Riot Games Changes Its Plans for Vanguard Rollout in League of Legends — Here's Why

(Photo : Riot Games)

Patch 14.4 for League of Legends is right around the corner and will be available very soon. In the meantime, Riot Games provided a new update regarding the implementation of Vanguard to its popular MOBA game.

Vanguard Rollout

Riot Games announced that its anti-cheat system, Vanguard, will no longer be rolled out to all regions at the same time. Instead, the company will release it on a per-region basis starting with League of Legends Patch 14.5. As to which region will get Vanguard first, that remains to be seen.

The reason for this change is due to what the company had discovered while testing Vanguard's diagnostic checks in the PBE (aka Public Beta Environment).

Vanguard is a robust anti-cheat solution that has already been implemented in Riot Games' other title, Valorant. Although it is not foolproof, it does help prevent cheaters from logging into the said game.

Patch Highlights

Anyway, Patch 14.4 is going to be available tomorrow, February 22, at 3 p.m. EST. This update will bring a ton of interesting changes to the game. Aside from the nerf to Lethal Tempo, players can expect certain champions to receive some much-needed adjustments.

Jayce's Thundering Blow now roots targets in place on the initial cast. This is to address the issue where members of the opposing team could get thrown in odd directions, particularly when they are hit with this ability the moment they use dash.

Lulu got some pretty significant buffs as well. For one, Glitterlance's second bolt damage is now based on 50% of the primary bolt's damage (up from 25%). Besides that, the bonus health provided by her Wild Growth ability has increased slightly from 275/525/575 (+45% AP) to 275/525/575 (+55% AP).

Here are the other noteworthy changes in Patch 14.4:

CHAMPIONS

Aurelion Sol

Breath of Light
- Bonus Magic Damage per Second: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 (+ 35% AP) (+ (3.1% Stardust)% of target's maximum health ⇒ 55 / 65 / 75 / 85 / 95 (+ 30% AP) (+ (3.1% Stardust)% of target's maximum health

Bard

Traveler's Call (Passive)
- Damage: 35 (+14 per 5 Chimes)(+30% AP) Bonus Magic Damage ⇒ 35 (+10 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP) Bonus Magic Damage
Cosmic Binding
- Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 (+65% AP) ⇒ 80/120/160/200/240 (+80% AP)

K'Sante

Ntofo Strikes
- All Out of Slows: No longer slows during All Out
Path maker
- Bonus Armor Ratio: 50% ⇒ 85%
- Bonus Magic Resist Ratio: 50% ⇒ 85%
- All Out no longer reduces the minimum channel to 0.5 seconds
- All Out no longer reduces the cooldown to 18/16.5/15/13.5/12 seconds

Kalista

Martial Pose (Passive)
- Kalista now properly gains dash distance with basic Boots of Speed.

Maokai

Bramble Smash
- Magic Damage: 70/120/170/220/270 (+2/2.5/3/3.5/4% of the target's maximum health) (+40% AP) ⇒ 65/115/165/215/265 (+2/2.5/3/3.5/4% of the target's maximum health) (+40% AP)
Nature's Grasp
- Root Duration: 0.8-2.6 seconds (based on distance traveled capped at 1,000 units) ⇒ 0.75-2.25 seconds (based on distance traveled capped at 1,000 units)

SUPPORT ITEMS

World Atlas
- Quest Charge Cooldown: 18 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds
- First Quest Charge Generated: 2:08 ⇒ 1:50 in-game time
- World Atlas will no longer provide bonus stacks if purchased later in the game.
Runic Compass
- Quest Charge Cooldown: 18 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds
Bounty of Worlds
- Health increased from 100 to 200
- Health and Mana Regeneration increased from 50% to 75%

The full patch notes can be found on the League of Legends official website.

So, how do you feel about Vanguard's per-region rollout? Also, do you think that the adjustments made to certain champions are good or not? Let us know in the comments!