TFT update 14.16 patch notes, Rotating Shop, Trait changes & more

As a seasoned TFT player with countless hours under my belt, I must say this latest patch has certainly piqued my interest! The changes to Wukong and the various units are intriguing, especially the tweak to Bastion Crown which might make me reconsider my favorite Nunu comp.

Experience the latest update on TFT 14.16, packed with a variety of modifications, ranging from significant to minor, in the game. The Rotating Shop has been revitalized, and features such as Traits and Augments have undergone substantial adjustments. Dive into the detailed changes below, kindly provided by Riot Games.

Full patch notes

Systems

Golems

The overall performance of enhancements related to Golems has been exceptionally strong, largely due to the powerful punches delivered by this rugged figure.

Golem AD: 65 ⇒ 55
Golem Health: 600 ⇒ 550
Golem Ability damage: 335/500/750% AP ⇒ 300/480/750% AP

Large Changes

Traits

Most of our traits have had somewhat viable comps to slot in, with a few exceptions.

In simpler terms, we’re enhancing the armor “Queenguard’s Armor” obtainable at level 6 of Faerie quite substantially. This enhancement is less pronounced, but it’s seeing more use primarily because of the influential champions within that trait’s group.

The character, Preserver, has demonstrated remarkable resilience in contributing effectively as a late-game flexible board facilitator. We appreciate its versatility in creating multiple outcomes, but find it excessively powerful—particularly when we’re adjusting some of our overperforming composite strategies. The adjustment being made aims to reduce healing power, while the mana gain aspect remains unchanged as we address an issue with the trait’s manalock.

Blaster Damage Amp: 8/15/30% ⇒ 12/25/45%
Blaster Damage Amp after cast: 25/45/90% ⇒ 25/50/90%
Faerie Crown damage amp: 25/35/40/75% ⇒ 25/40/45/75%
Faerie (6) Queenguard’s Armor Healing/shielding power: 30% ⇒ 35%
Faerie Queenguard’s Armor Health: 100 ⇒ 150
Faerie Queenguard’s Armor Healing from Queen damage: 12% ⇒ 15%
Frost AP/AD: 15/30/45/75% ⇒ 16/35/50/80%
Preserver Healing: 2.5/4.5/7/10% HP ⇒ 2/4/6/9% HP
Preserver Mana gain: 3/5/8/12% ⇒ 3/5/7/11%
Preserver ticks while a unit is manalocked will now grant that mana after the manalock ends.
Scholar Mana per attack: 3/5/10 ⇒ 3/6/12
Warrior Damage Amp: 10/18/25% ⇒ 10/20/30%
Warrior Omnivamp: 10/18/25% ⇒ 10/20/30%

Units: Tier 1

In simpler terms, the high-pitched sound ability of Seraphine isn’t as impactful lately. Lowering her maximum mana could make her cast spells quicker, increasing her beats per minute (BPM).

Seraphine Mana: 10/70 ⇒ 10/60
Soraka Ability damage: 180/270/405% AP ⇒ 195/290/440% AP
Warwick Ability damage: 50% AD ⇒ 55/55/65% AD

Units: Tier 2

In this patch release, 2-cost cards emerged as the clear winners, overshadowing most other card types with only a few exceptions. Consequently, we’re choosing to focus on this tier broadly, enhancing significantly the underperforming 2-cost cards that didn’t perform well even when they were relatively easy to play (when multiple players are employing 2-cost strategies, it becomes easier to find less commonly used 2-cost cards).

Ahri, despite her bonus AP passive, hasn’t managed to secure a role as a reroll carry yet. A slight boost in her ratio could significantly enhance the performance of Ahri when she is fully itemized.

Kassadin inflicts a large amount of damage and also absorbs an equivalent amount. By the time his Bloodthirster shield activates, he has fully recovered. Given that he offers excessive value in two aspects, we’re reducing his power levels, focusing more on his shield to maintain his role as a damage-dealer.

As a gamer, let me break down my experience with Syndra. She was way too powerful when she first dropped, dominating the S-tier and making it feel like the Syndra tier instead. Even after we dialed back her strength with an A-patch just before the set launched, she still packed a punch. Her go-to builds were all about attack speed, boosted even more by Spear of Shojin.

