- Riot Games is already working on LoL’s first update for the next year
- Several popular items are going to be rebalanced
- There is no specific date announced for when these changes will be introduced
Riot is taking into account League’s current meta and is already working on updates that will go live after the company returns from its Christmas break.
Items Are Up For Changes
Since the end of the League of Legends World Championship, Riot has been busy balancing and making other changes to the game. The company is soon heading into Christmas break, so there will be no new updates for the rest of the year, with the latest one revamping the jungle. Despite that one being the last patch for 2022, the game’s devs have teased some of the changes that are coming to League at the start of next year.
The lead designer for League of Legends, Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, unveiled a set of updates on December 12 that the developer team is hoping to ship at the beginning of next year. These changes will focus on Rod of Ages, Jak’Sho, The Protean, Seraph’s Embrace, and Radiant Virtue.
Although mentioning what Riot plans to work on as soon as it returns from its Christmas break, the developer didn’t reveal why the company is focusing on exactly these items. However, considering how powerful they are in the meta, the planned changes make sense.
Jak’Sho, The Protean, for example, quickly became one of the strongest items for top lane and jungle bruisers and fighters, like Rammus, Zac, Dr. Mundo, and Warwick. These items made these champions some of the best in their role, consistently having some of the highest win rates in the game, according to stats tracking website U.GG. Phroxzon explained that Riot wants to make it “neutral on tanks, and weaker on fighters.”
During the preseason, we saw the return of Rod of Ages, which became a core item for mages, like Anivia and Kassadin. Considering Phroxzon dubbed it the “ROA satisfaction,” it seems like Riot isn’t yet satisfied with the item and will try to tweak it next year. Additionally, Seraph’s Embrace will also see some changes, although Phroxzon didn’t go into detail as to what they will be.
Radiant Virtue is also up for changes when 2023 rolls around. The item hasn’t been as popular as others and Riot wants to make it a more solid option for more champions.
The earliest we will see these changes is January 4. However, considering Phroxzon hasn’t told us a specific date, and the fact that balancing these items will require a lot of testing, it’s highly possible any changes will hit the servers further into January.
