League of Legends Patch 14.19 Preview: K'Sante and Tristana Reworks, Major Item Changes

Champion reworks, massive item nerfs and Lethal Tempo's comeback, patch 14.19 promises to deliver big changes for the game. One of League of Legends' largest patches in recent memory is nearly upon us, as Split 3 looks to set off with a bang.

"We’re removing 5-15% stat efficiency from almost every Legendary item in the game."

In a recent dev blog, Riot discussed how the company was not satisfied with the current pace of the game. In order to slow combat down and reduce snowballing, League of Legends will see a set of global item nerfs come into the game.

Additionally, champions who have been problematic for the game as of late, such as K'Sante or Tristana, are seeing their numbers overhauled in an attempt to put an end to the reign of terror in professional play.

Without further ado, let's touch on some of the most important changes coming into the game with patch 14.19.

A complete list of changes to every item can be found on this post from the League of Legends community on Reddit. Moreover, you can watch Riot Phreak discuss all of the changes in his most recent patch preview video on YouTube.

Champion Overhauls

K'Sante's kit is being overhauled with patch 14.19. (Credit: Riot Games)

K'Sante - Making room for counter play

With K'Sante having being a balancing nightmare since the moment of his release, patch 14.19 will aim to tackle several of the champion's problems at once. The goal for these changes will be to make K'Sante feel fairer to play against, making the champion less oppressive overall.

Some of K'Sante's biggest changes include:

• Base Attack Speed and Attack Speed ratio increased 0.625 >>> 0.658
• Range reduced 175 >>> 150

[Q] Ntofo Strikes

• Cast time increased
• Hitbox width reduced

[W] Path Maker

• Cast can no longer be redirected
• Minimum cast time increased
• Stun duration now based on channel time

[E] Footwork

• Dash speed reduced
• [R-E] - Range reduced
• [R-E] - Untargeted dash can no longer jump terrain

[R] All Out

• Damage type now physical instead of magic
• Duration reduced 20 >>> 15 seconds
• No longer grants bonus AD
• Now grants 50% armor penetration

Will changes to Tristana bring her back to her rightful place in the bot lane? (Credit: Riot Games)

Tristana - Back to the bot lane

Tristana has had an overwhelming presence in pro play all year long. An overwhelming presence in the mid lane, that is.

Riot is looking to carry out several changes to the champion in order to move Tristana back to the bot lane, where they feel she belongs. Some of these changes include:

• Base AD and Range increased
• AD per level, HP regeneration per level and Armor per level reduced

[P] Draw a Bead

• Bonus range reduced late

[Q] Rapid Fire

• Bonus Attack Speed increased

[W] Rocket Jump

• Damage increased
• Slow reduced

[E] Explosive Charge

• [E-P] base area of effect damage reduced
• Damage reduced
• Damage amplication per stack reduced
• Critical Strike multiplier changed 33% Critical Strike Chance >>> 100% Critical Strike Damage (now factors in IE, up to 215%)

[R] Buster Shot

• Base damage reduced
• Damage now scales with Bonus AD
• Cooldown reduced
• Now stuns for 0.4/0.55/0.7 seconds

Lethal Tempo is back with Patch 14.19!

League of Legends will be bringing back an old familiar rune with patch 14.19. That's right, Lethal Tempo will be back!

Lethal Tempo is coming back to League of Legends. Just how powerful will it be this time around? (Credit: Riot Games)

This time, however, it will don a brand new look. Here's how the new rune is expected to work:

• Lethal Tempo - Attacking an enemy champion grants you [5% melee / 4% ranged] Attack Speed for 6 seconds, up to 6 stacks. At max stacks, attacks also deal [9-30 melee / 6-24 ranged] bonus adaptive damage, increased by 1% per 1% Bonus Attack Speed

Boots Adjustments

With the goal of standardizing gold efficiency for boots across the board, the following completed boots items will be receiving updates:

Berserker's Greaves

• Attack Speed reduced
• Cost increased 1100 >>> 1200 gold

Ionian Boots of Lucidity

• Ability Haste reduced 15 >>> 10
• Cost reduced 1000 >>> 925 gold

Mercury Treads

• Cost increased 1200 >>> 1300 gold

Plated Steelcaps

• Cost reduced 1200 >>> 1175 gold

Global Item Nerfs in Patch 14.19

As mentioned before, Riot will be looking to slow down the pace of the game for Split 3, starting with patch 14.19.

