League of Legends Patch 14.5: Base Stat Changes, Balancing Acts and Bug Fixes Galore

Patch 14.5 is here to continue the balancing work Patch 14.4 started, and it includes major changes to Champions like Rek'Sai, Seraphine and more. Let's explore!

League of Legends Patch 14.5 improves upon and further fine-tunes earlier 14.4 adjustments. Source: Riot Games

League of Legends has nearly 170 playable Champions, each of them with unique abilities and stats. The Riot Games team works hard to maintain the meta's precarious balancing act full of countless checks and balances. Patch 14.5 focuses on eliminating inefficiency, encouraging creativity and making sure every Champion has a chance to shine – let's dive into the juicy 14.5 Patch Notes.

When will League of Legends Patch 14.5 take effect?

The patch will reach servers on Wednesday, March 6th. It will go into effect at 20:00 UTC.

Riot Games is following up on Rek'Sai changes in 14.4 and smoothing out bugs related to the Champion.  Source: Riot Games

What champions are being buffed in League of Legends Patch 14.5?

Patch 14.5's buffs hone in on Rek'Sai. Riot Games is still fine-tuning her kit after severe reworks in 14.4 and is even adjusting base stats such as her Attack Windup. Meanwhile, Kayn will gain a strong Umbral Trespass healing boost and will heal much more in his Darkin Form. Additional buffs such as Sivir's are small but significant and will please mains.

Jarvan IV

• Base Stats
• Armor Growth: 4.8 ⇒ 5.2
• Q- Dragon Strike
• Cooldown: 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds ⇒ 10/9/8/7/6 seconds

Kayn

• Passive - The Darkin Scythe
• Darkin Bonus - Healing: 25% ⇒ 25% (+0.5% per 100 Bonus Health)
• R - Umbral Trespass
• Darkin Form Healing: 65% of damage dealt ⇒ 75% of damage dealt

Kog’Maw

• Passive - Icathian Surprise
• Bonus Movement Speed: 0-40% over 4 seconds ⇒ 10-50% over 4 seconds
• Q - Caustic Spittle
• Cast Time: 0.25 seconds ⇒ matches auto attack frame time
• E - Void Ooze
• Slow: 30/35/40/45/50% ⇒ 40/45/50/55/60%
• R - Living Artillery
• Minimum Damage: 100/140/180 (+65% bonus AD) (+35% AP) ⇒ 100/140/180 (+75% bonus AD) (+35% AP)

Rek’Sai

• Base Stats
• Attack Windup: 26.67% (+100% Attack Speed) ⇒ 20% (+60% Attack Speed)
• (Note: This means attacks take 25% less time to fully animate at level 1, down to 3% less time with Stridebreaker, runes, and Q active at level 18.)
• Basic Attack Cast Frame: 12 ⇒ 10
• (Note: This means attacks deal their damage about 20% earlier in the animation.)
• Critical Strike Cast Frame: 9 ⇒ 10

• Q - Queen's Wrath
• Can no longer be canceled mid-attack; matches most other empowered attacks
• Cast Frame: 12 ⇒ 9
• (Note: This means the attack strikes the target about 33% earlier in the animation.)
• Bugfix: Attacks now stack Spear of Shojin when hitting only one champion

• W - Burrow / Unburrow
• Unburrow will now knock up all Large Monsters in range if they're eligible
• Unburrow can now damage (but not knock up) targets who were recently knocked up and immune to Unburrow
• Bugfix: Fixed a bug where Rek'Sai could stop auto-attacking after burrowing and quickly unburrowing

• E - Furious Bite
• 100 Fury Bonus Damage: 6/8/10/12/14% of target's maximum health ⇒ 8/9.5/11/12.5/14% of target's maximum health
• Monster Bonus Damage Cap: 60-400 (based on level) ⇒ 75-400 (based on level)

• R - Void Rush
• Damage: 100/250/400 (+100% bonus AD) (+20/25/30% of target's missing health) ⇒ 150/300/450 (+100% bonus AD) (+25/30/35% of target's missing health)

• Minor updates to tooltips to improve clarity.

