League of Legends' first new champion for 2022, Zeri, the Spark of Zaun, arrives this week on January 20, along with the rest of the updates included in patch 12.2. With Lunar New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Tiger coming up on February 1, the patch includes a number of event-themed skins and chromas, as well as the return of ARURF for a limited time.
The patch introduces new champion Zeri, who boasts an electricity-themed kit including a shield that buffs her move speed, an electric pulse that slows enemies, and a dash that gives Zeri the ability to vault over terrain. Zeri will launch on January 20 when Patch 12.2 drops, along with her Withered Rose skin.
A huge number of skins and chromas are also being added for League's Lunar New Year event, with five champions getting new Porcelain skins and another five getting Firecracker skins.
The full list of new Lunar New Year skins includes Porcelain Protector Ezreal, Porcelain Lissandra, Porcelain Amumu, Porcelain Lux, Porcelain Kindred, Firecracker Sett, Firecracker Diana, Firecracker Teemo, Firecracker Tristana, and Firecracker Xin Zhao. The event will also include Prestige Edition skins for Porcelain Lux and Brave Phoenix Xayah.
While a number of champion tweaks are included with this patch, Janna is receiving a more in-depth champion refresh, with the patch notes pointing out that "Janna just hasn't felt very rewarding to play over the past few seasons, especially when compared to other enchanter options in bot lane."
Riot is also bringing All Random Ultra Rapid Fire mode, or ARURF, back for the Lunar New Year event. The patch notes promise a few surprises on top of what players might expect from previous ARURF runs, saying "we added a flipper full of changes to a couple of runes and a few surprises to the Awesome Buff of Awesomely Awesome Buffing's tooltip."
Check out the full patch notes below, including Champion balance tweaks, item tweaks, bug fixes, and quality of life changes:
League of Legends Patch 12.2
#Champions
+++
Zeri
The Spark of Zaun
Zip, zap, and zoom across Summoner's Rift with Zeri on January 20!
---
+++
Janna
Base stats and all abilities adjusted.
Janna just hasn't felt very rewarding to play over the past few seasons, especially when compared to other enchanter options in bot lane. We wanted to approach this mid-scope update to her while staying true to her classic playstyle and identity. In particular, we believe Janna's ally shielding and peel are what makes her appealing to most enchanter players, so we've shifted some power from her W and poke damage into her Es and Qs. We also made a few nice little QoL changes here and there in hopes of blowing you away~
###Base Stats
Move Speed :: 315 >>> 330
Base AD :: 46-71.5 >>> 52-103
AD Growth :: 1.5 >>> 3
Basic Attack Range :: 550 >>> 500
Passive - Tailwind
TAILWIND :: Janna gains 8% bonus move speed only while moving toward allied champions. (Bonus move speed for allied champions moving towards Janna unchanged.)
FAST & FURIOUS :: Janna's basic attacks and W - Zephyr no longer deal bonus magic damage based on her bonus move speed
Q - Howling Gale
Cost :: 60/90/100/120/140 mana >>> 60/70/80/90/100 mana
Minimum Range :: 1000 >>> 1100
Maximum Range :: 1750 >>> 1760
Time to Destination :: 1.5 seconds >>> 1.25 seconds
W - Zephyr
Range :: 550 (from edge to edge) >>> 650 (centered)
Slow Duration :: 2 seconds >>> 3 seconds
Cooldown :: 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds >>> 12 seconds at all ranks
Base Damage :: 55/85/115/145/175 >>> 70/100/130/160/190
Bonus Move Speed :: 6/7/8/9/10% >>> 8/9/10/11/12%
E - Eye of the Storm
A FRIENDLY FORECAST :: Innate - Whenever Janna's abilities slow or knock up at least one enemy champion, ||| E - Eye of the Storm's cooldown is reduced by 20% >>> she receives +20% heal and shield power for 5 seconds
Shield :: 80/115/150/185/220 (+70% AP) >>> 80/110/140/170/200 (+65% AP)
Cooldown :: 16/15/14/13/12 seconds >>> 15/13.5/12/10.5/9 seconds
Shield Decay Starts After :: 0.75 seconds >>> 1.25 seconds
R - Monsoon
Healing Tick Rate :: 0.5 seconds >>> 0.25 seconds (total heal amount unchanged)
---
+++
Lulu
W cooldown increased.
