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League of Legends Worlds 2023 is right around the corner but Riot Games is already focused on getting the next set of changes for the LoL Patch 13.20 cycle. On 2nd October, Lead Designer: League Balance Team & Preseason Matt Leung-Harrison aka Riot Phroxzon previewed the upcoming patch on his Twitter, explaining all the changes in detail.
A total of ten champions are getting balance changes, with five buffs and five nerfs. The biggest changes in LoL Patch 13.20 are going to be the jungle adjustments and snowball reduction updates in League of Legends. Apart from these, K'Sante will also receive some updates to his ability kit while still retaining his fun, unique identity as a champion.
Here's everything we know about LoL Patch 13.20.
LoL Patch 13.20 Preview: Buffs and Nerfs to Champions
Buffs in LoL Patch 13.20
The champions who are receiving some much-needed help from Riot Games in this patch are as follows:
Galio
Jinx
Milio
Morgana
Ziggs
Riot Games felt that Galio can get some more help in this patch while it still acknowledged how the champion's position got better after the last patch's buffs. Phroxzon said, "Can go a little higher than he went up last patch, while keeping his losing matchups to mages intact."
For Morgana, Riot Games is trying to buff her ultimate spell while increasing her spell shield's cooldown.
Champion Nerfs in LoL Patch 13.20
The champions getting nerfed in LoL Patch 13.20 are as follows:
Akshan
Bel'Veth
Kai'Sa
Quinn
Zed
For Bel'Veth, Riot Games feels she is a bit too strong in the early game and the developers are focused on an overall nerf, without touching her crit/on-hit damage numbers.
Phroxzon added, "Zed's magey outputs are too strong right now, mainly driven by his interactions with Ravenous, but outside of Zed, think Ravenous is in a fine spot." As a result, the company is reducing the strength of W max second to incentivize Zed players to go the E-max route.
Riot acknowledged that Zed's build pattern overall is like a mage and is not desirable in the long run. However, the developers are unable to adequately resolve it until Preseason.
The other nerf is Kai'sa whose Umbral Glaive build is picking up popularity and is very strong. As a result, Riot is nerfing her considerably as she is also extremely favored in the higher tiers in ranked and pro play.
Major Changes in LoL Patch 13.20
Riot Phroxzon stated that Riot Games is currently focused on three projects that the developers have been working on for some time now. In LoL Patch 13.20, players will see these major changes:
K'Sante kit changes
Jungle changes
Snowball reduction
JUNGLE CHANGES:
Smite changes
Jungle avatar upgrades
Jungle camp health
Scuttle Crab health/rewards
Jungler healing anti-poaching
Minion XP Penalty
Doran's / Support Starting Items
Waterwalking rune nerf
SNOWBALL REDUCTION UPDATES:
Individual Dragon Rewards
Dragon Soul
Rift Herald Gold
Death Timers
Turret Plates
Runes
Baron HP
Apart from these changes, Lord Dominick's Regards is getting a system adjustment while Duskblade is on the chopping block. Meanwhile, Riot Games is buffing Blighting Jewel and Youmuu's Ghostblade.
While these changes are being made by the developers to take League of Legends into a healthier state, players feel that they are a lot to keep up with every two weeks. While champion adjustments are easier to track, changes like death timers, runes, dragon rewards, and other jungle rewards are hard to follow when they are constantly updated.
Pro player for Team Vitality Luka "Perkz" Perković mirrored this sentiment. He commented on LoL Patch 13.20 preview and said, "It’s very annoying for pros to play Soloq for 3-7 weeks playing on new patches with this massive changes. There should be some work around/ delays for that as well to accommodate the most prestigious event of the year and ppl participating."
He added that it is a bit annoying because the basics of the game such as runes are getting changed.
Notably, LoL Patch 13.20 will be rolled out on 11th October and here are the key timings of the patch roll out for all regions:
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.