Ahri Ability magic damage: 135/200/280% AP ⇒ 140/210/325% AP
Ahri Ability true damage: 90/135/210% AP ⇒ 100/150/230% AP
Galio Ability damage reduction: 15/20/25% AP ⇒ 20/25/30% AP
Kassadin Ability stacking damage: 35/50/80% AP ⇒ 30/45/70% AP
Kassadin Ability shield: 300/335/370% AP ⇒ 260/285/310% AP
Kog’Maw Ability damage: 290/300/325% AD ⇒ 280/280/290% AD
Shyvana Ability damage: 35/50/75% AP + 1.5% HP ⇒ 45/65/100% AP + 1% HP
Item class changed from Magic Tank to Magic Fighter
Syndra Ability total cast time: 0.3 seconds ⇒ 1 second (read the context for details)
Syndra Ability bonus rift damage: 35% ⇒ 30%
Syndra Ability damage: 225/340/520% AP ⇒ 205/310/480% AP
Syndra Ability adjacent damage: 110/170/260% AP ⇒ 100/150/235% AP

Units: Tier 3

Katarina, our most underperforming and least-used 3-cost character (sorry Rayditz), is getting significant attention from us. You might observe enhancements to the Fairy and Warrior categories and think, “That’s a lot of improvements!” However, remember that these improvements are specifically for the 4+ trait thresholds which are quite difficult to reach while leveling up Katarina to 3 stars. Despite this, an additional Emblem could create a rather powerful combination, so don’t underestimate these changes!

Katarina Ability damage: 160/240/365% AP ⇒ 175/260/420% AP

Units: Tier 4

Karma is our top-performing champion with four abilities. She deals more damage than anticipated, can inflict Wounds/Burns on an entire team using either Red Buff or Morellonomicon, and heals her allies when an enemy is defeated. However, she’s doing so well as a carry without the healing aspect, so we’re going to eliminate that part of her abilities for balance purposes.

Initially appearing to be a modest buff, it turns out to be a significant boost, as Ryze unleashes not one, but ten bolts (and even more with increased Attack Speed).

Karma Ability no longer heals adjacent allies when an enemy dies.
Ryze Ability damage: 80/120/300% AP ⇒ 85/130/300% AP
Varus ability cast time: 2.5 seconds ⇒ 1.5 seconds

Units: Tier 5

Although Briar’s characteristics and comparisons have shown good performance, she hasn’t been able to dominate fights as expected from a 5-cost character with the skill called “Certain Death”.

Briar AD: 60 ⇒ 65

Augments: Removed

We’ve got a lot of Augment changes this time around, so we’re dividing this section up into four.

These specialized traits, known as Arcane Conduit and Draconic Mastery, were linked augmentations that proved overly complex and not effective enough in most scenarios. Despite numerous enhancements, their usage required an exceptionally precise setup to achieve any level of success.

In simpler terms, “Enhancing the gold for instantly promoting a unit wasn’t feasible because it could lead to a repetitive playstyle of buying low-cost units repeatedly to promote them indefinitely.”

The following Augments have been removed: Arcane Conduit, Draconic Mastery, On the House

Augments: Silver

In simpler terms, combining One, Two, and Three in our game provides slightly higher gold rewards compared to what our system for upgrading Silver items allows. To avoid a situation where the game becomes overly powerful (power creep) while maintaining visual appeal, we’re making one of the Silver items cheaper to acquire. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

As an ardent player, I must admit that taking on the Restart Mission seems overly perilous considering the potential reward. Therefore, to make it more balanced, let’s introduce a new 2-star, 2-cost unit into the restart equation!

