Honor of Kings Patch 10 April 2025: All hero adjustments and their potential impact

Honor of Kings' Patch released on 10 April included many hero buffs, adjustments, and a targeted nerf to Allesio.

Honor of Kings has released a balance patch on Thursday (10 April 2025), just 20 days before the end of the season. The patch featured a number of buffs and adjustments to heroes sorely in need of tweaks, with Alessio in particular being targeted by nerfs. 

Here is the complete list of hero adjustments included in Honor of Kings' 10 April 2025 Patch:

Buffs:

1. Yao

• Passive: Gift of the Stars
  • New Effect: Provides 50% of the Health recovery effect even when skills are missed.
• Skill 1: Starlight Slice
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 375 (+75 per skill level) (+130% extra Physical Attack)
    Now: 360 (+72 per skill level) (+120% extra Physical Attack)
• Ultimate: Return to Dust
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 250 (+125 per skill level) (+100% Physical Attack)
    Now: 420 (+210 per skill level) (+140% extra Physical Attack)

Yao's mechanic upgrade benefits his ultimate as he previously needed to hit the ultimate to get a Health restore. This adjustment boosts Yao's poke potential to the roof as he can now quickly go in and out without worrying about losing his health too much. It also granted Clash Lane Yao a means to trade more efficiently. 

We predict that this buff will instantly raise Yao to a higher tier, possibly to the same level as Lam.

2. Nakoruru

• Skill 1: AMUBE YATORO
  • Cooldown:
    Before: 10s (-0.5s per skill level)
    Now: 9s (-0.4s per skill level)
  • Cooldown reduction upon triggering mark:
    Before: 3s
    Now: 2.5s
  • Maximum damage mark deals to monsters:
    Before: 200
    Now: 300

Nakoruru has always been an all-in type of hero. This slight buff to his AMUBE YATORO makes her lean even further in that direction with its cooldown reduction. While the buff to her mark damage to the monster is a welcome one, we don't think it will make her a top-tier pick in the metagame.

3. Ukyo Tachibana

• Passive: CONCEALED SABRE HAZY BLADE
  • Health Recovery
    Before: 100–200 (+2% extra Health)
    Now: 125–250 (+2% extra Health)

Ukyo's buff to his health recovery will not impact his placement on tier lists. He's already a strong pick for a snowball-focused lineup, and his last revamp made him a very dangerous assassin.

4. Sun Bin

• Skill 1: Time Bomb
  • Phase 2 Damage:
    Before: 550 (+110 per skill level) (+55% Magical Attack)
    Now: 575 (+115 per skill level) (+60% Magical Attack)
• Skill 2: Time Flux
  • Cooldown:
    Before: 13s (-0.5s per skill level)
    Now: 12.5s (-0.5s per skill level)

Sun Bin gets a lot of powerful buffs to his kit as a roamer. His Time Bomb damage is even more deadly early on, even when he doesn't have a lot of Magical Damage from Arcana. This makes him a very dangerous poker in the early game, especially if players make a Magic Damage-focused build. His Time Flux now has a more reliable cooldown if combined with the Cooldown Reduction from his Roaming item. Expect a rise in Sun Bin's pick and win rates in this last stretch of the ranked season.

5. Princess Frost

• Skill 1: Shattered Ice
  • Cooldown:
    Before: 5s
    Now: 5s (-0.2s per skill level)
• Ultimate: Winter Is Here
  • Cooldown:
    Before: 35s (-2.5s per skill level)
    Now: 35s (-3.5s per skill level)
  • Base Damage:
    Before: 250 (+75 per skill level) (+22% Magical Attack)
    Now: 200 (+100 per skill level) (+35% Magical Attack)

This buff to Princess Frost specifically targets her mid lane potential, as she now needs to max Shattered Ice to get a 1-second reduction on its cooldown before factoring her Cooldown Reduction stats. Her Winter Is Here also gets a little buff to its late game potential while slightly nerfing its early game strength. Overall, a nice buff for her mid lane kit but nothing too significant for her pick rate in the meta.

6. Biron

• Skill 1: Electrifying Charge
  • Recovery effect before enhancement:
    Before: 80 (+16 per skill level) (+1% extra Health)
    Now: 100 (+20 per skill level) (+1% extra Health)
  • Recovery effect after enhancement:
    Before: 160 (+32 per skill level) (+2% extra Health)
    Now: 200 (+40 per skill level) (+2% extra Health)

This buff allows Biron to trade hits with other Clash Lane heroes more safely. However, Biron is already known to be a safe trader in the first place. This buff is a welcome one for Biron but will not improve his win or pick rate unless a significant change happens to his opponent or the items he uses.

Adjustments

1. Dian Wei

• Skill 1: Holding on to Sanity
  • Extra damage of enhanced Basic Attacks:
    Before: 300 (+50 per skill level)
    Now: 200 (+40 per skill level) (+50% extra Physical Attack)

On paper, it looks like Dian Wei gets an adjustment, but it is more of a nerf for his fighter kit. He needed at least 300 extra Physical Attack to match his previous damage output. While it is a nerf in the form of an adjustment, we still think Dian Wei is a strong pick in the Hero's Gorge, especially for his self-cleanse ability against crowd-control-reliant compositions.

2. Dun

• Skill 2: Gale's Benediction
  • Extra damage of enhanced Basic Attacks:
    Before: 150 (+30 per skill level)
    Now: 150 (+30 per skill level) (+45% extra Physical Attack)
  • Removes extra damage of enhanced Basic Attacks dealing 175% damage to monsters.

Another nerf in the form of an adjustment, the change in Gale's Benediction will significantly reduce his jungle clear speed due to the removal of his bonus damage to monsters. It also does not buff his Clash Lane role, as Dun didn't make a lot of Physical Attack items. This change will make him rely more on items like Frostscar's Embrace or Pure Sky to top up his damage, which means sacrificing his tankiness. Expect a notable reduction in his win rate as a jungle and an increase to his pick on Clash Lane or Roamer. 

Nerf

1. Alessio

• Passive: Rebellious Little Hawk
  • Extra damage of Basic Attacks:
    Before: Physical damage equal to 1% of the target's max Health
    Now: Physical damage equal to 0.5%–1% of the target's max Health

While he boasts a considerably high win rate, Alessio's kit is not overpowered at all. He is quite underpowered compared to other Farm Lane characters like Chano, Marco Polo, Lady Sun, and Loong. This nerf will kill his win rate significantly while also making him deal less damage against Tank heroes before level 15. This nerf weakens an already weak lane. 

These are all balance changes to heroes in Honor of Kings from 10 April 2025. Expect a lot of shifts in the meta, especially in the Roamer category, as Sun Bin got buffed significantly and Dun can now be reliably played as a Roamer.