All Honor of Kings 29 May 2025 Patch hero adjustments and their potential impact

Honor of Kings Patch 29 May, 2025 brought significant buffs to Huang Zhong, Shangguan, and Xuance, but does that make them viable in the current meta?

Honor of Kings patch 29 May, 2025 brought some important buffs to Huang Zhong and Xuance to the Global Server. As two of least-picked heroes in the game so far, the buffs aimed to make them more viable in the current metagame. Aside from those two, Shangguan also got a buff to her ultimate, making it even more reliable.

Here is the complete list of hero adjustments included in Honor of Kings' 29 May, 2025 Patch:

Buffs:

1. Huang Zhong

• Skill 2: Lay the Mines
  • New Effect:
    Increased casting speed if enemy targets are in range when out of the Cannon Tower State.
  • Shield:
    Before: 320 (+64 per skill level) (+4.5% extra Health)
    Now: 360 (+72 per skill level) (+5.5% extra Health)
  • Cooldown:
    Before: 8 seconds (-0.3s per skill level)
    Now: 8 seconds (-0.4s per skill level)

Huang Zhong got a much-needed buff to his kit. His mines now cast faster if there's an enemy inside his cast range, making it more reliable as an emergency tool to escape enemies. However, in our opinion, the buffs were still not enough to make him more viable, especially with so many engage tanks and burst damage in the meta currently.

2. Dr Bian

• Skill 2: Fatal Diagnosis
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 100 (+20 per skill level) (+30% Magical Attack)
    Now: 130 (+26 per skill level) (+30% Magical Attack)
  • Base Recovery:
    Before: 50 (+10 per skill level) (+15% Magical Attack)
    Now: 65 (+13 per skill level) (+15% Magical Attack)

Dr. Bian had his recovery buffed to almost outperform Sakeer's fireflies. However, Dr. Bian is still not as tanky as Sakeer and doesn't have any hard CC. With the doctor's main way to control opponents being his slow poison, this makes him not really that useful against dash-type heroes. However, he can be a great niche sustain roamer in the current meta.

3. Shangguan

• Passive: Piercing Brush
  • Enhanced Basic Attack:
    Before: 300–440 (+40% Magical Attack)
    Now: 255–510 (+50% Magical Attack)
  • Contact Damage:
    Before: 300–580 (+40% Magical Attack)
    Now: 255–510 (+50% Magical Attack)
• Ultimate: Finishing Stroke
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 500 (+250 per skill level) (+50% Magical Attack)
    Now: 460 (+230 per skill level) (+70% Magical Attack)

Shangguan can now become a great late-game burst Magic Damage mage as her passive has been massively adjusted. Her early game might not be as strong as before, but her late game damage got buffed significantly with a 50% Magical Attack ratio. On the other hand, she is now less reliable in the early game. Expect a rise in popularity for Shangguan in the Clash Lane with her adjustment. 

4. Xuance

• Passive: Crazed Prelude
  • Duration:
    Before: 1 second
    Now: 0.75 to 1.5 seconds
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 25% Physical Attack
    Now: 30% Physical Attack
• Ultimate: Crimson Blur
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 360 (+200 per skill level) (+200% extra Physical Attack)
    Now: 400 (+200 per skill level) (+200% extra Physical Attack)

Xuance finally received the deserved buff to his passive, which had been underwhelming since his release. His ultimate also got a buff for its early damage. The buffs should make him a deadlier assassin and make his late game better, too, especially when combined with the buff to his Physical Damage ratio.

Nerfs:

1. Gao

• Skill 1: Wild Chord
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 350 (+60 per skill level) (+47% Magical Attack)
    Now: 300 (+60 per skill level) (+40% Magical Attack)
• Ultimate: Rock Out!
  • Cooldown:
    Before: 45 seconds (-7.5s per skill level)
    Now: 45 seconds (-5s per skill level)

Gao got a significant nerf to his Wild Chord damage and Rock Out! cooldown. The nerf should make him even more unpopular in the meta due to his short range and over-reliability on lifesteal. 

2. Sima Yi

• Ultimate: Death Descends
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 600 (+300 per skill level) (+120% Magical Attack)
    Now: 500 (+250 per skill level) (+100% Magical Attack)

After being on top for a long time as one of the rare Magic Damage junglers on top of being a potent assassin, Sima Yi's ultimate got a significant nerf to its damage. However, it might not be affect his popularity significantly as he didn't need his ultimate to deal damage, and can still reliably use his passive and teleport to eliminate the enemy. The core of his strategy is his silence and life steal, with his ultimate being the only long-range dash he has.

These are all the balance changes to heroes in Honor of Kings from the 29 May, 2025's patch. Huang Zhong buffs might raise his popularity a little bit, but probably not enough to place him in the upper tier of the meta. Shangguan in the Clash Lane will be more viable in the meta with her need to reach a high level as quickly as possible.