LoL: News, Patch Notes, Weekly Sale, Champ Rotation (2024)

Quick Patch Highlights (14.23) Buffs and Nerfs

Quick Arcane Update: The Arcane Season 2 finale is now live on Netflix! I’ve just finished binge-watching it, and while I won’t mention any spoilers, you’re in for a treat. It’s a total masterpiece and lives up to the first season.

Not many champions have undergone adjustments in patch 14.23, but here’s a quick rundown of the changes that were made:

Patch 14.23 Champion Buffs

• Azir
• Master Yi
• Miss Fortune
• Rammus
• Rengar

Patch 14.23 Champion Nerfs (Aww…)

• Caitlyn
• Kha’Zix
• Kog’Maw
• Shyvana
• Skarner
• Tahm Kench
• Teemo
• Zac

Patch 14.23 Champion Adjustments

• Ambessa
• Aurora
• Jinx
• Rell
• Smolder

The patch update here is mainly for fine tuning, which is to be expected. Champions that took a major hit after the item nerfs (like Master Yi) have been given some extra damage and oomph, while champions that benefited too much (ahem, Caitlyn) have been taken down a notch. It’ll be interesting to see how these changes play out. There have also been some small-scale kit updates to Aurora, Smolder, and Rell to make them more balanced and less frustrating to lane against. I’m intrigued by the changes, especially the adjustments to Aurora. Riot has also made her easier to pilot, so we may see her more frequently in low elo games too.

Blue Essence Emporium is Live!

Yep! Blue Essence Emporium is finally back and better than ever — a perfect early Christmas gift!

The Blue Essence Emporium lets you pick up chromas that typically cost RP for Blue Essence instead, and you can even unlock some nifty emotes, icons, and the legendary Urfwick if you have 150,000 BE to waste—well, spend. 

QR Code Login

You can now log into the client via the Riot Mobile app’s QR code login feature. It’s pretty convenient, especially if you’re anything like me and manage to forget your Riot password every single time.

Champ Select Update

Riot has been working on implementing anti-griefing measures for some time. In this patch, they’ve introduced measures to penalize lobby hostage-taking in champ select, which includes behavior like hostile role swaps or threatening other players in the lobby. I have mixed feelings about this change. While I would love for this to work effectively, I just can’t feasibly imagine how Riot will accurately distinguish between a genuine role swap and a hostile role swap. I feel it’s going to cause some chaos and result in players being unfairly penalized. However, time will tell. Hopefully, Riot will prove me wrong.

Jinx Fixes Everything

Just an honorable mention here — the Jinx Fixes Everything client mini-game is now live to play! It’s essentially a point-and-click exploration game inspired by Arcane. It’s visually impressive and filled with plenty of awesome nods to the show. Plus, you’ll get to unlock the Arcane Shimmer Lab Singed skin for free upon completion (which FYI, is a pretty neat skin).

Current Event Overview: Arcane 2024

The current event, Arcane 2024, is full of references to the show and there are plenty of rewards up for grabs too! These include Arcane orbs, Arcane skin borders, and of course, mystery emotes.  

The event also gives you the opportunity to unlock the Prestige edition of Arcane Commander Caitlyn. You’ll need to buy an event mission pass and earn 2000 event tokens for this, so a fair bit of grinding is involved. However, most of the missions for this event are extremely easy and can be achieved by simply playing LoL.  

The Lunar Revel event runs until December 24th, so you still have plenty of time to get started on the missions. You’ll be able to claim shop rewards until December 30th.

Latest Skins to Hit the Shop

Arcane

Still can’t shake the Arcane finale from your heart? Well, you’re in luck! Riot has released a fresh batch of Arcane-inspired skins to let you relive the show in your matchmade games. Each skin is honestly downright gorgeous, with stunning character models and subtle nods to special moments in the series.

• Arcane Brawler Vi: 1820 RP
• Arcane Commander Caitlyn: 1350 RP (+ Prestige edition)
• Arcane Survivor Jayce: 1820 RP

Chosen of the Wolf Skins

I have mixed feelings about these skins. I do love that they’re packed full of chaos, bloodshed, and good ol’ Noxian energy. However, they’re just a tad underwhelming. The skin line’s red color palette is striking, but it’s been done countless times before with other skin lines. Chosen of the Wolf Pantheon is especially disappointing; it honestly just looks like a slightly swankier version of his base model.

That said, if you’re a diehard Noxian fan? They’re worth the splurge.

• Chosen of the Wolf Ambessa: 1820 RP
• Chosen of the Wolf Katarina: 1350 RP
• Chosen of the Wolf Kindred: 1350 RP
• Chosen of the Wolf Pantheon: 1350 RP
• Chosen of the Wolf Swain: 1350 RP

Dark Star Skins

Dark Star skins are some of my favorites — I mean, who wouldn’t want to play as a mythical, otherworldly god? — so I was super pleased to see these hit the shop! Fortunately, the latest skins in the line are still worth the splurge and don’t disappoint. Their character models are stunning and the sound effects are totally badass. Plus, the splash arts truly immerse you in the theme.

