Taliyah changes in League of Legends trades burst damage for better utility

The long-awaited Taliyah changes are coming to League of Legends soon. Riot are aiming to bring the Shuriman mage back into the fold by shifting power away from her burst damage and putting it in reliable DPS and utility. Here’s the full changes.

The Stoneweaver, Taliyah, has been practically invisible in League of Legends for years. While she was popular on her release in 2016, in the last three to four years she’s hardly seen the light of day due to her clunky kit falling out of favor with players.

This has led to Taliyah having one of the lowest play rates in League of Legends ⁠— just 0.64% in jungle which has become her primary role, according to LoLalytics. Mid lane, where she was originally intended to be played, is much lower at just 0.15%.

Taliyah mains have pleaded with Riot for changes to the Shuriman mage for years, especially after Season 8’s mini-rework didn’t go as planned. So, Riot are doing another pass on her in League of Legends Season 12 to shore up her power and make her relevant once again.

Taliyah rework in League of Legends Season 12: ability changes

Lead champion designer August ‘August’ Browning detailed the Taliyah changes coming in League of Legends patch 12.9 on April 26. In it, he said Riot are shipping “significant usability improvements” offset by “nerfs to burst damage and early roaming”.

In essence though, the rework shifts Taliyah away from jungle and back into the mid lane as players hoped ⁠— although Riot wants her to be viable in both roles.

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This includes a complete reimagination of Taliyah’s Q, Threaded Volley. The AOE damage is back after being removed in Season 8, while it also does more damage while on worked ground. However, after using the ability on the altered terrain, the worked ground is consumed.

Her overall damage output is lower after it was removed on her W and reduced on her Q and E. The utility trade-off is her E will now stun enemies who dash through it, and W will now be easier to hit and cost less mana.

Riot are also keeping an eye on some of these damage numbers just in case they hit her a little bit too hard: “Her damage for sure has to go down to compensate for her increased DPS and reliability, but it’s possible we went too far. Can always buff it up a bit in the future if she ends up needing it,” August added.

The added waveclear from her Q means her roaming power will also be reduced, but power given to her ultimate means it’ll be an effective late-game tool both for engage and escape.

Taliyah rework in League of Legends Season 12: release date

The Taliyah rework in League of Legends Season 12 is set to drop on LoL patch 12.9, due for release on May 11, 2022.

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The changes to the Stoneweaver come alongside similar mid-scope updates to Swain (shipping in patch 12.8) and Olaf (coming at a later date).