TFT Patch 10.20 notes: Dusk & Spirit nerf, Moonlight & Fortune buff, more

Andrew Amos
Spirit Blossom Ahri and Diana in TFT Fates

TFT Patch 10.20 is here, and so are the first major balance changes for TFT Fates. Riot have targeted two traits in particular for nerfs, while a handful of underpowered units will be getting a leg-up. Here’s everything you need to know.

Fates has now been on live servers for two weeks, and Riot are pretty pleased with where it has landed so far.

“We’re very happy with the state of balance so far, with what’s arguably the most varied meta on release we’ve seen for TFT so far,” League design director Meddler said on September 25.

However, they are keeping their eye on the power balance keenly. One slip and it could descend into madness. That’s why Riot are treading around TFT Patch 10.20 carefully, with needed but measured changes to Dusk, Spirit, Moonlight, and more.

Spirit Blossom Riven in TFT
Dusk is being hit with a nerf in TFT Patch 10.20, but it’s not likely to change too much.

Dusk & Spirit targeted as two traits dominate meta

The TFT Fates meta has been pretty open thanks to the Chosen mechanic. However, there’ve been two traits pulling ahead of the rest ⁠— Dusk and Spirit. The spell power and attack speed buffing traits have given defensive units a lot of offensive power.

Riot are toning that back a bit. For Dusk, the TFT devs are nerfing its spell power bonuses at six units, to make it less powerful late. Riven, as one of the strongest champions in the set, is also losing some of her shielding and damage at three-star. This will stop Dusk from being an automatic win condition with enough of a high roll.

As for Spirit, Riot are toning down its attack speed at four units. This should hopefully decrease the power of certain sharpshooter comps that have risen up with Spirit. It’ll also be a huge nerf to Ahri’s ability to stack her board wipe.

Cultist is also getting a slight nerf, but only at lower levels. The 3-unit Galio will have slightly less HP and AD, making it less of a threat in the early game, and less of a splashable trait late.

Aphelios in TFT
Aphelios is one of three Moonlight units getting buffed in TFT Patch 10.20.

Moonlight buffed early with changes to Aphelios, Diana, Lissandra

Moonlight is meant to be a composition built around one four-star hypercarry. However, despite its incredible power at full build, it falls off very hard early.

Riot are solving this problem by buffing individual Moonlight units early. Aphelios, Diana, and Lissandra are all getting buffs to their one and two-star forms. Aphelios will get extra turret duration, Diana more orbs, and Lissandra more spell damage.

The TFT devs don’t just have their eyes on Moonlight though. Fortune, Keeper, and Mage are also in line for buffs in the first big Fates update. Nami, Vayne, Annie, Hecarim, Jax, Xin Zhao, Yuumi, Shen, Lee Sin, and Yone are also getting a leg-up.

On the flipside, Veigar and Sett are sliding down the nerf column. Sett has been one of the most potent five-cost units in the game, but he will have a sharp increase on his ability mana cost added, reducing the amount of slams he can do in a round.

Sett in TFT
Sett’s increased mana cost after TFT Patch 10.20 will mean less slams.

You can find the full patch notes for TFT Patch 10.20 below, courtesy of Riot Games.

TFT Patch 10.20 patch notes

Champions

Tier 1

Diana

  • Number of orbs: 3/4/6/10 ⇒ 4/5/6/10

Lissandra

  • 1000 Daggers damage: 300/400/600/900 ⇒ 350/450/600/900
  • 1000 Daggers Secondary Damage: 150/200/300/450 ⇒ 175/225/300/450

Nami

  • Aqua Prison Stun Duration: 2/2.5/3 ⇒ 2.5/3/4 seconds

Vayne

  • Attack Speed: 0.8 ⇒ 0.9

Tier 2

Annie

  • Burst Shield Damage: 200/300/450 ⇒ 250/350/450
  • Burst Shield: 400/600/900 ⇒ 500/700/900

Aphelios

  • Turret Duration: 6/7/9/11 ⇒ 7/8/9/11

Hecarim

  • Spirit of Life Healing: 250/350/500 ⇒ 250/400/600

Jax

  • Attack Speed: 0.65 ⇒ 0.75
  • Starting/Total Mana: 50/125 ⇒ 50/100

Tier 3

Jinx

  • Spell is now an actual spell instead of auto-attack override.

