Even though the 12.23 B-patch was Riot Games’ last Teamfight Tactics update for 2022, the devs didn’t trim it down for the holiday season, dropping 55 balance changes total. The team will be on break and the next update for TFT Set Eight won’t drop until Patch 13.1, which is scheduled to release on Jan. 11.
With 14 units being adjusted and 20 Hero Augments being changed, the goal of this patch was to put a damper on champions and compositions that were overperforming while giving some love to the lesser-used options. Here are the traits and units that gained or lost the most.
Winners
Yuumi
Yuumi was the recipient of a few minor buffs that ended up synergizing well. First, her mana cost on her ability Prowling Projectile got buffed from 0/60 to 0/50. Then, her Heart trait was also buffed to grant 4/7/10 ability power per spell cast, increased from 4/6/9. She’ll be able to cast her ability more often and provide greater damage output to herself and her team.
Non-Ox Force Players
Apologies to the Ox Force enjoyers out there, but the trait was overtuned and hurting comp diversity. Riot lowered the attack speed minimum from 20/50/100/200 to 15/35/70/125 and the attack speed maximum from 40/100/200/400 to 30/70/140/250. In conjunction with nerfs to Warmog’s Armor (bonus health reduced from 700 to 500), the changes lowered the late-game power of the trait and made it less valuable to invest heavily in.
Fiddlesticks
The Ancient Fear got some love across the board in this patch. His health was increased from 1,100 to 1,300 and he now gets a burst of movement speed when he casts his ability, Dark Harvest. There was also a relevant bug fix to his support Augment Absolute Corruption and it will now properly grant ability power to his nearest ally. These changes should greatly increase the reliability of his ability and allow him to properly terrorize lobbies.
Losers
Ashe
Ashe got hit with a triple nerf bat combo. First, her attack damage was reduced from 60 to 55, then her spell’s attack damage percentage was reduced from 45/50/55 to 40 percent across the board. Finally, her flat spell attack damage was changed from 12/20/30 to 12/18/25. While her Recon trait got a buff (critical chance percent buffed from 20/40/75 to 20/75/100 percent), it only kicks in if you invest deeper into the trait. That combination reduces the appeal of an Ashe carry and likely means you will want to hold out for a better option.
Viego
If Ashe got hit with the nerf bat, then Riot tried to put Viego in the dumpster. His spell damage was nerfed from 270/400/900 to 250/375/850, the AoE damage of his ability was reduced from 135/200/450 to 125/185/425, and the spell’s damage falloff went up from 15/15/1 to 18/18/1 percent.
Riot didn’t stop there, though. The devs hit both of his Hero Augments as well. His carry augment had the bonus ability power slashed from 30 to 10 and the support augment had its omnivamp reduced from 15 to 12 percent. That’s all without talking about the Ox Force nerfs mentioned above. Yeah, it’s fair to say that Riot busted Viego’s kneecaps with this patch.
Zed
Zed was performing very well as a carry in the last patch, so his offensive power was lowered. His attack damage went from 90 to 80 and his armor and magic resistance were taken down from 50 to 45. These changes weren’t nearly as harsh as what happened to Viego, so there’s a good chance Zed will still be a viable carry in the 12.23 B-patch. With slightly lower damage output and worse survivability, he just might not be a free top-four like before.
