"We've carefully plucked a delicate bouquet for you this patch, including several champion nerfs and a significant update to the fighter item system. This is also our first patch reacting to Pro play on the preseason meta, so there's a lot of focus on balancing that skill bracket this week. Ahri's champion refresh is another part of the floral mix and, last but not leaf, the rest of the Crystal Rose and Withered Rose skins will be available soon."
You can view a quick snapshot of patch 12.3 just below, but we've detailed all the confirmed changes further down the page in their relevant sections.
click to enlargeORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES - League of Legends' first patch of 2022 was relatively small. But the second was fairly chunky, introducing lots of buffs, nerfs as well as a brand new champion in the form of Zeri. But with Patch 12.2 now available on live servers, it's time to turn our attention to the next update in the game's regular cadence of content.
If you've played the game before, you likely know what to expect with the launch of a new patch. But for those who don't know, here's the gist: Every new patch is first released on the game's PBE test server, and then normally two weeks later it's rolled out to live servers.
On this page, we'll give you a full rundown of what you need to know about the game's next patch. Initially, there won't be a whole heap of news or changes, but as we approach its release we should get more patch notes, champion changes, skins, and more from the Summoner's Rift development team.
Without further ado, here's everything we know about League of Legends 12.3 Patch.
Latest News
31 January 2022 -
The next League of Legends 12.3 Patch is coming later this week, but ahead of the new update dropping, Riot designers Phlox has shared an extensive overview of the next update. Follow the link and have a read:
26 January 2022 -
More details on the upcoming 12.3 Patch from @RiotPhlox (below). We've also updated our patch notes, further down the page.
25 January 2022 -
Riot Games' latest League of Legends preview for Patch 12.3 is out and RiotPhlox, designer on the Summoner's Rift team, has revealed some of the upcoming balance targets.
You can see a small preview on the tweet, just below, but we've got the full patch notes overview further down the page.
24 January 2022 -
As per Riot's Principal Character Designer August Browning on Twitter, there's been a small tweak to the Ahri refresh on the PBE. Details are below, but we might get further info on the 12.3 Patch later this week.
19 January 2022 -
League of Legends Patch 12.2 has been released, and that means we should see Patch 12.3 hit the PBE in the next couple of days. However, we already know of our first major change coming in the next update. As per Riot's Principal Character Designer August Browning on Twitter, we know of a big refresh for Champion Ahri. We've added the early patch notes for these changes further down, but here's a quick look at Riot's goals for these upcoming changes:
- Lean into her mobile mage identity by allowing R to partially reset, giving her more opportunities to carry fights
- Passive reworked to be more useful throughout the game
- Make her spells feel better to cast in lane
League of Legends Patch 12.3 Release Date
At the start of LoL Season 12 Riot Games revealed a full League of Legends patch schedule. This means we're already up to speed on exactly when the developers intend to release the next patch for the game. For the most part, the developers always stick to the date they provide fans at the start of the year. Although, it is worth noting that patch dates can change at any time for any number of reasons.
The developers recommend checking a few days before each patch is scheduled to go live, just to be sure nothing has changed. That being said, the devs always endeavor to provide an alert for fans within 48 hours of each scheduled date, if a patch is delayed.
If you want to know when everything else is coming in 2022, follow that link above. As for the next update, League of Legends 12.3 Patch has a confirmed release date set for Wednesday, February 2.
League of Legends Patch 12.3 Downtime
Maintenance times haven’t yet been confirmed by Riot Games, but we typically see new game updates released at the following times on the main LoL servers:
- 3 am PT (NA servers)
- 5 am GMT (WEU servers)
- 3 am CET (EEU servers)
Following server downtime, the new patch will be released and ready to roll on live servers.
League of Legends Patch 12.3 Balance Changes
For now, you'll find all confirmed LoL changes for Patch 12.3, just below. Some of these could change in between PBE testing and the official release on live servers.
