LoL patch 12.3 notes: release date, PBE leaks, buffs & nerfs, Lunar Revel skins

League of Legends patch 12.3 has launched, with Riot Games locking in a number of changes for the February update ⁠— this time around, the devs have nerfed nine champions, changed more than a dozen items, and plenty more.

• Zeri, Corki headline buffs & nerfs
• Riot hitting a dozen items in 12.3 update
• Ahri’s big rework set to finally arrive

League of Legends Season 12 has been a tricky one to balance for the devs, and so they’re taking a swing at more than two dozen items and champs to try and get the blossoming 2022 meta back under control.

This includes mainly nerfs, with nine champions caught in the crossfire.

Even Zeri, just released two weeks ago, is copping a big whack. Other breakout Season 12 picks like Corki, Caitlyn, and Amumu are all being nerfed too. Only Lillia and Quinn are actually being buffed this update, and even those are just minor changes.

On top of that, Riot is releasing new Withered Rose skins.

And finally, the controversial Chemtech Dragon and Soul has been disabled. Here’s all the details on League of Legends patch 12.3, now live as of February 2.

What’s changed in LoL patch 12.3?

Ahri rework finally arrives

Ahri is getting a rework in League of Legends Season 12, with Riot giving the Nine-Tailed Fox one of their popular “mini-reworks” to bring the mage back into the meta. The changes are set to make Ahri “feel fun and well-supported” after years of neglect.

Lead gameplay designer Bryan ‘Axes’ Salvatore explained in a December 16 blog post that Ahri’s influence in the mid lane has waned, and Riot wants to bring her back into the fold.

On top of the gameplay overhaul, Ahri is getting a visual update — with the two in conjunction basically forming a complete rework of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Fighter item rework targets “light fighters” and high sustain

The majority of balance changes in LoL patch 12.3 are in the items section as Riot has pushed sweeping reform to the fighter archetype. Champions like Irelia, Riven, and Fiora are the main targets — with the “light fighter” archetype overperforming in the top lane (despite Janna taking smite top trumping them all).

Riot is reducing tankiness on dualist items overall, but increasing damage. Death’s Dance and Sterak’s Gage have been the two big targets, but mythics Divine Sunderer, Goredrinker, and Trinity Force have also been hit.

It’s not all bad news — underutilized purchases like Maw of Malmortius are getting a little buff.

You can find the full League of Legends patch 12.3 notes below.

League of Legends patch 12.3 notes

Champions

Ahri

Read the full rework details here.

Base stats

• Health growth: 92 ⇒ 82
• Health: 526-2090 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 500-1894 (levels 1-18)
• Base health regen: 5.5 ⇒ 2.5
• Armor: 21-80.5 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 18-77.5 (levels 1-18)

Passive: Essence Theft

• [UPDATED] Killing minions or monsters grants Ahri an Essence Fragment. After obtaining 9 Essence Fragments, Ahri consumes them to heal for 40-120 (+25% AP). When Ahri scores a takedown against an enemy champion within 3 seconds of damaging them, she feasts upon their Essence, healing for 80-200 (+35% AP).

Q: Orb of Deception

• Damage per pass: 40/65/90/115/140 (+35% AP) ⇒ 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP)
• Mana cost: 65/70/75/80/85 ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100

W: Fox-Fire

• Damage: 40/65/90/115/140 (+30% AP) ⇒ 60/85/110/135/160 (+30% AP)
• Mana cost: 40 ⇒ 25
• Flame duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds
• Bonus move speed duration: 1.5 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds
• Updated missile targeting and last-hitting logic

E: Charm

• Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+40% AP) ⇒ 80/110/140/170/200 (+60% AP)
• Mana cost: 70 ⇒ 50
• [REMOVED] Ahri’s abilities no longer deal bonus damage to enemies hit by Charm

R: Spirit Rush

• Initial duration: 10 seconds ⇒ 15 seconds
• [NEW] Consuming a champion’s Essence with Essence Theft while Spirit Rush is active extends Spirit Rush’s recast duration by and up to 10 seconds, and grants an additional cast of Spirit Rush (up to 3 casts stored)

VFX & SFX updates

• Passive — Essence Theft: VFX and SFX have been updated for all skins
• W — Fox-Fire: Cleaned up VFX and enhanced missile movement
• R — Spirit Rush: Cleaned up VFX and added new ammo bar icons to indicate number of stored Spirit Rush casts

Akshan

Passive: Dirty Fighting

• Bonus move speed upon canceling second shot: 35-75 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 20-75 (levels 1-18)
• Three-stack bonus magic damage: 20-175 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 10-165 (levels 1-18)

Amumu

Base stats

• Armor growth: 3.5 ⇒ 3
• Armor: 30-89.5 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 30-81 (levels 1-18)

E: Tantrum

• Maximum passive damage reduction: Up to 100% per instance of physical damage ⇒ Capped at 50% per instance of physical damage

Brand

Passive: Blaze

• [UPDATED] Mana refund upon killing an enemy now also occurs if Brand’s ability last hits a target that was not already Ablaze

R: Pyroclasm

• [UPDATED] Pyroclasm’s fireball now prioritizes bouncing to nearby enemies before bouncing back to Brand at full range. Pyroclasm will still prioritize bouncing to enemy champions first (before minions or monsters), regardless of range.