Sivir

• Base Stats
• Base Armor: 26 ⇒ 30

Veigar

• Q - Baleful Strike
• Damage: 80/120/160/200/240 (+45/50/55/60/65% AP) ⇒ 80/120/160/200/240 (+50/55/60/65/70% AP)
• R - Primordial Burst
• Cooldown: 120/90/60 ⇒ 100/80/60 seconds

Vex

• Passive - Doom ‘n Gloom
• Gloom Detonation Damage: 30-140 (based on level) (+20% AP) ⇒ 40-150 (based on level) (+25% AP)
• E - Looming Darkness
• Killing units with Looming Darkness now grants Doom ‘n Gloom's passive refund.

Wukong

• Passive - Stone Skin
• Maximum Number of Stacks: 10 ⇒ 5
• Percent Amplification per Stack: 50% ⇒ 100%
• Stack Falloff Rate: All at once ⇒ One at a time

Twisted Fate mains will be unhappy with a massive damage nerf to the Champion's Royal Maelstrom ability. Source: Riot Games / Riot Games

What champions are being nerfed in League of Legends Patch 14.5?

Ten Champions are facing nerfs in Patch 14.5 – no one will escape the League of Legends dev team's wrath! While some like Zac's are relatively minor 'baby nerfs', others will have mains crying and enemies rejoicing. In particular, Twisted Fate's nerf will shift attention from AD builds while Maokai's nerf weakens his early gameplay and makes him especially slow for a melee champ.

Bel’Veth

• Passive - Death In Lavender
• Bugfix: Fixed a bug that caused Bel'Veth to get three stacks for each Epic Void monster. She now properly gets two Death in Lavender stacks per Void Grub (for a total of six if she gets all three of them) and two for Rift Herald.
• E - Royal Maelstrom
• Damage Reduction: 42/49/56/63/70% ⇒ 35/40/45/50/55%

Brand

• Passive - Blaze
• Damage to Monsters: 200% ⇒ 215%
• R - Pyroclasm
• Damage per Hit: 100/200/300 (+25% AP) ⇒ 100/175/250 (+25% AP)
• Cooldown: 105/90/75 ⇒ 110/100/90 seconds

Evelynn

• Q - Hate Spike
• Damage: 25/30/35/40/45 (+30% AP) ⇒ 25/30/35/40/45 (+25% AP)

Maokai

• Base Stats
• Base Movement Speed: 335 ⇒ 330
• Q - Bramble Smash
• Bonus Damage to Monsters: 80/100/120/140/160 ⇒ 120/130/140/150/160
• W - Twisted Advance
• Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 ⇒ 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

Nidalee

• Base Stats
• Base Movement Speed: 340 ⇒ 335
• Q - Takedown
• Bonus Damage to Hunted Targets: 40% ⇒ 30%

Senna

• Q - Piercing Darkness
• Damage: 30/60/90/120/150 (+50% bonus AD) ⇒ 30/60/90/120/150 (+40% bonus AD)

Twisted Fate

• E - Stacked Deck
• Bonus Attack Speed: 10/22.5/35/47.5/60% ⇒ 10/20/30/40/50%
• Bonus Damage: 65/90/115/140/165 (+75% bonus AD) (+40% AP) ⇒ 65/90/115/140/165 (+20% bonus AD) (+40% AP)

Vayne

• Passive - Night Hunter
• Bonus Movement Speed: 45 ⇒ 30
• (Note: Bonus movement speed during Final Hour will be unchanged at 90.)
• Q - Tumble
• Cooldown: 4/3.5/3/2.5/2 ⇒ 6/5/4/3/2 seconds

Yorick

• Passive - Shepherd of Souls
• Tooltip clarified to state that only Mist Walkers take reduced damage from monsters.
• E - Mourning Mist
• Cursed Bonus Damage for 8 Attacks: 30% ⇒ 20%
• R - Eulogy of the Isles
• Maiden Armor and Magic Resist: 10-50 (based on level) ⇒ 30-90 (based on level)
• Maiden no longer reduces Area of Effect damage by 50%.
• Tooltip now clarifies that Maiden takes 70% less damage from lane minions.
• Bugfix: Maiden's 1/2/3% maximum health damage no longer bypasses Evasion like Shen's W. (Note: Blind, Dodge, and Evasion all work appropriately against the rest of Maiden's attacks.)

