League of Legends Patch 25.23 brings Winter Rift, Zaahen and jungle buffs
Riot Games has released Patch 25.23 for League of Legends (LoL) with some highly anticipated changes coming to the MOBA.
This includes the long-awaited return of the Winter version of LoL’s Summoner’s Rift for the first time in seven years.
The new patch also brings the release of LoL’s 172nd champion, Zaahen, a Darkin champion releasing with the patch on November 19th.
And there are, of course, plenty of champion buffs and nerfs, including buffs to make more champions into viable junglers.
The Winter’s Rift is back in LoL
Riot Games has finally released a new version of the Winter Rift in time for the Christmas season this year.
The snowy version of LoL’s iconic map will be available in all modes with the usual heart-warming music.
To celebrate the release of the map, every legacy Winter skin ever released will be available for purchase again with the release of Patch 25.23.
And Riot will be releasing new Winter skins come the release of Patch 25.24, two weeks later.
The Winter Rift will be available in LoL until early January next year.
Zaahen is out
New champion Zaheen is officially releasing in LoL after some time in the Public Beta Environment (PBE).
His abilities are as follows:
Passive – Cultivation of War
Zaahen’s attacks and abilities against enemy champions grant him stacks of Determination, gaining bonus Attack Damage per stack. When filled with Determination, Zaahen gains increased Attack Damage and can revive.
Q – The Darkin Glaive
Zaahen slashes twice on his next attack, dealing bonus damage and healing himself. Zaahen can recast this ability to have his next attack deal bonus damage and knock up his target.
W – Dreaded Return
Zaahen stabs in a direction, damaging enemies hit and pulling them towards him.
E – Aureate Rush
Zaahen dashes to a location and slices around himself.
R – Grim Deliverance
Zaahen rises then stabs downward, damaging enemies and healing for a portion of the damage dealt.
Arcane anniversary celebration
One year since the finale of the Netflix series Arcane, Riot Games is celebrating the series in the new patch.
Riot has promised that the Arcane Team will be sharing behind-the-scenes content and bringing back some fan-favourite merchandise.
All Arcane skins will be returning to LoL too, including an improved Arcane Fractured Jinx with a new spawn-in animation and new recalls.
The new patch does, however, mean that the Neo Pax Sivir skins’ return to LoL after eight years is now over.
LoL players will also be able to earn Arcane rewards playing games, with each milestone unlocking after four solo games or two games with premades.
The available Arcane rewards (active only during Patch 25.23) are:
- Jinx Butterfly Icon
- Yelling Caitlyn / Vi Emote
- 500 Battle Pass XP
- Salad Cat Jinx Emote
- Robot Mask Icon
- 500 Battle Pass XP
- Guitar Heimerdinger Emote
- “Arcane Anomaly” Title
LoL Patch 25.23 champion buffs
Aatrox
Aatrox is the first of many champions Riot is trying to make work in the jungle and claim his VGU was originally going to move him in the role instead of a toplaner.
Passive – Deathbringer Stance
Monster Damage Cap: 100 -> 100 – 320 (based on level)
Q – The Darkin Blade
Bonus Monster Damage: 0 -> 40 flat bonus damage (multiplied by other effects like sweetspots and multicasts)
Ahri
Ahri’s last buff hasn’t helped her as much as Riot hoped, so Riot is giving her W more damage to reward good play.
W – Fox-Fire
Subsequent hit damage: 30% -> 40%
Maximum single-target hit damage: 64 / 96 / 128 / 160 / 192 (+ 64% AP) -> 72 / 108 / 144 / 180 / 216 (+ 72% AP)
Ambessa
Riot states that Ambessa has always been strong in the jungle but isn’t played there as often, so is giving players more incentive to try her in the role.
Q – Cunning Sweep / Sundering Slam
Monster Damage: +125 -> +150
Cho’Gath
Cho’Gath has been played in various roles previously and Riot claims his kit is made for the jungle and this change to his E should help his clear.
