League of Legends Patch 14.22 Early Notes: Introducing Ambessa Medarda, ADC Item Reworks, and More Updates

League of Legends patch 14.22 introduces Ambessa Medarda alongside a wealth of Arcane-themed content and event quests, adjustments to champion balance (including early nerfs for Ambessa), and a significant overhaul of many ADC and lethality items.

Although Ambessa takes center stage in this patch, there’s much more to anticipate from Arcane Season 2, such as the revamp of ARAM, transforming it into the Bridge of Progress.

Here’s a summary of what to look forward to in LoL patch 14.22 based on the latest notes:

Nemesis Quests and ARAM Revamp

In honor of Arcane Season 2, new nemesis quests will be introduced that reward players for defeating Arcane characters on the newly designed Bridge of Progress ARAM map. While the full description and rewards of these quests aren’t yet disclosed, we know they will be available.

Arcane + ARAM fans unite🤝 The Bridge of Progress is waiting for you pic.twitter.com/GfOQ4Klfhx

— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) October 22, 2024

Furthermore, the new Arcane map introduces noteworthy gameplay modifications to ARAM, and this format is expected to remain in play until early January 2025.

Initial Notes for LoL Patch 14.22

Champion Adjustments

Ambessa Medarda

Ambessa marks the debut of an original champion from Arcane, and she could be the only one, given that Season 2 represents the show’s concluding season. Her abilities combine to create a diverse playstyle, and additional details about her full kit can be found here.

However, she has undergone multiple balance changes shortly after being available on the PBE:

Passive: Drakehound’s Step

Attack range bonus reduced: 100 >> 75
Base damage increased: 5-15 >> 5-30
Bonus AD scaling increased: 25% >> 30%

Q: Cunning Sweep/Sundering Slam

Cooldown adjusted: 10-8 seconds >> 14-10

W: Repudiation

Block bonus damage diminished: 60% >> 50%
Duration of shield increased: 1.5 seconds >> 2.5 seconds
Base shield metrics reworked: 85-250 (dependent on stat growth) >> 85-325 (linear scaling)

E: Lacerate

Base damage lowered: 40-160 >> 40-140

R: Public Execution

Bonus AD ratio decreased: 100% >> 80%

Warwick

W: Blood Hunt

Movement speed reduced: 35-65% >> 30-50%
Mana cost adjusted: 70 >> 35
Active range decreased: 4000 >> 3000
Cooldown modified: 100-40 >> 80-40
Cooldown now decreases by 30% if no opponent is detected
No longer resets cooldown at double speed when not in pursuit
Now doesn’t start a 3-second cooldown during combat

Item Changes

Opportunity

AD increment: 50 >> 55
Removed 4% movement speed
Passive lethality buffed: 10/6 >> 11/7
New item recipe
- Rectrix >> Pickaxe + Long Sword

Static Shiv

AD decreased: 50 >> 45
Attack speed reduced: 35% >> 30%
On-kill passive removed
Cost reduced: 2900 >> 2700
Passive reworked:
- First three attacks within 8 seconds unleash chain lightning, dealing 60 magic damage to up to 5 targets within 500 range, and 85 damage against non-champions.
- Internal cooldown of 25-10 (levels 7-12) activated on the first successful attack and refreshed by takedowns.

Youmu’s Ghostblade

AD decreased: 60 >> 55
Now includes 4% movement speed
New recipe
- Long Sword >> Pickaxe
- Final cost remains unchanged

Yun Tal Wildarrows

AD lowered: 60 >> 50
Now features 20% attack speed
Removed 25% crit chance
Old passive eliminated and substituted with two new passives:
Passive:
- Successful auto attacks build permanent crit chance at a rate of 0.2% per stack, capping at 25%.
Passive:
- Attacking enemy champions grants 30% attack speed for 4 seconds
- 40-second cooldown, decreased by 1 second per auto attack and by 2 seconds for each crit.
New recipe
- BF Sword + Scout’s Slingshot + Long Sword + 750 gold
- Total cost: 3000 gold

Updates to Summoner Spells

Barrier

Shield reduced: 120-480 >> 100-460

Smite

Range for epic monster targeting decreased: 300 >> 125

Source