League of Legends Patch 25.S1.2 Full Preview

League of Legends Patch 25.S1.2 is approaching, and game designer David "Riot Phreak" Turley has revealed its key components — let's explore.
Evelynn will receive a buff in League of Legends Patch 25.S1.2, and assassins in general will shift to prioritize damage on tanks.
Evelynn will receive a buff in League of Legends Patch 25.S1.2, and assassins in general will shift to prioritize damage on tanks. / Riot Games

League of Legends Patch S25.S1.1 welcomed players to Noxus with major visual updates, significant Champion changes and a new Feats of Strength mechanic. Its next update, Patch 25.S1.2, is now on the horizon. Developer Riot Phreak has provided players with a quick preview of what the update may entail — let's explore a recap including everything we know.

League of Legends Patch 25.S1.2 Preview Rundown

On January 16, 2025, League of Legends game developer David "Riot Phreak" Turley released a quick preview for the game's upcoming 25.S1.2 Patch. Let's explore the most important things that will reportedly arrive in this next update including Champion balancing decisions, Item and System changes, Swiftplay development and more.

Basic Changes

League of Legends Voracious Atakhan
Players will have a better chance to see jungle boss Atakhan in top lane after Patch 25.S1.2. / Riot Game

Atakhan

While Atakhan was active in this patch, League of Legends developers took careful notice of his spawn locations in every game mode. In 25.S1.2, Atakhan will spawn in bot lane slightly less so there is a 50/50 chance of encountering him in top lane.

In addition, the developers initially aimed for 70% Ruinous and 30% Voracious Atakhan form appearances. However, they encountered a massive imbalance where Summoner's Rift heavily leans Ruinous and Swiftplay leans Voracious, which they will fix in the upcoming Patch. Developers will also nerf Voracious form by doubling the gold reward for killing victorious champions.

  • Atakhan Bot Lane Spawn Rate: Above 50% > 50%
  • Ruinous vs Voracious Atakhan ratio will be more accurate in all modes
  • Voracious Atakhan Nerf: Double gold for killing Champions

Blood Roses

  • XP/Rose: 25 > 23; AF Scaling Nerf

Feats of Strength

The game currently has several Feats of Strength which offer buffs for early game milestones. Feat of First Blood will change to Feat of Warfare, and will now reward different actions.

  • Feat of First Blood > Feat of Warfare (rewards the first team to get 3 kills)

Homeguard

  • Higher radius ; lower duration

ADC and Assassin changes

Assassins

Riot Phreak notes that "almost all" assassins lost 1-1.5% of win rate in the past few updates. He says most of the decrease resulted from Eyeball Collector's removal (affecting Adaptive Force) and other rune changes. To combat the issue, the team is buffing other assassin-focused runes.

Assassin-Focused Rune Buffs

  • Grisly Mementos: 50% more Trinket Haste per takedown
  • Deep Ward: 15-30 second increase for Yellow Trinkets
  • Sixth Sense: 25 second less cooldown for melee, 10 second less cooldown for range

ADCs

Phreak comments that ADCs will receive some buffs in 25.S1.2. He also says the team aims to clarify what exactly an ADC does and which roles they target, saying "The AD Carry should be better at killing tanks than most classes."

  • ADC buffs focused on clarifying their consistent role
  • Shifts to focus ADCs toward tank-killing

Swiftplay

Swifplay has reportedly found significant success and Phreak says it is "massively more popular than old Quickplay." He notes that League of Legends has a team dedicated to Swiftplay mode, though its size will change depending on the mode's popularity.

Phreak states that the team prioritizes having fun and Champion experimentation in Swiftplay. Win rates, Champion statistics and mechanics will differ from other modes to reflect this perspective and accommodate mid-ELO players.

Items and Systems Changes

Several Changes to Mortal Reminder and Lord Dominik's Regards will slightly buff them while increasing their costs. In addition, Yun Tal Wildarrows will be massively buffed to further prioritize damage against tanks.

  • Mortal Reminder: +5% Pen; costs 100g more
  • Lord Dominik's Regards: +5% Pen; costs 100g more
  • Yun Tal Wildarrows: +5 Attack Damage; +10% Attack Speed; costs 100g more

Champion Buffs

Smolder is a powerful champion in TFT Set 12
Smolder's balancing act continues in League of Legends Patch 25.S1.2. / Riot Games

Evelynn will receive notable buffs that will please her mains and improve her Ultimate effectiveness. Meanwhile, Master Yi will gain a preliminary buff that may need to increase in the future. Kayn's Shadow Assassin form's damage will be buffed. Malzahar, Smolder and Yuumi will also see improvements in their kits.

Evelynn

  • Higher move speed on E, R Ratio increased for better one-shots

Master Yi

  • Improvements to AD growth and E AD ratio

Malzahar

  • Quality of Life changes on W

Shadow Assassin Kayn

  • P damage increases

Smolder

  • Q IE Scaling improvements

Yuumi

  • Q CD, P Ratio, R Damage Ratio improvements

Champion Nerfs

Cassiopeia will be slightly nerfed to reduce her move speed. Riot Phreak also notes that he wishes to reduce excessive armor growth to improve late-game pacing and reduce pressure on assassins. Irelia nerfs will combat some of this unnecessary damage. Tahm Kench has been popping up in many games lately, and Phreak notes he is "a bit too good" so his kit will face a nerf. These changes will prioritize Tahm Kench's tankiness and survivability while lowering his damage. Viktor is slightly overpowered in the current meta, and small Q and R changes will balance him out.

Cassiopeia

  • Move Speed: +2 > +1 ms/level (Feats)

Irelia

  • W -0-60 damage; E -10-40 damage; R -0-100 damage

Tahm Kench

  • Q -5-25 damage

Viktor

  • Q -10% ratio; R tick -10% ratio

Swiftplay Balancing

As Swiftplay's meta diverges from the main game, Qiyana, Rengar and Sivir will be buffed to ensure their optimal performance. A slew of Champions including Kayle, Malzahar, Nilah, Singed, Teemo, Trundle, Urgot, Yorick and Zyra will face nerfs. In addition, Champion gold generation mechanics will change.

  • "Champion Gold Generation no longer nerfs comebacks (GP, TF, etc.)"

Swiftplay Buffs

Qiyana

  • Higher HP; +E Ratio

Rengar

  • Higher HP; +HP Growth; +AD Growth

Sivir

  • +AS Growth

Swiftplay Nerfs

Kayle

  • Q: Damage and Slow reduced

Malzahar

  • Armor Growth, W Ratio and R Ratio nerfs

Nilah

  • Attack Speed Growth reduced

Singed

  • Q Ratio nerfed

Teemo

  • R: Damage and Ratio reduced

Trundle

  • Attack Speed Growth Reduced

Urgot

  • Armor Growth reduced
  • Q Damage reduced

Yorick

  • Armor reduced
  • E Amp reduced

Zyra

  • P Ratio nerfed

NEXT: League of Legends 2025 Patch Schedule


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