This League of Legends season has brought one of the most turbulent metas in a long time. Each role has felt its effect, whether in the top lane, mid lane or jungle. However, the role that is still reeling after the changes to its lane is the bottom lane. The style of play that players have perfected over the years have been practically thrown out the window. People have been pushed into playing bruisers and mages instead of traditional ADC and support champs, because of how weak they are.
Many people have been voicing their complaints on the current meta for some time. For example, All-Star North American ADC player Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng made a video on the constantly changing League meta. He brings up several great points on how the new meta affects pros and casual players alike. Now, it looks like Riot is giving ADC’s a bone with the latest updates on the PBE.
Let’s take a look at the latest changes to the bottom lane.
Crit item changes
Every League of Legends player agrees: playing the bottom lane is hell. If you have been an ADC main who’s role has been gutted in the past patches, there may be hope for you yet. The newest changes to the LoL PBE are bringing nerfs to important support items while buffing crit items at the same time.
Let’s first talk about the big issue at hand, how ADC is almost non-existent due to the constant nerfs and changes to the role. However, if these changes are put through, this may be enough to help poor ADC champs for the moment. The biggest change is to Infinity Edge, a staple item for many ADC champions. The price of the item is dropping by 400 gold from 3,600 to 3,200. However, the item also loses ten AD and five percent crit chance. Even though the drop of AD and crit chance is significant, the chance to buy the item earlier will make things worth it.
Additionally, Stormrazor also has a price reduction, going from 3200 gold to 2600. Its recipe has also changed, going from B.F. Sword + Pickaxe + two Daggers to B.F. Sword + two Long Swords + Dagger. However, due to the price reduction, its stats have been given a nerf. The AD given is lower, from 75 to 60. Attack speed given is also lower, from 30 percent to 25 percent. The item now gains 1% damage per .625% critical strike chance.
Zeal items, like Phantom Dancer, Runaan’s Hurricane, Rapid Firecannon and Statikk Shiv will all have their price dropped. Unfortunately, the drop is not as significant as Infinity Edge. The price is lowering from 2,900 gold to 2,700. They are also losing their five percent crit chance. League of Legends champs like Caitlyn and Jhin will feel the changes pretty well here.
Hopefully, this gives ADC’s a bit of a boost in the early to mid game, as they will be able to hit item/power spikes earlier than before.
Support item changes
Crit items are not the only things changing in the bottom lane. Support items are also having a few tweaks done to the gold pricing. Ancient Coin, Relic Shield, and Spellthief’s Edge are all going to cost 50 more gold, an increase from 350 to 400. This may not look like a big nerf at first, but it may change the style of play of many supports.
By costing 50 gold more, this will mean that supports can only afford two health potion on spawn. This would mean that mage supports will now be at more of a risk when poking out the opposition. If they take a bad trade, they won’t have the health potions to sustain in lane. To balance this, the combined cost of each of these items is lower. This means you’ll be able to get the most value out of your support item more quickly.
These changes should go live on League of Legends’ Patch 8.15 in a few weeks!
What do you think of the changes to the bottom lane? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! If you want more League of Legends content, check us out here!
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