind) getting to the pulse of issues in their respective communities, Swain mains are so far content with the new set of changes.
Riot GamesSwain mini-rework release date in League of Legends
Riot is prepping for Swain’s mid-scope update to go live on League of Legends patch 12.8, due to release on April 27, 2022.
Olaf’s highly-anticipated rework, transforming the Freljordian Berserker into a true juggernaut, is also launching in the same update.
Hopefully, for Swain players, Riot can invigorate the mage who has seen his popularity and power fall over the last year in favor of newer champions who wield more burst damage and sustain.