Despite a cyber attack, ransom notes, and hackers reportedly putting up Riot Games’ source code for auction, League of Legends Patch 13.1b rolled out on Jan. 26. Following that, that focus turned to League Patch 13.3, which has got the fortnightly change schedule back on track (just one day late) for the flagship Riot title.
At the center of Patch 13.3, we have generous buffs to Alistar, Braum, and Rakan that may get rid of the explosive trend of ADCs in support roles. The patch also introduced long-awaited nerfs to Radiant Virtue and final tweaks to several reworked Jax skins.
Planned Annie changes, expected to help her dazzle the mid lane once again, have also been bundled into the first February update after delays.
In the skins department, Heartache and Heartthrob skins celebrating Valentine’s Day from the scrapped 13.2 update have finally arrived too after being delayed nearly 14 days because of the Riot cyber attack.
Here’s everything you need to know about League Patch 13.3.
All the biggest changes in League Patch 13.3
Traditional supports return to bot lane
When Senna and Imperial Mandate Ashe in the support role first appeared on the streets of Summoner’s Rift, no one would have guessed we’d later witness the rise of AD carry supports like Jhin and Caitlyn. To restore balance in the bot lane, Riot is buffing traditional support picks like Braum, Alistar, Rakan, and Nautilus.
Originally, Pyke, Pantheon, and Thresh were supposed to join the ranks of tank supports and receive generous buffs, but Riot Phroxzon announced on Feb. 1 the buffs were pulled from the patch to avoid damage creep and going overboard with buffs after Grievous Wounds and enchanter changes in Patch 13.1b.
League devs wage war on early ganks
Riot is trying hard to reduce the power of early jungle ganks and dives in this update. The devs are changing Treat Gold and the experience Large Monsters handout to make “power farming” more tempting. In a similar vein, turrets will now dish out 182 to 350 damage early, instead of the old 162 to 344 pain point.
Finally, trinket wards are having cooldowns reduced too.
All this is in aid of one goal: reduce the frequency of early ganks in League lobbies and support characters that need to farm lots early to hit power spikes.
Read: League devs are making big changes to how jungle ganking works
Art update for Ahri to arrive after cyber attack delay
Originally, the long-awaited Ahri art and sustainability update was ready to ship for Patch 13.2 but was pushed to this update after the cyber attack at Riot scuppered much of the publisher’s early January patch plans.
Instead, the Nine-Tailed Fox’s refresh, which has upgraded her in-game animations as well as her audio and skin designs, landed in the Feb. 8 release.
Read: League of Legends Ahri ASU: When it releases, new splash art, more
Promised Annie buffs fired up, ready to load
Originally, Annie buffs that aimed to give the mid-queen the changes she deserves were supposed to go live with Patch 13.2. After the cyber attack, the changes were pushed back until further notice.
In the current League PBE build, the promised Annie changes, which include buffs to her passive, Incinerate, and Molten Shield, are fired up and ready to load. Bearing in mind the recent Rod of Ages buffs and the mid lane meta with Ryze and Kassadin dominating, Annie might actually see some action after these changes.
Read: All tentative Annie buffs & changes shipping in next League patch
League celebrates Valentine’s Day with trio of skins
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner (Tuesday, Feb. 14 for those that have forgotten), the Riot devs are getting in the lovey spirit. This year, that comes in the form of Heartthrob and Heartache skins, namely for fan-fave League ‘ship Caitlyn and Vi, and the perpetually lonely Shuriman mummy Amumu.
Here are the new skins:
- Heartache Amumu (1,350 RP)
- Heartthrob Caitlyn (1,350 RP)
- Heartache Vi (1,350 RP)
These skins are set to go live across during the League Patch 13.3 cycle.
Here are all the patch notes for the Feb. 8 update.
League Patch 13.3 patch notes
Champions
Ahri
- Art and Sustainability Update to ship.
- Changes from 12.9, 12.17, and 12.21 returned to live:
- Q mana cost decreased from 60-100 to 55-95, ability power ratio reduced from 45 percent to 40 percent.
- E cooldown reduced from 14 seconds to 12 seconds, Charm duration increased from 1.2-2 seconds to 1.4-2 seconds.
- R cooldown reduced from 140-90 seconds to 130-80 seconds.
Alistar
- Passive self heal changed from 23-142 (based on level) to five percent max health.
- Ally heal changed from 46−284 (based on level) to six percent of max health.
- Q mana cost reduced from 55-75 to 50-70, ability power ratio increased from 50 to 70 percent ability power.
- W mana cost reduced from 65-85 to 50-70, ability power ratio increased from 70 percent ability power to 90 percent.
- E mana cost reduced from 50-90 to 50-70, ability power ratio per tick increased from four percent ability power to seven percent, maximum AP ratio increased from 40 to 70 percent.
Amumu
- Q mana cost increased from 40-60 to 45-65.
- E damage reduced from 80-200 (+50 percent ability power) to 65-205 (+50 percent ability power).
Annie
- Mana regeneration growth increased from 0.8 to one.
- Passive now gains maximum stacks upon game start and respawn.
- E now damages targets once per shield (Tibbers’ shield is counted separately). Now damages targets from all damage sources, instead of only basic attacks. Shield ability power ratio increased from 35 percent ability power to 55 percent. Base damage increased from 20-60 to 25-65. Damage ability power ratio increased from 25 percent ability power to 40 percent.
