League Patch 13.2 May Cause The Biggest Bot Lane Meta Shift in Years

The thirteenth season of League of Legends is up and running, with players already diving into or completing their promos for ranked and most pro leagues having kicked off their spring splits.

Challenger win rates are at an all-time high thanks to one of LoL's most annoying champions, Credit: League of Legends
By Shubham Dalal | Jan 22, 2023 | 4 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The thirteenth season of League of Legends is up and running, with players already diving into or completing their promos for ranked and most pro leagues having kicked off their spring splits. Coming into the season on patch 13.1, Riot Games already threw a ton of switches in the meta, but 13.2 is on the horizon with arguably more game-changing changes.

League Patch 13.2 unlocks target champions Annie and Ahri as well as more Lunar skins, but it’s the changes to both AD carries and their items that have bot laners excited. If you need more information about League Patch 13.2 May Cause The Biggest Bot Lane Meta Shift in Years, then read carefully and don’t forget to share with your friends.

League Patch 13.2 May Cause The Biggest Bot Lane Meta Shift in Years :

As part of his newly appointed role on the League Balance team, former shoutcaster David “Frick” Turley has brought wider amateurs into the shooter role. The twelve champions are all buffing their mana through either overall base mana, mana growth, or their mana regeneration: Ash, Caitlin, Ezreal, Xin, Jinx, Casa, Lucian, Miss Fortune, Sena, Sivir, Twitch and Zayah. Definitely an impressive change, especially for champions like  Ezreal and Sivir who rely heavily on their abilities throughout the game to deal damage.

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The champion-oriented changes for shooters are only appetizers, however; The main course item comes in changes. The Bloodthirst is getting re-equip, with its survivability dropping from 18 to 15 percent. However, its EchoShield will see significant buffs to its scaling, allowing shooters to have a sizable shield for late-game protection. Blade of the Ruined King’s on-hit damage also increased from 8 to 9 percent, But it is an adjustment of the two most popular AD carry crit items that will really shake up the bot lane meta.

The two items that nearly every shooter is building on to start Season 13 are Infinity Edge and Navori Quickblades. On the current patch, AD carry players have to hit 60 percent critical strike chance to activate the passive Perfection of both items that deal bonus critical strike damage. This Powerspike would not come until at least three items, and made the buildpath too limited for many shooters. Now with Freak’s changes,Perfection’s bonus damage limit is 40-percent, a huge change.

Now on patch 13.2 most shooters, including many already getting the mana buff, will be able to get both Infinity Edge and Navori Quickblades out of the gate to get that huge powerspike very early in the game. Simply put, the transfer of one of the biggest forces in League so early in the games will have a huge impact on Summoner’s Rift.

While AD players claim it’s been forever since his role felt viable and important, this next patch won’t deny it. Champions like Kaisa, Caitlyn, and Jinx who rely solely on these crit buildpaths will blow up the winrate charts. Even champions like Ezriel who have never touched critical items have recently started experimenting with Navori Quickblades and will benefit from these buffs.

Take note of the fact that Bloodthirster has now been tweaked to help shooters save more late in the game, and the league meta may go back to focusing on AD hypercarries. And making these items so potent on the surface makes it seem like Markman buildpaths are even more limited, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Now that the vast majority of these crit-based ADs can hit Perfection Powerspike on two items, the rest of their buildpaths can see a ton more variance.

Patch 13.2 won’t touch any tank items or champions, but shooters now have the freedom to lean toward more armor penetration if the game calls for it. Many AD carries will also opt to build new Bloodthirsters for late game protection, or maybe opt for an additional Healcut with Mortal Reminder. Don’t forget all the attack speed items which cause even more variation. The possibilities are endless, and there will certainly be many new builds for what players are calling the next “freelo buildpath” for multiple champions.

Many players are concerned that such a patch is overpowering the role of shooters, and it very likely is. Such a buff will have many residual effects, and don’t be surprised if the next couple patches are designed to mitigate or tweak the changes made on 13.2. For now, enjoy 13.1 while it lasts, because when it launches on January 25th, League of Legends will feel like a brand new game.

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