TFT’s last set of patch notes before Rise of the Elements (the game’s second set) comes into play. Patch Notes 9.21 will close out the current competitive season and will give players one final chance to climb in rank before the game is completely turned on its head. These changes also begin implementing some of the philosophical changes that the developers discussed in their Set 1 takeaways, especially in relation to the player damage changes.

So, without further adieu, here is an overview and analysis of the changes coming in TFT Patch 9.21, which can be accessed from its original source here.

Player Damage Changes

According to developers, “player damage is both too low in the early game and too high in the late game. This leads players to take advantage of using the early game to stockpile gold, as well as really unfortunate late-game losses when trying to change up your strategy or unit placements.”

Because of that imbalance, the following changes are being made to the amount of damage taken from each unites and the total Base Damage that is done:

1-Star by Tier: 1/1/2/2/3 ⇒ 1/1/1/2/3

2-Star by Tier: 2/2/3/4/5 ⇒ 2/2/2/3/4

3-Star by Tier: 3/4/5/6/8 ⇒ 3/3/3/5/8

Base Damage: 1/2/2/3/4/5 ⇒ 3/3/3/4/5/6

Essentially, what this means is that units themselves will be doing less damage based on their overall level and will, in place of that, be doing more damage overall. This should translate to much more early game damage being taken from 1-Star and 2-Star units, and a much more balanced amount of damage late-game from higher-level units.

This should help balance hyper-rolling and excessive economy playing early-game but will be interesting to monitor nonetheless.

Balance Changes

In their entirety, here are the changes being made to traits, champions, and items in the coming patch. The most significant changes will be marked in bold and will have analysis provided underneath each category.

Trait Changes

Guardian bonus Armor: 45 ⇒ 40

Hextech Item Disable duration: 7 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds

Knight Damage blocked: 15/35/60 ⇒ 15/30/60

Rangers bonus Attack Speed: 25%/70% ⇒ 40%/70%

Sorcerer Ability Power: 40%/100%/175% ⇒ 40%/120%/200%

First, the changes to Hextech are significant and should give units affected by that nerf a much greater chance of getting their items back with time to spare in a match, cutting down the length affected by more than 1/3.

Second, the changes to Rangers should make them much more effective when there are only two out at once. This should bolster their effectiveness alongside four to six Knights or Brawlers moving into late-game and will make Rangers much more viable themselves in the early and mid-game.

Champion Changes

Lissandra Starting/Total Mana: 0/85 ⇒ 0/95

Varus Attack Damage: 50 ⇒ 60

Brand Pyroclasm bounce range: 2 Hexes ⇒ 3 Hexes

Brand Pyroclasm missile speed: Slower ⇒ Faster

Cho’Gath Spell Damage: 175/350/525 ⇒ 200/400/600

Draven Attack Damage: 70 ⇒ 65

Pantheon Armor: 80 ⇒ 70

Brand gets some much-needed buffs here would should prove to finally make him a viable carry champion with Demons or Elementalists. This may prove to be too little, too late, but should still make him a more powerful unit overall in the last breaths of Set 1.

Item Changes

Locket of the Iron Solari duration: 7 seconds ⇒ 8 seconds

Redemption Health threshold: 25% ⇒ 30%

Repeating Crossbow Attack Speed and Crit Chance per stack: 20% ⇒ 30%

Spear of Shojin Mana restoration: 15% ⇒ 18%

Trap Claw stun duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds

The Last Hoorah

Overall, these changes come prior to 9.22, which will bring with it a break in competitive play, a whole new set in Rise of the Elements, and a laundry list of new champions, items and traits. This patch should become playable on the PBE sometime on October 22, although no timeline has been provided at this time

For all of the news and updates concerning the future of TFT’s Set 2, be sure to stay tuned here, at The Game Haus.

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