A new set of patch notes has arrived on Wild Rift. From new items, a new champion, a bunch of new skins, and even new game modes, the new patch can be overwhelming to read without some guidance and analysis. Here are the champion and item changes from patch 2.2 briefly analyzed.
[related: patch 2.2 skins]
Courtesy of Riot
Alistar has been super strong in Wild Rift, standing as the uncontested most broken tank support pick in the game. Pulverize was nerfed, which is the main staple in his crowd control reliant kit. These nerfs bring him down a peg, opening up room for other support champions to see play.
Base Stats
(Ability 1) Pulverize
Courtesy of Riot
Since tank items are all receiving massive buffs, Amumu, who has already been playing perfectly fine, is receiving some nerfs. This preemptive nerf serves to prevent him from being too horrendously overpowered when the new items come in. His dueling potential in the early game is taking a hit, with base armor reduction and DPS nerfs on his despair.
Base Stats
(Ability 2) Despair
(Ultimate) Curse of the Sad Mummy
Courtesy of Riot
Corki’s passive balancing was not intuitive whatsoever, creating issues with his item optimizations. Riot is stabilizing Hextech Munitions so it behaves properly.
(Passive) Hextech Munitions
Courtesy of Riot
Honestly, this change is just to help his ultimate perform as intended, and is more of a hotfix than a big change on how he plays.
(Ultimate) Noxian Guillotine
Courtesy of Riot
Mundo is another champion that will benefit greatly from the new tank item updates. Similar to Amumu, he has been playing perfectly fine without the item upgrades, therefore Riot is nerfing him preemptively to prepare for the new meta. They do not want him to be that broken.
(Ability 1) Infected Cleaver
(Ability 3) Masochism
Courtesy of Riot
Jhin’s wave clear potential has been absurd, making his laning phase oppressive to deal with. Captive Audience was an easy way to decimate the minion wave, especially since minions are far easier to kill in Wild Rift than their PC counterparts.
(Ability 3) Captive Audience
Courtesy of Riot
Riot really thought Liandry’s nerfs were enough to bring Orianna down. They were wrong. She has been overperforming in every elo, therefore forcing Riot to nerf her base damage. The ball-throwing mechanical doll will no longer terrorize the Wild Rift.
Base Stats
(Ability 1) Command: Attack
(Ability 3) Command: Protect
Courtesy of Riot
Pantheon is a very new champion on Wild Rift, so it is really no surprise that Riot is updating his kit. These changes do not butcher him, nor do they make him a lot stronger. They simply balance out some of his kit, to make him play as intended.
(Ability 1) Comet Spear
(Ability 2) Shield Vault
(Ability 3) Aegis Assault
(Ultimate) Grand Starfall
Courtesy of Riot
Teemo can now be seen a little longer before he disappears, making the little devil more susceptible to dying. That is always a great change.
(Ability 3) Guerrilla Warfare
The biggest changes here are because of Sapphire Crystal. This item will now build only into tear of the goddess, and also shares tears’ mana charge passive. Sheen no longer requires sapphire crystal, and therefore does not provide extra mana. All Sheen-related items are therefore decreased in price. Also, tank items are receiving massive buffs. Expect a huge change in the meta, with tanks dominating Wild Rift.
Sapphire Crystal is now the go-to for heavy mana users; it’s inheriting the Mana Charge passive so you can start stacking up your Tear of the Goddess earlier.
Winter’s Approach and Fimbulwinter are being reworked to become the Health/Mana/Ability Haste item. CC machines, start your engines!
We want to make Sheen a more viable purchase for non-mana users. This change also impacts the build paths for Lich Bane, Trinity Force, and Iceborn Gauntlet.
As above, with a new build path, Dead Man’s Plate is the go-to tank item for speedy engagements.
We felt applying Grevious Wounds was too far out of the tank’s control after having purchased Thornmail, so this should give more ways to apply the debuff when they need it most.
Like a beautiful butterfly, Sunfire Cape is evolving into Sunfire Aegis. There are a few notable differences between the PC and Wild Rift versions though. Wild Rift’s version isn’t a mythic item and thus doesn’t have a mythic passive. It also loses out on a lot of tank stats as this version only has Health and Ability Haste. Sunfire Aegis is your go-to tank item if you want a bit of extra damage.
Adaptive Helm wasn’t hitting the mark, and its ideal use case wasn’t always clear, so we’re replacing it with Force of Nature.
These three new items are all tank items, with Force of Nature replacing adaptive helm. They are all cheap and very strong. With tanks having seen little play in the past, the item changes will without a doubt change the meta.
Force of Nature will be replacing Adaptive Helm as the go-to Magic Resist item for when those pesky mages won’t leave you alone.
Use Frozen Heart’s aura to reduce nearby enemies’ Attack Speed and defend your team.
Winged Moonplate is the new component item for Dead Man’s Plate. Tank players, it’s time to engage.
Patch 2.2 brought a whole bunch of changes to Wild Rift, from much needed balance updates to specific champions such as Alistar and Orianna. Without a doubt, thanks to the item changes, tanks will definitely become meta, so be on the lookout for that decisive shift.
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