12.3 Champion Buffs & Nerfs Overview
Buffs
- Lillia
- Quinn
Nerfs
- Akshan
- Amumu
- Caitlyn
- Corki
- LeBlanc
- Senna
- Twisted Fate
- Zeri
Champion Adjustments
- Ahri
- Brand
- Nami
12.3 Champion Changes
Ahri
Passive – Essence Theft
- [Updated] Pieces of You – Killing minions or monsters grants Ahri an Essence Fragment. After obtaining nine Essence Fragments, Ahri consumes them to heal for 40 to 120 (+25 percent AP). When Ahri scores a takedown against an enemy champion within three seconds of damaging them, she feasts upon their Essence, healing for 80 to 200 (+35 percent AP).
Q – Orb of Deception
- Damage per pass: 40/65/90/115/140 (+35 percent AP) > 45/65/90/115/140 (+45 percent AP)
- Mana Cost: 65/70/75/80/85 > 60/70/80/90/100
W – Fox-Fire
- Damage: 40/65/90/115/140 (+30 percent AP) > 60/85/110/135/160 (+30 percent AP)
- Mana cost: 40 > 25
- Flame duration: five seconds > 2.5 seconds
- Bonus move speed duration: 1.5 seconds > two seconds
- [Updated] Heat-Seeking: Updated missile targeting and last-hitting logic
E – Charm
- Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+40 percent AP) > 80/110/140/170/200 (+60 percent AP)
- Mana cost: 70 > 50
- [Remastered] Entranced: Ahri’s abilities no longer deal bonus damage to enemies hit by Charm
R – Spirit Rush
- Initial duration: 10 seconds > 15 seconds
- [New] A Spirited Chase: Consuming a champion’s essence with Essence Theft while Spirit Rush is active extends Spirit Rush’s recast duration by and up to 10 seconds, and grants an additional cast of Spirit Rush (up to three casts stored)
VFX and SFX updates
- Passive – Essence Theft: VFX and SFX have been updated for all skins
- W – Fox-Fire: Cleaned up VFX and enhanced missile movement
- R – Spirit Rush: Cleaned up VFX and added new ammo bar icons to indicate number of stored Spirit Rush casts
Akshan
Passive – Dirty Fighting
- Bonus move speed upon canceling second shot: 35 to 75 (levels one to 18) > 20 to 75 (levels one to 18)
- Three-stack bonus magic damage: 20 to 175 (levels one to 18) > 10 to 165 (levels one to 18)
Amumu
Image via Riot Games
- Armor: 30 to 89.5 (levels one to 18) > 30 to 81 (levels one to 18)
- Armor growth: 3.5 > three
E – Tantrum
- Maximum passive damage reduction: Up to 100 percent per instance of physical damage > Capped at 50 percent per instance of physical damage
Brand
Image via Riot Games
Passive – Blaze
- [Update] Blaze It: Mana refund upon killing an enemy now also occurs if Brand’s ability last hits a target that was not already Ablaze
R – Pyroclasm
- [Update] Pyromania: Pyroclasm’s fireball now prioritizes bouncing to nearby enemies before bouncing back to Brand at full range. Pyroclasm will still prioritize bouncing to enemy champions first (before minions or monsters), regardless of range
Caitlyn
- AD growth: 3.8 > 3.4
- Attack damage: 62 to 126.6 (levels one to 18) > 62 to 119.8 (levels one to 18)
Q – Piltover Peacemaker
- Damage against secondary enemies: 60 percent > 50 percent
Corki
Passive – Hextech Munitions
- First package arrives after: eight minutes > 10 minutes
- Packages restock every: four minutes > five minutes
LeBlanc
Image via Riot Games
W – Distortion
- Base damage: 75/115/155/195/235 > 75/110/145/180/215
Senna
R – Lilting Lullaby
- Sleep duration: 1.5/2/2.5 seconds > 2/2.25/2.5 seconds
Nami
Passive – Surging Tides
- [Updated] Bonus movement speed: 45 (+20 percent AP) for 1.5 seconds > 90 (+20 percent AP), decaying over 1.5 seconds
E – Tidecaller’s Blessing
On-hit damage (Per Hit): 25/40/55/70/85 (+20 percent AP) > 20/35/50/65/80 (+20 percent AP)
Quinn
W – Heightened Senses
- Bonus attack speed: 20/30/40/50/60 percent > 28/36/44/52/60 percent
R – Skystrike
- Flurry damage: 40 percent AD > 70 percent AD
Senna
Passive – Absolution
- [Update] Quick Maths: Minions and lesser monsters that Senna kills have a 10 percent chance > 2.7777 percent chance to spawn a Mist Wraith (all else unchanged)