Beggars Can Be Choosers Gold: 4 ⇒ 7
Find Your Center bonus health: 10% ⇒ 15%
Find Your Center is no longer offered on 2-1.
Item Collector I Health per item: 10 ⇒ 5
Keepers I Shield: 175 ⇒ 160
Ones Twos Three 1-cost champions: 3 ⇒ 2
Restart Mission Number of 2-star 2-costs: 2 ⇒ 3
Restart Mission now properly states that champions are removed rather than sold.
Row Rejuvenation I Base omnivamp: 7% ⇒ 8%

Augments: Gold

We’ve revamped “Endless Hunt” (a feature that wasn’t thriving due to its reliance on takedowns) into something new called “Hunting Frenzy”. This change will empower Hunters to engage in more hunting activities, significantly boosting the base power of the Augment. Additionally, it adds a more appealing flavor or character to the feature.

Instead of advantageously supporting only the daring, fortune seems to be extending its favor to those less daring as well. Therefore, we’re adjusting our 8-10 loss cashout output and bolstering the more high-risk cashout options.

From now on, the underperforming Augmentations, specifically Clockwork Accelerator and High Horsepower, will receive improvements, while those performing too well will be adjusted.

We’re modifying the bonuses that your Eldritch summons receive from School Mascot, which will overall reduce the power of the Augment. Instead of being adorned with a Deathcap, your summon will now have slightly enhanced stats. This change is expected to make Eldritch level 3 more potent, while levels 5 and 7 may become less powerful as a result.

Avenge the Fallen Bonus stats: 15 ⇒ 18
Built Different II is now exclusive with Two Tanky
Caramelized Comforts (Sugarcraft) Health per item component: 50 ⇒ 60
Caramelized Comforts (Sugarcraft) Gold drop chance per item component: 8% ⇒ 10%
Clockwork Accelerator Buff frequency: Every 4 seconds ⇒ Every 3 seconds
Endless Hunt (Hunter) has been renamed to “Hunting Frenzy”
Hunting Frenzy (Hunter) REWORKED:Your Hunters execute enemies below 12% health and gain 10% Attack Speed. Gain a Twitch and a Kog’Maw.
Eternal Growth+ Immediate health gain: 100 ⇒ 60
Explosive Growth+ XP gain per round: 10 ⇒ 11
Fast Forward AS gain: 25% ⇒ 40%
Fortune Favors the Bold: 8-10 loss cashout nerfed by ~10%
Fortune Favors the Bold: Some 13-14 loss cashouts improved.
Flexible Bonus emblems: Every Stage start ⇒ Start of the next 3 stages
High Horsepower Bonus AS: 100% ⇒ 150%
High Horsepower Ability Damage Amp: 235% ⇒ 300%
Higher Education (Scholar) Mana spend: 100 ⇒ 80
Higher Education (Scholar) AS: 10% ⇒ 12%
Item Collector II Health per item: 15 ⇒ 10
Keepers II Shield: 260 ⇒ 240
Molten Caramel (Rumble) Ability Damage Amp: 190% ⇒ 200%
Molten Caramel (Rumble) Omnivamp: 15% ⇒ 20%
Pilfer Gold Granted: 4 ⇒ 0
Practice Partners (Mage) Mana gain: 4 ⇒ 5
Press the Attack (Multistriker) Damage: 5.5% HP ⇒ 5% HP
Row Rejuvenation II Base Omnivamp: 9% ⇒ 10%
School Mascot (Eldritch): No longer has Rabadon’s Deathcap at 5 and 7 Eldritch.
School Mascot (Eldritch) Bonus Health: 5% ⇒ 10%
School Mascot (Eldritch) Bonus Ability Power: 10 ⇒ 30
Spellblades Damage: 175% AP ⇒ 150% AP
Support Golem I is no longer offered on 2-1.
Sweet Tooth (Nunu) Bonus Health: 200 ⇒ 100
Three’s a Crowd Bonus Health: 66 ⇒ 75
Trait Tracker is now exclusive with Flexible.
Two Healthy Bonus Health: 90 ⇒ 80
Witchy Wallop (Poppy) Damage: 80% ⇒ 85%
Witchy Wallop (Poppy) Time between Wallops reduced from 0.25s ⇒ 0.15s
Worth the Wait I Round delay: 4 ⇒ 2

Augments: Prismatic

To enhance our underperforming augment, What the Forge significantly, we aim to prevent it from being discarded and instead keep it as one of our enjoyable augments by improving its performance.