Lulu's been queen of the bot lane for quite some time now—especially at the highest levels of play—so we're reducing access to her most versatile spell just a pinch!
W - Whimsy
Cooldown :: 16/15/14/13/12 seconds >>> 17/16/15/14/13 seconds
---
+++
Nocturne
Health growth increased. Q damage ratio increased.
Nocturne has been a nightmare to play as in all skill brackets, regardless of his builds or runes. We're buffing him with some scaling power, so he can become more useful as the game progresses, rather than just relying on his ultimate as his only way to say lights out.
###Base Stats
Health Growth :: 85 >> 95
Q - Duskbringer
Bonus AD Ratio :: 75% >>> 85%
---
+++
Qiyana
Base health regen decreased. Brush Q zone duration decreased.
Qiyana is dominating Elite play quite a bit right now. We're reducing how much time she gets to spend being invisible in a fight, which should help lower some frustration when playing against the Empress of the Elements.
###Base Stats
Base Health Regeneration :: 7.5 >>> 6
Q - Edge of Ixtal
Grass Trail Zone Duration :: 3.5 seconds >>> 3 seconds
---
+++
Rengar
R passive now enables leaping from camouflage.
As a primary jungler, this battle kitty has been suffering a lot on the Chemtech Rift. While he's not the only champion affected, Rengar has certainly gotten the worst of it as so much of his power budget is dedicated to his passive's interaction with brush. Removing 12 spots of it is incredibly disruptive—not just to his core farming pattern, but his entire gameplay, really—so we're giving him a new way to pounce and prowl. No catnip needed. (Note that this passive is on his R and only takes effect once he ranks up his ultimate.)
R - Thrill of the Hunt
HIDE AND LEAP :: Innate - Rengar can leap to enemies with his next basic attack when he is in camouflage
---
+++
Samira
R base damage increased.
Now that her mid-game transition is less reliable with the Shieldbow nerfs, we're giving Samira a bit more baseline potential in her R so she can snowball in style.
R - Inferno Trigger
Physical Damage per Shot :: 0/10/20 (+50% AD) >>> 5/15/25 (+50% AD)
Total Damage per Target :: 0/100/200 (+500% AD) >>> 50/150/250 (+500% AD)
---
+++
Senna
Q passive now empowers basic attacks with slows.
Senna is quite weak this season, especially when she builds for DPS. The old Glacial Augment was a crucial part of that playstyle and since it no longer procs off Senna's basic attacks, we're adding some utility back into her kit.
Q - Absolution
LOW VISIBILITY :: Innate - Senna's basic attacks now slow enemies by 20% (+6% per 100 AP) (+10% per 100 bonus AD) for 2 seconds
---
+++
Shen
Q damage decreased.
With the changes to Teleport in 12.1, Shen has once again become king when it comes to map influence from top lane. To bring things back to equilibrium, we're lowering his damage as a duelist instead of bringing down his cross-map power so that his unique, global presence remains his most powerful tool.
Q - Twilight Assault
Increased Bonus Damage :: 10-40 (+6 every 3 levels) (+5/5.5/6/6.5/7% (+2% per 100 AP) of target's max health) >>> 10-40 (+6 every 3 levels) (+4/4.5/5/5.5/6% (+2% per 100 AP) of target's max health)
---
+++
Tahm Kench
Q slow increased. E adjusted; damage stored as grey health decreased (unless near multiple enemies). R ally shield increased; now grants move speed upon devouring ally.
We did a mini-rework of Tahm Kench back in 11.13 because his old kit held huge advantages in highly coordinated team play. Our goal back then was to lower his priority in Pro pick/ban while putting him in a place where he could have a fun playstyle, as well as reasonable winrates in both of his roles. (Historically, his top lane winrate has been higher than that of his support.)