LoL Patch 12.6 Preview - Rengar Buffs and Zeri Nerfs

League of Legends Patch 12.6 will have some pretty big quality of life changes, but what are they?

Anima Squad Sylas and Vayne
Why are these skins so cool? © Riot Games

LoL Patch 12.5 is going to stick around for a while, but we’re going to check out just what is going to be coming up on March 30, when League of Legends Patch 12.6 will inevitably hit the rift.

Do we know what updates we will expect? What information have we got on the new League of Legends patch? Let’s go over some of the information we’ve got on Patch 12.6 already.

Swain Changes for Mid Swain Implemented

Swain was once a mid laner, bet you forgot that was a thing with how prominent he's been in the bot lane since his rework. Now, Riot is making some changes to try and push the champion back into the mid lane.

AbilitiesChanges
P - Ravenous Flock
  • [Removed] No longer deals magic damage
Q - Death's Hand
  • Cooldown lowered from 9/7.5/6/4.5/3 to 7/6/5/4/3
  • Mana lowered from 65/70/75/80/85 to 50/55/60/65/70
R - Demonic Ascension
  • Cooldown changed from [120] to [120/100/80]

Some players are apprehensive about the changes to his passive, which would mean that he deals a lot less damage. He should still proc electrocute, but Liandry's and Luden's won't have much of an effect on Swain anymore.

One thing is for sure though, the mana cost cuts are going to be great for Swain and anyone who plays him. You finally won't run out of mana after a few seconds in lane anymore!

Divine Sunderer Update

Divine Sunderer is also going to get a slight update that is currently being looked at on the PBE server. We expect these changes to be part of the sustain changes coming on the next patch.

  • Divine Sunderer
    • Damage changed from [12% (9% for Ranged owners) target current Health physical damage] to [12% (9% for Ranged owners) target max Health physical damage]
    • Heal changed from [restore 65% of the enhanced damage (40% for Ranged owners)] to [heal for 7.8% (3.6% for Ranged owners) target max Health.]

Lifesteal Nerfs Going Live in Patch 12.6

Riot is going all-in with their nerfs regarding the current healing meta. Sustain has been a problem in League for a while, one of the reasons why top lane enchanters were able to abuse the game. So, Riot has decided that Grievous Wounds isn't enough, and they're stepping in.

Multiple items on the PBE server have had their life steal cut and nerfed. This change will likely go live in Patch 12.6, but which items will be affected by the changes Riot wants to implement?

  • Vampiric Scepter
    • Lifesteal lowered from 10% to 8%
  • Blood Thirster
    • AD increased from 55 to 60
    • Life steal lowered from 20% to 15%
  • Blade of the Ruined King
    • Life Steal lowered from 10% to 8%
  • Immortal Shieldbow
    • Lifesteal lowered from 10% to 8%
    • Mythic Passive health increased from 50 to 70

The nerf to Immortal Shieldbow will probably have the biggest effect on the game, with ADCs and champions like Yasuo staying relatively safe thanks to the life steal and added health.

Rengar Update Finally Happening in Patch 12.6

Rengar, the big bad kitten in the jungle will finally receive his much-needed update. This is what the few Rengar mains that remain have been waiting for since Summer of 2021. So, what will Riot implement in LoL patch 12.6?

AbilityUpdate
P - Unseen Predator
  • [Modified] When Rengar has no Ferocity his next leap generates 1 ferocity
  • Ferocity falloff time 8 --> 10 seconds
  • Bonetooth Forgiveness Timer: 1.5s --> 3s
  • Timing on Ability to Leap from from brush is no longer variable by up to 0.25s
    • Range increased to 25u to adjust
  • Jump height slightly increased
  • Use secondary resource bar for stacks, shows which stack came from leap
Q - Savagery
  • Always coutns as Critical Strike, crit strike chance scales damage
    • Currtently 1% crit chance = 1 damage
  • Works on Towers
E - Bola Strike
  • [NEW] No cast time when leaping
  • [NEW] Reveals enemies for two seconds
R - Thrill of the Hunt
  • Reveal - just the unit --> small area around the unit

These are some major changes for Rengar in the upcoming League of Legends patch. Riot Phlox went into more detail regarding the change on their Twitter and why the balance team has decided to make these specific changes to Rengar.