To balance out Prismatic Ticket’s current power, we are adjusting it so that the chances of receiving free rerolls will be reduced. However, we will ensure that these freebies are not offered on the 4-2 stage, as it usually coincides with your leveling and reroll strategy and can feel awkward in that context.

Anger Issues Armor/MR: 25 ⇒ 30
Assassin’s Toolbox REWORKED: Now grants a Prowler’s Claw and an Infinity Edge immediately.
At What Cost Bonus XP: 16 ⇒ 8
Dark Alley Dealings Round delay: 5 ⇒ 3
Giant and Mighty HP: 325 ⇒ 300
Immovable Object Bonus effect: 70% ⇒ 60%
Prismatic Ticket Free reroll chance: 50% ⇒ 45%
Prismatic Ticket is no longer offered on 4-2.
Support Golem II is no longer offered on 2-1.
What the Forge Health per Artifact: 110 ⇒ 220

Items

At present, Dragon’s Claw stands out as the most potent tank item, not only because it counters an AP-focused meta but also due to its exceptionally powerful healing capabilities. This healing is so robust that it can serve as the primary source of sustenance for tanks, effectively pushing items like Redemption aside and veering towards the territory of Anima Visage. Our aim is to preserve Dragon’s Claw’s value as a reliable source of Magic Resistance against mage compositions, while scaling back its less conspicuous yet formidable healing prowess.

Dragon’s Claw Healing: 5% per 2s ⇒ 2.5% per 2s

Artifacts, Suppoet, and Radiant Items

Blacksmith’s Gloves Health: 300 ⇒ 200
Mogul’s Mail Health: 200 ⇒ 150
Needlessly Big Gem Damage Amp: 10% ⇒ 5%
Needlessly Big Gem Max Damage Amp: 25% ⇒ 20%
Dragon’s Will (Radiant) Max Health: 18% ⇒ 15%

Charms

Besides adding four fresh Charms, we’re also giving a thorough review of our current Charms to ensure they are valuable for their price, and none will be inactive or instantly selected without user interaction.

In simpler terms, the Charm called Copycat helps boost your economy at the start of the game when used effectively. Meanwhile, Spawn Swarm is a charm that becomes useful in late-game situations. Although it might sound alarming, this charm implies that certain creatures inhabit your body and emerge upon death. However, fear not! These creatures are beneficial to you, as they fight alongside you instead of harming you (they are symbiotic, not parasitic).

As a seasoned gamer, I can’t help but appreciate the nostalgia of the Ironclad Spirit and Mystic Spirit abilities. These badges, reminiscent of earlier sets, offer temporary armor or magic resistance – a real boon in those late-game scenarios! They’re like the perfect scouts for my swift reactions, ensuring I can weather any storm that comes my way!

Gear Swap, which granted a temporary Magnetic Remover and a Reforger for 1 round was rarely useful. Best case scenario you could Reforge one of your components that didn’t fit your build—not that exciting. Tinker, which gives you a Reforger and a Remover to keep, on the other hand, was locked to only the late game. We’re unlocking Tinker, allowing it to appear from Stage 2 onward, and making it 0 gold to make the Charm more appealing and useful. Even if you don’t end up using it, at least it didn’t break the bank.

In conclusion, we’ve chosen to eliminate the Charm known as Desperate Plea, which primarily allows for an additional placement. This decision has been met with discomfort among players who lost a round without activating the Charm. Furthermore, our top-tier players have provided predominantly negative feedback, stating that one extra placement can either make or break a tournament. To our Challenger readers, we understand your struggles. To the gaming community, I apologize for purchasing this during a round where three players were eliminated.

