Domination Keystones under the hammer as LoL devs try to make them more unique

Devs are driving a wedge between the Keystones for Patch 14.13.

The Domination Keystone icon, a floating red and purple emblem, in League of Legends.
Image via Riot Games

We’ve seen adjustments for a few of the League of Legends rune systems this season, but next week’s Patch 14.13 has Riot Games devs focused specifically on Domination Keystones, with the ultimate goal to unblur the lines between each.

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League lead gameplay designer Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison outlined the dev’s plans to make each Domination Keystone more unique in his Patch 14.13 preview on X (formerly Twitter) on June 17. “We’re taking a swing at differentiating Electrocute and Dark Harvest,” he said, specifically looking to pivot Electrocute into an early-game option by reducing its cooldown and boosting its damage.

Elderwood Karthus splash art in League of Legends.
We had a good run, Karthus. Image via Riot Games

On the flip side, Dark Harvest will grant a far less flat damage boost and reward players for building up harvest stacks, which will be made a lot easier thanks to a drop in cooldown in Patch 14.13. “There is a stretch goal to have Dark Harvest be better for laning champions by bringing the cooldown down so it can stack more quickly,” Phroxzon said, adding champs who rely on Dark Harvest the most will also be looked at this week.

In total, 17 champions will receive adjustments next week. The majority of those who commonly wield Dark Harvest, like Karthus, Kennen, and Taliyah, are in line for nerfs at this stage. But Phroxzon said he and the team were “trying to be a bit more risk averse” with champions surrounding these Keystone adjustments. If they’re a success, we may expect more adjustments in the coming weeks.

Also on the docket for Patch 14.13 is a nerf to Opportunity for ranged ADCs and targeted adjustments for champs that use Fated Ashes. The League devs believe the item to be in a good spot, hence the nerf hammer is hovering over the champion instead of the item.

We’ll know more about the exact numbers in tomorrow’s full patch preview, with Patch 14.13 landing on June 25.

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Image of Nicholas Taifalos
Nicholas Taifalos
Weekend editor for Dot Esports. Nick, better known as Taffy, began his esports career in commentary, switching to journalism with a focus on Oceanic esports, particularly Counter-Strike and Dota. Email: nicholas@dotesports.com