Updated on November 13, 2025 at 12:02am: Riot Phroxzon had incorrectly labeled Rek’Sai as a buff instead of a nerf. This error has been rectified.
League of Legends Lead Gameplay Designer Matt “Riot Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison posted a preview of LoL patch 25.23 on X.
For this patch, the focus is on introducing a variety of novelty-oriented changes centered around integrating new champions, and some previously retired ones, into the jungle role.
This initiative addresses the high jungle autofill rates experienced in many regions — the ability for players to use their main champions when autofilled is expected to be a net positive for overall player experience.
While some of these adjustments are experimental, such as trying Fizz in the jungle, the development team will be closely monitoring the results to assess how these changes perform on the live servers.
Zaahen goes live in LoL patch 25.23
When designing Zaahen, the development team focused on creating a champion that honors the past while embracing the Darkin aesthetic, Riot Phroxzon revealed.
- Homage to Xin Zhao: Zaahen’s kit features numerous throwbacks and homages to Xin Zhao, ensuring a familiar yet fresh experience for players.
- Darkin Flair: A distinct Darkin flair was injected into the abilities, most notably with mechanics centered around vamping, lifesteal, and even a revive mechanic.
“Interestingly, Zaahen started out as a support! But after some testing, the team pivoted him to Top lane as it would allow him to better execute on his power fantasy,” shared Riot Phroxzon, who wrote that the shift to top lanewas crucial in letting Zaahen fully realize his intended playstyle and combat potential.
LoL patch 25.23 patch notes
LoL patch 25.23 champion buffs
- Aatrox (jungle)
- Ahri
- Cho’Gath (jungle)
- Jayce (jungle)
- Jhin
- Malphite (jungle)
- Miss Fortune
- Riven (jungle)
- Skarner
- Swain
- Tristana
- Xayah
- Zeri
LoL patch 25.23 champion nerfs
- Ashe
- Caitlyn
- Hwei
- Jinx
- Kai’Sa
- Rek’Sai
- Vladimir
Following previous patches that included broad sustain nerfs, Vladimir has benefited significantly from the change in the meta. Consequently, the team is implementing adjustments to slightly tap down his power and specifically increase his vulnerability, particularly when played in the top lane.
LoL patch 25.23 champion adjustments
- Fizz
- Mel
- Mundo
Following feedback, which increased after Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok raised the visibility of Mel, the design team is implementing adjustments to the mid lane mage. These changes are intended to be power-neutral overall, but strategically shift her power distribution, wrote Riot Phroxzon.
The primary goal of the adjustments is to move power away from builds that lead to high player frustration and offer low counterplay. Specifically, the team is targeting the E max build, which has been identified as a “fire and forget” playstyle that performs significantly stronger than the intended Q max build in many scenarios.
This strong performance from an unintuitive, low-gameplay-quality build is undesirable to Riot.
The development team recently discovered an impactful bug affecting Dr. Mundo: the champion was incorrectly receiving maximum damage when at 30% missing health instead of the intended threshold of 70% missing health.
Although this issue did not significantly impact his overall win rates (as he was balanced around the incorrect value), it did alter his intended power budget. As a result, his damage is being adjusted back up to compensate for the corrected mechanic.
Despite Dr. Mundo’s recent visibility and success in several competitive series, the team maintains that his overall balance is currently acceptable. His performance is characterized by sharp success and failure cases, which the team currently views as an acceptable state, though it may be reconsidered in the future.
System buffs
- Sunfire Cape
