Teamfight Tactics patch 12.23 notes

AuthorRodger “Riot Prism” Caudill
  • Copied to clipboard
Welcome to Monsters Attack!

Monsters Attack! brings all new units and traits, cosmetics, and mechanic updates with our arrival in Spatulopolis, a city that seems to be constantly under attack. Luckily for city residents, there are heroes of all shapes and sizes ready to be assembled into the hodge-podge hero squad of your liking.

As for these notes, we’re going to start with cosmetics and new stuff at the top, then we’ll work our way through the changing and returning systems near the end.

A quick note! We’re shipping an entire set on the last patch of the year, before many of us go on a Riot-wide Winter break. This means that we will be hands-off for a while after our first week of release. With the size of the Monsters Attack! release, that’s a bit nerve-racking for us. But we’re lucky for having an incredibly active three week PBE period—thanks PBE testers! We’ll also be watching the first week of our release with a closer eye than Vel'Koz on your backline carry.

Okay, we’ve got a ton to get into, so let’s get going!
Rodger “Riot Prism" Caudill

MONSTERS ATTACK! CINEMATIC

Before we meet the residents of Spatulopolis make sure to take in the sights with our Monsters Attack! cinematic where Mayor Pengu rewards our heroes for their good* deeds!

MONSTERS ATTACK! COSMETICS

MONSTERS ATTACK! PASS

If you want to immerse yourself in the lifestyle of a Spatulopolite, then try out the Pass+ to unlock the Threat themed arenas, Little Legends, Star Shards, and the Poro-Ranger Headquarters Tier 3 Arena! The Pass+ can be unlocked for 1295 RP, but you don’t have to decide right away, as you can always upgrade to the Pass+ later, and retroactively receive everything you would have unlocked with the Pass+ active. Check out the below images for a peek at some of the content.
In addition to Poro-Ranger HQ, you'll get three different Threat-inspired arenas, also unlocked on your Pass+ tour of the city! Check out Threat Level: Nom, OK, and Tentacle below!
Now that we’ve seen where you can play, let’s see who you can play as with the Pass+. Meet our most super Sprite yet: Super Squad Sprite! And acquaint yourself with Star Guardian Tocker, whose latest project is figuring out how to save the universe AND have time to help the Star Guardians on homework.

EVERYTHING GOES ON… THE ARENA

You can get the Everything Goes On arena in the Everything Goes In Here Bag as a rare (2%) drop. Bags without the arena will pop out previously released Little Legends, or Whisker and Grizzle variants. One Everything Goes In Here Bag goes for 390 RP, but they’re also available in bundles (later). The arena also has a pity mechanic, meaning you are guaranteed to open the Mythic Arena on or before the 61st box!
Everything Goes On comes with Big Feels, dynamic board elements, ceremonies, and a complete transition to another dimension as you play. It’s also packed with Star Guardian secrets from past Star Guardian lineups! And yes, an instrumental version of Porter Robinson’s song has a cool feature where the board goes blurry—wait, those were just my tears. Nevermind.

CHIBI LUX AND STAR GUARDIAN LUX

You can pick up Chibi Lux directly from the shop for 1900 RP and she’ll come with her signature boom, Final Spark, that you could equip to other Tacticians too if they’ve packed the necessary sunblock.
You can get Chibi Star Guardian Lux as a rare drop (2%) from Lux’s Radiant Chalice (390 RP/TC), also available in bundles (of joy). Chalices that do not contain the uncontainably positive Star Guardian will be full of previously released Little Legends, including our newest troublemakers, Whisker and Grizzle.

BARON

Baron comes fully-evolved (no need for Star Shards here) and can be purchased directly for 2500 RP. Baron has 6 variants to choose from: Baron, Super Squad Baron, Cosmic Scourge Baron, Odyssey Baron, Star Nemesis Baron, and Star Guardian Baron.
If you pick up the Batch of Barons bundle from the store you’ll get each of Baron’s variants alongside the chance to Smite back with the Smiteback boom—the only Smite that never misses.

GRIZZLE AND WHISKER

Whisker just wants what every cat wants: food, a loving home, and total world domination. Whisker and their variants are available for direct purchase for 750 RP (rare) and 925 RP for their epic variants. Check out their variants below: Whisker (Base), Star Guardian Whisker, Super Squad Whisker, Stitched Whisker (Epic), Star Nemesis Whisker (Epic), Dark Star Whisker (Legendary).
To avoid long bouts of rage, please feed Grizzle at regular 13 minute intervals, but never after midnight. Grizzle and their variants are available for direct purchase for 750 RP (rare) and 925 RP for their epic variants. Check out Grizzle’s variants below, now with even more rage: Grizzle (Base), Super Squad Grizzle, Groovy Grizzle, Star Guardian Grizzle (Epic), Dark Star Grizzle (Epic), Star Nemesis Grizzle (Legendary).

