LoL Patch 14.9 Preview: Fighter Item & Hitbox Changes, Power Creep Addressed

In the next patch for League of Legends, Riot Games is looking to pull back the power on certain champions and restore balance to the state of League of Legends, by altering the meta. On 23rd April, the publisher previewed LoL Patch 14.9 and this follows the major Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024 patch.

As usual, Lead Designer: League Balance Team & Preseason Matt Leung-Harrison aka Riot Phroxzon took to Twitter share the changelist of LoL Patch 14.9. He also outlined the goals and aims behind some of these changes.

Here's all you need to know about LoL Patch 14.9 at a glance!

When does LoL Patch 14.9 Release?

LoL Patch 14.9 is expected to go live on 1st May, according to Riot Game’s official patch schedule.

• Oceania: 10 am AEST

• North America: 3 am PT

• Europe West: 5 am GMT 

• Europe Nordic and East: 3 am CET

• South Korea: 8 am KR 

The game will also be down for a while for maintenance before the patching begins.

What's Changing in LoL Patch 14.9?

In short, Riot Games is buffing some Fighter items and is finally adjusting champion hitboxes to make them more accurate and reliable. Riot Phroxzon said, "This will mean things like champions will be more consistent to click on (both click to attack and select), champions will more consistently have hitboxes that feel in line with their size (eg. Warwick and Briar will not be Yordle sized and Viktor will not be much larger to click on than Leona)"

On top of this, Riot will also be addressing the power creep in the game. In LoL Patch 14.9, Riot will pull power out of some champions and the developer gave a few examples of those who could get nerfed.

The developers are further nerfing newly reworked Skarner and are keeping their eyes on Draven, who Riot Games thinks is frustrating when he gets back into meta.

Having said all that, here's the LoL Patch 14.9 preview:

CHAMPION BUFFS:

• Amumu

• Karma

• Kennen

• Malzahar

• Sejuani

• Seraphine

CHAMPION NERFS:

• Ahri

• Aurelion Sol

• Blitzcrank

• Evelynn

• Jinx

• Kassadin

• Master Yi

• Olaf

• Pyke

• Skarner

• Taliyah

• Twitch

• Urgot

CHAMPION ADJUSTMENTS:

• Selection/Gameplay Radius

• Akshan

• Bel'Veth

• Janna

• Nilah

SYSTEM BUFFS:

• Death's Dance

SYSTEM NERFS:

• Eclipse

• Sundered Sky

• Sterak's Gage

SYSTEM ADJUSTMENTS:

• Hexdrinker

• Maw of Malmortius

Additionally, players should keep in mind that Riot will be rolling out Vanguard for League of Legends in LoL Patch 14.9. Vanguard is Riot Games’ custom game security software, specifically designed to uphold the highest levels of competitive integrity for Riot titles. It was first introduced for Valorant and has now been extended to League of Legends. Vanguard basically consists of a separate client that runs while League of Legends is active and a kernel mode driver.