Patch 3.4: Highly Anticipated Balance Changes Have Arrived

Legends of Runeterra has revealed their latest balance patch. We’ve heard that there were 33 card changes from the developers, and now we know what those changes are.

On top of these changes, we’ve found their new philosophy about live balance, and what to expect from the developers going forward.

Lastly, the newest cosmetics bring a very exciting selection to your cards:

Patch 3.4 will go live at approximately 11 am PT. You can find their original article right here on PlayRuneterra.com.

New Cards

To the surprise of everyone, Patch 3.4 is introducing 3 new cards to the game. This is the way in which they are implementing some of the balance changes, by creating cards that enhance certain weaknesses: in this patch, dealing with Elusives and wide board states.

Card Updates

This is one of the largest patches in the history of the game, and one that’s been hotly anticipated by players and content creators alike. Below are the comments from the article and their exact card changes.

A note that the developers gave on two cards that were not updated:

Yordles in Arms: We work on these patches several weeks in advance, and we worked on this one earlier than usual due to our week out – Yordles in Arms wasn’t seeing nearly as much play when these changes were locked, but we’re watching it now. The new removal cards being added along with the other changes this patch should have an effect on YiA’s efficacy as well, but we’re keeping an eye on it.
The Bandle Tree: We have changes planned for The Bandle Tree to alleviate the lack of interactivity in its win condition, but the changes are more complex to implement, so we have that targeted for our next balance patch – 3.6.0 on April 27.

Card	Before	After
Gifts From Beyond	1 Mana (All Moon Weapons 3 Mana)	2 Mana (Al Moon Weapons 2 Mana)
Crescendum	Summon a 2 cost follower from your deck. If it has Nightfall, activate it.	Summon a 2 cost follower from your regions.
Azir	You’ve summoned 13+ units	You’ve summoned 13+ units or landmarks.
Gnar	Level 1: 4\|3 Level 2: 6\|5	Level 1: 3/3 Level 2: 5/5
Pantheon	Level 1: 4\|2 Level 2: 5\|3	Level 1: 3\|2 Level 2: 4\|3
Pyke	Level 1: 2\|3 Level 2: 3\|4	Level 1: 1\|3 Level 2: 2\|4
Rumble	I’ve dealt 12+ damage.	I’ve seen Mecha-Yordles deal 12+ damage.
Viktor	Hexcore Upgrade 1 Mana	Hexcore Upgrade 0 Mana
Xer’Sai Dunebreaker	3\|6	3\|5
Twisted Catalyzer	3\|2	2\|2
Vanguard Sergeant	3\|4	3\|3
Conchologist	2\|2	2\|1
Loping Telescope	2 mana 2\|1	3 mana 2\|2
Paddle Star	Deal 4 to an enemy that attacked this round or is Stunned.	Deal 5 to an enemy that attacked this round or is Stunned.
Quicksand	Give an enemy -4\|-0 and disable its keywords (excluding any negative keywords) this round.	Give one enemy -4\|-0 or two enemies -2\|-0. Disable their positive keywords this round.
She Who Wanders	Obliterate ALL followers with 4 or less power in play and in hands.	Obliterate ALL units with 4 or less power in play and in hands.
Sheriff Lariette Rose	6\|5	7\|6
Sharpsight	Give an ally +2\|+2 and “I can block units with Elusive” this round.	Give an ally +1\|+2 and “I can block units with Elusive” this round.
Twin Disciplines	Give an ally +3\|+0 or +0\|+3 this round.	Give an ally +2\|+0 or +0\|+3 this round.
King Jarvan III	3\|6	5\|6
Sacred Protector	When I’m summoned, draw a Shen. Allies with Barrier have Double Attack.	Play: Give an ally Barrier this round and draw a Shen. Allies with Barrier have Double Attack.
Sigil of Malice	4 Mana	3 Mana
Calculated Creations	Create an Armed Gearhead, Ballistic Bot, or Nyandroid in hand.	Create an Armed Gearhead, Ballistic Bot, or Nyandroid in hand and grant it +1\|+1.
Flashbomb Trap	Plant a Flashbomb Trap in the top 10 cards of the enemy deck.	Plant a Flashbomb Trap in the top 8 cards of the enemy deck.
Careful Preparation	3 Mana	2 Mana
Camphor, the Doubt	5\|4 – When I’m summoned, if you’ve targeted allies 6+ times this game, grant me Spellshield, Overwhelm, and Challenger.	6\|5 – When I’m summoned, if you’ve targeted allies in 4+ rounds this game, grant me Spellshield, Overwhelm, and Challenger.
Lil Dipper	5\|3	6\|3
Dunehopper Mech	5\|6	6\|6
Trumpetecher	4\|5	5\|5
Salty Spinner	0\|4	0\|5
Furyhorn Crasher	3\|2	3\|3

