League of Legends patch 12.1, and the very first balance changes of Season 12, are here. This time around, Riot Games targeted the infamous mythic Immortal Shieldbow, enchanter support Sona, and Rek’Sai to go along with her new skin.
- Immortal Shieldbow finally gets nerfs
- Riot working on Firelight Ekko skin upgrades, delaying 12.1 release
- Sona brought down a peg with nerfs
The twelfth League of Legends season has officially begun, starting with all the champion, item, and Summoner’s Rift changes in December’s hefty preseason update.
Dexerto was able to get hands-on with several changes including long-awaited Immortal Shieldbow nerfs, major Force of Nature buffs, several Eclipse changes, and more.
Champions changes were also made in the new patch — although they were rather tame all things considered.
On top of everything, the Essence Emporium’s doors have flung open again. Here’s all the details on League of Legends patch 12.1.
What’s coming in LoL patch 12.1?
Shieldbow finally hit with nerfs
Riot finally took a look at one of the more powerful Mythic items in League of Legends, with plans to finally knock the Shieldbow off its Season 11 throne.
The LoL devs focused on nerfing the popular AD Mythic through its damage, which drops down to 50, as well as its iconic shield. The protective dome will now block between 275 and 650 damage per activation, down from a lofty 300 to 800 at its strongest state.
Immortal Shieldbow wasn’t the only item to change in 12.1 either. Eclipse, Force of Nature, and Wit’s End are all set for changes of varying degrees too.
Teleport changes nerf iconic LoL spell
Riot Games tested huge nerfs to summoner spell Teleport ahead of the start of League of Legends Season 12, with these 12.1 changes nerfing the strength of the famous ability in the earliest stages of games on Summoner’s Rift.
The basic Teleport no longer allows players to teleport to minions, wards, traps, or Zac blobs. Players are restricted only to teleporting to friendly towers until the 14-minute mark, when the spell would upgrade to “Unleashed Teleport,” which is basically the same Teleport version that we have now.
The new Teleport now reads, “After channeling for four seconds, teleport your champion to target allied structure. Upgrades to Unleashed Teleport at 14 minutes.”
Riot adds Elderwood skins to start 2022
The first patch of Season 12, arriving on January 4, has just two new skins — both additions to the mystical Elderwood line.
Here’s all the skins in this update:
- Elderwood Rek’Sai
- Elderwood Gnar
The Arcane Ekko skin, named Firelight Ekko, was set to release this patch, but has since been delayed due to player criticism.
Both Elderwood Rek’Sai and Gnar will receive eight chromas a piece on top of their base look.
Take a full look at the League 12.1 patch notes below, courtesy of Riot Games.
League of Legends patch 12.1 notes
Champions
Diana
Passive – Moonsilver Blade
- AP ratio: 40% ⇒ 50%
- Monster damage ratio: 250% ⇒ 300%
Gangplank
Q – Parrrley
- Cooldown: 5 seconds ⇒ 4.5 seconds
- Mana cost: 60/55/50/45/40 ⇒ 55/50/45/40/35
Rek’Sai
E – Furious Bite
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
- Physical damage: 50/60/70/80/90 (+85% bonus AD) ⇒ 55/60/65/70/75 (+85% bonus AD)
E – Tunnel
- Cooldown: 26/23/20/17/14 seconds ⇒ 26/24/22/20/18 seconds
Sona
Base Stats
- Armor growth: 3.3 ⇒ 3
E – Song of Celerity
- Cooldown: 12 seconds ⇒ 14 seconds
Items
Eclipse
- Ever Rising Moon cooldown (melee): 6 seconds ⇒ 8 seconds
Force of Nature
- Absorb stack duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds
- Dissipate magic damage reduction: 20% ⇒ 25%
Immortal Shieldbow
- Attack damage: 55 ⇒ 50.