Zac

• W - Unstable Matter
• Damage: 35/50/65/80/95 (+4/5/6/7/8% (+3% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health) ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80 (+4/5/6/7/8% (+3% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health)

Seraphine is undergoing a massive rework that prioritizes support builds and playstyles. Source: Riot Games

What champions are being adjusted in League of Legends patch 14.5?

Patch 14.5 is reworking Seraphine to complement her player base's majority Support playstyle. With changes that redirect away from AP carry strategies, she will become more reliant on mana items, and scale better with support builds. Smolder changes continue to balance the Champion after his recent introduction. 

Seraphine

• Base Stats
• Movement speed: 325 ⇒ 330
• Mana Growth: 50 ⇒ 25
• Mana Regeneration: 0.4 ⇒ 0.95
• Base AD: 55 ⇒ 50
• Passive - Stage Presence
• Damage: 5/10/18/30 (+5% AP) (levels 1/6/11/16) ⇒ 4-25 (based on level, linear) (+4% AP)
• 300% minion damage modifier has been removed
• Q - High Note
• Missile Speed: 1200 ⇒ 1300
• Cooldown: 10/8.75/7.5/6.25/5 ⇒ 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds
• Mana Cost: 65/70/75/80/85 ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100
• Damage: 55/80/105/130/155 (+50% AP) ⇒ 60/85/110/135/160 (+50% AP)
• Maximum Damage Amp based on Missing Health: 50% ⇒ 60%
• Damage amp no longer affects non-champions
• No longer prevents minions from dying to other minions while in flight
• W - Surround Sound
• Cooldown: 28/25/22/19/16 ⇒ 22/21/20/19/18 seconds
• Mana Cost: 80/85/90/95/100 ⇒ 70/75/80/85/90
• Shield: 50/75/100/125/150 (+20% AP) ⇒ 60/85/110/135/160 (+20% AP)
• Seraphine Bonus Movement Speed: 20% (+4% AP) ⇒ 20% (+2% AP)
• E - Beat Drop
• Cooldown: 10 ⇒ 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 seconds
• Mana Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 ⇒ 60 at all ranks
• Damage: 60/95/130/165/200 (+35% AP) ⇒ 70/100/130/160/190 (+50% AP)
• Slow Duration: 1.25 ⇒ 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5 seconds
• Minion Damage: 100% ⇒ 70%
• R - Encore
• Damage: 150/200/250 (+60% AP) ⇒ 150/200/250 (+40% AP)
• Cooldown: 160/130/100 ⇒ 160/140/120 seconds

Smolder

• Q - Super Scorcher Breath
• 3rd Upgrade Bonus True Damage: 6.5% of target's maximum health ⇒ +2% bonus AD (+1% AP) (+0.8% of Dragon Patience Stacks) of target's maximum health
• E - Flap, Flap, Flap
• Number of Bolts: 5-10 (based on critical strike chance) ⇒ 5 (+1 per 50 Dragon Patience Stacks)
• Tooltip has been updated to clarify that these bolts are not attacks
• R - Mmooommmm!
• Damage: 225/350/475 (+110% bonus AD) (+100% AP) ⇒ 200/300/400 (+110% bonus AD) (+100% AP)
• Sweet Spot Increased Damage Multiplier: 30% ⇒ 50%
• Self Heal: 110/160/210 (+75% AP) ⇒ 100/135/170 (+50% bonus AD) (+75% AP)

What items and systems are changing in League of Legends patch 14.5?

Champion reworks in Patch 14.5 are encouraging experimentation – new playstyles, different lanes and fresh builds. Corresponding item adjustments supplement these changes well. Frozen Heart and Solstice Sleigh, previously frequent picks, will become less efficient thanks to notable nerfs.

