League of Legends Adjustments Aim to Enhance Gameplay and Champion Balance

LOS ANGELES, March 11, 2025 — Riot Games announced significant gameplay updates in the latest League of Legends patch, addressing known issues such as losing team bounties and champion balance. Lead Gameplay Designer Riot Phroxzon detailed these changes, emphasizing a substantial code rewrite aimed at improving early-game calculations.

In a tweet, Phroxzon explained that early bounties for losing teams have plagued the game, impacting the overall balance. The new patch, identified as 25.6, introduces strategic adjustments designed to mitigate these bounties and enhance competitive play. Phroxzon revealed that the adjustments made in the previous micropatch regarding anti-lane swaps have led to a remarkable decrease, bringing the trigger rate down to just 1% in regular matches.

“First Stand data indicates that standard lane setups before Grubs are now successful,” Phroxzon noted, providing a sense of stability in early game strategies. However, he acknowledged that a more elegant, long-term solution is still being developed to ensure lasting changes.

An important focus of the patch is champion Naafiri, whose performance has fallen short due to her predictable combat style. Phroxzon shared that her straightforward design limits her potential. As a result, the gameplay team is working on reshaping her abilities to foster a more complex and nuanced assassination gameplay experience.

The goal of these modifications is to move beyond the simplistic “burst or be bursted” mentality. “We aim to inject outplay opportunities, allowing players more strategic options during engagements,” Phroxzon explained. A major alteration includes swapping Naafiri’s W and R abilities, enabling her ultimate to deliver significant impact during key moments while transitioning her W into a versatile tool for both burst damage and strategic maneuvers.

Additional item adjustments include changes to Serylda’s Grudge, aiming to improve its effectiveness against tank champions. Meanwhile, Warmog’s Armor is set to receive buffs to address its previous overnerf, enhancing its viability within income-focused tank builds.