Withered Rose Zeri
More nerfs for Zeri. | © Riot Games

Zeri Nerfs Incoming in Patch 12.6

Zeri is one of the newest champions and while she has endured multiple nerfs, it seems like Riot isn't quite done with her just yet, and she is on the receiving end of even more changes in the next patch update.

Riot August has sent out a tweet outlining just what the balance team is looking to do with the quick ADC.

AbilityUpdate
Base Stats
  • Base AD: 58 --> 50
  • HP: 500 + 85/lvl --> 480 + 90/lvl
  • Armor: 23 + 3.5/lvl --> 20 + 3/lvl
Q - Burst Fire
  • Damage: 9 - 25 --> 10 - 30
  • Charged right click % max health damage: 3 - 15% by level 18 --> 1 - 10%
E - Spark Surge
  • Cooldown: 23 - 19 --> 23
  • Passthrough Damage: 80 - 100% --> 60 - 100%
R - Lightning Crash
  • Movement Speed per stack: 2% --> 1.5 - 2%
  • Stacks per champion hit with AoE explosion: 3 --> 4

Will these updates finally make Zeri feel better to play against? She is supposed to be a squishy champion, but with all the Tri-Force builds people have been using on her, she feels anything but squishy.

Phase 1 of New Mythic Shop To Be Implemented in Patch 12.6

Riot has been talking about updating their prestige system for quite some time now, but it seems that it’s finally going to get rolling. Earlier this year, we were introduced to the new mythic currency – Mythic Essence – which will replace both prestige points and gemstones, with which players can purchase rare skins.

With the introduction of the new ME shop, players will be able to get their hands on older prestige skins, as well as brand new unique skins like Ashen Pyke that is set to release in Patch 12.6.

This is going to be the first phase of the new mythic content that Riot has planned, but we will likely get to experience it in League of Legends Patch 12.6.

Removal of Ravenous Hunter Rune in Patch 12.6

On the PBE server, Ravenous Hunter has been removed and replaced with a new rune instead. The new rune which will replace Ravenous Hunter is Treasure Hunter and will be granting players additional gold upon unique takedowns.

The tooltip is pretty wonky, as of writing this article, so the exact amount of gold received is not yet known. But what we can gather from the messy text on PBE is that champions will gain bounty hunter stacks by taking down opponents.

Ravenous Hunter has been the go-to rune in the Domination path and has received multiple nerfs throughout its lifetime, which is probably why Riot felt as if they had to remove it and replace it with something different. Let’s see how this new Treasure Hunter rune goes.

Battle Bunny Prime Riven
Now this skin makes me want to play some Riven... and lose most likely. | © Riot Games

Anima Squad Event in Patch 12.6

There is an Anima Squad event ward on the PBE server, which will likely mean that along with the upcoming Anima Squad skins, we will also have an event surrounding the skins. This will likely mean that the prestige Jinx skin is going to be an event skin.

Make sure to get all the Mythic Essence you can get your hands on in the event if you want to purchase the Jinx skin. We might get prestige skin reruns in the new mythic content shop, but only prestige skins from two years or longer will be included in the reruns. Do you really want to wait two years for the cute prestige Battle Kitten Jinx?

When Will League of Legends Patch 12.6 Release?

The current patch is going to be a long one, so you’ll have to wait for almost an entire month until these changes are implemented on the live servers. League of Legends patch 12.6 is going to release on March 30, 2022 according to the official League of Legends patch schedule.

So, will you be earning some mythic essence for unique and rare League of Legends content?

Sabrina Ahn

Sabrina Ahn is the League of Legends and Riftfeed Lead. During her time at Concordia University in 2014 she fell in love with LoL and is playing it since – how she hasn't lost her sanity is still unclear....