The ADC position is set to receive a boost in the near future, according to Riot’s lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter.
The bot lane has fallen to the wayside in the League of Legends meta, with top, jungle, and mid taking the top spots. To counter this and give power to the position, Riot is targetting core ADC items with buffs.
Zeal is getting a three-percent attack speed increase, while Rapid Firecannon, Phantom Dancer, Stattik Shiv, and Runaan’s Hurricane get a five-percent attack speed bonus. ADC base health is also being increased by 30, together with +5 health per level. Marksmen that are frequently played in other lanes, though—like Corki, Graves, Kindred, and Quinn—will be excluded from this buff.
The set of changes, while promising, won’t have a significant effect on four out of the five most-picked ADC champions this season. Senna, Ezreal, Varus, and Miss Fortune avoid attack speed and instead prioritize attack damage items. Aphelios is an exception to this rule and will benefit from the Runaan’s Hurricane buffs.
The buffs, though, could change the meta altogether and see some of the more traditional ADC champions—like Caitlyn, Twitch, Tristana, and Jinx—return to prominence.
Unfortunately, intended or not, the changes will also indirectly buff Yasuo, a champion that’s plagued solo queue in both the mid and bot lanes.
This is the first iteration of Riot’s bot lanes buffs, with further adjustments possible in the future. The changes won’t go through in League’s upcoming Patch 10.10. Instead, they’ll likely be released on Thursday, May 28 for 10.11.
