LoL patch 12.21 is here, and it’s the final major update before Season 13’s preseason changes go live. Riot are squeezing in some last minute buffs and nerfs for the ranked grind as well as new champion K’Sante: here’s the notes.
League of Legends Season 13 is just around the corner with preseason inching ever closer. Developers’ eyes have firmly shifted over to the new content, but LoL patch 12.21 poses one last chance to shake things up for that final ranked push.
There are a small handful of quality of life changes coming, as well as some balance tuning on champions not heavily affected in preseason. Bigger than all that though, tank top laner K’Sante will also make his debut on Summoner’s Rift.
Here’s what you need to know about LoL patch 12.21, including the full notes.
What’s changed in LoL patch 12.21?
K’Sante releasing as new high-skill tank top laner
K’Sante, the Pride of Nazumah, is coming as the last League of Legends champion of Season 12. The high-skill tank top laner has been long teased by Riot, and the Warden-slash-Skirmisher fills that role perfectly.
In his base form, K’Sante protects his team from enemy onslaught, putting up a stoic defense. However when the time calls for it, he goes All Out and peels off from his team, isolating an enemy into a duel and taking matters into his own hands.
Managing that transition between tank and fighter is a fine balance and where K’Sante’s skill lays. It also opens up a bit more skill expression in the role with some harder mechanics to execute than just playing a tank and acting as a meatshield.
K’Sante will also launch with a Prestige skin — the first champion to do so — with Riot and Lil Nas X collaborating on the Empyrean cosmetic ahead of his launch.
Blitzcrank and Miss Fortune nerfs ahead of preseason
As far as balance goes in LoL patch 12.21, there’s not much to write home about as Riot keeps it simple ahead of preseason. Developer Matt Leung-Harrison told players ahead of the update they are “only addressing significant outliers that aren’t overly affected by the changes.”
This includes Blitzcrank and Miss Fortune in the nerfs column as the two have overrun the meta recently. Jungle buffs to the former and AD changes to the other have made them big threats, and will be toned down as a result.
As for buffs, there are five candidates: Ahri, Corki, and Xin Zhao are getting some general upgrades, while Malzahar will get some “last hit assistance” with his damage-over-time ability, Malefic Visions.
Empyrean skins round out Worlds 2022 collection
It’s not just K’Sante getting Empyrean skins in LoL patch 12.21 — the new collection will include seven other champions.
The neon-filled cosmetics with similar vibes to Project will bolster the appearances of Jax, Jhin, Lux, Pyke, Vex, Zac, and Zed as well. All these skins will be made available for 1350 RP — except for Pyke’s more expensive Legendary at 1820 RP — and come with a variety of chromas.
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So much power… it’ll burn you up inside…🔥Empyrean Pyke🔥Empyrean Jax🔥Empyrean Lux🔥Empyrean Zac pic.twitter.com/6ydr3Uh1fO
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) October 18, 2022
You can find the full LoL patch 12.21 notes below, courtesy of Riot.
LoL patch 12.21 notes
Champions
Ahri
Q: Orb of Deception
- Mana cost: 60/70/80/90/100 ⇒ 55/65/75/85/95
- Damage per pass through: 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP) ⇒ 40/65/90/115/140 (+45% AP)
Bel’Veth
E: Royal Maelstrom
- Cooldown: 22/20.5/19/17.5/16 seconds ⇒ 24/22.5/21/19.5/18 seconds
R: Endless Banquet
- Void Remora health: 50/60/70% minion’s maximum health ⇒ 40/50/60% minion’s maximum health
Blitzcrank
Base stats
- Health: 653 ⇒ 633
- Armor: 32 ⇒ 28
W: Overdrive
- Bonus attack speed: 40/53/66/79/92% ⇒ 30/43/56/69/82%
Corki
Base stats
- Health growth: 101 ⇒ 105
- Attack damage growth: 2.5 ⇒ 2.8
Malzahar
E: Malefic Visions
- Malefic Visions will now execute minions below 15-45 health (levels 1-11)
Miss Fortune
E: Make It Rain
- Damage: 70/100/130/160/190 (+100% AP) ⇒ 70/100/130/160/190 (+120% AP)
- Slow: 50% (+4% per 100 AP) ⇒ 40% (+6% per 100 AP)
R: Bullet Time
- Damage per wave: 75% AD + 20% AP ⇒ 75% AD + 25% AP
Xin Zhao
Passive: Determination
- Third Hit Bonus Damage: 15/25/35/45% AD ⇒ 15/30/45/60% AD
- Heal: 6-74 (based on level) (+10% AD) (+55% AP) ⇒ 6-74 (based on level) (+10% AD) (+65% AP)
E: Audacious Charge
- Cooldown: 12 seconds ⇒ 11 seconds
Bug fixes
- Fixed a bug where champion clones would not receive increased damage from consecutive turret shots
- Fixed a bug where Syndra’s E would not do damage to Epic Monsters other than Rift Herald
- Fixed a bug where Syndra’s E could damage Gwen inside of her own W
- Fixed a bug where Viego, in Syndra form, would not release units picked up with her W after stopping possession of Syndra
- Fixed a bug where Nilah’s Q passive shield duration did not match the ability tooltip
- Fixed a bug where Mordekaiser’s E VFX would sometimes play twice per cast
- Fixed a bug where Yuumi’s W adaptive force buff would disappear on allies affected by specific debuffs
- Fixed a bug where enemies hit by Rakan’s R + W combo would be able to use items and abilities while airborne
- Fixed a bug where Darius’ R would sometimes not reset its cooldown if a target died a moment before taking damage
- Removed the “Show Enemy Information Tooltips” option from the game
- Note: we removed this functionality years ago, but are finally turning off the option, which, did nothing
