League of Legends 12.8 Patch Notes

Jan 2, 2023 Reading time : 5 min

Aside from several buffs and nerfs, Swain got a minor revamp that will make him a terrifying opponent in the solo lanes. New skin sets have also dropped into the RP store.

Patch 12.8 is live, and many players have mixed reactions to one champion tweak. The latest update spent only a couple of weeks in test servers for summoners with PBE accounts to try out. Aside from several champion buffs and nerfs, the newest skins have also been released for players to unlock. However, the Swain minor rework has been the biggest highlight of the patch that has been the source of frustration for many gamers.

Swain Minor Rework

If you are a gamer, you must be aware that even though the Noxian Grand General is not a weak champion, he has been used more times as a support than a solo layer in most LoL accounts. The rework aims to make Swain a figure that would strike fear in the hearts of his opponents. With this patch, the Noxian General’s kit has received a minor revamp that made him even more terrifying as a lane champion. Here is the recent rework that Jericho Swain:

Ravenous Flock (Passive)
- Swain will no longer be able to draw in any enemy champion disabled or stunned by allies.
- Increases Swain’s healing by 4/5.5/7/9% (scales with level from 1/6/11/16) of the maximum health
- Increase HP by 12 per soul fragment
Death’s Hand (Q)
- Reduce mana cost to 45/50/55/60/65 from 65/70/75/80/85
- Reduce cooldown to 7/6/5/4/3
- Increase damage to 60/80/100/120/140 (+40% AP)
- Increase max damage to 108/168/228/288/348 (+80% AP)
- Increase additional bolt damage to 12/22/32/42/52 (+10% AP)
Vision of Empire (W)
- Reduce mana cost to 60/65/70/75/80 from 70/80/90/100/110
- The new ping mechanic allows Vision of Empire to reveal enemies in range.
Nevermore (E)
- Can now pull all enemies rooted by Nevermore
- Reduce cooldown by 20% when Demonic Ascension is active
Demonic Ascension (R)
- Decrease cooldown to 100/80/60
- Increase drain damage per tick to 20/45/70 (+10% AP) from 35/50/65 (+14% AP)
- Gains 50 Demon Power upon activation. Draining enemy champions provides Swain with 20 Demon Power per second. Demonic Ascension drains 10 Demon Power per second, but the ability will remain active as long as Demon Power is not depleted.
- NO LONGER adds 125/200/275 HP
Demonflare (R Recast)
- It can be used after three seconds of Demonic Ascension being active.
- Increase Damage to 150/225/300 (+60% AP)
- Slows down enemies by 60%, which decays over 1.5 seconds
- It can be cast once and does not end Demonic Ascension.
- No longer doubles damage based on enemy health drained.

A lot of gamers have mixed feelings regarding these updates to Swain. The revamp on his Demonic Ascension has made him almost unkillable in team fights, making enemies extremely cautious in engaging in clashes. However, the Swain support build has taken a hit due to the changes to his kit.

Buffs and Nerfs

League Patches will always feature several buffs and nerfs to champions. Here are some of the changes to several characters in-game:

Buff

Bard
- Traveler’s’s Call (Passive) – increase damage to 35 (+14 for every 5 chimes)
- Caretaker’s Shrine (W) – increase max heal to 60/105/150/195/240
Fiddlesticks
- Bountiful Harvest (W) – increase healing against opponents to 30/40/50/60/70
Jhin
- Deadly Flourish (W) – increase CC duration to 1.25/1.5/1.75/2/2.25 seconds, and no more reduced damage against monsters.
Kassadin
- Null Sphere (Q) – increase shield to 60-180 (+40% attack power)
Mordekaiser
- Darkness Rise (Passive) – increase bonus MS to 3/6/9% at levels 1/6/11
Poppy
- Steadfast Presence (W) – decrease cooldown to 20/18/16/14/12
- Keeper’s Verdict (R) – increase R1 knock-up duration to .75s. R2 now has increased missile speed to 2500 and knockback distance to 3400. Channel refund has been decreased to 15 seconds from 30 seconds.
Sylas
- Hijack (R) – reduce the cooldown to 80/55/30
Tristana
- Increase attack damage per level by 3.7
Vel’Koz
- Plasma Fission (Q) – increase attack power ration to 90%
- Void Rift (W) – increase initial damage power ration to 20%
Vladimir
- Increase base armor to 27 from 23
Xerath
- Shocking Orb (E) – increase stun duration to 0.75-2.25 seconds
Zoe
- Paddle Star (Q) – decrease mana cost to 40/45/50/55/60
- Portal Jump (R) – reduce mana cost to 40

Nerfs

Jinx
- Decreases base HP from 610 to 560
Soraka
- Astral Infusion (W) – decrease heal to 100/130/160/190/220 (+60% AP) from 100/135/170/205/240 (+70% AP)

Other Changes

Ezreal
- Trueshot Barrage (R) – changed cooldown from 120 to 120/105/90
Kai’Sa
- Second Skin (Passive) – increase missing health damage ratio to 5% per 100 attack power
- Void Seeker (W) – decrease attack power ratio to 45%
- Killer Instinct (R) – increase attack power ratio to 100%
Sejuani
- Fury of the North (Passive) – changed cooldown to 12-6 based on level
Xayah
- Double Daggers (Q) – increase cooldown to 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 from 10/9/8/7/6 and decrease damage to 45/60/75/90/105

Champion Skins

Aside from these buffs and nerfs, gamers will find that new skin sets have been dropped into the game’s RP store. We also got a new prestige edition for one of the new cosmetics. Here are the new champion skins:

Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse Kayle
Solar Eclipse Sejuani
Solar Eclipse Sivir

Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse Aatrox
Lunar Eclipse Senna
Lunar Eclipse Senna Prestige Edition

Other Skins

Gangplank the Betrayer
Sea Dog Yasuo

These are all the major highlights in Patch 12.8. Several updates were not included in this article, but they are minor and were only aimed at improving the quality of life in League. Gamers with League of Legends accounts should jump in with these new awesome skins or try the new Swain kit to dominate Summoner’s Rift.