Items

• Celestial Opposition
• Cooldown: 20 ⇒ 18 seconds
• Slow Duration: 1.5 ⇒ 2 seconds
• Slow Strength: 50% ⇒ 60%
• Dream Maker
• Blue Bubble Damage Reduction: 140 ⇒ 75-255 (levels 6-18)
• Purple Bubble Bonus Damage: 90 ⇒ 50-170 (levels 6-18)
• Frozen Heart
• Total Price: 2400 gold ⇒ 2500 gold
• Armor: 70 ⇒ 65
• Heartsteel
• Proc Bonus Damage: 100 (+10% bonus health from items) ⇒ 80 (+12% bonus health from items)
• Leviathan (Ornn Upgrade)
• Proc Bonus Damage: 100 (+10% bonus health from items) ⇒ 80 (+12% bonus health from items)
• Bugfix: Fixed a bug that gave Leviathan 25 Ability Haste
• Solstice Sleigh
• Cooldown: 20 ⇒ 30 seconds
• Bonus Health: 7% of maximum health ⇒ 50-230 (levels 6-18)
• Bonus Movement Speed: 30% ⇒ 25%
• Item tracker flavor text updated
• Spear of Shojin
• Spells now only grant 1 stack per cast, up to 1 per second for spells that deal damage over time
• Attack-based spells now add a stack and get their damage improved by the spell amp
• Damage from champion passives should no longer grant stacks for Focused Will
• Sunfire Aegis
• Health: 450 ⇒ 500
• Immolate Base Damage: 12 ⇒ 15

AP Assassin Items

• Lich Bane
• Spellblade Damage: 75% base AD (+50% AP) ⇒ 75% base AD (+45% AP)
• Stormsurge
• Movement Speed: +5% ⇒ +8%
• Frozen Heart
• Total Price: 2400 gold ⇒ 2500 gold
• Armor: 70 ⇒ 65
• Hextech Rocketbelt
• Total Price: 2500 ⇒ 2600
• Ability Power: 60 ⇒ 70

What else is changing in League of Legends Patch 14.5?

Riot Games is complementing in-game Champion changes with near-endless bug fixes to ensure a smooth player experience. Plus, Ranked Split timing releases will help players plan for their competitive climbs. Competitive Queue will not be the only mode that Patch 14.5's balancing affects – ARAM will receive adjustments as well. 

Ranked Split 1 and 2 Timing

• Split 1 End Date: May 14, 2024 at 23:59:59 according to local server time
• Split 2 Start Date: May 15, 2024 at 12:00:00 according to local server time
• Bugfix: We're aware of a bug that is causing the ranked countdown timer in the client to count down to the Split 1 end date based on last year's end date. We have a fix prepared and it will be going live in Patch 14.6 to match the dates and times mentioned above.

Vanguard Testing

• League of Legends will test Vanguard in Philippines servers starting on March 6th. 

ARAM Balance Changes

• Riot Games delivered a well-needed shield nerf to Lulu as well as numerous adjustments to Naafiri, Karma and other Champions. For a full list, view the official patch notes.

Bugfixes and QoL changes

• Patch 14.5 includes a massive amount of bug fixes. Players can find the full list in the official patch notes linked here.

Upcoming Skins and Chromas

• PROJECT Gangplank, Naafiri and Jax skins will be available in this patch.

How will the League of Legends 14.5 changes affect the current meta?

Patch 14.5 will shake up the meta more than previous patches as it fundamentally changes which roles many Champions can efficiently function in. For example, the severe Seraphine changes will damage her mid-lane and AP carry potential while mana changes reward Support play. Twisted Fate nerfs also shift rewards away from AD carry builds, and Brand changes improve his Jungle potential. 

This patch's item adjustments also add variety and encourage experimentation. Frozen Heart nerfs limit its efficiency and reward more unique tank builds. Plus, buffs to Celestial Opposition and Heartsteel make the previously unfavored items more viable. 

Overall, players can look forward to experimenting with new AP, assassin and tank builds this Patch. Enjoy the refreshed meta, and stay tuned for further League of Legends updates!