League of Legends Patch 12.18 Highlights – The Worlds Patch

League of Legends Patch 12.18 goes live on September 21. This is the final patch before the most prestigious tournament of the year, Worlds. As such, almost all of the changes in this patch are targeted at picks that are likely to be active pro play. It’s a smaller update than the previous one, since rocking the boat too much before Worlds isn’t a good thing. Here are all of the biggest changes of League of Legends Patch 12.18. For the full patch notes, click here.

Champion Nerfs

Hecarim

Base Stats

• Base Health 650 ⇒ 625

Q – Rampage

• Physical Damage Bonus AD Ratio 95% ⇒ 90%
• Increased Damage Per Stack 4% (+6% per 100 bonus AD) ⇒ 4% (+5% per 100 bonus AD)

W – Spirit of Dread

• Percent of Post-Mitigation Damage Healed 30% (+2.5% per 100 bonus AD) ⇒ 25% (+2% per 100 bonus AD) (Note: remains halved for damage not dealt by Hecarim)

Hecarim has been running rampant ever since his update last patch. In order to avoid another Hecarim-dominated jungle meta before Worlds, Riot have cut down on both his damage and his durability. These nerfs aren’t massive by any means, but they will hopefully cut down on the Hecarim hype that has been building. He will likely still be seen in Play-Ins, but we’ll have to see if he really is strong enough to completely take over the meta.

Kalista

Base Stats

• Base Health 604 ⇒ 574

Kalista dominated the pro meta in the back half of the season, prompting an astronomically high ban rate across all regions. A 30 HP nerf may not seem like a lot on paper, but due to Kalista being an early game skirmishing ADC, losing out on an auto-attack’s worth of health will be noticeable. In matchups where she can dominate, this likely won’t change much. Against traditional counter picks however, Kalista will be more difficult to pull off.

Lulu

W – Whimsy

• Movement Speed 30% ⇒ 25%
• Disable duration 1.25/1.5/1.75/2.0/2.25 ⇒ 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8/2.0 seconds
• Cooldown 17/16/15/14/13 ⇒ 17/16.5/16/15.5/15 seconds

Lulu is a one-size fits all enchanter that brings value to any team. While more enchanters, like Soraka, are starting to gain popularity, Lulu is still the safest blind pick by a large margin. This nerf to her point-and-click crowd control and its availability when maxed will tune down her base value by a bit. Still, expect to see Lulu at Worlds buffing hyper carries as usual.

Nocturne

Base Stats

• Attack Damage Growth 3.1 ⇒ 2.6

Nocturne is back in action after the passive buffs last patch. While they didn’t seem massive at the time, it can’t be forgotten that Nocturne has one of the strongest ultimates in the game. He’s been bringing nightmares to any game he’s in, so a sizable nerf to his AD growth should reduce his raw damage by a decent margin. He’ll continue to be a solo queue monster, but whether or not teams find him strong enough to bring to Worlds is now up in the air.

Udyr

Base Stats

• Health Growth 106 ⇒ 98
• Armor Growth 5.2 ⇒ 4.7

Q – Wildling Claw

• Mana Cost 45-28 (based on level) ⇒ 20
• Empowered Lightning Strike AP Ratio +0.6% per 100 AP ⇒ +0.8% per 100 AP
• Udyr’s first two attacks gain 50 attack range, matching the functionality of his Awakened Q
• Awakened Q now deals an additional 2-5% (based on level) (+0.03% bonus AD) max health physical damage on first two attacks

W – Iron Mantle

• Percent HP Heal 1.2/1.26/1.32/1.38/1.44/1.5% ⇒ 1.2%
• Percent HP Shield 2/2.4/2.8/3.2/3.6/4.0% ⇒ 2/2.3/2.6/2.8/3.2/3.5%
• Life Steal 15% ⇒ 15/16/17/18/19/20%

R – Wingborne Storm

• Magic Damage 20/38/56/74/92/110 (+40% AP) ⇒ 20/36/52/68/84/100 (+35% AP)
• Damage to Minions 50/60/70/80% (levels 1/6/11/16) ⇒ 40/55/70/85% (levels 1/6/11/16)

Udyr’s rework launched in an incredibly strong state. Currently, he will always scale to be an unkillable monster in the late game that can run down any opponent. These changes are set to tune down his durability while also giving him a bit more damage on his Q. The trade off is less damage on R, which is his primary build. Since Udyr is now easier to kill, it has to be said that this is a nerf overall. Do note that Udyr is disabled for Worlds, so we will not be seeing him on the big stage this time around.

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Champion Buffs

Ashe

Q – Ranger’s Focus

• Bonus Attack Speed 20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 25/32.5/40/47.5/55%

Despite Ashe being popularized as a support nowadays, she is by no means bad at carrying with attack damage. This utility focused marksman isn’t the most popular among ADC players when easier picks like Kai’Sa and Miss Fortune exist, but she brings a lot to the table that can’t be ignored. A 15 percent buff to her Q attack speed is nothing to scoff at, and we will likely be seeing more players test out Ashe soon.

Lee Sin

Base Stats

• Health Growth 99 ⇒ 105

W – Safeguard/Iron Will

• Lifesteal and Spellvamp 5/9.5/14/18.5/23% ⇒ 5/10.5/16/21.5/27%

Lee Sin is called many things: a bad champion, a draft grief, and more. This doesn’t stop Lee Sin savants picking him in pro play and winning the game with a mechanically flawless Insec play. Even if these buffs don’t do much on paper, Lee Sin players are foaming at the mouth for more reasons to pick him, and pick him at Worlds they will.

Thresh

Base Stats

• Health Growth 115 ⇒ 120

E – Flay

• Magic Damage 65/95/125/155/185 (+40% AP) ⇒ 75/110/145/180/215 (+40% AP)

Thresh has been a bottom-of-the-barrel pick for a while now. These buffs are definitely nice for the Chain Warden, as they’ll help him be a bit more valuable in lane trades. However, enchanters are still the cream of the crop and engage supports like Nautilus and Leona aren’t far behind. If a specific team comp values Thresh’s unique utility, he might get a game here or there.

And those are the biggest changes of League of Legends Patch 12.18! There are quite a few picks to look forward to appearing at Worlds. Since the regional summer split playoffs took place on Patch 12.15, there’s been a lot of downtime for teams to experiment with and adapt to all the new changes that have happened. Worlds 2022 begins on September 29. Keep an eye out at Hotspawn for all of the latest coverage of the biggest League of Legends event of the year!