Twisted Fate
Q – Wild Cards
- Magic damage: 60/105/150/195/240 (+65 percent AP) > 60/100/140/180/220 (+70 percent AP)
E – Stacked Deck
- Bonus attack speed: 20/25/30/35/40 percent > 10/17.5/25/32.5/40 percent
Zeri
Basic attack: Full charge damage based on target’s max health: three to 20 percent (based on level) > three to 15 percent (based on level)
Q – Lighting Crash
- Chain lightning magic damage: 10/20/30 (+15 percent AP) > 10/15/20 (+15 percent AP)
- [New] Static Shock: Chain lightning magic damage can now critically strike
Patch 12.3 Item Changes | VFX Updates
Items
Divine Sunderer
- Build path: Sheen + Phage + Kindlegem + 700 gold > Sheen + Caulfield’s Warhammer + Kindlegem + 700 gold
- Health: 400 > 300
- Attack damage: 35 > 40
Deicide (Ornn Masterwork Item)
- Health: 550 > 450
- Attack damage: 55 > 60
- Ability power: 90 > 75
- Health: 350 > 400
Goredrinker
- Build path: Ironspike Whip + Phage + Kindlegem + 300 gold > Ironspike Whip + Caulfield’s Warhammer + Kindlegem + 300 gold
- Health: 450 > 300
- Attack damage: 45 > 55
Ceaseless Hunger (Ornn Masterwork Item)
- Health: 600 > 450
- Attack damage: 60 > 70
Trinity Force
- Health: 200 > 300
- [Update] Threefold Strike (on champions or structures): +six percent base AD per stack, up to five times for +30 percent > +four percent base AD per stack, up to five times for +20 percent (also applies to Infinity Force)
Infinity Force (Ornn Masterwork Item)
- Health: 300 > 400
Death’s Dance
- Total cost: 3,100 gold > 3,300 gold
- [Update] Ignore Pain (Passive): Stores [35 percent for melee/15 percent for ranged] of post-mitigation physical damage received > [30 percent for melee/10 percent for ranged] of all types of post-mitigation damage received, which is successively taken as true damage over three seconds instead. Now also applies to damage on shields.
- [Update] Defy (Passive): Heal for 15 percent maximum health upon scoring a kill or assist > 175 percent bonus AD if a champion dies within three seconds after you’ve dealt damage to them. (all else unchanged)
Sterak’s Gage
- Attack damage: 50 > zero
- [New] The Claws that Catch (Passive): Gain 40 percent of your base AD as bonus AD
- [Remastered] Bloodlust (Passive): After dealing damage to or taking damage from an enemy champion, heal for a portion of your maximum health over six seconds
- [Update] Lifeline (Passive): If you take damage that would reduce you below 30 percent of your maximum health, gain a shield that absorbs 100 (+[eight percent for melee/4.8 percent for ranged] of your maximum health per stack of Bloodlust) for four seconds > equal to 75 percent of your bonus health that decays over 3.75 seconds
Maw of Malmortius
- Attack damage: 50 > 55
- Ability haste: 15 > 20
- Shield: 200 (+20 percent maximum health) > 200 (+[225 percent for melee/168.75 percent for ranged] bonus AD)
- [Update] Lifeline (Passive): When Lifeline is activated, gain 12 percent omnivamp until the end of combat (i.e. have not dealt or taken damage for at least three seconds)
Blade of the Ruined King
- Total cost: 3,200 gold > 3,300 gold
- [Update] Mist’s Edge (Passive): Basic attacks deal [10 percent for melee/six percent for ranged] of target’s current health > [12 percent for melee/eight percent for ranged] of target’s current health as physical damage (all else unchanged)
Black Cleaver
- Health: 450 > 350
- Attack Damage: 40 > 45
- Ability Haste: 25 > 30
Ravenous Hydra
- Attack Damage: 65 > 70
Hearthbound Axe
- Total Cost: 1,100 gold > 1,000 gold
- Combine Cost: 450 gold > 350 gold
Hexdrinker
- Attack Damage: 20 > 25
Turbo Chemtank
- [Update] Refuel (Passive) stacks: Gain five stacks per instance of damage dealt against champions and large monsters, and one stack for every 15 units traveled > damage taken from champions and large monsters, and one stack for every 25 units traveled (still capped at up to 10 stacks for dashes and blinks)