Interface Updates

A quality of life fix is coming to this patch. We’re getting an even closer look at how combat and other effects will play out with Previsualisation pop ups. Here’s what the devs said, with their preview video on this new feature.

Nexus Health Previsualization: We’ve all been there… missing lethal or passing on block because you forgot about that pesky Dreadway or a champion leveling up after committing an attack, and you forget to check the Oracle’s Eye. With Nexus Health Previsualization, you’ll see exactly how much damage you’re dealing, or how much your Nexus is taking before it’s too late. The indicator will get a bit more emphatic if incoming damage is lethal.
Unit Destruction Previsualization: Just like with Nexus health, it’s easy to lose track of just how much damage a unit is taking, especially when you’re facing a 5-spell stack and Tough / Formidable units on the board. This update makes it so units will now display cracks when they’re facing lethal damage during an interaction.

Cosmetics

The new cosmetics in this expansion take our champions to a blazing inferno. Check out the infernal Champion skins below. The champion skins include: Infernal Shen (with new Level Up Animation), Infernal Kennen (with new graphic for Mark of the Storm), Infernal Pantheon, Infernal Galio, and Infernal Swain.

Magma Chamber

Insatiable creatures seethe below the molten earth.

This board has special visual effects and music.

Guardians and Card Backs

Bundles

With new cosmetic options, we can expect them nicely grouped and on a food offer. The Infernal Remnants Bundle includes:

Magma Chamber Board
Ritual of Flames Card Back
Infernal Gloomtooth Guardian
Infernal Silverwing Guardian

The Fiery Kin Bundle is available in the Store, prorated for any items you already own. Bundle includes:

Infernal Shen
Infernal Kennen
Infernal Galio
Infernal Pantheon
Infernal Swain
Champion cards for all of the above champions

The Unbreakable Shields Deck bundle is in the store, including a deck featuring Shen & Galio, as well as the Infernal Shen & Infernal Galio champion skins.

Bug Fixes and Miscellany

Below are the list of bug fixes coming to the game in Patch 3.1:

Updated the loading screen for encounters in The Path of Champions.
Fixed the effect of Tattered Banner so that it is no longer consumed by units that already have Challenger.
Revised an inaccurate description of Yuumi’s Level 2 ability – no functionality has changed. Previously, the description implied that she would gain +2|+2 on level-up; her level 2 stats, as well as the bonus, rather than the intended +1|+1 from the level up increasing her base stats.
Fixed a few crashes related to reconnecting, tutorials, and spell swapping.
Pantheon can now complete the Call of Destiny and Cuddle Buddies challenges.
Updated text descriptions for some cards to remove typos, fix translations, and better align cards with game mechanics.
Fixed several UI, UX, and general visual bugs to improve game clarity and player experience.
Dates have been corrected in the Tournament tab for A Curious Journey’s Seasonal Tournament – the correct dates are May 14 (Open Rounds) and May 21 (Playoffs).

Round End

Certainly a big patch indeed. We’ve all been waiting for it, and the signs of how this will shake the meta are incredibly clear.

Now we want to hear from you? Have Riot done enough to knock the dominant decks and bring up the underdogs? Have they made the right changes or missed the mark? Let us know on our discord server or in the comments below.