BUNDLES IN MONSTERS ATTACK!


Bundle Contents Price
Chalice of the First Star Bundle TFT Monsters Attack! Pass+ Chibi Lux
31 Lux's Radiant Chalices
13245 RP/TC
Everything Goes On Bundle Includes TFT Monsters Attack! Pass+
27 Everything Goes In Here Bags
11825 RP/TC
Batch of Barons Includes base Baron, all Baron variants as well as the Smiteback Boom 10000 RP/TC

RANKED REWARDS!

With Dragonlands over, I’m willing to bet you're ready to spread your wings and fly to the next set. But let’s briefly acknowledge your successes! We’ve got a whole host of ranked rewards to distribute throughout patch 12.23, the release patch of Monsters Attack!

First off, if you placed Gold or higher in Uncharted Realms (the second half of Dragonlands) then you’ll get a celebratory emote to represent your rank!
If you placed Gold or higher at any stage of the set, then you’ll get the Victorious Craggle Little Legend. And if you manage to get Gold or higher during both halves of the set, you’ll get Triumphant Craggle as well!
And for those of you starring up Dragons as a team, if you obtained Double Up rank Gold or higher, then you’ll get the following emotes to celebrate with your partner(s)!
If you finish Blue, Purple, or Hyper tier in Hyper Roll, then you’ll get another emote to flex with! Now that’s hype.

NEW RANKED SEASON

  • When Monsters Attack! goes live in your region, you'll be able to start climbing the ladder in this set's first ranked stage.
  • Depending on your rank in the previous season you will start anywhere from Iron II to Bronze IV. This is true for both Double Up and Standard ranked.
  • You will get 5 provisional matches after the reset, meaning you will not lose any LP for sub-top 4 placements in your first 5 ranked games of the new stage. You'll also gain extra LP for finishing top 4, so best of luck!
  • Your Hyper rating will be reset to 500

SYSTEMS

New set, new systems and a chance to update existing ones!

HERO AUGMENTS

Hero Augments allow you to choose one of three options to empower a champion as the leader of the super squad you assemble.
  • All champions have two Hero Augments. One that is more carry oriented, while the other is more supportive.
  • All players are offered a Hero Augment at the same time during one of the three Augment Armories (2-1, 3-2, 4-2). Each player is offered Hero Augments of the same cost bucket.
  • There is a 5 percent chance that a game will not feature a Hero Augment
  • 2-1 Armories can only offer Hero Augments for 1 and 2-cost units OR 2 and 3-cost units
  • 3-2 Armories can only offer Hero Augments for 2 and 3-cost units OR 3 and 4-cost units
  • 4-2 Armories can only offer Hero Augments for 3 and 4-cost units OR 4 and 5-cost units
  • Hero Augments will be semi-tailored for your boards, meaning you’ll get some fairly intuitive choices to fit the comp you already have.
  • There are 118 Hero Augments. Can you take each one to Victory?
  • In addition to the 118 new Hero Augments, we are bringing back over 100 Augments from past sets, as well as 63 Heart, Crown, Crest, and Soul Augments for our new traits.

For more information on Hero Augments you can visit any of our 3rd party friends above, or check out our mechanics article.


ITEM ANVILS

Dragonland’s Treasure Dragon was a huge improvement over Raptors, which had the chance to offer random items that weren’t useful for a comp you’d already committed to, but alas, we must depart the Dragonlands for more charted (by urban planners) realms. That being said, we all greatly appreciated the increased control over finalizing our builds with the Treasure Dragon, so in Monsters Attack! we’re introducing the Item Anvil to provide a similar opportunity.
  • Item Anvils will drop starting with the Stage 4-7 PVE encounter with a component Anvil, which will give you the opportunity to choose from one of three item components.
  • Further Completed Item Anvils will drop with PVE encounters in Stage 5-7 and 6-7 that will allow you to choose one of five completed items.
  • PVE Boss encounters occur starting Stage 5-7. These can be encounters with Aurelion Sol, Urgot, or Zac. These encounters will always drop a Completed Item Anvil or more (below).
  • Bosses have a small chance to drop Tome of Traits as well as Completed Item Anvils.
  • Bosses have an even smaller chance to drop Enhanced Item Anvils that will allow you to choose from one of five Ornn items instead of standard completed items.

