The Rise of Naafiri in League of Legends
The newest champion in League of Legends, Naafiri, has quickly made her presence known in the mid lane meta. Despite initial concerns, the Riot Games dev team is pleased with her performance and has made a minor adjustment with a “micropatch” to balance her abilities.
Naafiri is currently winning 54 percent of her games when played in the mid lane, and she maintains a high win rate in the highest ranks. Riot champion design manager Stephen “Raptorr” Auker expressed satisfaction with her performance, noting that players are still getting used to her.
However, Raptorr anticipates that Naafiri’s win rate will continue to rise as players become more familiar with her abilities. To address this, they have made some adjustments to her skills. Her Q ability, Darkin Daggers, will deal less damage after level one to prevent her from becoming too powerful. Additionally, the ability will inflict less damage on minions to balance her wave clear.
Naafiri’s E ability, Eviscerate, has also been modified due to her strength in the mid-game. Both the passthrough and explosion damage have been reduced by up to 20 percent after level one to ensure a more balanced gameplay experience.
Furthermore, her ultimate ability, The Call of the Pack, has received a substantial nerf in the early and mid-game. The AD boost has been reduced by nearly 50 percent to eliminate any unfair advantage for Naafiri players during these stages. However, the ultimate remains unchanged at max level.
Jungle Viability and Item Build
The dev team noticed that over half of Naafiri’s games were played in the jungle role, despite it being her secondary preferred role. However, Naafiri’s win rate in the jungle is currently at a low 41 percent at elite ranks. Raptorr and the dev team have acknowledged this issue and have plans to investigate and improve her jungle viability. These changes are expected to be implemented in patch 13.15, which is scheduled for early August.
In terms of item build, Naafiri is designed to utilize Lethality Mythic items such as Duskblade of Draktharr or Prowler’s Claw, followed by Edge of Night and Serylda’s Grudge. Early statistics from U.GG, a popular stats site, indicate that players are indeed following this build, with Duskblade being the most frequently purchased Mythic item for Naafiri.
It’s worth noting that attempts to incorporate attack speed or tanky items into Naafiri’s build have not been successful, as these were not intended options by the development team. Similarly, the intended skill order for Naafiri is Q-E-W, although some players have experimented with a Q-W-E order.
Future Impact and Conclusion
The micropatch changes are now live, and the community is eagerly awaiting the impact of these adjustments on Naafiri’s win rate. The Riot Games dev team remains responsive to player feedback and will continue to monitor and optimize Naafiri’s performance in the game.
Stay tuned to witness the ongoing journey of Naafiri in the League of Legends universe!
Related: The dogs are out: League’s newest champion, Naafiri, is now live
League of Legends, Naafiri, champion, mid lane, win rate, micropatch, skills, adjustments, jungle viability, item build, Riot Games, future impact.