TFT patch 12.18 notes: Dragonmancer Nunu nerfs, Dragon buffs

TFT patch 12.18 is on its way as Riot gives Uncharted Realms its first major balance change. First on the list is the obviously overpowered Dragonmancer Nunu build, but everything from reroll to Dragons is being touched: here’s the patch notes.

With TFT Set 7.5, Uncharted Realms, launching with patch 12.17, Riot has been working hard to try and keep on top of the new set balance. 

A mid-patch update ⁠— TFT patch 12.17b ⁠— cured some of the issues relating to Aphelios and Xayah, but new comps like Nunu have emerged since then.

The major balancing pass of TFT patch 12.18 will try to solve some of those woes. However Riot aren’t pulling out the nerf hammer too much. Instead the developers are buffing underrated comps and units into the meta to spice things up.

Check out the full TFT patch 12.18 notes below.

When is TFT patch 12.18?

TFT patch 12.18 is expected to roll out on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Servers usually shutdown at around 5am local time (depending on location), and open back up at 8am. 

Oceania is the first region to get the patch, with notes typically dropping as the update starts in Australia. Then, the global rollout begins across the next 24 hours. 

What’s changing in TFT patch 12.18?

Dragonmancer Nunu nerfed after terrorizing meta

While week one of Uncharted Realms was the week of Aphelios and Xayah, after TFT patch 12.17b every lobby has been overrun by Dragonmancer Nunu. The moment you could slam an Emblem on the Mirage Cavalier unit, you were set for the game.

Every lobby has multiple players contesting the unit, and Riot is trying to curb its power with a two-fold nerf in TFT patch 12.18. A bug fix for Nunu’s damage amplification with Giant Slayer coupled with a damage nerf is coming, as well as a Dragonmancer trait change. Other Dragonmancer units, like Karma, will be buffed as compensation.

While Riot is happy with the state of Xayah post mid-patch update, Aphelios is getting another tune down.

Most Dragons buffed after rework

Outside of the Nunu and Aphelios changes, there’s buffs galore in TFT patch 12.18. Multiple Dragons are being buffed after they were hit a bit too hard in the Mid-Set update nerf-wise. This includes new ones like Zippy, as well as old faithfuls like Shi Oh Yu and Daeja.

Astral is also another composition facing big changes. The loot table is being buffed off the back of a nerf capping the Star Level counter based on duplicate champions. Lux’s ability is being slightly buffed with a faster cast time (but lower damage to compensate), and Aurelion Sol is also in those Dragon buffs.

Other changes to reroll comps such as Wukong and Sett are also in TFT patch 12.18, adding a bit more comp diversity.

Riot Games

You can find the full TFT patch 12.18 notes below, courtesy of Mortdog. The update goes live on September 21, 2022.

TFT patch 12.18 notes

Champions

Tier 1

Karma

• Inner Flame Damage: 210/280/350 ⇒ 210/280/420

Nasus

• Fury of the Dawn Health Increase: 225/350/550 ⇒ 225/350/650
• Fury of the Dawn Damage per second to adjacent enemies: 70/100/170 ⇒ 70/100/185

Sett

• Knuckle Down Attack Damage ratio: 150/155/160% ⇒ 150/155/170%

Wukong

• Crushing Blow AD scaling: 165/180/195% ⇒ 185/200/230%

Tier 2

Aphelios

• Attack speed: 0.75 ⇒ 0.7

Jax

• Armor & Magic Resist: 40 ⇒ 45

Kai’Sa

• Tidal Burst Damage: 35/55/75 ⇒ 40/60/85

Lux

• Cosmic Spark Damage: 350/425/575 ⇒ 325/400/500
• Cosmic Spark animation is now slightly faster.
• Cosmic Spark now travels straight after hitting the initial target.

Zac

• Unstable Current heal: 200/220/270 ⇒ 220/250/300

Tier 3

Lee Sin

• Max Mana nerf: 30/80 >>> 30/90

Nunu

• Consume Damage Amplification as True Damage: 33% ⇒ 20%
• Bug fix: Nunu’s amplified bite no longer scales multiplicatively with Giant Slayer’s damage amplification.

Volibear

• Relentless Storm 3rd Attack damage: 110/155/215 ⇒ 125/175/240

Zeri

• Watershock Laser damage: 160/240/420 ⇒ 200/300/475

Zippy

• Attack damage: 80 ⇒ 85
• Bug fix: Zippy should more reliably attack his spell target.

