The devs apologised to the players for the nerfs that hit Aurora too hard.
League of Legends (LoL) developer Riot Games has released an emergency patch for the latest champion, Aurora, following significant balance changes that led to unexpected "whiplash" in gameplay. This update aimed to rectify the overly aggressive nerfs previously applied to Aurora and included a series of buffs to rebalance her abilities.
Developers deploy emergency buffs for Aurora
Lead champion designer Blake 'Squad5' Smith acknowledged the need for adjustments on social media.
“MP nerf hit Aurora too hard,” he said on X (formerly known as Twitter). “My bad, sorry for the whiplash.”
The emergency patch, deployed shortly thereafter, included key changes to Aurora’s abilities:
- Passive (Spirit Abjuration): The AP ratio was increased from 1.5% to 2%, providing Aurora with more scaling power while maintaining a less oppressive presence in the early game.
- Q Ability Cooldown (Twofold Hex): Reverted from 9-7 seconds back to 8-6 seconds to improve her usability.
- Q2 Minion Damage Reduction: Partially reverted from 75% to 60%, allowing for better lane clear potential.
Squad5 further clarified these adjustments in another post:
He noted that the reversion of the Q ability's cooldown was "self-explanatory," meaning the change should be clear and straightforward for players to understand. Regarding the passive ability (Spirit Abjuration), Squad5 explained that the increase in the AP ratio was designed to "get Aurora more scaling power with the P damage," enhancing her effectiveness as she builds Ability Power items.
However, he also emphasized that the early game damage of the passive was intentionally kept lower to "make her less oppressive" in lane. This balance ensures that Aurora remains powerful in the late game while not being overwhelming during the early stages.
Aurora’s first few nerfs
Prior to the emergency patch, the developers implemented several nerfs to address Aurora’s initial overpowered state.
These changes, introduced in Patch 14.15 and a subsequent hotfix on 2 August were as follows:
- Base Armor: Reduced from 27 to 23.
- Passive Ability Damage: Reduced from 4% to 2.5%.
- Q Ability Cooldown: Increased from 8-6 seconds to 9-7 seconds.
- Q2 Minion Damage Reduction: Increased from 50% to 75%.
These nerfs aimed to bring Aurora’s power level in line with other champions but ultimately proved too severe, necessitating the recent adjustments.
Despite the balance changes, Aurora remains a popular choice among players, with a current pick rate of 6.77% and a win rate of 50.06%, according to League of Legends stat website op.gg.
This win rate is quite high for a new champion, especially since a number are still not using her optimal builds.
If you want to know more about the best Aurora builds, click here. And if you need combat tips to take over the Summoner’s Rift with her, here’s a guide you can use.