URF is one of the most popular game modes in League of Legends and is coming back soon. But what exactly is URF? Let's go over everything you need to know about this fun mode, which will be playable in the first half of the year in Season 14.
The first time URF (Ultra Rapid Fire) was released was all the way back in 2014. Since then, it was a fan favorite and was playable for a whole 3 months (way longer than Riot Games actually intended). The last time the game mode returned, though, was February 2023, almost one year ago by now.
Now, URF will finally have its comeback for 2024. But, what if you just started with playing LoL and don't really understand all the hype about this game mode. Well, we're here to tell you all about it, including the rules, release window, leaks and anything else you could possibly ask for. So, let's dive right into it!
URF | All Rules & Changes
URF is a featured fast-paced game mode in League of Legends designed for shorter, more action-packed matches in the Summoner's Rift. Champions are able to reuse their abilities extremely quick without any costs.
Awesome Buff of Awesomely Awesome Buffing
All champs have an insane permanent buff that changes how the game is played. The two most important effects are on the one hand 300 Ability Haste (equivalent to 75% cooldown reduction) and on the other hand the removal of Mana and Energy costs from abilities.
For more deets about the buff, check the list below (there are tons of adjustments in URF). By the way, the buff is called "Awesome Buff of Awesomely Awesome Buffing". That's... something?
- Mana and Energy consumption reduced by 100%
- Health costs reduced by 50%
- +300 AH, Summoner Spell Haste and Item Haste
- +25% tenacity
- 60 Bonus Movement Speed
- Bonus Attack Speed is multiplied by (1.5 for Melee/2 for Ranged)
- Critical Strikes deal 25% additional damage
- Champions that use Mana convert 35% of Bonus Mana into Bonus Health, and 100% of Bonus Mana Regeneration into Bonus Health Regeneration
There can also be specific buffs or nerfs for champions, specially for URF. These are displayed as followed:
- This unit deals X% of its normal damage
- This unit receives X% of its normal damage
Some of the upcoming changes for champions and runes for URF have already been leaked on Twitter/X:
URF changes:- Ezreal Q cooldown refund reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.33- Gragas E cooldown refund set to 0.25 seconds- Tahm Kench Q cooldown set to 14 - 10 seconds- Zilean Q cooldown set to 18 - 14.4 seconds- Zilean W cooldown set to 25.2 - 10.8 seconds pic.twitter.com/UXVT5j8TQH
— Spideraxe (@Spideraxe30) January 18, 2024
But, what about all those heals and shields? Are Soraka and Karma straight up OP then? Below, you can check out other important adjustments specifically for URF:
- Heal Embargo
- Healing effects are only 50% effective at the beginning of the game
- effectiveness increases by 1% every 30 seconds, up to 100% effectiveness at 25 minutes
- Shield Overload
- Shield strength (excluding shields from Ultimates) is reduced by 30%
Champion Cannon
Usually, there is a cannon outside each team's fountain. By clicking on it, you got 10 seconds to jump anywhere you please to up to a maximum range, which is located on about half of the Summoner's Rift map.
By launching yourself, you are going to fly to your target location and deal 120-460 (based on level) Magic Damage and knock up all enemies within the area. Imagine your enemies dying just because of you landing on top of their head. The thought alone makes us smile.
Gold Income, Level Cap & Early Surrender
Since the game will get to the end much quicker, Riot added further adjustments referred to gold income, level cap and the surrender option.
You're getting increased gold for minions. When a nearby minion dies, you'll also receive an amount of gold, regardless of last hitting or not.
Then, the level cap is increased to level 30, meaning, you'll get much more bonus stats for your champ throughout the game.
Last but not least, you also can early surrender at 8 minutes, or surrender normally at 10 minutes instead of waiting for 15 minutes. If someone is AFK, you can of course surrender at any point of the game after a couple of minutes.
Item & Summoner Spell Changes
With all these buffs and changes for URF, some items and Summoner Spells just don't fit in the game mode and need to be adjusted or removed.
That's why items like Cull, Dark Seal/Mejai's Soulstealer and Watchful Wardstone/Vigilant Wardstone are all disabled.
Smite's charge rate is reduced to 30 seconds from 75 seconds, and the cooldown between charges is also reduced to 10 seconds from 15 seconds. Teleport on the other hand is straight up disabled, since you can use the Champion Cannon anyway.
Jungle Changes
We also got some jungle changes for Dragons and Baron Nashor:
Drake
- Initial spawn time reduced to 4 minutes
- Respawn time reduced to 2 minutes and 30 seconds
- Health is dramatically increased
Baron Nashor
- Initial spawn time reduced to 10 minutes
- Respawn time reduced to 5 minutes
- Health is dramatically increased
- Grants both the Hand of Baron (empowered recall + Baron buff) and spawns an Eye of the Herald when slain
Alternative URF Versions
There are additional alternatives within the game mode, such as URF as an All Random mode and a Blind Pick mode. Usually, only one of them gets released within a certain time period. But to be honest, Blind Pick URF is way more fun than the other game mode, since you can have tons of bad luck with your champs in All Random URF.
URF Release Date
While, we don't have an exact release date yet, we still got some infos from Riot Games themselves. In their Look Ahead for Season 14, Riot leaked that URF, as well as One for All are going to return in the first half of this year.
Rumor has it, however, that URF is going to be released with Patch 14.3 on February 7 and will last till the end of Patch 14.4 together with the Lunar Revel 2024 event. On top of that, we can also say hello to the new ADC Smolder with Patch 14.3. When, if not then, would be the best time for the release of URF!