Consistent fixes has been the name of the game so far for Riot’s new Teamfight Tactics mode, the latest competitor in the autobattler genre. Daily patches have ensured any overpowered champions are kept in check while those that are underperforming are receiving tune-ups that will allow them to shine.
With the game moving to live tomorrow, this patch Riot’s last opportunity to make sweeping changes before its hit game is released to the masses.
Sorcerers are the first to go under the knife, with senior TFT developer August “jinxylord” Browning noting that ethereal space dragon Aurelion Sol is overpowered and the rest of his class is being crowded out by his gamechanging ultimate, Voice of Light. The damage on Voice of Light is being dropped from 300-700 to 250-650 and the mana cost has increased from 100 to 125. This should drop his priority and open the door for Karthus and Morgana to shine.
These two Sorcerers have been injected with some power to be able to compete with the likes of ASol and Kassadin for Sorcerer selection. Karthus’ ability, Requiem, has received a 50 damage shift from 300-800 to 350-850 and Morgana has had a health boost from 600-650. This should allow them to be more pick-worthy and have more presence in Sorcerer-centric compositions.
Moving onto the Gunslingers, a few changes are in store for these gun-toting battlers. The reasoning behind this is that they are falling behind in power, so some buffs are needed. Gangplank’s barrels will now deal between 200-450 damage as opposed to 150-400, while his piratical enemy Miss Fortune gets a boost of .10 to her attack speed, now at .85. Lucian gets a small buff to his attack damage going from 60 to 65 and attack speed to match from 0.60 to 0.65. Lastly, Tristana, our favourite Yordle gunner gets to double up on the buffs with attack speed being boosted to 0.7 from 0.65 and her Explosive Charge now dealing 150-300 from 125-250.
Another of the runaway powerhouses of TFT so far, the Wild origin has terrorised the early game considering Nidalee’s versatility. She’s taking a hit in her ability heal at rank one, going down to 150 from 200 while still capping out at 600. Her attack damage steroid from the ultimate takes another hit going down to 20 from 30 at rank one but remaining at 120 at rank three. This is probably going to tank her priority a little but she should remain strong with the Nidalee and Warwick one-two punch at level two.
A few Tier 2 champions have been underperforming as the game goes on, and some buffs are needed to place more value on starring them up. First of the Demons being changed is Aatrox, who receives a buff of 100 to his health, now 750 and his ability deals more damage both in the early and late game, moving to 350-850 from 300-700. Elise seems strong on paper but the reality is that she’s not dealing enough damage and is definitely dying too fast. The lifesteal she gets from her ability is being boosted at max rank to 120% from 100 and her Spiderlings’ health is being doubled to 500. The last Demon, Varus, has a unique change in that his ultimate takes half a second less to cast allowing him to get back to tearing down the frontline that much faster.
Pyke, Zed and Akali are the three Assassins up for change, with the Bloodharbor Ripper first to see some changes. His CC on his ability goes from 2-3 seconds to 2.5-3.5 and will cost 25 less mana from 125 to 100. His attack speed gets a slight boost from 0.55 to 0.6. Zed, League’s perennial assassin, gets a +5 damage increase to his attack damage and will also attack a little faster as his attack speed goes up to 0.65 from 0.6. Last of the assassins, Akali, gets a buff at both ends when it comes to damage, with her ability now dealing 200-550 from 150-500 and also now has an attack speed of 0.75 after starting out at 0.7.
Yasuo is the last change to champions and traits today, getting a health boost to 700 from 650. This also means that his passive for being an Exile that gives him a shield equal to his max health gets a buff, however. Effectively this change, assuming that Yasuo is placed right on the battlefield, will get a 100 health boost when combat starts, allowing him to survive that much longer. Despite being the last change, TFT developers also noted that Garen may be changed soon, recognizing his strength but holding off to see “how good spinning is at winning”.
These changes should make the game much healthier and pending tomorrow’s live release mean that nothing extremely broken terrorises the game’s early meta.
