League of Legends patch 25.8 preview— Mel buffs, Gwen nerfs, Ahri adjustments, and more

League of Legends patch 25.8 preview is now live, and Riot Games has gone over some minor meta adjustments that they will be introducing next week. Some of the bigger patch highlights involve the adjustments coming to Ahri, along with nerfs to picks like Gwen, Yorick, Lulu, Tristana, and Yone.

Buffs will be making their way to Mel, Brand, Hwei, Shen, Singed, Sona, and Zeri, as they have been struggling quite a bit in the MOBA‘s current meta.

Below is a list of all the changes that are expected to make their way to the Rift with LoL patch 25.8.

League of Legends patch 25.8 pre-notes

Patch 25.8 Preview!

We're opening a new role;
Principal Systems Designer to work on Metagame Systems – https://t.co/uCasvYnHtW

– This role will be working on progression systems, rewards, quests, out-of-game content
– We're looking for a senior thought leader with 7+ years of… pic.twitter.com/T4DtBl2AR5

— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) April 8, 2025

Before moving on to the list of changes that are expected to go live in patch 25.8, it’s important to state here that Riot will first be testing the tweaks out in the LoL PBE. So there may be some disparity between the pre-notes below and the official update next week.

1) Champion buffs

The following champions will all be receiving buffs in League of Legends Patch 25.08:

Blitzcrank

• [P] Mana Barrier: Mana ratio increased from 30 to 35 percent.
• [Q] Rocket Grab: Damage increased from 105-285 to 110-310.

Brand

• [P] Blaze: Passive Monster Damage modifier has been increased from 215 to 240 percent.

Hwei

• [P] Signature of the Visionary: Base damage has been increased from 35-180 to 35-230.
• [R] Spiraling Despair: Explosion base damage has been increased from 230/300/400 to 200/325/450.

Mel

• Attack speed ratio: Increased from .4 to .625.
• Health has increased from 600 to 620.
• [P] Searing Brilliance: Attack damage per stack increased from 5-20 to 8-25.

Renekton

• [R] Dominus: Damage increased from 30-90 to 30-120.

Shen

• [Q] Twilight Assault: Moving away slow increased from 15-35 to 25-45 percent.
• [W] Spirit’s Refuge: Cooldown decreased from 18-12 to 16-10.

Singed

• [P] Noxious Slipstream: Per-target cooldown decreased from 10 to 8.

Sona 

• [Q] Hymn of Valor: Damage increased from 50-170 to 50-190.

Xerath

• [P] Mana Surge: Cooldown refund per kill has been increased from 2.5 to 3.5.
• [Q] Arcanopulse: Damage has been increased from 70-230 to 75-235.

Zeri

• [R] Lightning Crash: Chain lightning damage has been increased from 25 percent total AD to 30 percent total AD.

Zoe

• [Q] Paddle Star: Non-primary target damage reduction decreased from 20 percent to none.

2) Champion nerfs

The following champions will all be receiving nerfs in League of Legends Patch 25.08:

Gwen

• [E] Skip ‘n Slash: On-hit damage decreased from 12-20 to 8-20.

Lulu

• Health decreased from 595 to 565.

Tristana

[R] Buster Shot

• Cooldown increased from 100 to 120-100.
• Damage decreased from 275-375 to 225-325.

Yone

• [W] Spirit Cleave: Target max HP damage has been reduced from 10-14 to 8-12 percent.

Yuumi

• [P] Feline Friendship: Base Heal decreased from 25-110 to 20-110.
• [E] Zoomies: Shielding decreased from 80-180 to 65-165.

3) Champion adjustments

The following champions will all be getting adjustments in League of Legends Patch 25.08.

Ahri

Armor growth has been reduced from 4.7 to 4.2.

[W] Fox-Fire

• Base Damage decreased from 45-145 to 40-120.
• AP Ratio increased from 30 to 40 percent.
• Cooldown increased from 9-5 to 10-6.

[E] Charm: AP ratio increased from 75 to 85 percent.

Annie 

HP per level decreased from 102 to 96.

[Q] Disintegrate: AP ratio has been increased from 75 to 80 percent.

[W] Incinerate

• Damage increased from 70-250 to 70-270.
• Cooldown reduced from 8 to 7.

[R] Tibbers

• [NEW] Passively grants 10/12.5/15 percent magic penetration to Annie.
• Tibbers Flame Aura reduced from 20-40 (12 percent AP) to 8-16 (4 percent AP).
• Tibbers’ auto attack damage decreased from 50-100 (15 percent AP) to 30-60 (10 percent AP).

Syndra

[W] Force of Will: Slow has been adjusted from 25-45 to flat 25 percent.

[E] Scatter the Weak

• Base Damage has been decreased from 75-235 to 60-200.
• AP ratio has been increased from 45-60.

[R] Unleashed Power:

• Base Damage per sphere decreased from 100-180 to 90-170.
• AP ratio per sphere increased from 17 to 20 percent.

4) System buffs

The following items will all be getting buffs in League Patch 25.08.

Cryptbloom

Item Haste increased from 15 to 20.

Opportunity

• Lethality increased from 15 to 18.
• Lethality gained from eliminations has been reduced from 11/7 to 11/5.

Overload’s Bloodmail

• Bonus HP to AD has been slightly increased from 2 to 2.5 percent.
• The maximum percent AD based on missing health has been increased from 10 to 12 percent.

5) System adjustments

Dead Man’s Plate

Slow Resist has been reduced from 25 to 15 percent.

League of Legends patch 25.8 release date

League of Legends patch 25.8 is set to officially release next week. Players will see it going live in the Rift on April 17, 2025. It will be one of the patches that will lead into the summer season.