ITEM SYSTEMS

The nuance between Magic and Physical spells created more confusion than value. We’re using the new set to simplify rules that even the best of us struggled to remember at times.

We’re also lowering the impact of Grievous wounds so the status effect is less of a hard counter than it has been in the past. As such, healing sources have also been slightly reduced in power.
  • Physical spells now work like Magic spells. They can no longer be dodged or missed, but they also can’t crit without something like a Jeweled Gauntlet that allows your spells to crit.
  • Critical Strike Chance over 100% now converts into bonus Critical Strike Damage at a 2:1 ratio.
  • Grievous Wounds reduced healing: 50% ⇒ 30%
  • Item power has been lowered while champion base power has gone up. Expect to see more about this in the Items section.
  • Attack Damage bonuses have all been changed from flat bonuses (+10) to percent bonuses (+10%). This percent bonus scales off a unit’s base Attack Damage and does not scale with other sources of Attack Damage (see Item changes for more details)
    • NEW: Items have new Keywords (see next section)

KEYWORDS

Abilities and Items are getting new debuff Keywords to help us simplify tooltips and conversations. Check out the new and existing keywords below!
  • Burn: deals some of the target's maximum Health as true damage over time
  • Chill: reduce Attack Speed
  • Disarm: cannot move or attack
  • Mana Reave: increase maximum Mana until the next cast
  • Omnivamp: heal for some of damage dealt
  • Shred: reduce Magic Resist
  • Stun: cannot move, attack, or cast Abilities
  • Sunder: reduce Armor
  • Taunt: enemies that are able and in range must attack the taunter
  • Wound: reduces healing received

LARGE CHANGES

Large, like the Monsters Attack! PBE wait times. Can y’all chill a second so I can get a game!?

3RD PARTY FRIENDS

This is a long one, so I’m going to rely on our 3rd party friends to provide more detailed information on the specific traits, champions, and Augments coming with Monsters Attack!

AUGMENTS REMOVED

With the return of Star Guardians heralding a new era of spell spamming through their multiplicative Mana generation, we’ve had to preemptively cut many Mana generating Augments to keep this trait from leaving the balance atmosphere and entering the upper regions of the OP-sphere.

Other Augments have been cut due to their low pick rate and win rate, where they simply did not reach the expected power level (or fun level) of other Prismatic Augments.
  • Meditation I/II/III
  • Best Friends I/II/III
  • Axiom Arc I
  • Better Together
  • Blue Battery II
  • Exiles III
  • Makeshift Armor III
  • Scoped Weapons II

AUGMENTS ADJUSTED

In addition to the 118 new Hero Augments, we are bringing back over 100 Augments from Dragonlands and Gizmos & Gadgets, as well as 63 Heart, Crown, Crest, and Soul Augments for our new traits. As for this section, we’re just going to go over what returning Augments are changing now that they’ve made their way into Monsters Attack!

While we have been pretty hands-off with the return of our non-Hero Augments (most of our resources went into Hero Augments this set), you will notice rebalancing of many returning Augments to meet the new needs of Monsters Attack! For instance, since we have less crowd control this set, we’ve given Verdant Veil more Attack Speed to ensure it is in line with other Prismatic Augments. It’s also easier to craft Built Different comps this set, so in turn we have slightly lowered the bonuses that the Augment provides.
  • Big Friend I / II Damage Reduction: 10/18% ⇒ 9/15%
  • Binary Airdrop Components Granted: 2 ⇒ 1
  • Blue Battery I REWORKED: Gold Augment that grants 10 Mana each cast and 8 Ability Power
  • Built Different I Attack Speed: 30/45/60/75% ⇒ 25/35/45/55%
  • Built Different II Health: 250/300/350/400 ⇒ 250/275/300/350
  • Built Different II Attack Speed: 40/55/70/85% ⇒ 40/50/60/70%
  • Built Different III Health: 300/375/450/525 ⇒ 300/350/400/450
  • Built Different III Attack Speed: 50/65/80/95% ⇒ 50/60/70/80%
  • Celestial Blessing Omnivamp: 12/20/35% ⇒ 10/15/25%
  • Celestial Blessing Overheal Shield: 300/450/600 ⇒ 200/300/400
  • Cybernetic Implants I/II/III Health: 100/150/250 ⇒ 80/120/180
  • Cybernetic Implants I/II/III Attack Damage: Changed from flat to 10/20/30% Attack Damage
  • Cybernetic Shell Health: 100/150/250 ⇒ 80/120/180
  • Cybernetic Uplink Health: 100/150/250 ⇒ 80/120/180
  • Cybernetic Uplink Mana Per Second: 2/3/4 ⇒ 2/2.5/3
  • Electrocharge I Damage: 50/70/90/110 ⇒ 40/60/80/100
  • Electrocharge II Damage: 85/105/125/145 ⇒ 70/90/110/130
  • Featherweights I/II/III Attack Speed: 25/35/60% ⇒ 20/30/50%
  • High Roller Bonus Gold: 10 ⇒ 6
  • Lategame Specialist Gold: 45 ⇒ 40
  • Last Stand Health: 200 ⇒ 180
  • Last Stand Armor, Magic Resist, and Omnivamp: 20 ⇒ 18
  • Lucky Gloves Sparring Gloves given: 3 ⇒ 2
  • Rich get Richer Gold: 10 ⇒ 12
  • Rich get Richer+ Gold: 18 ⇒ 20
  • Scoped Weapon I Increased Range: 1 hex ⇒ 2 sec
  • Scoped Weapon I Bonus Attack speed: 15% ⇒ 10%
  • Thrill of the Hunt Healing: 400/700 ⇒ 300/550
  • Trade Sector+ Gold: 8 ⇒ 12
  • NEW AUGMENT Threat Level Maximum Health per Threat: 75
  • Triforce I / II / III Health:133/233/333 ⇒ 75/125/200
  • Triforce I / II / III Mana: 13/23/33 ⇒ 10/15/25
  • Triforce I / II / III Attack Speed: 13/23/33 ⇒ 10/15/25
  • Verdant Veil Bonus Attack Speed: 5% ⇒ 15%