Caitlyn

Base stats

• AD growth: 3.8 ⇒ 3.4
• Attack damage: 62-126.6 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 62-119.8 (levels 1-18)

Q: Piltover Peacemaker

• Damage against secondary enemies 60% ⇒ 50%

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where Caitlyn’s ult would incorrectly get a cooldown refund if she was feared during its cast

Corki

Passive: Hextech Munitions

• First package arrives after: 8 minutes ⇒ 10 minutes
• Packages restock every: 4 minutes ⇒ 5 minutes

LeBlanc

W: Distortion

• Base damage: 75/115/155/195/235 ⇒ 75/110/145/180/215

Lillia

R: Lilting Lullaby

• Sleep duration: 1.5/2/2.5 seconds ⇒ 2/2.25/2.5 seconds

Nami

Passive: Surging Tides

• Bonus move speed: 45 (+20% AP) for 1.5 seconds ⇒ 90 (+20% AP), decaying over 1.5 seconds

E: Tidecaller’s Blessing

• On-hit damage (per hit): 25/40/55/70/85 (+20% AP) ⇒ 20/35/50/65/80 (+20% AP)

Quinn

W: Heightened Senses

• Bonus attack speed: 20/30/40/50/60% ⇒ 28/36/44/52/60%

R: Skystrike

• Flurry damage: 40% AD ⇒ 70% AD

Senna

Passive: Absolution

• [UPDATED] Minions and lesser monsters that Senna kills have a 10% chance ⇒ 2.7777% chance to spawn a Mist Wraith (all else unchanged)

Twisted Fate

Q: Wild Cards

• Magic damage: 60/105/150/195/240 (+65% AP) ⇒ 60/100/140/180/220 (+70% AP)

E: Stacked Deck

• Bonus attack speed: 20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 10/17.5/25/32.5/40%

Vel’Koz

VFX updates

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• Base Vel’Koz: Complete overhaul and adjusted hitbox indicators
• Battlecast Vel’Koz: Some cleanup
• Arclight Vel’Koz: Cleanup and new E indicator
• Infernal Vel’Koz: Minor tweaks and new E indicator
• Blackfrost Vel’Koz: Minor tweaks and new E indicator

Zeri

Base stats

• Move speed: 330 ⇒ 325

Basic attack

• Full charge damage based on target’s max health: 3-20% (based on level) ⇒ 3-15% (based on level)

R: Lightning Crash

• Chain lightning magic damage: 10/20/30 (+15% AP) ⇒ 10/15/20 (+15% AP)
• [NEW] Chain lightning magic damage can now critically strike

Bug fixes

• Zeri’s E — Spark Surge will correctly vault over Trundle’s E — Pillar of Ice and glide over Anivia’s W — Crystallize wall instead of dashing through them
• Fixed a bug where Zeri’s Q — Burst Fire would not trigger Runaan’s Hurricane’s on-hit effect if she was facing away from the target when her rounds hit
• Fixed a bug where several of Zeri’s VFX would not display correctly upon reconnecting to the game

Items

Black Cleaver

• Health: 450 ⇒ 350
• Attack damage: 40 ⇒ 45
• Ability Haste: 25 ⇒ 30

Blade of the Ruined King

• Total cost: 3200 gold ⇒ 3300 gold
• [UPDATED] Mist’s Edge passive: Basic attacks deal [10% for melee/6% for ranged] of target’s current health ⇒ [12% for melee/8% for ranged] of target’s current health as physical damage (all else unchanged)

Ceaseless Hunger (Ornn Masterwork Item)

• Health: 600 ⇒ 450
• Attack damage: 60 ⇒ 70

Death’s Dance

• Cost: 3100 gold ⇒ 3300 gold
• [UPDATED] Ignored Pain passive: Stores [35% for melee/15% for ranged] of post-mitigation physical damage received ⇒ [30% for melee/10% for ranged] of all types of post-mitigation damage received, (not including true damage), which is successively taken as true damage over 3 seconds instead.
  • Now also applies to damage on shields
• [UPDATED] Defy passive: Heal for 15% maximum health upon scoring a kill or assist ⇒ 175% bonus AD if a champion dies within 3 seconds after you’ve dealt damage to them.

