Akali receives LoL Patch 10.3 hotfix after nerfs “landed under target”

After receiving a hefty set of nerfs on League of Legends Patch 10.3, Riot are giving Akali a leg back up into the meta, implementing a hotfix on February 6 to bring the assassin back up to scratch. Yuumi is also being buffed.

Akali has been a menace in high elo solo queue and pro play, but Riot set the record straight in Patch 10.3 with a hefty set of nerfs targeting her mobility and damage. However, the needle’s moved too far in the other direction, and now the ship has to be straightened once again.

Instead of waiting for Patch 10.4 on February 20, a hotfix is being pushed live over the coming hours to bring the assassin back up to standard, as well as Yuumi.

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Akali’s win rate has fallen through the floor since the release of Patch 10.3, with a 36.74% win rate across all ranks, almost 10% down from her Patch 10.2 win rate of around 45%.

On top of that, she’s no longer become a must pick-ban in high elo, only getting picked in 2% of games and banned in 17.2%.

This was the catalyst for Riot to get a buff out for the troublesome assassin quickly, with lead gameplay designer Mark ‘Scruffy’ Yetter describing the initial changes as “[landing] under our targets.”

• Read more: G2 Perkz explains why Akali’s nerf was a mistake

The Patch 10.3 February 6 hotfix includes damage buffs for Akali, as well as a much-needed cooldown buff on her ultimate.

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Her E, Shuriken Flip, will do 50-190 base damage, up from 40-160 depending on ability level. The first cast of her ultimate, Perfect Execution, will now do more damage too, up 110 at rank three to 325 base damage.

She will also be able to engage onto her foes more regularly with a significant cooldown buff onto her ultimate too. Perfect Execution will now be on a 120 second cooldown at rank one, 40 seconds down from 160, and 60 at rank three.

Yuumi will also be receiving a hotfix, even after receiving a slight buff on Patch 10.3. The magical cat will be receiving a few base scaling buffs, with 35 damage being tacked onto her Q, Prowling Projectile, at max rank, and 20 healing added to her E, Zoomies, at rank five as well.

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More hotfixes could be on the way, with the League dev team keeping their eyes on Soraka top, who has dominated solo queue in Patches 10.2 and 10.3.

• Read more: Patch 10.4 PBE update targets “overpowered Soraka

While changes to her Q, Starfall, are currently live on the PBE for Patch 10.4, a hotfix for Patch 10.3 is under considation.

“We’re definitely dealing with Soraka top next patch,” said Scruffy on Twitter. “Considering a hotfix but we want to make sure the changes are good before shipping. Goal would also be that support is unaffected.”

The Akali and Yuumi hotfix should be shipped in the coming hours on Feb 6.