- [Update] Refuel (Passive) bonus damage: At 100 stacks, your next basic attack deals magic damage to all nearby enemies, increased by 25 percent against minions and 175 percent against monsters > increased by 30 percent against minions and 200 percent against monsters
VFX updates
Vel’Koz
- Base Vel’Koz: Complete overhaul and adjusted hitbox indicators
- Battlecast Vel’Koz: Some cleanup
- Arclight Vel’Koz: Cleanup and new E indicator
- Infernal Vel’Koz: Minor tweaks and new E indicator
- Blackfrost Vel’Koz: Minor tweaks and new E indicator
Bugfixes and QoL Changes
- UPDATED - Hextech Gates: Champions will now both visually and mechanically move along the Hextech Gates’ travel paths rather than immediately teleporting to their destination gate. This also means that active champion effects (such as Kennen’s R - Slicing Maelstrom) will travel along with and apply their effects around the champion’s traveling indicator.
- Fixed a bug where Kled's W - Violent Tendencies' fourth attack would not deal its bonus damage if the ability was learned during a basic attack
- Fixed a bug where Runaan's Hurricane would not proc correctly with Ezreal's Q - Mystic Shot after a certain range
- Fixed a bug where killing an enemy champion with The Collector would grant Samira an extra Style stack
- Fixed a bug where the Charm icon would not appear in champion buff/debuff bars
- Fixed a bug where Kled's Courage bar would display incorrect values upon losing Skaarl
- Fixed a bug where resource bars (like Energy or Rage bars) would sometimes get visually stuck when changing window display modes
- Varus's Q - Piercing Arrow cancellation VFX has been restored on all skins
- Fixed a bug where Talon's blades would briefly disappear for a frame during his R - Shadow Assault's VFX
- Base Darius and Base Amumu's voiceovers have been remastered for clarity
- Fixed Battlecast Skarner's sound effects to play correctly when he marks a minion with Crystal Venom using his E - Fracture and when he gains Crystal Charge upon triggering Crystal Venom
- The in-game FPS indicator's update rate has been reverted for smoother reporting
- Fixed a bug where players would be able to select multiple roles in Summoner's Rift lobbies with 5 players
- Fixed a bug where pressing the ESC key would not close the role selector in game lobbies
League of Legends Patch 12.3 Vel’Koz VFX update
Riot is currently testing a VFX update for Vel’Koz on the PBE. Details and previews can be seen below:
League of Legends Patch 12.3 New Champion Skins
League of Legends makes a habit of adding new skins to the game and whilst none have been confirmed for 12.3 just yet, there is at least one skin that could arrive since it was delayed from the 12.1 patch and still isn't here. That is of course the Firelight Ekko Skin, seen below.
The skin was originally intended to release with the 12.1 patch, but was delayed so the dev team could address the skin's lack of SFX. You can read the full developer comments, just below:
League of Legends Patch 12.3 - New Splash Art
At the time of writing, there is no new splash art for League of Legends 12.2 Patch. However, once the update hits the PBE in the next couple of days we should get a look at what's coming next. For now, here's a reminder of what was released with 12.2:
click to enlarge
This is all the information available regarding update 12.3 in League of Legends. We will keep updating this page as more information is made available on the PBE servers. In the meantime, why not have a quick read of our League of Legends Beginners Guide for some quick tips. You might also want to make time to read our guide detailing the Best League of Legends Champion For Beginners.
For more articles like this, take a look at our League of Legends and Gaming News page.