E – Vorpal Spikes
Monster Damage: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+30% AP) + up to 200 based on target max HP -> 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+30% AP)
Jayce
Riot admits Jayce jungle is a long shot but think this change could encourage more players to try the role with him.
Q – To the Skies! (Hammer Stance)
Bonus Monster Damage: 0 -> 50 flat bonus damage
Q – Shock Blast (Cannon Stance)
Bonus Monster Damage: 0 -> 50 flat bonus damage
Jhin
Riot wants to make Jhin a but stronger and add another number four to his tooltips with these buffs.
Base Stats
Base AD: 59 -> 61
Passive – Whisper
Move Speed on Crit: 14% (+ .4% AS) -> 14% (+ .44% AS)
W – Deadly Flourish
Damage: 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+ 50% AD) -> 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+ 50% AD)
Malphite
Riot believes Malphite could be a good jungler with a better clear and are advising players to start W on him to help clear camps after this buff.
W – Thunderclap
Monster Modifier: 1x -> 2x
Miss Fortune
Riot isn’t happy with Miss Fortune’s current win-rate, so is looking to give her ultimate more damage to help win teamfights.
R – Bullet Time
Damage per wave: 75% Total AD (+ 25% AP) -> 80% Total AD (+ 25% AP)
Ornn
Ornn is yet another champion that Riot sees potential in as a jungler so his monster damage on his AoE W is getting buffed.
W – Bellows Breath
Active Monster Damage Cap: 155 / 180 / 205 / 230 / 255 -> 260 / 320 / 380 / 440 / 500
Passive Monster Damage Cap: 250 -> 260 / 320 / 380 / 440 / 500
Level-up tooltip: now displays the minimum and maximum damages per rank.
Riven
While Riven is usually known for outplays in-lane, Riot believes her mobility and risky need to lose damage in order to chase could make her an exciting jungler.
Riot is buffing her monster damage to see if she can become an appealing jungler to those who enjoy skill-intensive junglers.
Passive – Runic Blade
Bonus Monster Damage: 0 -> 50 flat bonus damage
Sion
Sion is also getting jungle buffs, which actually might just make him an even stronger early-level invader for players who want to cheese games.
Q – Decimating Smash
Monster Mod: 150% -> 165%
Skarner
Last patch’s changes to Skarner have made him weaker than Riot expected, so is buffing him while remaining cautious of how much AD he is given.
Base Stats
AD Growth: 4 -> 5
Q – Shattered Earth / Upheaval
Cooldown: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 -> 8 / 6.75 / 5.5 / 4.25 / 3
Target Max HP Damage: 8% -> 9%
Swain
Swain’s most-played role is support and Riot is buffing him in that position by making his E a little weaker but it’s mana cost lower as supports usually don’t buy a mana item on him.
E – Nevermove
Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+ 70% AP) -> 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 / 250 (+ 70% AP)
Mana: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 -> 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70
Tristana
Tristana is a little underrepresented so is receiving a small buff to ensure she has good late-game attack power.
Base Stats
AD Growth: 2.5 -> 2.9
Volibear
The Volbear changes from the last patch addressed his jungle vs top gap but left him weaker than Riot wants in both roles, so he’s being buffed accordingly.
Base Stats
Base Attack Damage: 62 -> 65
Xayah
While Rakan’s been making waves, Xayah’s been sitting on the sidelines for quite some time so Riot is buffing her.
Passive – Clean Cuts
Damage: 30 / 40 / 50% AD -> 35 / 45 / 55% AD to secondary targets
Zeri
Zeri’s in a relatively weak spot with pretty much no presence in pro play and a generally low pick rate. This movespeed buff on her ult should tempt high-level players back into player her.
R – Lightning Crash
Move Speed per Stack: .5% -> 1%
LoL Patch 25.23 champion nerfs and adjustments
Ashe
LoL Patch 25.23 is making a lot of ADC changes to shake up the end-of-season solo queue meta.
Ashe has been a top performer in terms of both pick and win rate for most of this season, so Riot is nerfing her to give room for other ADCs to shine.
