After just a few weeks, Riot Games introduces patch 12.1 ahead of the new ranked season in League of Legends.
The new season for League of Legends is now well underway with Riot Games' latest update, patch 12.1. This also brings about a new reset for ranked gameplay alongside changes made to decay as well as visual updates to both the client and user interface. Of course, that isn't all. Riot also brought about balance changes to a few select champions as well as items in patch 12.1.
A total of four champions will receive some changes with Diana and Gangplank receiving buffs while Rek'Sai and Sona get hit with the nerf hammer. As for items, the likes of Wit's End, Eclipse, Force of Nature, and Immortal Shieldbow get some changes made to them while teleport gets a huge update.
Champions
Buffs
Diana
- Moonsilver Blade (P): AP Ratio
40%⇒ 50% - Moonsilver Blade (P): Monster Damage Ratio
250%⇒ 300%
Gangplank
- Parrrley (Q): Mana Cost
60/55/50/45/40⇒ 55/50/45/40/35 - Parrrley (Q): Cooldown:
5 seconds⇒ 4.5 seconds
Nerfs
Rek'Sai
- Furious Bite (E): Physical Damage
50/60/70/80/90 (+85% bonus AD)⇒ 55/60/65/70/75 (+85% bonus AD) - Tunnel (E): Cooldown
26/23/20/17/14 seconds⇒ 26/24/22/20/18 seconds
Sona
- Base Stats Armor Growth
3.3⇒ 3 - Song of Celerity (E): 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
Hearthbound Axe + Negatron Cloak + Long Sword + 750 gold⇒ Hearthbound Axe + Null-Magic Mantle + Pickaxe + 675 gold (total cost unchanged)- Magic Resistance
50⇒ 40
Summoner Spells
Teleport
- 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)
- Unleashed Teleport Cooldown: 240 seconds
Ranked Season 2022
The new ranked season starts this Friday, 7 January with all accounts receiving a soft reset of five tiers for initial seeding. For example, if you're a Gold I player, you will start at Silver II. Check the table below to see what time it starts in your region.
| Region & Major City | Local Time | PST Time |
| OC1 (Australia/Sydney) | January 7, 04:00:01 AEDT | January 6, 09:00:01 PST |
| JP1 (Asia/Tokyo) | January 7, 04:00:01 JST | January 6, 11:00:01 PST |
| KR (Asia/Seoul) | January 7, 04:00:01 KST | January 6, 11:00:01 PST |
| CN (Asia/Shanghai) | January 7, 09:00:01 CST | January 6, 17:00:01 PST |
| PH (Asia/Manila) | January 7, 04:00:01 PST | January 6, 12:00:01 PST |
| SG (Asia/Singapore) | January 7, 04:00:01 +08 | January 6, 12:00:01 PST |
| TW (Asia/Taipei) | January 7, 04:00:01 CST | January 6, 12:00:01 PST |
| TH (Asia/Bangkok) | January 7, 04:00:01 +07 | January 6, 13:00:01 PST |
| VN (Asia/Ho Chi Minh City) | January 7, 04:00:01 +07 | January 6, 13:00:01 PST |
| RU (Europe/Moscow) | January 7, 04:00:01 MSK | January 6, 17:00:01 PST |
| TR1 (Europe/Istanbul) | January 7, 04:00:01 +03 | January 6, 17:00:01 PST |
| EUN1 (Europe/Warsaw) | January 7, 04:00:01 CET | January 6, 19:00:01 PST |
| EUW1 (Europe/London) | January 7, 04:00:01 GMT | January 6, 20:00:01 PST |
| BR1 (America/São Paulo) | January 7, 04:00:01 -03 | January 6, 23:00:01 PST |
| LA2 (America/Buenos Aires) | January 7, 04:00:01 -03 | January 6, 23:00:01 PST |
| LA1 (America/Mexico City) | January 7, 04:00:01 CST | January 7, 02:00:01 PST |
| NA1 (America/Los Angeles) | January 7, 04:00:01 PST | January 7, 04:00:01 PST |
Apex Tier Decay Changes
Season 2022 brings about plenty of changes, especially for the decay rules on apex tiers like Master, Grandmaster, and Challenger. According to Riot, "these changes are intended to correct misplacements and improve the matchmaking experience." Of course, these changes only apply to Apex tiers so if you're Diamond and below, you have nothing to worry about.
- Banked Days for Apex Players
10 days⇒ 14 days - Decay Rate
250 LP per day⇒ 75 LP per day - Apex Decay Floor
Diamond I⇒ Diamond II
Visual Updates
- Ranked Armor has transformed into Ranked Crests! Check out your rank's fresh new look in your profile, ranked page, game lobby, and friends list.
- Ranked Crests also have ambient magic
- Loading screen borders have been updated to match the new Ranked Crests.
- Several parts of the game lobby UI have been rearranged for clarity.
Forge God Clash
With the 2022 ranked season starting this Friday, Riot is also introducing a special Forge God Clash tournament with the following Forge God-themed rewards:
- Three trophies
- Three banners
- Five team logos
The Forge God Clash tournament will only be happening over one weekend with team formations opening on 10 January while matches will take place between 15 to 16 January. The Forge God Clash is not part of the regular Clash season. While you'll still be able to earn Forge-God-themed rewards, but your Clash VP track won't be affected. The first Clash tournament of the 2022 season, which will count towards the VP track, will start in patch 12.4.
Bug Fixes & QoL Changes
- Champion Select: Pick order in champion select is now randomized for each match in all draft pick queues!
- Behavioural Systems: Intentional Feeding Detection has been improved to evaluate more variables and will go live in all regions of this patch.
- Objective Bounties: Targets with active Objective Bounties now have different health bars to indicate their bounty status
- Akshan's W - Going Rogue camouflage now lasts indefinitely when he is inside Chemtech Fog (in addition to near terrain and inside brush)
- 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 cancelled
- 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 travelled 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
Upcoming Skins and Chromas
Both Gnar and Rek'Sai will receive Elderwood skins as well as various chromas shades to be used in-game.
Elderwood Skins
- Elderwood Gnar
- Elderwood Rek'Sai
Chromas
- Elderwood Gnar
- Elderwood Rek'Sai