• Dark Cosmic Diana: 1350 RP (+ Prestige Edition)
• Dark Star Kai’Sa: 1350 RP
• Dark Star Sylas: 1820 RP
• Dark Star Yorick: 1350 RP
• Dark Star Zoe: 1350 RP

Latest Champion: Ambessa

The iconic legend from Arcane, Ambessa, is the next champion to hit the Rift! Unsurprisingly, her release was perfectly timed with Arcane season 2 (which you should definitely binge watch if you haven’t done so already).

I am so, so excited and happy that you can now play Ambessa in game. I love practically everything about this champion, from her badass character design to her dash-heavy, aggressive playstyle. Her kit is definitely going to take some time to master, but it is versatile and packed with plenty of damage and carry potential. I also seriously love the sound effects.

However, I will say that I am concerned about how many dashes she has. I feel it may be a bit too overkill. I haven’t had a chance to properly experience her yet though, so I’ll wait until I play a few more games with her before I complain any further.

You can find an in-depth breakdown of her abilities right here.

Current Champion Rotation Pool

Owning every champion in the game is not an easy feat — unless you’re willing to fork out on RP or grind Blue Essence for hours on end. Luckily, Riot helps out us peasants with the champion rotation pool, a schedule of over 20 champions that are made available for everyone to play, regardless of whether you actually own them. 

As of December 3rd, here are the champions that are currently free to play:

• Ambessa
• Azir
• Caitlyn
• Ekko
• Elise
• Ezreal
• Heimerdinger
• Hwei
• Janna
• Jayce
• Jhin
• Jinx
• Malzahar
• Maokai
• Neeko
• Orianna
• Rammus
• Shen
• Shyvana
• Singed
• Taliyah
• Taric
• Twitch
• Udyr
• Vi
• Viktor
• Warwick
• Yorick
• Zyra

I highly recommend taking the time to explore Caitlyn if you haven’t done so already. She’s an ADC with an effective yet simple-to-master kit that can work well in practically any elo, and she’s fairly strong in the meta right now!

Weekly Sale (Skins and Champions)

Want to spruce up your main champion with a new, flashy skin? Then don’t fork out just yet; every week, Riot puts several skins on sale in the shop, with some skins even having a staggering 60% discount. 

As of December 3rd, the current skins on sale are:

• Cosmic Matriarch Bel’Veth
• Soul Fighter Naafiri
• Snow Moon Kayn
• Arcana Rakan
• Ruined Miss Fortune
• Ruined Karma
• Battle Queen Janna
• Old God Ivern
• Corsair Quinn
• Surprise Party Amumu
• Eternum Rek’Sai
• Pickpocket Twitch
• Pool Party Leona
• Darkforge Jarvan IV
• Totemic Maokai

Happy bargain hunting!

Several champions also go on sale every week, though I don’t recommend ever spending RP on a champion unless you’re desperate. They can all be unlocked with Blue Essence, the free in-game currency that you earn while playing matches.

That said, the current champions on sale are:

• Yone
• Pyke
• Rakan
• Jayce
• Cassiopeia

Ranked Split 3 2024

Ranked Split 3 2024 has officially hit the Rift! Here’s a quick overview of the main gameplay changes and ranked adjustments:

• Virtually every legendary item has been nerfed by 5-12% to reduce snowballing and improve late game combat pacing.
• Lethal Tempo has been re-introduced to the game (woo!), with a few adjustments.
• Several usability and QoL features, including on-screen reminders of when it’s time to recall or if you forget to buy items. Essentially, Riot is trying to make the game more beginner-friendly.
• The game will now automatically alert you when your jungler is in danger (being invaded specifically). This is an interesting change, and I feel it’s going to have a pretty big impact on how low-elo matches play out (where players lack map awareness).
• A new Honor voting experience that allows you to now honor enemies too
• Wards no longer grant EXP when killed

I get scared whenever Riot makes changes to the ranked system, but all in all, I’m pretty happy with what they’ve done so far. I particularly love the combat pacing changes; you’ll be able to actually see your flashy combos in action! However, I’m not a huge fan of the automated notification when your jungler is in danger. It kind of kills invading, which many junglers rely on to get ahead and snowball.

Make sure to grind it out to accumulate as much LP as possible before the season ends!

What’s Coming Up in LoL

There’s a whole lot to look forward to over the next few months, with the most noteworthy being the introduction of thematic seasons instead of splits. Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect to see coming to the Rift:

• Riot is experimenting with a system known as TrueSkill2 to combat smurfing. Depending on how their testing goes, they may bring it to the Rift
• In 2025, Riot is introducing thematic seasons, with each season now being thematically tied to a champion and having its own unique narrative, progression, and content
• Arena will return in the first half of 2025
• Riot has now announced that the Worlds Championship Final 2025 is set to be held in Chengdu, China