League of Legends Patch 14.23 Preview: Aurora Rework, Caitlyn nerfs, and More!

League of Legends is already setting the stage for patch 14.23, and it promises lots of change and a period of adjustment. Aside from your usual buffs and nerfs for a large number of champions, patch 14.23 will also bring it with kit overhauls (midscope reworks) for Aurora, Smolder and Rell.

Once the patch goes live on November 20th, you might want to take your time to master these champions' new playstyles and time those new power spikes.

To celebrate the show's second season, patch 14.23 will also be bringing with it a new Arcane Event Pass to League of Legends, where you'll be able to earn exciting rewards such as the brand new Vi, Caitlyn and Singed skins from Arcane.

Let's go ahead and take a look at all of the changes coming to the game with upcoming patch.

This information about patch 14.23 came from an X (Twitter) post made by Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison, League of Legends' Lead Gameplay Designer.

Aurora

"Finally, Aurora has some changes to both give us the room to reduce how effective she is at Elite and Pro. This will also allow us to buff her for regular play if she's less effective in those skill brackets.

Her identity will be less about trapping people in ult (she'll still be good at that, but a bit worse) and more about using her tools more creatively."

Smolder

"Smolder is a really popular champion, but he gets held down a bit by being a great champ in Pro. He's quite good at stalling out games, especially in the mid-late game with some of his waveclear capabilities; and those skew more towards Pro.

We're bringing a bunch of these capabilities down as well as his stack scaling (which we still want to reward, but we know Pros are significantly better at this than regular players)."

Rell

"Rell has been a mainstay for a while in Pro. Her midscope gave her a lot of fun tools, but also the capability of that on her CC chaining potential is too strong. We're adding a bunch of power into other portions of her kit to compensate."

Champion Buffs

Azir will be receiving a buff to his DPS in patch 14.23. (Credit: Riot Games)

Azir

• [W] Arise! AP ratio increased 35/40/45/50/55% >>> 40/45/50/55/60%

Master Yi

• [R] Highlander bonus Attack Speed increased 25/35/45% >>> 25/45/65%

Miss Fortune

• [Q] Double Up mana cost reduced 43/46/49/52/55 >>> 40 flat

Rammus

• [Q] Powerball cooldown reduced 16/13.5/11/8.5/6 >>> 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds

Rengar

• [R] Thrill of the Hunt buffs:
  • Bonus damage AD ratio increased 50% >>> 100%
  • Armor reduction increased 12/18/24 >>> 15/20/25

Champion Nerfs

The new Prestige Commander Caitlyn's ultimate will not hit quite as hard as it used to. (Credit: Riot Games)

Caitlyn

• [R] Ace in the Hole bAD ratio reduced 150% >>> 100%

Kha'Zix

• Base Armor reduced 36 >>> 32
• [Evolved-W] Evolved Spike Racks slow on Isolated targets reduced 75% >>> 60%

Kog'Maw

• [Q] Caustic Spittle Armor and Magic Resistance reduction adjusted 23/25/27/29/31% >>> 16/20/24/28/32%
• [E] Void Ooze damage reduced 75/120/165/210/255 (+70% AP) >>> 70/110/150/190/230 (+65% AP)

Shyvana

• Magic Resistance per level reduced 2.05 >>> 1.5
• [E] Flame Breath AP ratio reduced 80% >>> 70%

Skarner

• [Q] Shattered Earth Skarner's bonus HP ratio reduced 4% >>> 3%

Tahm Kench (AP)

• [P] An Acquired Taste AP ratio reduced 2% per 100 bonus HP >>> 1.5% per 100 bonus HP
• [R] Devour shield AP ratio reduced 150% >>> 100%

Teemo

• [E] Toxic Shot monster damage ratio reduced 150% >>> 125%

Zac

• [Q] Stretching Strikes Zac's max HP ratio reduced 4% >>> 3%

Champion Adjustments and Reworks

Smolder will be getting a small rework along with Aurora and Rell in patch 14.23. (Credit: Riot Games)

Ambessa

• [P] Drakehound's Step dashes no longer go over player-created terrain
• [Q2] Sundering Slam cast window increased 3.5 >>> 4 seconds
• [R] Public Execution movement commands issued before a successful cast will be discarded after slamming the enemy into the ground to avoid pathing the player towards a place they are no longer near

Aurora

• [P] Spirit Abjuration - Realm Hopper removed, no longer grants bonus Move Speed 5-8.6% (based on levels 1-18, linear) (+3% per 100 AP) (+2% (+1.5% per 100 AP) per Spirit, up to 4) >>> 0%
• [Q] Twofold Hex adjustments:
  • Base damage per cast increased 40/65/90/115/140 >>> 45/70/95/120/145
  • Range increased 850 >>> 900
  • Cooldown increased 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 >>> 9/8.5/8/7.5/7 seconds
  • Now automatically recasts at the end of the duration, can still recast early
• [W] Across the Veil adjustments:
  • Cooldown reduced 22/21/20/19/18 >>> 16/15/14/13/12 seconds
  • Bonus Move Speed changed [P] Spirit Abjuration - Realm Hopper >>> 20/25/30/35/40%
  • No longer resets on takedown
• [E] The Weirding range increased 800 >>> 825
• [R] Between Worlds adjustments:
  • Duration increased 1.25/1.75/2.25 >>> 2/3/4 seconds
  • Bonus Move Speed changed (2 * [P] Spirit Abjuration - Realm Hopper) >>> [W] Across the Veil's Move Speed
  • No longer traps enemies (still slows 75%)
  • Slow duration reduced 2 >>> 1.5/1.75/2 seconds