Veigar

  • Now targets lowest current health instead of lowest percent health.
  • Dark Blossom Spell Power gain on kill: 1/2/5 ⇒ 1/2/4
  • Dark Blossom Damage: 500/650/1150 ⇒ 500/650/1000

Xin Zhao

  • Total Mana: 50 ⇒ 30
  • Spell now goes through the Basic Attack system
    • Counts as single attack for Statikk Shiv and Rageblade
    • Healing comes from Bloodthirster, not Hextech Gunblade

Yuumi

  • Zoomies Healing: 30/45/60% ⇒ 30/45/75%
  • Zoomies Attack Speed: 30/40/50% ⇒ 30/40/60%

Tier 4

Riven

  • Sweeping Strikes Shield: 175/250/1000 ⇒ 175/250/750
  • Sweeping Strikes Damage: 180/250/1000 ⇒ 175/250/750
  • Sweeping Strikes Wave Damage: 300/450/2000 ⇒ 300/450/1500

Shen

  • Armor: 50 ⇒ 60
  • Starting/Total Mana: 60/125 ⇒ 50/100
  • Shadow Dash Shield and Taunt duration: 4/4/4 ⇒ 4/4/8 seconds

Tier 5

Lee Sin

  • Total Mana: 50 ⇒ 40

Sett

  • Starting/Total Mana: 50/125 ⇒ 70/175

Yone

  • Total Mana: 100 ⇒ 80

Zilean

  • Can no longer ult himself (can ult other Zileans)

Traits

Cultist

  • Tyrant Galio: Attack Damage: 150 ⇒ 125
  • Tyrant Galio: Health: 1800 ⇒ 1600

Dusk

  • Team Spell Power: 20/20/50 ⇒ 20/20/40
  • Spell Power: 0/50/75 ⇒ 0/50/70

Keeper

  • Shield: 175/250/325 ⇒ 175/250/400

Mage

  • Spell Power: 70/110/180% ⇒ 80/110/180%

Spirit

  • Attack Speed: 35%/90% ⇒ 35%/80%

Fortune

  • Increased the approximate gold value of 3 unit Fortune at all levels, and removed “All Gold” drops at higher levels of losses.
  • Spatulas can drop from 5 losses on.
  • 6 unit loot table average value increased from 9.25 gold to 10.25 gold.
  • Added very rare “Jackpot”
  • 0 Losses: 2g ⇒ 3g
  • 1 Loss: 4.5g ⇒ 6.5g
  • 2 Losses: 8g ⇒ 11.5g
  • 3 Losses: 13g ⇒ 17g
  • 4 Losses: 18.5g ⇒ 24g
  • 5 Losses: 23.5g ⇒ 31g
  • 6 Losses: 29g ⇒ 38g
  • 7 Losses: 35g ⇒ 45g
  • 8 Losses: 41.5g ⇒ 55g
  • 9 Losses: 55g ⇒ 70g

Items

Luden’s Echo

  • Damage: 180 ⇒ 200

Statikk Shiv

  • Damage: 80 ⇒ 85
  • Bonus Damage: 80 ⇒ 85

Sunfire Cape

  • Burn damage cadence: 1 second ⇒ 2 seconds

Systems

Combat Recap

  • The Combat Recap panel has new capabilities: it will now display total damage blocked, shields, and healing for your team.

Round Timer

  • Removed the extra 5 seconds of planning per round for the start of each Set.

Champion Shop

  • Champion probability by Tier at level 8: 14/20/35/25/6% ⇒ 14/25/35/20/6%

Bug fixes

  • Aphelios’ turrets will now die exactly when he dies instead of lingering for up to .24 seconds.
  • Sett will no longer casually walk back onto the stage only to disappear when knocked out by Lee Sin.
  • Yone can now properly cast Unforgiven while Disarmed.
  • Thresh, Warwick, and XinZhao’s clickboxes have been extended vertically to better represent the size of the units.
  • Nami’s CC can no longer be overridden by other knock-up effects (like Lulu).
  • Vi can now cast her spell at long range when equipped with a Rapid Firecannon.
  • Azir’s Soldiers no longer have 5.00 Attack Speed which could cause units to target them with their spells
  • Lee Sin will no longer knockout units who are immune to C

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About The Author

Hailing from Perth, Andrew was formerly Dexerto's Australian Managing Editor. They love telling stories across all games and esports, but they have a soft spot for League of Legends and Rainbow Six. Oh, and they're also fascinated by the rise of VTubers.