NEW Charm: (Stage 2/3) Copycat – 1g – Get a 1-star copy of the first enemy unit to die next combat.
NEW Charm: (Stage 5+) Spawn Swarm – 4g – Next combat: Your first two front-row units spawn a voidling after death.
NEW Charm: (Stage 4+) Ironclad Spirit – 1g – Next combat: Your team gains 30 Armor.
NEW Charm: (Stage 4+) Mystic Spirit – 1g – Next combat: Your team gains 30 Magic Resist.
Backrow Star Cost: 5g ⇒ 2g
Desperate Plea has been Removed.
Enhance Cost: 2g ⇒ 1g
Gear Swap Removed.
Minor Gambit Gold for winning: 2 ⇒ 3
Phantom Emblem Cost: 8g ⇒ 6g
Shivinate is now offered on Stage 2/3 (was 3/4).
Summon Dragon AD: 450 ⇒ 405
The Star (Ascendant) Cost: 5g ⇒ 7g
Tinker Cost: 1g ⇒ 0g
Tinker is now offered from Stage 2 onward.
Treasure Party Cost: 8g ⇒ 6g

Small Changes

Traits

Bastion Armor/MR: 15/40/65/110 ⇒ 15/40/70/120
Chrono: Timestop from Chrono 4 is now resisted with CC immunity

Units

Wukong has excelled in various Preserver tournaments, particularly in certain regional leagues, but he falls short of our expectations as an all-purpose frontline character. To enhance his performance, we’re providing a minor boost, specifically to his 1 and 2-star versions, with the aim of making him even more effective at holding items.

Jayce Ability damage: 425/425/450% AD + 40/60/90% AP ⇒ 425/425/475% AD + 40/60/90% AP
Lillia Mana: 50/110 ⇒ 40/100
Galio Ability damage reduction: 15/20/25% AP ⇒ 20/25/30% AP
Wukong Ability shield: 330/440/550% AP ⇒ 380/460/550% AP
Tahm Kench Health: 1050 ⇒ 1100

Augments

For many gamers, this modification to Bastion Crown can be considered a boost, but for those who particularly appreciate the Sweet Tooth augment in Nunu, it feels more like a challenge.

Bastion Crown Champion Granted: Nunu ⇒ Shen
Blaster Crown Champion Granted: Tristana ⇒ Ezreal
Blossoming Lotus I/II no longer appear at Stage 2-1.
Scholar Crown Champion Granted: Ahri ⇒ Bard
Scholar Crown Item Granted: Guardbreaker ⇒ Spear of Shojin
Vertically Inclined Damage Amp: 8/16% ⇒ 9/18%
Vertically Inclined no longer appears at Stage 2-1.

Modes

Hyper Roll

In the game Hyper Roll, both Dummies and Golems have significantly contributed, and despite incorporating a new Golem into system updates, we’re making an additional tweak to balance the gameplay according to the requirements of this specific game mode.

Dummies and Golems level up one stage later.
I’m the Carry Now Augment Golem stat multipliers adjusted to power up later.
Frost Soldier bonus Health scaling is now lower in Hyper Roll: 200 ⇒ 110 per stage
All That Shimmers/+ is no longer available in Hyper Roll.
A Golden Quest is no longer available in Hyper Roll.
An Upgraded Adventure is no longer available in Hyper Roll.

Bug Fixes

Multiple Augments have had their descriptions updated to use the new Damage Amp stat.
Fixed cases where Gwen could fail to cast and then be stuck for several seconds.
Kalista no longer throws extra spears on her first attack each combat.
Portal effects no longer miss when an allied Krug is the only unit alive.
Too tiny: Two ranged units with Tiny But Deadly will no longer fail to attack each other.
Placing Thief’s Gloves on a unit with a Champion Augment no longer removes the buff from them.
Accomplice’s Gloves now correctly counts as 2.5 items for the purpose of strongest unit.
The cat’s out of the bag: Yuumi can no longer spawn on the enemy side of the board and eat the unit in that slot.
Yuumi now correctly attaches to a new unit on combat start if her host was sold.
Fixed a bug where Frost statues could fail to spawn or spawn with incorrect health.
Sneaky: The Assassinate Charm now properly shows a stealth effect on the unit that will leap during combat.
The Bunch-o’-Belts Charm now properly makes champions larger when they’re equipped with the effect’s Giants Belts.
The Overachievers portal will now properly show all charms a stage earlier than normally possible.
Not sure if I’d label this one a fix, but it was a bug: In Hyper Roll, Scuttle Puddle scuttles on stage 8 are no longer massive.

2024-08-13 21:15