- Tibbers health now scales with 75 percent AP, resists increased from 30-90 to 30-90 (+5 percent AP), movement speed increased from 350 at all ranks to 350-400.
Azir
- R soldiers will now properly collide with enemies even if Azir dies during the ability’s cast time.
Braum
- Base health regeneration increased from 8.5 to 10
- Base health increased from 610 to 640.
- Passive cooldown interval reduced from levels 1-13 to 1-11.
- Q cooldown reduced from 10-6 to 8-6 seconds.
Jarvan IV
- Pulled from patch.
Jax
- Default skin R has shield visual effect restored and improved hit sound effect
- Now will properly play all sound effects.
- Nemesis Jax now has lightning visual effects added to R.
- God Staff Jax now has sparkle and spike visual effects added to R.
- Adjusted cape animation has reduced stiffness.
- Jax will no longer return to his idle animation between attacks.
- Mecha Kingdoms Jax now has ember explosion visual effects added to R.
- Conqueror Jax will now have spike visual effects added to R.
- Prestige Conqueror Jax will now have spike visual effects added to R.
Kayn
- Assassin passive extra damage increased from 13-40 percent to 15-45% (based on level).
- Non-Rhaast Q damage changed from 75-155 (+65 percent bonus attack damage) to 70-150 (+80 percent bonus attack damage). Riot developer note: Rhaast has different damage scaling that is unchanged.
Kayle
- Passive move speed increased from 8 to 10 percent.
- E on-hit damage ratio increased from 0.2 to 0.25, missing health active increased from 8-10 percent to 8-12 percent.
K’Sante
- Q knock-up duration reduced from one second to 0.65 seconds, stun duration reduced from 1-1.25 seconds to one second.
- W min. stun reduced from 0.35-0.75 to 0.3-0.5.
- R resist lost increased from 65 percent bonus to 85 percent bonus.
LeBlanc
- Mana regeneration increased from six to eight.
- Mana regen growth increased from 0.8 to one.
- Q mana changed from 50-70 to 50.
- R cooldown reduced from 60-30 to 50-30.
Lee Sin
- Q bonus attack damage ratio increased from 1.0 to 1.2.
- E now a total attack damage ratio (same at level one, better after).
- E slow increased from 20-60 percent to 20-80.
Nautilus
- Q base damage increased from 8-110 to 4-116 (based on level).
- W mana cost reduced from 80 to 60, base shield increased from 40-80 to 50-90.
- E base damage increased from 55-175 to 55-195, ability power ratio increased from 30 percent ability power to 50 percent.
Pantheon
- Pulled from patch.
Pyke
- Pulled from patch.
Rakan
- Q base damage increased from 70-250 to 70-290, base damage ability power ratio increased from 70 percent ability power to 90 percent.
- Base heal increased from 30-115 to 40-210 (based on level).
- R ability power ratio increased from 70 percent ability power to 80 percent.
Thresh
- Pulled from patch.
Trundle
- Dance emote now scales with movement speed.
- W cooldown reduced from 18-14 seconds to 16-12 seconds.
Zac
- W ability power ratio reduced from 4 percent per 100 ability power to 3 percent per 100 ability power.
- E damage reduced from 60-260 (+90 percent ability power) to 60-240 (+80 percent ability power).
Items
Archangel’s Staff
- Now limited to one Lifeline item.
Radiant Virtue
- Cost increased from 3,000 to 3,200.
- Cooldown increased from 60 to 90 seconds.
- New effect: Upon casting your ultimate you Transcend for eight seconds, increasing your maximum health by 15 percent. While Transcended, you and allies within 1200 units heal for five percent of your maximum health upon Transcending and every four seconds thereafter.
- Removed: Upon casting your ultimate you Transcend for 9 seconds, increasing your maximum health by 10 percent. While Transcended, you and allies within 1200 units gain 20 basic ability haste and heal for two percent of your maximum health upon Transcending and every three seconds thereafter. Ally healing is increased by up to 100 percent based on their missing health.
Umbral Glaive
- Cooldown increased from 40 seconds to 50.
- Ranged damage to wards reduced from three to two.
- No longer instantly kills traps.
Runes
Overheal
- Base shield increased from 10 at all levels to 20-300 (based on level).
- (No longer in patch) Removed: Shield no longer scales with maximum health.
Tenacity
- Most sourcers will now stack multiplicatively together.
Systems
Early jungle ganking
- Treat gold reduced from 30 seconds to 20.
- Experience from Larger Monsters increased from 75 to 85.
Stealth Ward Trinket
- Cooldown reduced from 240-210 to 210-120.
Skins
Heartache Amumu
Heartthrob Caitlyn
Heartache Vi
Update Feb. 8, 2.51am CT: Added official League Patch 13.3 notes.
Update Feb. 5, 10:08pm CT: Added more 13.3 skin details.
Update Feb. 1, 5.32am CT: Removed Thresh, Pyke, and Pantheon changes as they were pulled from the patch.
Update Jan. 31, 9.23pm CT: Added extensive League Patch 13.3 change details as posted by Riot Phroxzon on Twitter on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
Update Jan. 31, 12.16am CT: Added several champion changes.
Update Jan. 30, 9.04pm CT: Added Patch 13.3 preview from Riot Phroxzon.