TFT patch 12.2 notes: Tahm Kench & Kai’Sa changes, b-patch nerfs Imperial

TFT patch 12.2 is here — which means balance changes like nerfs to Kai’Sa and Tahm Kench — but the big news is the game’s second event, Gifts of the Golden Lantern, is coming to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Here’s what has changed in the January 20 update.

With TFT patch 12.1 in the books ⁠— and not a lot changing gameplay-wise in the aftermath ⁠— TFT patch 12.2 is more of the same. Riot are being careful not to tinker with the formula too much, even going as far as to avoid a b-patch following the first update of the year.

The trend is set to continue with TFT patch 12.2 making small changes to meta comps and traits, including five-cost units Kai’Sa and Tahm Kench. However, the big news is the arrival of the game’s second major event: Gifts of the Golden Lantern.

What’s coming in TFT patch 12.2?

B-patch update nerfs Imperial as Swain, Talon take over

With Imperial slowly being buffed into the TFT meta, Riot is toning it back in the b-patch update for TFT patch 12.2.

The Imperial bug fix was a huge unintended buff, and as such Swain and Talon have been individually targeted to bring the trait back in line. The 5 Imperial bonuses have also been reined back.

• Read More: The best TFT Set 6 comps

On top of the Imperial changes, TFT b-patch 12.2 targeted the recently-buffed Cho’Gath by reverting those power-ups, as well as a number of Portable Forge items. You can find the full notes below.

TFT b-patch 12.2 notes

Champions

Cho’Gath

• Armor and Magic Resist: 55 ⇒ 50
• Attack speed: 0.6 ⇒ 0.55

Swain

• Spell Damage: 250/375/525 ⇒ 250/340/480

Talon

• Spell Damage: 450/625/950 ⇒ 425/600/900

Traits

Imperial

• Tyrant Damage Amp: 80/150% ⇒ 75/135%
• Imperial Damage Amp: 0/80% ⇒ 0/75%

Items

Death’s Defiance

• Armor: 40 ⇒ 20
• AD: 25 ⇒ 20
• Attack speed: 25% ⇒ 20%

Gold Collector

• AD: 30 ⇒ 20

Infinity Force

• All stats: 33 ⇒ 30

Rapidfire Cannon

• Attack speed: 60% ⇒ 55%

New Gifts of the Golden Lantern event celebrates Chinese New Year

It’s not just League of Legends getting a Lunar Revel event ⁠— TFT is getting in on the fun with Gifts of the Golden Lantern.

The upcoming event, celebrating Chinese New Year, will have plenty of missions and rewards on offer. You can check out the full details in our event hub.

New Little Legends, including a Chibi Firecracker Jinx tactician, and a Golden Tiger Market Arena have been added to the PBE. It’s unlikely they’ll be available for free during the event, but rewards like Little Legend Eggs and emotes could be on offer like in the Skyglass Origins event, which was a roaring success in Set 5.

Tahm Kench, Kai’Sa nerfed after dominating meta

Kai’Sa and Tahm Kench has been running amock for a while now in TFT Set 6 for two different reasons. While the former was nerfed substantially, she is still a reliable carry due to her ability to damage everyone on board. The latter is just a great gold and item printer.

• Read More: Riot opens up on “TFT 2.0” evolution plans for 2022

Kai’Sa is having her attack speed nerfed, which will therefore impact her ability damage too. Tahm Kench will do less damage with Devour, and also gain less stats from his Glutton trait.

Other strong units like Seraphine and Braum have been nerfed, while Urgot is getting a bit of love after his hard 12.1 nerfs.

Big Augment changes: Portable Forge downgraded, Metabolic Accelerator nerfed

Portable Forge is being downgraded from a Prismatic Augment to a Gold Augment, meaning it’ll be more common.

Metabolic Accelerator, one of the best Gold Augments in the game, is being nerfed too. It will no longer heal players 2HP after PvE rounds, making the comeback just that bit harder. Item Grab Bag II, Wise Spending, and High Roller are all primed for buffs, on the other hand.

You can find the full TFT patch 12.2 notes below, courtesy of Riot Games.