ITEMS: COMPONENTS

TL;DR: Dodge is gone, crit is stronger (and more intuitive), and Items that grant flat AD now give a percentage of base AD as bonus AD.

With dodge gone, Sparring Gloves’ power has been transferred entirely to its Critical Strike Chance. With this change and a change to Infinity Edge, we’ve been able to give out more crit making for more fun (big numbers = fun), while also removing the least fun (randomly avoiding big number ? fun) defensive stat.

Items that offer flat Attack Damage now grant a percentage of bonus Attack Damage based upon the champions’ base AD. Before this change, many AD champions didn’t benefit from additional Attack Damage, but with this change champions with high AD values should more intuitively benefit from items that build out of B.F. Sword.
  • B.F. Sword: +10 AD ⇒ +10% Base AD
  • Sparring Gloves: 5% Critical Strike Chance ⇒ 20% Critical Strike Chance
  • Sparring Gloves: 5% Dodge Chance ⇒ Removed

ITEMS: COMPLETED

Champion base power has gone up across the board, while item power has gone down. This means the difference between a 3 item champion and a 0 item champion will not be as drastic. See the item changes for an exact list.

Guardbreaker is our replacement for Banshee’s Claw that is great for champions who need Attack Damage and Ability Power. Its passive allows the wearer to gain increased damage after attacking a shielded enemy, making this a great slot as a counter to shields, but also a great combo piece with other crit items such as Infinity Edge or Jeweled Gauntlet. Guardbreaker will also allow players to finally be able to build an offensive item out of a Giant’s Belt.

Blue Buff is still great for champions with small Mana pools, but it will now grant a bit of Ability Power that will help the equipped champion get takedowns that add 10 Mana to the user. This change allows the item to continue to fulfill the spam cast fantasy, while not leaving certain champions (e.g. Ezreal, Karma, Sohm) dependent on its warping power.

Protector’s Vow no longer buffs your team, but instead buffs the wearer more! It's a solid slam on tanks that need to reach their first cast. Definitely use this on Sejuani!

Infinity Edge now allows damage from abilities to critical strike, making it a great slam on AD casters. This also means you’ve gotta rid yourself of the IE/Jeweled Gauntlet combo habit.