Tier 4

Daeja

• RE-REWORKED: Now deals physical damage with her passive Windblast barrages, and can now equip AD items like Deathblade and Runaan’s Hurricane
• Attack damage: 0 ⇒ 20
• Windblast passive damage: 40/60/180 ⇒ 25/40/150

Shi Oh Yu

• Jade Form Damage reduction: 15/20/50% ⇒ 20/25/50%
• Jade Form Attack Damage ratio: 230/250/1000% ⇒ 250/275/1000%

Sohm

• Tideblossom 3rd cast vortext damage: 275/375/1500 ⇒ 300/420/1500

Tyrant Swain

• Master’s Decree missing Health heal: 11% ⇒ 12%

Tier 5

Aurelion Sol

• Black Hole damage: 325/550/4000 ⇒ 350/575/4000
• Black Hole Damage increase after 18 seconds of combat: 15% ⇒ 20%

Traits

Astral

• Astral orb quality now only counts star levels from unique units. Stacking duplicate 3-star 1-cost units won’t result in an increase in quality beyond the first one.
• There are no longer ‘breakpoints’, and the quality of Astral Orbs increases at every star level. This means average orb quality is up across the board. Item components and full items can drop earlier than before.

Cannoneer

• Cannonball AD scaling: 150/300/475% ⇒ 150/250/450%

Dragonmancer

• Bonus Health: 250/600/900/1200 ⇒ 250/600/800/1000
• Bonus Ability Power: 18/30/50/75 ⇒ 18/30/50/70

Mage

• AP scaling: 75/100/125/150% ⇒ 80/110/140/170%

Ragewing

• Enraged Attack Speed: 50/100/175/250% ⇒ 50/100/150/250%

Shimmerscale

• Crown of Champions charge up time: 6 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds
• Determined Investor gold granted: 10 ⇒ 15
• Goldmancer’s Staff chance to proc: 33% ⇒ 40%
• Goldmancer’s Staff base AP and mana: 15 ⇒ 20
• Needlessly Big Gem units per gold: 3 ⇒ 2
• Mogul’s Mail base health: 200 ⇒ 350

Scalescorn

• Bonus Magic Damage: 15/50/115% ⇒ 15/50/100%

Augments

Cutthroat

• Mana reave: 50% ⇒ 65%

Dragonmancer Conference

• New Augment in Silver tier
• Every two rounds, a random Dragonmancer appears on your bench. Gain a Kai’Sa.

Dragon Imperialist

• Max Health execution threshold: 15% ⇒ 18%

Hero-In-Training

• Buff percentage: 50% ⇒ 66%

Lucky Gloves

• Frontline AD champions will now receive a better selection of items.
• Now always grants full items, even before Level 7
• Removed some weaker options to improve average Augment strength

Pandora’s Bench

• Gold: 5 ⇒ 7

Ricochet

• Bounce damage reduction: 33% ⇒ 40%

Verdant Veil

• Crowd control immunity duration: 15 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds

Weakspot

• Armor penetration: 20% ⇒ 10%

Items

Final Whisper (Radiant Last Whisper)

• Armor penetration: 60% ⇒ 50%

Last Whisper

• Armor penetration: 60% ⇒ 50%

Sunlight Cape (Radiant)

• Burn Range: 4 ⇒ 3

Bulwark’s Oath (Radiant)

• Shield duration: 3 ⇒ 4 seconds
• Ally Armor & Magic Resist: 30 ⇒ 35

Hyper Roll

Shimmerscale

• Goldmancers Staff Base Ability Power: 15 ⇒ 20 

Dragonmancer Conference (Augment)

• Every round, a random Dragonmancer appears on your bench. Gain a Kai’Sa.

Bug fixes

• Darkflight now sacrifices the champion in the hex when Darkflight is activated from a unit being auto placed onto the board at the end of the shopping phase when you are not playing a fully filled out army
• Darkflight now shows the sacrifice hex and chain VFX for away players and ghosts properly
• Fixed a rare issue where ghost armies could have multiple sacrificed champions and thus gain multiple items
• Nillah no longer resets if her target dies from damage other than her spell
• On kill, Nilah now recasts on the nearest unit rather than the farthest
• Nilah now properly recasts when she kills a cornered target
• Nilah’s damage should now line up better with her animation
• Pirate Mirage no longer grants a chest after PvE rounds
• Pandora’s Bench and Recombobulator will now pull the correct number of units from the pool when transforming two-star and three-star units
• The following Augments will no longer be offered to players who picked Built Different: Age of Dragons, Ancient Archives, Dragon Imperialist, Dragon Soul
• Hyper Roll: Fixed a bug where you would gain extra experience during Treasure Dragon