Riot finally set to nerf support Pantheon in League patch 10.25

Riot Games have finally locked in plans to nerf Pantheon, particularly his support and mid lane picks, in a raft of changes for the Artisan of War that should arrive on live League of Legends servers by LoL patch 10.25.

Pantheon has been out of control across the Rift since his Season 10 rework; the LoL bruiser was originally planned to stay in the top lane, but spilled out into mid lane and support.

The versatile bruiser has shone in solo queue. As of League patch 10.23 he boasts a 9.11% play rate in support, and a 20.28% ban rate. Pantheon also ruled the roost in pro play too; he was played a whopping 210 times across 2020, and banned in a further 251 games.

The League of Legends community has been begging Riot for an update to cowl the Artisan of War. The issue, most fans agree, is his threat in bot as a “kill” support ⁠— and now it seems League’s balance team is finally on the same page.

The aim, League dev Riot Phlox revealed, is to curtail Pantheon’s power across the competitive scene, and in mid and support, in an effort to give top lane “a place to shine” again. Phlox unveiled the nerfs on Twitter on Nov. 23.

All four of Pantheon’s abilities are coming under the microscope. His Q, “Comet Spear,” will only have its cooldown and mana cost tweaked, while E, “Aegis Assault,” will lose its iconic tower shot blocks. His W, “Shield Vault,” is getting a damage spike too.

Finally, his Q and E’s empowered versions are having bonuses stripped out of them, while “Grand Starfall,” his cross-map ultimate, now deals extra damage too.

• Read more: League of Legends patch 10.24 full notes

These changes should “give Pantheon a better trading pattern for fighting other melee champs in the top lane, and drain some power from support,” developer Mark ‘Scruffy’ Yetter added on Twitter after the planned changes were revealed.

The new Pantheon changes are expected to arrive on the League of Legends PBE on Nov. 24, before being shipped live in patch 10.25. “These should drop Wednesday to PBE, I think,” Phlox said. “ I’d love to hear how it sounds and how it plays out if you can manage a few games.”

• Read more: New League of Legends champion Rell revealed

League patch 10.25 has already been penciled in for Wednesday, Dec. 9. The Pantheon nerfs are expected to be the headlining changes, alongside continued tweaks for the Season 11 item overhaul Riot launched this preseason.

Here’s all the details on Pantheon’s planned patch 10.25 nerfs:

Planned Pantheon nerfs for LoL patch 10.25

• Movement speed 355 ⇒ 345.
• Q cooldown 10-8 ⇒ 8-6, mana cost 40 ⇒ 30. 
• Empowered Q no longer slows.
• W damage 60-140 ⇒ 60-260.
• E no longer blocks tower shots, retreat movement penalty 50% ⇒ 25%.
• Empowered E no longer extends duration upon empowerment, [new] when Pantheon slams his shield he gains 60% move speed for one second.
• R [new]: the spear that lands before Pantheon now slows for 50% and applies an unenpowered spear’s worth of damage in a small area around it.