TFT Patch 12.18 Notes: Dragonmancer Nunu Nerfs, Dragon Buffs

Riot Games has delivered the first major balance change to Uncharted Realms, and TFT Patch 12.18 is now on the way. The headline feature of the patch notes is the set of changes to the Dragonmancer Nunu build. Let's see what other changes we'll see in the new patch.

TFT Patch 12.18 Release Date

According to the official patch schedule, TFT Patch 12.18 is expected to release on Wednesday, September 21, 2022.

TFT Patch 12.18 Notes

Dragonmancer Nunu Nerfed

While the first week of Uncharted Realms belonged to Aphelios and Xayah, every lobby was overrun by Dragonmancer Nunu after Patch 12.17b. Multiple players in every lobby are facing off against the unit, and Riot is trying to keep its power in check with a two-pronged nerf in TFT Patch 12.18. Nunu is getting a damage nerf alongside a bug fix for a Dragonmancer trait interaction, plus damage amplification from Giant Slayer. Aphelios is also getting another adjustment.

Most Dragons Got Reworked

Aside from the Nunu and Aphelios changes, TFT Patch 12.18 is packed with buffs. Multiple dragons are being buffed, including newer ones like Zippy as well as long-standing dragons like Shi Oh Yu and Daeja. Astral is also facing major changes. Lux's ability is being buffed with a faster cast time, and Aurelion Sol is getting some buffs as well.

Champions

Tier 1

Karma

• Inner Flame damage: 210/280/350 ⇒ 210/280/420

Nasus

• Fury of the Sands health: 225/350/550 ⇒ 225/350/650
• Fury of the Sands damage: 70/100/170 ⇒ 70/100/185

Sett

• Knuckle Down AD scaling: 150/155/160% ⇒ 150/155/170%

Wukong

• Crushing Blow AD scaling: 165/180/195% ⇒ 185/200/230%

Tier 2

Aphelios

• Attack speed: 0.75 ⇒ 0.7

Jax

• Armor and magic resist: 40 ⇒ 45

Kai'Sa

• Icathian Rain damage: 35/55/75 ⇒ 40/60/85

Lux

• Light Binding damage: 350/425/575 ⇒ 325/400/525
• Lux's ability animation is now a bit faster

Zac

• Unstable Matter heal: 200/220/270 ⇒ 220/250/300

Tier 3

Lee Sin

• Mana: 30/80 ⇒ 30/90

Nunu

• Consume health threshold damage increase: 33% ⇒ 20%
• Bug fix: Nunu's empowered bite no longer scales multiplicatively with Giant Slayer's damage amplification.

Volibear

• Relentless Storm damage: 110/155/215 ⇒ 125/175/240

Zeri

• Ultrashock Laser damage: 160/240/420 ⇒ 200/300/475

Zippy

• Attack damage: 80 ⇒ 85
• Bug fix: Zippy should now target its spell more reliably.

Tier 4

Daeja

• Attack damage: 0 ⇒ 20
• Windblast passive damage: 40/60/180 ⇒ 25/40/150

Shi Oh Yu

• Jade Form damage reduction: 15/20/50% ⇒ 20/25/50%
• AD scaling: 230/250/1000% ⇒ 250/275/1000%

Sohm

• Tideblossom burst damage: 275/375/1500 ⇒ 300/420/1500

Tyrant Swain

• Missing health heal: 11% ⇒ 12%

Tier 5

Aurelion Sol

• Black Hole damage: 325/550/4000 ⇒ 350/575/4000
• Increasing damage boost: 15% ⇒ 20%

Traits

Astral

• The Star Level count for orbs no longer includes duplicate Astral champions
• There are no longer 'breakpoints,' and Astral Orb quality now increases at every star level. This means the average orb quality is higher overall. Item components and full items can drop earlier than before.

Cannoneer

• Cannonball AD scaling: 150/300/475% ⇒ 150/250/450%

Dragonmancer

• Base health: 250/600/900/1200 ⇒ 250/600/800/1000
• Base ability power: 18/30/50/75 ⇒ 18/30/50/70

Mage

• AP scaling: 75/100/125/150% ⇒ 75/110/145/180%

Ragewing

• Attack speed: 50/100/175/250% ⇒ 50/100/150/250%

Scalescorn

• Bonus spell damage: 15/50/115% ⇒ 15/50/100%

Shimmerscale

• Crown of Champions damage cooldown: 6 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds
• Determined Investor gold granted: 10 ⇒ 15
• Goldmancer's Staff proc chance: 33% ⇒ 40%
• Goldmancer's Staff base AP and mana: 15 ⇒ 20
• Needlessly Large Gemstone unit: 3 ⇒ 2
• Mogul's Mail base health: 200 ⇒ 350

Augments

Cutthroat

• Mana gain: 50% ⇒ 65%

Dragonmancer Conference

• New Silver-tier Augment
• Every other round, a random Dragonmancer appears on your bench. Win a Kai'Sa.

Hero-In-Training

• Buff percentage: 50% ⇒ 66%

Lucky Groves

• Frontline AD champions will now get a better item pool.
• Now always grants a full item even before Level 7
• Some weak options were removed to raise the average Augment power

Ricochet

• Bounce damage reduction: 33% ⇒ 50%

Verdant Veil

• Crowd control immunity duration: 15 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds

Weakspot

• Armor penetration: 20% ⇒ 10%

Items

Final Whisper (Radiant Last Whisper)

• Armor penetration: 60% ⇒ 50%

Last Whisper

• Armor penetration: 60% ⇒ 50%

Bug Fixes

• Darkflight now sacrifices the champion on a hex when triggered from a unit that was auto-placed on the board at the end of the shopping phase without a fully filled army.
• Darkflight now correctly displays the sacrifice hex and chain visual effects for away players and spectators.
• Fixed a rare issue where ghost armies could have more than one sacrificed champion, letting them gain more than one item.
• Nilah no longer resets if the target dies from damage outside her spell.
• On a kill, Nilah now reforms toward the nearest unit instead of the farthest one.
• Nilah now properly re-triggers when she kills a target that's pinned in a corner.
• Nilah's damage will now line up better with her animation.
• Pirate Mirage no longer grants a chest after PvE rounds.
• Pandora's Bench and Recombobulator will now pull the correct number of units from the pool when converting two-star and three-star units.
• Players who pick Built Different will no longer be offered these Augments: Age of Dragons, Ancient Archives, Dragon Imperialist, Dragon Soul
• Fixed a bug where you'd gain extra experience during Treasure Dragon in Hyper Roll.