TFT patch 12.16 notes: Major Dragon & Trainer nerfs, Xayah buffs

TFT patch 12.16 is here, and it’s the final update of Dragonlands. With TFT Set 7.5 on the horizon Riot are pushing big nerfs to four Dragon units as well as popular traits Cavalier and Trainer, while Xayah and Pyke buffs might bring them into the meta: here’s the notes.

TFT patch 12.16 marks the end of the first half of TFT Set 7 with the Dragonlands moving on following this update.

While big changes are just around the corner, Riot are still tinkering with the current meta. That means plenty of changes to the Dragons themselves ⁠— who are dominating the Convergence a bit too much right now ⁠— as well as strong traits like Trainer and Cavalier.

There should be some increased carry diversity too with buffs to Xayah (yes, she’s back in the notes again) and Pyke potentially opening up new options. Take a peek at the TFT patch 12.16 notes right here.

What’s changed in TFT patch 12.16?

Four dragons nerfed, including Daeja, Shi Oh Yu, and Sy’fen

TFT patch 12.15 has been all about the Dragons, especially the Tier 4 carries in Daeja, Shi Oh Yu, and Sy’fen. The trio have been flexed around here and there, but they are the dominant force in the meta, outshining regular four-cost carries and even some five-cost ones.

Riot is making some widespread changes in TFT patch 12.16 to wane their influence. Four dragons ⁠— the three aforementioned plus Ao Shin ⁠— are all being nerfed. Most of these nerfs are to base stats with developers targeting their resistances. However, Sy’fen and Daeja are both getting damage nerfs too at all ranks, while Ao Shin will be slightly weaker at two-star.

Shyvana is being buffed after getting kneecapped in the previous patch, with Riot giving back one tick of her starting mana so it only takes three autos to cast instead of four. 

Paired with Xayah and Pyke buffs, there might be a little bit more diversity in the meta as TFT Set 7 comes to a close.

More Trainer and Cavalier nerfs 

The Dragons haven’t been doing it alone ⁠— Trainer and Cavalier have been two dominant traits to play around in the last few weeks. Nomsy is a beast of a unit, while Cavaliers have unrivaled defensive stats.

Both are being nerfed in TFT patch 12.16. Cavalier will give less resistances ⁠— down to 100 at 5 Cavalier, which is 25 down from what it was just a month ago. Nomsy will also do less damage from two-star and beyond.

Bruiser is being buffed slightly to provide more diverse frontline options, while Tempest is being buffed late-game to make it worth pushing past a 4 Tempest splash with Ao Shin and Ornn. A number of small changes are also being shipped to Scalescorn units Diana and Braum to compensate for nerfs to the trait.

TFT Set 7.5 goes live on PBE

While not exactly TFT patch 12.16 news, it should be mentioned TFT Set 7.5, Uncharted Realms, is going live on the PBE on August 24, 2022. It will then hit live servers two weeks later as part of TFT patch 12.17.

24 new champions have been revealed, as well as a host of new Augments and big systems changes. More importantly though, there’s five new Dragons — and players are no longer capped to one in their comps.

You can find the full TFT patch 12.16 notes below, courtesy of Riot.

TFT patch 12.16 notes

Champions

Tier 1

Ezreal

• Attack damage: 40 ⇒ 35
• Attack speed: 0.6 ⇒ 0.65

Tier 2

Braum

• Attack damage: 50 ⇒ 70

Kayn

• Mana: 0/45 ⇒ 0/30
• Armor and magic resist: 25 ⇒ 35

Yone

• Way of the Hunter on-hit magic damage: 90/150/225 ⇒ 90/140/215

Tier 3

Diana

• Pale Cascade damage per orb: 80/90/110 ⇒ 90/105/120
  • Pale Cascade total damage: 400/540/770 ⇒ 450/630/840

Elise

• Venomous Bite damage: 210/260/310 ⇒ 230/270/310

Lee Sin

• Mana: 40/100 ⇒ 30/90

Ryze

• Attack speed: 0.65 ⇒ 0.7

Tier 4

Daeja

• Armor and magic resist: 40 ⇒ 30
• Windblast passive damage: 25/40/150 ⇒ 20/35/150

Shi Oh Yu

• Jade Form damage reduction: 20/25/50% ⇒ 15/20/50%

Sona

• Crescendo base damage: 250/350/1000 ⇒ 250/375/1000

Sy’fen

• Attack damage: 110 ⇒ 100
• Armor and magic resist: 70 ⇒ 60

Xayah

• Attack damage: 70 ⇒ 75
• Feathers FLY! base feather damage: 12/20/60 ⇒ 15/20/60

