Highlights of League of Legends Patch 25.09: Season 2 Arrives in Style

Season 2 is finally here! The arrival of League of Legends patch 25.09 is bringing far more than a new season. With the new patch, a tide of changes will hit the rift and transform the way we play the game into an all new experience. One of the largest patches in recent memory, let's go over what are some of the highlights and takeaways of patch 25.09.

Aside from a slew of balance changes, Season 2 will also deliver brand new themed skins, new Battle Pass rewards, as well as an all-fresh game mode, making sure Spirit Blossom Beyond makes for a season to remember.

Atakhan and Void Grubs Rise Through the Ranks

The arrival of the new Thornbound Atakhan will bring with it a new powerful buff on top of the added reward of all Bloody Roses. This new buff will grant the team that secures Atakhan the ability to damage and slow nearby enemies in an area after landing a takedown on an enemy champion.

The strength of this buff will make Atakhan one of the most important objectives on the map moving forward, potentially granting your team the upper hand in crucial mid-to-late-game team fights.

Giving up Thornbound Atakhan might prove to be a costly mistake. (Credit: Riot Games)

Likewise, patch 25.09 will reduce the total number of Void Grubs from 6 down to 3. This will grant your team access to increased pushing power through Void Mites after securing just 3 Grubs instead of 4, and grant your team proper credit towards Feats of Strength after just 2 Grubs secured.

Moving forward, the fewer numbers of Grubs will mean securing the objective just got a whole lot more important, so expect early game brawls to break out around the pit when Void Grubs spawn at the 8 minute mark.

Reworking Bounties: Gold, Gold, Gold

With the new season, bounties are being reworked across the board in League of Legends. Not only are bounties now expected to better reflect the actual state of each game, but taking down enemy champions with a bounty on their heads can also secure yourself more gold than ever.

This means that no matter how dire a game may look at first, the chance of a comeback is always present. Want to forfeit at 15? You might want to think again.

"We’re adjusting Bounties this season to make them a more useful comeback mechanism. They are now more powerful for the losing team, can no longer hurt the losing team, and should more accurately reflect the game state. We’re generally paying out more gold than before and cleaning up some rules for accuracy and fairness."

Buffing Tier 3 Boots

Securing Feats of Strength allowed your team access to Tier 3 boots; a nice, yet largely inefficient stats boost. This meant that the 750 gold of the upgrade was better spent elsewhere, often leaving Tier 3 boots as a final purchase in games that went the distance.

Now, patch 25.09 has set out to make Tier 3 boots far more attractive by increasing their gold efficiency outright. Moving forward, Armored Advance, Chainlaced Crushers, Crimson Lucidity, and Gunmetal Greaves are all having their cost reduced by 250 gold (now cost 500 gold), while their remaining stats remain unchanged.

While the gold reduction also applies to Spellslinger's Shoes, Forever Forward, and Swiftmarch, these boots will also receive slight nerfs to go along with their lowered cost, as they have always stood among the strongest of the Tier 3 boots.

New Summoner's Rift: Spirit Blossom

With the arrival of patch 25.09, the time has come to wave goodbye to Noxus. In its stead, the peace and natural beauty of Ionia is landing on Summoner's Rift with the new Spirit Blossom Rift.

The new map will remain for the entirety of Season 2, and will bring calmer shades of blue in to replace the reddish brown shades of the former Noxian/Black Rose map. Moreover, turrets will now take the shape of a statue of a ranger (presumably Ashe) seen in the Here, Tomorrow cinematic that first introduced us to the Spirit Blossom theme of the new season.

Taking Season 2 for a Spin

Season 2 is taking off when patch 25.09 goes live on April 30th, which means the time has come to test out all of the latest changes to League of Legends for yourself. Remember that the arrival of the new season will not reset your ranked progression or require you to play placement games.

Instead, you can just pick up exactly where you left off at the end of Season 1, and continue your climb while making the most of the recent changes to get an advantage over the enemy. For a complete look at all champion buffs and nerfs arriving with patch 25.09, make sure to take a look at the official patch notes.

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Featured image credit: Riot Games

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