- Lifeline shield: 300-800 (based on level) ⇒ 275-650 (based on level)
Wit’s End
- Build path
- ⇒ Hearthbound Axe + Null-Magic Mantle + Pickaxe + 675 gold (total cost unchanged)
- Magic resist: 50 ⇒ 40
Summoner Spells
Teleport
- [UPDATED] Teleport cooldown: 420-210 seconds (based on level) ⇒ 360 seconds at all levels
- [NEW] Unleashed Teleport: Teleport can only be used on allied towers. Once tower plating falls at 14 minutes, Teleport transforms into Unleashed Teleport, which can target allied towers, minions, wards, and certain allied constructs (same as Season 2021 Teleport)
- [NEW] Unleashed Teleport cooldown: 240 seconds
Bugfixes and QoL Changes
- Updated – Behavioral Systems: Intentional Feeding Detection has been improved to evaluate more variables and will go live to all regions this patch.
- New – Objective Bounties: Targets with active Objective Bounties now have different health bars to indicate their bounty status
- Fixed a bug where Kled would sometimes respawn with an incorrect amount of health
- Fixed a bug where Kled could sometimes get hit by missiles immediately before or while dismounting, even though he should be untargetable in those moments
- Attacking an enemy marked by her W – Yordle Snap Trap or E – 90 Caliber Net will no longer incorrectly grant stacks toward Caitlyn’s Passive – Headshot
- Fixed a bug where Caitlyn would sometimes be able to change her Headshot target while casting E – 90 Caliber Net
- Fixed a bug where, if a champion got caught in Caitlyn’s W – Yordle Snap Trap at the same time as her E – 90 Caliber Net, Caitlyn’s extended Headshot range would get canceled
- Axiom Arc’s ultimate cooldown reduction passive will now scale correctly with the Ultimate Hunter rune
- Fixed a bug where, at maximum stacks, Lethal Tempo’s bonus attack speed would sometimes persist against non-champion targets
- Fixed a bug where Bard’s Meeps would become targetable after he traveled through Hexgates
- Fixed a bug where Bard’s R – Tempered Fate did not interact with Glacial Augment correctly
- Watchful Wardstone and Vigilant Wardstone’s tooltips will now include the number of wards they currently have placed
- Vi’s Passive – Blast Shield will now activate properly on all structures
- Fixed a bug where Kindred’s R – Lamb’s Respite would heal champions more than it was supposed to
- Fixed a bug where, if Lucian was silenced, his basic attacks would not have Passive – Lightslinger effects
- Fixed a bug where Pantheon’s Q – Comet Spear would incorrectly go on full cooldown if interrupted within its tap-cast time
- Pantheon’s Q – Comet Spear range indicator has been fixed and will change between its tap-cast and hold-cast versions accurately
- Fixed Sylas’ interactions with Lux’s stolen R – Final Spark and Miss Fortune’s stolen R – Bullet Time
- Fixed a bug where, if Vex died while casting a consecutive R – Shadow Surge, its cooldown would not reset
- Fixed a bug where Talon’s Q – Noxian Diplomacy could sometimes hit untargetable enemy champions
- Consuming Skarner’s Crystal Venom mark from his E – Fracture will correctly deal bonus damage
- Heimerdinger’s Q – H-28G Evolution Turret’s deactivation sound effects have been restored for several of his skins
- Heimerdinger’s E – CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade’s explosion sound effects will no longer play multiple times upon hitting an enemy
Skins
Elderwood Gnar
Stories have long been told of a monster that stalks the wood, rending massive oak trees asunder bare-handed– but few realize this titan is also the small, curious creature that collects baubles and bones and chitters through the treetops. The wise leave both to their devices. The foolish? Well, it depends which Gnar they meet.
Elderwood Rek’Sai
Spore-fiends stalk the deepest reaches of the forest, and Rek’sai is the broodmother from which all others spring. Those who see her hulking form of bloom and bark swimming through the trees rarely live long enough to tell the tale.
Firelight Ekko
Celebrating the RiotX Arcane event.