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Riot Games' lead champion designer, Bryan "CatchesAxes," shared his thoughts on League of Legends' evolving pre-season meta through a post on the title's official site. In it, the individual suggested that the developers are trying to solve some bot lane problems, saying:
"The meta in bot lane is in a weird state, with a number of related problems we’re trying to solve."
According to CatchesAxes' post from February 10, the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) is heading towards a "highly disrupted and uncertain" meta. Thus, all emerging issues will be looked at one at a time.
There have been multiple changes that have arrived in LoL over the last few patches, dating back to pre-season 2023. This implies that things are changing pretty fast in the metagame.
Thus, to keep up with League of Legends' good reputation for receiving timely game balances, Riot took up the ongoing overpowering issue with the bot lane, which will likely be fixed before the next patch cycle.
Multiple League of Legends AD items set to receive nerfs in the upcoming patch cycle
League of Legends' developers are currently focusing on the overpowering nature of ADC (Attack Damage Carry) support units like Heimerdinger, who are extremely dominant in professional games. Riot believes that this issue is bigger than champion imbalances and thus needs a bigger solution. In this regard, CatchesAxes stated:
"First, we’re looking at enchanters and ADC supports (and Heimerdinger) being too dominant in pro play. In the patch 13.3 we’re looking to add some power to melee support picks. We’re also looking at some larger systemic solutions, as we don’t believe that this is an issue of just champion balance."
The team is also planning to show some love to melee supports like Alistar, Braum, Galio, Nilah, and Leona in the upcoming patch 13.3, to make bot lane skirmishes more realistic and challenging.
CatchesAxes also mentioned in the official post that gameplay developers are currently working on the emerging meta of the fast ganking bot lane that features both high-skill solo queues and pro play, which they think needs some modifications.
Apart from balancing champions and offering gameplay tweaks, Riot is also planning to nerf attack-damage-build items like Umbral Glaive and Yellow Trinket. They're also looking to boost the early ward availability to help laners protect themselves. This is suggested by the recent official post, which says:
"Besides looking at the champions in the meta, we’re also acting on Umbral Glaive and increasing early ward availability a bit this patch to help laners protect themselves."
CatchesAxes also revealed that his team is also looking to trim some power from the jungle to make power farming more worthwhile, like in League of Legends' good old days. These changes, however, will not affect the title's balance in terms of gameplay.
Riot has assured the community that it will be actively monitoring the situation, and it’s likely that the developers will need to do several future follow-ups over the next few League of Legends patches.
