LoL devs lock in surprise Briar nerfs despite new champion’s early struggles

League of Legends developers at Riot have confirmed that new champion Briar will be receiving several nerfs to her damage against minions and monsters despite struggling in her early release.

League of Legends’ newest addition to the Summoner’s Rift comes in the form of Briar. The Noxian Vampire brings about a brand new mechanic of the self-frenzy, in which she loses control and begins viciously attacking nearby enemies. This also means the player loses control of the character and is only able to cancel the ability with her E.

This has made for quite the steep learning curve with Briar, as players who picked her up performed rather poorly. As a result, her win rate was one of the worst seen for a new champion, yet players didn’t want to see her receive any hotfix buffs.

Riot eventually gave Briar a bit of love with some emergency buffs to boost her power just a bit more. However, the champion has seen a sudden surge in win rate, causing the developers at Riot to slam Briar with the nerf hammer just as swiftly.

LoL devs reveal nerfs to new champion Briar

Lead champion designer Riot August has detailed nerfs coming to Briar, mainly targeted at her healing capabilities versus minions and monsters.

Briar’s attack speed per level is being reduced from 2.5% to 2.3% with these nerfs. Alongside this, her Frenzy ability will be receiving a nerf to its bite damage, healing, and execute damage.

According to August, the champion has breached the 50% win rate mark, meaning she’s somewhat balanced in their eyes. However, these nerfs may be in anticipation of Briar’s win rate continuously climbing, as players become more used to the champion and how to play them.

Only time will tell if Briar overruns the Rift, but Riot will continue to monitor her and implement changes as needed.