TFT patch 12.2  notes

Champions

1-Cost

Ziggs

• Mini Inferno Bomb damage: 325/425/525 ⇒ 300/400/550

2-Cost

Katarina

• Health: 650 ⇒ 700

Swain

• Max Mana nerf: 40/75 ⇒ 40/80

Talon

• Attack Speed: 0.75 ⇒ 0.7

Zyra

• Grasping Spines Damage: 350/450/650 ⇒ 325/450/675

3-Cost

Cho’Gath

• Armor & Magic Resist: 50 ⇒ 55
• Feast Damage: 800/900/1000 ⇒ 900/975/1050

Gangplank

• Parrrley Damage: 110/135/170 ⇒ 110/150/200

Heimerdinger

• Attack Speed: 0.6 ⇒ 0.65
• Rocket Swarm Damage: 70/95/140 ⇒ 70/100/150

Miss Fortune

• Make It Rain Damage: 275/375/550 ⇒ 275/375/600

Shaco

• Attack Damage: 85 ⇒ 80

Vex

• Personal Space Shield: 550/675/850 ⇒ 525/675/850

4-Cost

Braum

• Max Mana nerf: 100/180 ⇒ 120/200

Lux

• Attack Speed: 0.7 ⇒ 0.75

Jhin

• Curtain Call Damage: 150/200/344% ⇒ 150/200/300%

Orianna

• Command: Shockwave shield amount: 100/160/400 ⇒ 100/150/400

Seraphine

• Encore Heal: 275/450/1200 ⇒ 250/350/1000

Sion

• Max Mana nerf: 100/175 ⇒ 125/200

Urgot

• Attack Damage Ratio: 25% ⇒ 30%
• Purge Duration: 5/5/5 ⇒ 5/5/10

Yone

• Soul Unbound Duration: 4/5/20 ⇒ 4/5/15

5-Cost

Kai’Sa

• Attack Speed: 1.2 ⇒ 1.1

Jayce

• Melee form Shield: 350/500/3000 ⇒ 375/550/3000

Jinx

• Super Mega Death Rocket, rocket launcher Attack Damage scaling: 190/200/888% ⇒ 200/210/888%

Tahm Kench

• Devour Damage: 900/1450/30000 ⇒ 850/1350/30000
• Glutton stats gained from feeding Tahm Kench have been reduced by 10%
• Glutton User Experience change: To prevent unintentional loss of a champion in play, Tahm Kench will dine only upon champions from the bench.

Viktor

• Chaos Rays Damage: 325/425/1500 ⇒ 360/420/1500

Traits

Bodyguards

• Armor: 100/200/350/500 ⇒ 75/150/250/450
• Shield: 100/300/600/1000 ⇒ 150/350/700/1200

Mercenary

• Mercenary: removed Neeko’s Help as a 3 and 4 loss streak drop
• Mercenary: 4 loss average value: 6.9g ⇒ 6.4g
• Mercenary: 5 loss average value: 6.9g ⇒ 6.6g
• Mercenary: 6 loss average value: 7.6g ⇒ 7.4g
• Mercenary: 7 loss average value: 8.25g ⇒ 7.9g

Scrap

• Shield per Component: 20/35/60 ⇒ 20/40/60

Socialite

• (3) Omnivamp: 30% ⇒ 33%

Syndicate

• Armor/Magic Resist: 60 ⇒ 55
• (7) Bonus: 50% ⇒ 60%

Augments

Adjustments to the following Heart/Creast Augments

• Bodyguard Heart now also grants a Leona ⇒ Blitzcrank
• Protector Heart now also grants a Blitzcrank
• Bodyguard Crest now also grants a Leona ⇒ Darius
• Clockwork Crest now also grants a Zilean
• Clockwork Crest will now be available in the Augment selection menu as intended

High Roller (Prismatic)

• Grants 4g also

Item Grab Bag II (Prismatic)

• Grants 1 Item Reforger also.

Metabolic Accelerator (Gold)

• No longer heals 2HP after PvE rounds.

Portable Forge (Gold)

• Tier: Prismatic (Tier 3) ⇒ Gold (Tier 2)

Shrug It Off (Silver)

• Tier: Gold (Tier 2) ⇒ Silver (Tier 1)

Sniper’s Nest (Gold)

• Now has an indicator to show you how many stacks it has

Stand Behind Me (Gold)

• Now also increases Bodyguard Armor bonus by 25%

Thrill of the Hunt III (Prismatic)

• Removed from the game

Wise Spending (Prismatic)

• Now also grants 4 gold

Items

Anima Visage

• Health Regen: 8% ⇒ 6%

Chalice of Power

• Ability Power: 35 ⇒ 30

Death’s Defiance

• Attack Damage: 30 ⇒ 25
• Attack Speed: 30% ⇒ 25%
• Armor: 50 ⇒ 40

Eternal Winter

• Attack Speed Slow: 35% ⇒ 25%

Gold Collector

• Chance to drop Gold: 75% ⇒ 50%

Hand of Justice

• One buff each round is increased to: 30(%) ⇒ 33(%)

Locket of the Iron Solari

• Shield Duration: 8 ⇒ 15 seconds

Manazane

• Mana: 50 ⇒ 40
• Mana restore: 200 ⇒ 150

System Changes

• Made some adjustments to the shop drop odds at Level 8 and 9:
  • Level 8: 15/20/35/25/5% ⇒ 16/20/35/25/4%
  • Level 9: 10/15/30/30/15% ⇒ 9/20/35/25/16%

Bug Fixes

• Is the Clock Working: Clockwork Crest will now be available in the Augment selection menu as intended
• Imperial bug fix: Imperial 5’s damage buff on all Imperial units is no longer removed during some combats in uncommon situations
• More excellent shot: Caitlyn’s Ability can no longer hit invulnerable and untargetable objects (Hexcore, Guardian Angel stasis, etc.)
• Fiora’s Ability no longer fizzles if her target dies as she begins her cast
• 1-Star Illaoi’s Harsh Lessons Magic Damage is now the intended 200 rather than 175
• Units that are sold with Sniper Emblem no longer retain their bonus +1 Attack Range
• Dragon’s Claw no longer triggers against some physical Abilities
• Runaan’s Hurricane no longer applies Viktor’s Armor shred
• Fixed an issue where Crown augments would still appear when players had previously taken the Built Different augment. Soul augments that benefit the entire team are still allowed to appear (e.g. Enforcer Soul, Arcanist Soul)
• Not exZactly as planned: Zac will no longer sometimes target the same enemy twice with his Ability
• Fixed a rare issue where Zac would deal double damage to one of the targets he was yoinking