Q – Ranger’s Focus
Attack Speed: 25 / 37.5 / 50 / 62.5 / 75% -> 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60%
Caitlyn
Caitlyn has also been eating up a lot of ADC pick rate. Riot wants to maintain her identity as a long-range lane bully, but she’s bursting champions too often with late game Headshots.
Passive – Headshot
Champion Damage Increase: 60 / 90 / 120% total AD -> 60 / 80 / 100% total AD (Crit formula unchanged)
Non-Champion Damage Increase: 110 / 115 / 120% total AD -> 110% total AD (Crit formula unchanged)
Dr. Mundo
Dr. Mundo has risen in popularity, especially after his starring role in the jungle at LoL Worlds 2025.
Riot doesn’t want to nerf him in top or jungle for now, but a new bug-fix will make him too strong so he is being nerfed preemptively.
E – Blunt Force Trauma
Bonus Attack Damage from Maximum Health: 2 / 2.2 / 2.4 / 2.6 / 2.8% -> 2 / 2.3 / 2.6 / 2.9 / 3.2%
Fixed a bug where Dr. Mundo was getting maximum damage at 30% missing HP instead of 70% missing HP.
Fizz
Riot is improving Fizze’s early resilience and compensating elsewhere to make him less reliant on his ultimate. He’s also being buffed as a jungler.
Base Stats
Base Armour: 22 -> 26
Passive – Nimble Fighter
Increased by 10 against jungle monsters (now 14 + 1% AP)
W – Seastone Trident
Active and on-hit damage deals +60 damage to monsters
R – Chum the Waters
Cooldown: 100 / 85 / 70 -> 120 / 100 / 80
Hwei
Riot doesn’t like how easily Hwei can safely clear waves with his QE, so that is being nerfed but his AP ratio on the move is being buffed as compensation.
QE – Molten Fissure
Hit Damage: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 30% AP) -> 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 (+ 30% AP)
Damage over time: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+ 50% AP) -> 50 / 87.5 / 125 / 162.5 / 200 (+ 60% AP)
Total Damage: 70 / 140 / 210 / 280 / 350 (+ 80% AP) -> 70 / 122.5 / 175 / 227.5 / 280 (+ 90% AP)
Jinx
As with the other ADC nerfs, Jinx wins a large portion of her games so this nerf should help shake up the meta.
R – Super Mega Death Rocket!
Maximum Damage: 300 / 450 / 600 (+ 155% Bonus AD) (+ 25 / 30 / 35% missing HP) -> 250 / 400 / 550 (+ 130% Bonus AD) (+ 25 / 30 / 35% missing HP)
Kai’Sa
Kai’Sa has been the most picked solo queue ADC in most ranks for a while, so Riot is again delivering a small nerf to create more variety in the role.
Base Stats
Base Armour: 27 -> 25
R – Killer Instinct
Cooldown: 120 / 90 / 60 -> 130 / 100 / 70
Mel
Riot admits that Mel is frustrating to play against so the root duration of her E is being reduced significantly to weaken her self-peel potential.
Passive – Searing Brilliance
Damage per spell: 24-99 (based on level) (+9% AP) -> 24-150 (based on level) (+ 15% AP)
E – Solar Snare
Root Duration: 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 -> 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4 / 1.5 / 1.6
Rek’Sai
Rek’Sai top has become too strong, especially in the hands of higher elo players, so Riot is nerfing her while keeping her viable in the role.
The nerf will also slightly hurt Rek’Sai as a jungler, but Riot claims she has room to be nerfed in that role too while remaining viable.
Passive – Fury of the Xer’Sai
Fury gained on minion hit: 20% -> 16% (5 -> 4)
Max HP gained: 10 – 20% (based on level) -> 9 – 20% (based on level)
Vladimir
Turns out, Vladimir is a champion that gained a lot of lane dominance from Riot’s previous lane sustain changes so this nerf should make his matchups more interactive.
Vladimir Base Stats
Base Health: 607 -> 600
Base Armour: 27 -> 24
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