The League of Legends season 13 has been a rollercoaster so far, especially when it comes to the meta. From spam-ganking junglers to ranged supports to the experience nerfs, we have witnessed it all. In particular, the nerfs to the experience gained on kills are causing a great shift that is affecting all roles in the game. According to Riot, however, some champions are getting hit more than others.
In a new Quick Gameplay Thoughts post, Riot Games wanted to share its thoughts on the current state of roaming mid laners. The developers think that some champions like Fizz, Pantheon, and Qiyana were heavily influenced by the XP changes, which is why it is looking to buff all three in the upcoming Patch 13.5.
The balance team mentioned how there are also other champions that saw a drop in win rate, but it’s currently not enough to “make them uncomfortable with their balance.”
Lead gameplay designer Axes used Yone as an example, explaining that despite his win rate dropping, the balance team thinks “he’s still looking pretty good overall.” According to the stats website U.GG, Yone is currently sitting at a 49.21 percent win rate (considering all ranks), a small drop from the previous patch (49.66 percent, according to U.GG).
“But the data isn’t conclusive—Talon and Katarina, in particular, don’t appear to have been affected, and we’d have expected them to be among the most impacted, so it’s still possible it was some other effect causing it (Annie gating out non-mages, perhaps?), but it’s something we’ll be interested in watching over the next few patches.” he continued.
To make a better comparison, Katarina’s win rate between Patch 13.3 and Patch 13.4 only dropped by 0.18 percent, according to U.GG), while Talon’s went from 48.80 percent to 48.32 percent after the new update.
Axes also said that the team views roaming as a little too dominant at the highest levels of play, and the developers think the game would be improved if it gets nerfed. While they are not looking to directly hit it, they “wouldn’t be sad to see the nerfs as a side effect of XP nerfs”.
That said, Riot is looking to make some re-balancing and compensation buffs to the weaker champions according to the new meta.