To achieve that goal, all of the following items will receive substantial changes to their main stats or total gold costs, effectively lowering their gold efficiency. So, keep an eye out for your favorite items!

Several bruiser items will be receiving big nerfs in patch 14.19. (Credit: Riot Games)

AD Items

• Black Cleaver
• Blade of the Ruined King
• Chempunk Chainsword
• Death's Dance
• Eclipse
• Experimental Hexplate
• Guinsoo's Rageblade
• Hullbreaker
• Kraken Slayer
• Manamune
• Muramana
• Maw of Malmortius
• Mercurial Scimitar
• Overlord's Bloodmail
• Ravenous Hydra
• Spear of Shojin
• Statikk Shiv
• Sterak's Gage
• Stridebreaker
• Sundered Sky
• Terminus
• Titanic Hydra
• Trinity Force
• Wit's End

How will ADCs fare with the new crit item nerfs? (Credit: Riot Games)

Crit Items

• Collector
• Essence Reaver
• Infinity Edge
• Lord Dominik's Regard
• Mortal Reminder
• Navori Flickerblade
• Phantom Dancer
• Rapid Firecannon
• Runaan's Hurricane
• Yun Tal Windarrows

Assassins haven't had an easy time in 2024. Now, they will need to make do with lower stats. (Credit: Riot Games)

Lethality Items

• Axiom Arc
• Edge of Night
• Hubris
• Opportunity
• Profane Hydra
• Serylda's Grudge
• Umbral Glaive
• Voltaic Cyclosword
• Youmuu's Ghostblade

Mages like Syndra will have reduced access to AP in patch 14.19. (Credit: Riot Games)

AP Items

• Archangel's Stuff
• Banshee's Veil
• Blackfire Torch
• Cosmic Drive
• Cryptbloom
• Hextech Rocketbelt
• Horizon Focus
• Liandry's Torment
• Lich Bane
• Luden's Companion
• Malignance
• Morellonomicon
• Nashor's Tooth
• Rabadon's Deathcap
• Riftmaker
• Rod of Ages
• Rylai's Crystal Scepter
• Shadowflame
• Stormsurge
• Zhonya's Hourglass

Will nerfs to tank items be enough to push Malphite out of the top lane altogether? (Credit: Riot Games)

Tank Items

• Abyssal Mask
• Dead Man's Plate
• Force of Nature
• Frozen Heart
• Heartsteel
• Hollow Radiance
• Iceborn Gauntlet
• Jak'Sho
• Kaenic Rookern
• Spirit Visage
• Sunfire Aegis
• Thornmail
• Unending Despair
• Warmog's Armor

Supports like Janna will have a harder time impacting the game after their items get nerfed in patch 14.19. (Credit: Riot Games)

Support Items

• Ardent Censer
• Dawncore
• Echoes of Helia
• Imperial Mandate
• Knight's Vow
• Locket of the Iron Solari
• Moonstone Renewer
• Redemption
• Shurelya's Battlesong
• Staff of Flowing Water
• Trailblazer
• Zeke's Convergence

Changing direction

Patch 14.19 aims to redirect the state of League of Legends entirely. While it still remains to be seen which roles and champions will be most largely affected by all the item changes, we can be sure Split 3 will have a whole new feel to all the same. Regardless of who you main, you can expect to feel your champion's power entirely altered once you load onto the rift next patch.

Though it too early to tell what the results might look like in the end, patch 14.19 promises an exciting start to the final Split of 2024 in League of Legends.

For the latest League of Legends news, follow Strafe Esports. To follow everything on Worlds 2024, check out our full guide. Also, follow the Strafe YouTube channel for exclusive interviews with players and coaches.

Image source:  Riot Games

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