Patch 14.3 is here, and scaling mages are quite happy (or perhaps less sad?) Let’s go over the five most important changes of the patch.
1) Aurelion Sol Buff
- Q mana cost reduced at all levels
- Stardust stacks per Q champion burst up from 1 to 3
- W mana cost reduced at all levels, cooldown reduced at all levels, bonus Q damage up.
- E stardust stacks reduced to 2 for all conditions
The only stipulation to be observed when calling Aurelion Sol’s changes a buff is the fact that his overall damage during his all ins, which often combine his W with his Q for chasing down vulnerable opponents, is available more often and does more damage.
Before the change, it was ideal to max Q before maxing E, playing passively while scaling up and collecting stardust through wave clears. During the new season, where every AP champ who is worth anything is building fast bursty, high damage items, Sol was far too slow for his eventual payoff which was lackluster.
Now, Sol can continue to build his scaling items while also playing aggressively by maxing W second, giving him greater damage on his Q and more stardust by virtue of receiving 3 instead of 1 per burst on champions.
If scaling champs become meta, I expect the likes of Sol to be at the forefront of it all.
2) Rod of Ages Buff
- Flat health and mana increased to 400
If Aurelion Sol receiving a buff is the most important change in patch 14.3, then ROA receiving a buff walks hand in hand with him.
ROA is an item that, I believe, was overtuned at the start of the season, but overshadowed by the fact that AP champions had a bunch of cool toys to play with and would rather rush damage than take strict value out of their items. As a reminder, ROA costs 2600 gold and provides mana users with an option to sustain in lane.
With no options for omnivamp outside of combat with champions, this makes ROA uniquely poised to protect scaling AP champions in a world where damage is high. With the extra mana and health attached to it (and no increase in costs), champions like Sol will be rolling in the extra winrate percentages with consistent, safe laning phases and a slew of extra stats to tilt the odds during the recently buffed all ins.
3) Archangel’s Staff Buff
- Total cost down to 2900 from 3000
Nothing much to say here. Just like with ROA, Archangel’s Staff receiving a buff is only going to help the star of the patch: Aurelion Sol. Build tear as a first item, rush ROA, then finish second item Archangel’s for a strong, consistent build path as a scaling mana builder.
4) Nidalee Buffs
- Magic Resist per level increased from 1.3 to 1.45
- E: higher flat and scaling value, attack speed buff increased by 10% at all ranks
Nidalee is a champion that operates in a very binary way: you either know what you’re doing or you’re trash. Players who know what they are doing likely aren’t too concerned with the E heal buffs when it comes to jungle clears, since Nidalee’s clears are already very healthy when executed properly.
Despite this, the extra 10% attack speed associated with the buffs means that a champion who already had one of the fastest clears in the game just had her full clear buffed. This means more flexibility when challenging for scuttles or initiating ganks in the top or bot lanes before the enemy jungler has a chance to counter.
Expect her winrate to either remain steady or fall as new players try picking her up. S-tier.
5) Statikk Shiv Buff
- Total damage on Proc against champions down to 90 at all levels
- Total cost down from 3000 to 2700
I love this item. Statikk Shiv’s design is centered around complimenting champions who already have good wave clear but want to buff that aspect of their kit a bit more. For some reason, Riot Games has had trouble making the item not something that outright makes non-wavecleary champions able to waveclear, causing the item’s state to become a rather binary “good” or “terrible” .
With the 300 saved gold, thanks to the nerf against champs, champions who want access to early, reliable wave clear (such as Sivir) will have access to the tool much, much earlier. This will result in quicker, safer farming and a higher winrate overall for its users, assuming its users don’t want to take fights too often.
Some might call these changes nerfs, but for the item’s intended purpose, I see this as nothing but a win for its niche use-cases.
14.3 will spark a swift change in the way burst-mages come online and give access to stronger, cheaper tools to scaling AP champs who needed the help.
ADCs will find themselves with less lethality and more options for keeping that bot wave cleared out while junglers will find themselves competing for the fastest full clear instead of skipping a camp or two to try and snowball a lane.
GLHF,
-E
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