Deicide (Ornn Masterwork Item)

• Health: 550 ⇒ 450
• Attack damage: 55 ⇒ 60

Divine Sunderer

• Build: Sheen + Phage + Kindlegem + 700 gold ⇒ Sheen + Caulfield’s Warhammer + Kindlegem + 700 gold
  • Total cost unchanged from 3300 gold
• Health: 400 ⇒ 300
• Attack damage: 35 ⇒ 40

Goredrinker

• Build: Ironspike Whip + Phage + Kindlegem + 300 gold ⇒ Ironspike Whip + Caulfield’s Warhammer + Kindlegem + 300 gold
  • Total cost unchanged from 3300 gold
• Health: 450 ⇒ 300
• Attack damage: 45 ⇒ 55

Hearthbound Axe

• Total cost: 1100 gold ⇒ 1000 gold
• Combine cost: 450 gold ⇒ 350 gold

Hexdrinker

• Attack damage: 20 ⇒ 25

Infinity Force (Ornn Masterwork Item)

• Health: 300 ⇒ 400

Maw of Malmortius

• Attack damage: 50 ⇒ 55
• Ability Haste: 15 ⇒ 20
• Shield: 200 (+20% maximum health) ⇒ 200 (+[225% for melee/168.75% for ranged] bonus AD)
• [UPDATED] Lifeline passive: When Lifeline is activated, gain 12% omnivamp until the end of combat (i.e. have not dealt or taken damage for at least 3 seconds)

Ravenous Hydra

• Attack damage: 65 ⇒ 70

Sterak’s Gage

• Attack damage: 50 ⇒ 0
• [NEW] The Claws That Catch passive: Gain 40% of your base AD as bonus AD
• [REMOVED] Bloodlust passive: After dealing damage to or taking damage from an enemy champion, heal for a portion of your maximum health over 6 seconds
• [UPDATED] Lifeline passive: If you take damage that would reduce you below 30% of your maximum health, gain a shield that absorbs 100 (+[8% for melee/4.8% for ranged] of your maximum health) per stack of Bloodlust) for 4 seconds ⇒ equal to 75% of your bonus health that decays over 3.75 seconds

Trinity Force

• Health: 200 ⇒ 300
• Threefold Strike (on champions or structures): +6% base AD per stack, up to 5 times for +30% ⇒ +4% base AD per stack, up to 5 times for +20% (also applies to Infinity Force)

Turbo Chemtank

• [UPDATED] Refuel passive stacks: Gain 5 stacks per instance of damage dealt against champions and large monsters, and 1 stack for every 15 units traveled ⇒ damage taken from champions and large monsters, and 1 stack for every 25 units traveled (still capped at up to 10 stacks for dashes and blinks)
  [UPDATED] Refuel passive bonus damage: At 100 stacks, your next basic attack deals magic damage to all nearby enemies, increased by 25% against minions and 175% against monsters ⇒ increased by 30% against minions and 200% against monsters

Systems

Chemtech Drake & Rift

Bug fixes

• Hextech Gates: Champions will now both visually and mechanically move along the Hextech Gates’ travel paths rather than immediately teleporting to their destination gate. This also means that active champion effects (such as Kennen’s R — Slicing Maelstrom) will travel along with and apply their effects around the champion’s traveling indicator.
• Fixed a bug where Kled’s W — Violent Tendencies’ fourth attack would not deal its bonus damage if the ability was learned during a basic attack
• Fixed a bug where Runaan’s Hurricane would not proc correctly with Ezreal’s Q — Mystic Shot after a certain range
• Fixed a bug where killing an enemy champion with The Collector would grant Samira an extra Style stack
• Fixed a bug where the Charm icon would not appear in champion buff/debuff bars
• Fixed a bug where Kled’s Courage bar would display incorrect values upon losing Skaarl
• Fixed a bug where resource bars (like Energy or Rage bars) would sometimes get visually stuck when changing window display modes
  Varus’s Q — Piercing Arrow cancellation VFX has been restored on all skins
• Fixed a bug where Talon’s blades would briefly disappear for a frame during his R — Shadow Assault’s VFX
• Base Darius and Base Amumu’s voiceovers have been remastered for clarity
• Fixed Battlecast Skarner’s sound effects to play correctly when he marks a minion with Crystal Venom using his E — Fracture and when he gains Crystal Charge upon triggering Crystal Venom
• The in-game FPS indicator’s update rate has been reverted for smoother reporting
• Fixed a bug where players would be able to select multiple roles in Summoner’s Rift lobbies with 5 players
• Fixed a bug where pressing the ESC key would not close the role selector in game lobbies

Skins

Crystal Rose Akshan

Crystal Rose Janna

Withered Rose Elise

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