Jinx

• AD per level increased 2.9 >>> 3.25
• [W] Zap! AD ratio reduced 160% >>> 140%

Rell

• Base Move Speed reduced 330 >>> 315
• Base Armor reduced 36 >>> 30
• Armor per level increased 4.2 >>> 4.3
• Base Magic Resistance reduced 30 >>> 28
• Magic Resistance per level reduced 2.05 >>> 1.8
• Attack Speed per level increased 1.5% >>> 2%
• Attack Windup reduced 0.336-0.312 (11-10 frames) >>> 0.3 seconds (10 frames)
• Attack Windup ratio reduced 40% >>> 100%
• [P] Break the Mold adjustments:
  • Armor and Magic Resistance steal increased 0.8/0.97/1.14/1.31/1.49/1.66/1.83/2 (based on levels 1/3/5/8/10/12/15/17) >>> 1/1.14/1.28/1.43/1.57/1.71/1.86/2 (based on levels 1/3/5/8/10/12/15/17)
  • Now deals 5% Rell's total Armor + Magic Resistance on-hit damage
• [Q] Shattering Strike stun reduced 0.75 >>> 0.65 seconds
• [W] Ferromancy adjustments:[Mounted-W]
  • Cooldown reduced 11 >>> 10 seconds
  • Ferromancy: Crash Down adjustments:
    • CC changed simultaneous knockup 0.4 + stun 1 seconds >>> simultaneous knockup 0.4 + stun 0.8 seconds
    • [Mounted-W-P] Mounted now grants 20/25/30/35/40 bonus Move Speed
  • [Dismounted-W] Ferromancy: Mount Up adjustments:
    • CC changed simultaneous knockup 0.4 + stun 1 seconds >>> simultaneous knockup 0.4 + stun 0.6 seconds
    • [Dismounted-W-P] Dismounted passives adjustments:
      • Dismounted bonus Armor and Magic Resistance ratio increased 12% >>> 15%
      • Bonus Attack Speed reduced 30% >>> 20%
      • No longer reduces Move Speed 10%
• [E] Full Tilt adjustments:
  • [E-P] Full Tilt - Mounted Alacrity removed
  • Bonus Move Speed reduced 12/13/14/15/16% (ramping 75-100% over 2 seconds, 200% toward an enemy or buffed ally) >>> 10% flat (no ramping, 250% toward an enemy or buffed ally)
  • Damage adjusted 25/35/45/55/65 (+50% AP) (+3% target's max HP) >>> 5/5.5/6/6.5/7% (+3% per 100 AP) target's max HP (including structures)
  • Damage cap to monsters and structures increased 150 flat >>> 150-300 (based on levels 1-18, linear)
  • Cooldown reduced 15 >>> 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

Smolder

• [Q] Super Scorcher Breath adjustments:
  • Damage adjusted 15/25/35/45/55 (+100% total AD) >>> 65/80/95/110/125 (+130% bonus AD)
  • Bonus magic damage [P] Dragon Practice ratio reduced 40% (+30% Critical Strike Chance) >>> 30% (+22.5% Critical Strike Chance)
  • Minion and monster damage ratio reduced 110% >>> 100%
  • Now refunds 15 mana on if at least one target dies
  • [Tier 2] Fire bolt damage ratio reduced 75% >>> 50%
  • [Tier 3] Burn ratios adjusted (+2% per 100 bAD) (+1% per 100 AP) (+0.8% per 100 [P] Dragon Practice stacks) >>> (+2.5% per 100 bAD) (+0% AP) (+0.4% per 100 [P] Dragon Practice stacks)
• [W] Achooo! adjustments:
  • Glob damage adjusted 45/75/105/135/165 (+25% bAD) (+20% AP) >>> 30/50/70/90/110 (+60% bAD) (+0% AP)
  • Explosion damage increased 25/40/55/70/85 (+25% bAD) (+80% AP) >>> 30/50/70/90/110 (+60% bAD) (+80% AP)
  • Minion and monster damage reduced 140% >>> 100%
  • Mana cost adjusted 60 >>> 50/55/60/65/70
• [E] Flap, Flap, Flap adjustments:
  • Damage adjusted 15/20/25/30/35 (+10% AD) >>> 5/10/15/20/25 (+25% AD)
  • Bonus magic damage [P] Dragon Practice ratio reduced 20% >>> 10%
  • Number of shots [P] Dragon Practice ratio increased 1 per 133 stacks >>> 1 per 100 stacks
• [R] MMOOOMMMM! minion and monster damage ratio reduced 100% >>> 50%

System Buffs

Yun Tal Wildarrows

• Flurry buffs:
  • Duration increased 4 >>> 6 seconds
  • Cooldown reduced 40 >>> 30 seconds
• Cost reduced 3000 >>> 2900 gold

System Nerfs

The Collector

• Cost increased 2950 >>> 3000 gold

Youmuu's Ghostblade

• Wraith Step bonus Move Speed reduced 20/15% (melee/ranged) for 6 seconds >>> 20/10% for 6/4 seconds (melee/ranged)

System Adjustments

Bounty Adjustments

• Champion bounties grow 14% faster from kills and assists
• Champion bounty reduction due to losing increased up to 4x
• Maximum contribution to objective bounties from gold leads doubled (smaller leads unchanged)

With the upcoming changes to Objective Bounties, champions like Katarina will have to be more mindful about how they handle their leads. (Credit: Riot Games)

Patch 14.23 will bring lots of change to League of Legends, with the light finally shining on some champions who have long stood in the deepest shadow of Solo Queue. Meanwhile, others who have been far dominant for far too long are being tapped down in search of evening the battlefield.

If you're an Aurora, Smolder or Rell enjoyer, you will want to load up onto the rift as soon as patch 14.23 hits the live servers on November 20th in order to adapt to their new playstyles faster than the opposition.

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Image source: Riot Games

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