Smolder mains, Riot finally has some good news for you guys.
It’s hard to believe Smolder was released this year and has pretty much been on every other patch note. Despite getting tons of nerfs and his passive being gutted to oblivion, Smolder somehow still managed to hold a steady win rate of around 50% till patch 14.9.
But in patch 14.10 things changed drastically for Smolder.
In the mid-season patch Riot reworked Essence Reaver, the core item Smolder utilized, making it somewhat useless for him. His second core item, Spear of Shojin was also changed. So, while other ADC champions were having a blast, Smolder was hovering around a 40% win rate — one of the lowest in the game. Many players also started to call him “dead” in the soloq.
Smolder fucking died pic.twitter.com/T0y1Iys1VA
— Dumbs 🇫🇮 (@DumbsYT) May 20, 2024
THE DEATH OF COLGATE DAMAGE CHART FUCK YOU SMOLDER pic.twitter.com/qEcAuouIOv
— Makkor in Korea 🇰🇷 (@MakkroLoL) March 21, 2024
Riot however did give him a small hotfix buff on patch 14.10. Many players are also utilizing Trinity Force, which is helping Smolder to regain some of his win rates.
Apparently, Riot is not done with the buffs. League of Legends Lead Gameplay Designer Riot Phroxzon has announced that they are buffing Smolder again on patch 14.11.
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Hi everyone and welcome to Patch 14.11!
Overall, the patch has landed reasonably balance wise for things that changed.
Lane Swaps
– They've been a hot topic of conversation over the course of MSI
– While we think some of this was teams adapting to player matchup diffs over… pic.twitter.com/8b9H9JhhxT
— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) May 21, 2024
New Smolder Buffs
- Basic stats:
- Base AD: 57 >>> 60
- Q – Super Scorcher Breath:
- Mana: 23-35 >>> 25 all ranks
- Physical damage crit chance scaling: up to x1.5 at 100% crit >>> up to x1.75 at 100% crit
- Magic damage crit chance scaling: up to x1.3 at 100% crit >>> up to x1.75 at 100% crit
As per Riot, the main goal of this buff is so that he can utilize the new Sheen items, as well as have some Crit builds and some non-Crit builds.
Many players, however, are still finding these buffs confusing, as some feel Crit builds do not feel great on Smolder.
The changes should go live on League of Legends patch 14.11, scheduled for May 30, 2024.
