How much will Tahm Kench change in the upcoming patch? The creators want the hero to return to the bot.
Some time ago, Tahm Kench’s fixes hit the live servers. In Update 11.14, the hero was refreshed and he perfectly fits the meta.
The champion, however, has a problem that the developers addressed on the test servers. Tahm is no longer a support, and the vast majority of players choose him to go to the top lane. What has Riot done to fix this?
Tahm Kench’s return to support
Once players got used to the hero’s new set of skills, his win rate was really high. Currently, its win rate is at 51.86% and the pick rate at 6.69%. Champion is also one of the most banned characters in the top lane – his ban rate is as high as 18.81%.
The statistics above suggest that Tahm Kench is doing really well at the moment, but it is worth remembering that the hero was primarily released as a bot lane support in mind. In 95.1% of games where the champion appears, you can find him on top. He plays only 3% of games as support.
Despite the fact that Riot tried to find a golden mean between the two roles during the rework, the developers have to work on this hero again. When asked if the designers are planning to somehow improve the situation of the hero who is doing great on the top, and is really bad as support, RiotPhroxzon replied – an employee responsible for, among other things, balance in LoL.
We do have some changes slated for Tahm Kench to make him better in support. They are in the final stages of validation.
The rioter has also confirmed that the release date for these patches is January 20, which is patch 12.2. The champion will now gain 40% movement speed instead of being slowed after swallowing an ally. The shield that the hero gives to his allies has also been strengthened – its base values and AP scaling have been improved.
Season 11 rework moved the hero’s key ability – Devour – to the ultimate. This made ally-devouring less profitable. Buffs are going to reverse the situation a little bit that resulted from these adjustments. Below, you can see the full list of changes that appeared on the test servers.
- Tongue Lash (Q)
- Slow 40% ⇒ 50%
- Thick Skin (E)
- Damage to Grey Health 45-65% ⇒ 15-55%, increased to 45-65% if there are 2 or more visible nearby enemy champions.
- Grey Health to Health 30-100% scaling from level 1-18 ⇒ 45-100% scaling from level 1-18.
- Devour (R)
- Ally Champions: Are devoured for up to three seconds and are granted a shield for up to 2.5 seconds after being spit out. Allies can also choose to exit early. Tahm Kench is grounded during this effect, but can cast Abyssal Dive and gains 40% Move Speed for 3 seconds.
- Ally shield 400/500/600 (+100% AP) ⇒ 500/700/900 (+150% AP).
- Ally cast slows Kench for 30/20/10% for the duration of the devour ⇒ Grants Kench 40% Move Speed for 3.