Tier 5

Ao Shin

• Lightning Rain damage: 225/400/2500 ⇒ 225/385/2500

Pyke

• Death From Below damage: 325/450/15000 ⇒ 375/475/15000
• Death From Below secondary damage: 150/250/15000 ⇒ 180/250/15000

Shyvana

• Mana: 0/60 ⇒ 15/60

Yasuo

• Health: 1100 ⇒ 1000
• Sweeping Blade AD ratio: 160/200/3000% ⇒ 150/180/3000%

Traits

Bruiser

• Bonus health: 200/325/450/700 ⇒ 200/325/500/800

Cavalier

• Armor and magic resist: 35/60/85/110 ⇒ 33/55/75/100

Scalescorn

• Bonus magic damage: 15/50/125% ⇒ 15/50/115%

Tempest

• Bonus attack speed: 20/50/100/200% ⇒ 20/50/120/250%

Trainer

• Nomsy base fireball damage: 85/110/140/175 ⇒ 85/105/125/155

Augments

Axiom Arc I / II

• Mana on kill: 20/30 ⇒ 25/40

Best Friends I / II / III

• Attack speed: 10/20/30% ⇒ 10/15/20%

Cybernetic Augments (Implants, Shell, Uplink)

• Health: 125/200/300 ⇒ 100/150/200

Hot Shot

• Max health true damage burn: 8% ⇒ 6%

Late Game Specialist

• Gold granted at Level 9: 40 ⇒ 45

Personal Training

• Base health granted: 30 ⇒ 40
• Hyper Roll base health granted: 60 ⇒ 80

Press the Attack

• Maximum HP damage: 5% ⇒ 4%

Rich Get Richer+

• Gold granted: 15 ⇒ 18

Scorch

• Damage amplification: 33% ⇒ 25%

Weakspot

• Reduced healing duration: 5 seconds ⇒ 3 seconds

Windfall

• Gold: 20/30/40 ⇒ 25/35/45

Items

Demon Slayer (Radiant)

• Under threshold bonus damage: 35% ⇒ 40%
• Health threshold: 2200 ⇒ 2000

Draven’s Axe

• Cash out gold: 8 ⇒ 7

Ionic Spark

• Damage mana ratio: 200% ⇒ 185%

Luminous Deathblade (Radiant)

• Attack damage: 50/75/100 ⇒ 55/85/115

Rabadon’s Ascended Deathcap (Radiant)

• Ability power: 120 ⇒ 125

Rocket Propelled Fist (Ornn)

• Health: 350 ⇒ 300

Spear of Hirana (Radiant)

• Ability power: 20 ⇒ 30

Statikk Favor (Radiant)

• Damage: 100 ⇒ 75

Statikk Shiv

• Damage: 60 ⇒ 50

Sunfire Cape

• Health: 300 ⇒ 250

Urf-Archangel’s Staff (Radiant)

• Starting ability power: 30 ⇒ 40

Zz’Rot’s Invitation (Radiant)

• Voidling health: 3000/3400/3800/4500 ⇒ 2500/3000/3500/4000

Zz’Rot Portal

• Voidling health: 1350/1600/1900/2250 ⇒ 1200/1450/1700/2000

Bug fixes

• Hextech Gunblade now specifies that it heals the lowest percent health ally
• Xayah, Corki, and Talon now have their AD percentage in their tooltips
• Zhonya’s Hourglass now specifies that the holder is untargetable when the stasis effect is triggered
• Sy’fen tooltip now correctly specifies a 2.5 hex dash range
• Fixed a Hyper Roll bug where players hit Level 8 and Level 9 one round later than intended
• Fixed a bug where some missions didn’t progress in Hyper Roll and Double Up
• Shen dodge zone displays properly at all star levels
• Lillia’s second cast now hits her target even if she dashes
• Shyvana will now move into range if there are no targets within range when casting Flame Breath
• Qiyana will now move into range if there are no targets within range when casting
• Shi Oh Yu’s third attack knock-up will now trigger at the target’s location if the target is out of Shi Oh Yu’s base attack range
• Volibear chain lightning should no longer appear to chain off of the board
• Fixed an issue where the overtime VFX would sometimes continue to play on a player’s screen after a PvE round
• Zoe will no longer give armor and magic resist from Kayle’s Intervention to the same unit multiple times from a single cast if her total targets she’s trying to cast on is greater than her total living allies
• Ragewing champions no longer gain Rage when equipped with a Mana item while they’re enraged
• Runaan’s Hurricane no longer deals Scalescorn’s bonus magic damage
• Astral will now use previous combat to determine Astral star levels