League of Legends patch 12.5 is around the corner — and Riot has told players it’s going to be a small one. There’s still changes coming: Nerfs to popular Master Yi and Hullbreaker strategies are teed up, so too for Gwen and the recently-reworked Ahri, but not many buffs are on the cards.
League of Legends has seen its fair share of metas in Season 12 alone, most notably the enchanter Smite top strategy that took over solo queue just a month ago. Now it’s Hullbreaker decimating the meta, and that’s the big talking point of League patch 12.5.
The top lane-centric bruiser item has taken Summoner’s Rift by storm since the fighter item rework, and now junglers and some mid laners are even taking it. That will be nipped in the bud though come the March update — somewhat.
It’s not the only change coming, but there’s only a few in League patch 12.5.
The recently-reworked Ahri is being nerfed, same goes for Master Yi’s new meta build and Gwen jungle. As for buffs? Kennen, Samira, and Seraphine are all players can look forward to for now. No changes to Renata Glasc, League’s newest support, are planned following her hotfix nerf however.
Here’s what you need to know about League of Legends patch 12.5.
Renata Glasc was hotfixed ahead of LoL patch 12.5 and won’t be changed in the March 2 update.
When is League of Legends patch 12.5?
While League of Legends patch 12.5 won’t be delayed because of Presidents’ Day, it’s the reason behind the small amount of changes. The schedule still moves on as promised by Riot with the next update shipping on March 2.
The fifth update of 2022 will start rolling out on Oceanic servers at 10am AEDT, with a worldwide rollout taking place across the rest of the day.
Here are the key timings:
- 3am PT (NA)
- 5am GMT (EUW)
- 3am CET (EUNE)
- 8am KST (Korea)
There’ll be a few hours of downtime when patching begins, and matchmaking queues will be taken offline about three hours beforehand.
Master Yi’s Duskblade build is on the chopping block.
What’s coming in League of Legends patch 12.5?
Master Yi nerfs target Duskblade build
Riot have had their eyes on Master Yi’s Duskblade build for a few weeks now, and after delaying the trigger pull in patch 12.4 they’ve finalized the changes for the March update.
Nerfs to the Wuju Bladesman exclusively target his Duskblade of Draktharr build, which has seen him catapult up the tier lists. Riot are adding on-hit damage to his Q, Alpha Strike, while reducing its base damage to entice players to build crit-centric items. His E will also do less base damage.
However, there are some quality of life fixes in there, allowing Master Yi players to buffer abilities during Alpha Strike.
The recently-reworked Ahri is having her time in the sun, but the developers are pulling down the shades slightly to make her a bit more mana-hungry. Gwen’s jungle clear is being nerfed, while Xin Zhao’s dominance on the meta might end with a big change to his ultimate.
Finally, the Hullbreaker nerfs will make the item less viable on ranged splitpushers like Quinn or Urgot, who could find success with the fighter item. It remains unchanged for melee carries, however.
Urgot is one of the big losers of Riot’s Hullbreaker nerfs.
Seraphine “buffs” helps her in support, but nerf other roles
There’s only three champions lined up for buffs so far in League of Legends patch 12.5, and Seraphine leads the charge — although whether they’re buffs remains to be seen.
The Piltovan songstress has fleeted in and out of the League meta, but she sits firmly below other enchanters as of late as a support. Riot are targeting the healing and shielding on her W, Surround Sound, to change that. It will cost less mana, scale better into the late game, and give a stronger baseline heal.
Her scalings are being cut back to compensate, firmly buffing her in support while keeping her equal in power across other roles.
- Read More: Elise getting big update in League Season 12
Samira is getting some base stat buffs as well as a nice ultimate cooldown decrease, letting her “spin-to-win” more often in fights. Kennen will receive bonus damage on his W-infused auto attacks.
Seraphine will get some extra power down in the bot lane.
New Bee skins
The cosmetics keep coming in the League of Legends updates, with four new bee skins coming in patch 12.5.
Riot have been surprised by the player engagement on this skinline, which has been making repeat appearances over the last couple of seasons. Four new champions will be pollinating the flowers dotted across Summoner’s Rift in their bee-inspired outfits.
- Heimerstinger
- Nunu & Beelump
- Orbeeanna
- BZZZiggs
You can bee-line to the in-game store and grab them — plus their eight Chromas a piece — once the update launches.
?? The bees are coming… Get ready to join the swarm!?? pic.twitter.com/EMJc6McCZd
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) February 15, 2022
You can find the full League of Legends patch 12.5 notes below, although these are subject to change depending on PBE testing (h/t Surrender@20). The update will go live on March 2.
League of Legends patch 12.5 notes
Champions
Ahri
W: Fox-Fire
- Mana cost: 25 ⇒ 30
- Damage: 60/85/110/135/160 ⇒ 50/75/100/125/150
E: Charm
- Mana cost: 50 ⇒ 60
Gwen
Passive: Thousand Cuts
- Monster max damage: 10 (+25%AP) ⇒ 10 (+15%AP)
E: Skip ‘n Slash
- Bonus attack range: 100 ⇒ 50
Kennen
W: Electrical Surge
- Fourth attack damage: 20/30/40/50/60 (+100%bAD & 25%AP) ⇒ 35/45/55/65/75 (+120%bAD & 35%AP)
Master Yi
Q: Alpha Strike
- Damage: 25/60/95/130/165 (+90%AD) ⇒ 30/60/90/120/150 (+60%AD)
- Crit damage modifier: 60% (+bonus crit damage%) extra ⇒ 50% (+bonus crit damage%) extra
- Now applies on-hit effects
- CD refund now scales relative to the max cooldown reduction from Ability Haste
E: Wuju Style
- Damage: 30/40/50/60/70 ⇒ 30/38/46/54/62
- Duration now doesn’t decrease during Alpha Strike
- Also doesn’t decrease during Meditate
- Can now cast during Alpha Strike
R: Highlander
- Duration now doesn’t decrease during Alpha Strike
- Also doesn’t decrease during Meditate
- Can now cast during Alpha Strike
Samira
Base stats
- Health per level: 88 ⇒ 94
- Armor per level: 3 ⇒ 3.5
R: Inferno Trigger
- Cooldown: 8 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds
Seraphine
W: Surround Sound
- Mana cost: 50/70/90/110/130 ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90
- Cooldown: 26/25/24/23/22 seconds ⇒ 28/26/24/22/20 seconds
- Shield: 75-225 based on level (+45%AP) ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140 (+40%AP)
- Allies are now granted the same shield value rather than two-thirds of Seraphine’s value.
- Heal: 5% (+1.125%AP) missing health ⇒ 5/5.5/6/6.5/7% (+0.75%AP) missing health
E: Beat Drop
- Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds ⇒ 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 seconds
Xin Zhao
E: Audacious Charge
- Cooldown: 11 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds
R: Crescent Guard
- Duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
Items
Hullbreaker
- Self resists for ranged champions: 20-60 ⇒ 10-30
- Unchanged for melee champions
- Minion resists for ranged champions: 60-180 ⇒ 30-90
- Unchanged for melee champions
Skins
Heimerstinger
“Now isn’t he just the buzziest little worker bee?”
Nunu & Beelump
“They’re like two bees in a pod. Err… in a hive?”
Orbeeanna
“Careful not to get honey caught in those gears!”
BZZZiggs
“According to all known laws of apiculture, bees shouldn’t be given explosives. Hey! Put that bouncing bomb down, bee!”
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