As mentioned earlier, we’ve reduced the healing reduction of wounds to make abilities and items that apply them less of a hard counter. In doing so, we’ve had to reduce healing like the Omnivamp in Celestial Blessing and the items below to prevent Monsters Attack! from becoming Monsters Sustain!
  • REPLACED: Guardbreaker has replaced Banshee’s Claw
  • NEW: Guardbreaker builds from Sparring Gloves + Giant’s Belt
  • Guardbreaker grants 20% bonus Attack Damage and 20 bonus Ability Power. After attacking a shielded enemy, Abilities and attacks deal 30% more damage for 3 seconds.
  • Archangel’s Staff Bonus Ability Power: 20 ⇒ 10
  • Bloodthirster Omnivamp: 25% ⇒ 20%
  • Blue Buff REWORKED: Grant 10 bonus starting Mana and 15 Ability Power. Reduce the holder’s maximum Mana by 10. If the holder gets at least 1 takedown within 3 seconds of casting, gain 10 Mana.
  • Bramble Vest Bonus Armor granted: 45 ⇒ 30 (70 Total)
  • Chalice of Power Ability Power Granted: 30 ⇒ 25
  • Deathblade grants 25/45/65 Attack Damage ⇒ Grants +40% Base Attack Damage (+60% Total)
  • Dragon’s Claw grants 80 Magic Resistance ⇒ Grants 30 Magic Resistance (70 Total)
  • Dragon’s Claw max Health Regen: 1.2% per target attacking wearer ⇒ 5% every 2 seconds regardless of attackers
  • Edge of Night Attack Speed Granted on Proc: 40% ⇒ 15%
  • Gargoyle Stoneplate Armor & MR per target: 16 ⇒ 15
  • Giant Slayer REWORKED: Grants bonus 20% base Attack Damage (30% total) and 20 Ability Power. If the target has more than 1600 max Health, deal 30% more damage with abilities and attacks.
  • Guinsoo’s Rageblade Attack Speed per auto: 6% ⇒ 5%
  • Hand of Justice grants 15 Attack Damage & Ability Power ⇒ Grants 15% Base AD & AP
  • Hand of Justice Omnivamp: 15% ⇒ 10%
  • Hextech Gunblade Omnivamp: 25% ⇒ 20%
  • Infinity Edge REWORKED: Your abilities can now crit. Gain 15% Base Attack Damage and Crit Chance (25% AD and 35% Crit total)
  • Infinity Edge is no longer Unique
  • Jeweled Gauntlet REWORKED: Your abilities can now crit. Gain 15 Ability Power and Crit Chance (25 AP and 35% Crit Total)
  • Last Whisper Grants 10% Attack Speed ⇒ Grants 10% Base Attack Damage
  • Morellonomicon bonus Ability Power Grants: 20 ⇒ 10 (20 Total)
  • Quicksilver grants 15% Dodge ⇒ Grants 20% Crit Chance (This is from the Sparring Glove)
  • Quicksilver Bonus Attack Speed: 20% ⇒ 30%
  • Protector’s Vow REWORKED: Grants 15 bonus starting Mana (30 total). Once per combat: At 40% Health, gain a 25% max HP shield that lasts up to 5 seconds and grants 35 Armor & Magic Resist for the rest of combat.
  • Rabadon’s Deathcap bonus Ability Power Granted: 60 ⇒ 50 (70 Total)
  • Ruunan’s Hurricane grants 20 Attack Damage ⇒ Grants 20% Base Attack Damage
  • Ruunan’s Hurricane bolt Attack Damage ratio: 70% ⇒ 50%
  • Shroud of Stillness grants 15% Dodge ⇒ grants 20% Crit Chance (This is from the Sparring Glove)
  • Shroud of Stillness now additionally grants 250 HP
  • Spear of Shojin grants 15 Ability Power
  • Spear of Shojin REWORKED: Every 3 attacks grants 20 Mana
  • Statikk Shiv grants 10% Attack Speed ⇒ Grants 15 Ability Power
  • Statikk Shiv Shock Damage: 50 ⇒ 30
  • Thieve’s Gloves grants 10% Crit & 10% Dodge ⇒ Grants 40% Crit Chance (This is from the Sparring Glove)
  • Titan’s Resolve Grants 2 Attack Damage & 2 Ability Power per stack ⇒ Grants 2% Base Attack Damage & 2 Ability Power per stack
  • Zeke’s Herald Attack Speed Granted: 30% ⇒ 20%
  • Zephyr now additionally grants 15% Attack Speed

ITEMS: RADIANT AND FORGE (ORNN)

  • Statikk Favor (Radiant) grants 30% Attack Speed ⇒ 40 Abilty Power
  • Shroud of Reverence (Radiant) now grants +250 Health
  • Shroud of Reverence (Radiant) Dodge 15% ⇒ Crit 20%
  • Mistral (Radiant) now grants +20% AS
  • Dragon’s Will (Radiant) Regen: 8% maximum Health every 1.5 seconds
  • Death’s Defiance (Forge) Omnivamp: 25% ⇒ 20%
  • Anima Visage (Forge) max Health Regen: 5% per sec ⇒ 4% per sec
  • Eternal Winter (Forge) Slow Duration: 2 ⇒ 1.5 sec
  • Eternal Winter (Forge) Freeze Duration: 2 ⇒ 1.5 sec
  • Obsidian Cleaver (Forge) Armor/Magic Resistance Sunder/Shred: 60% ⇒ 50%
  • The Collector (Forge) execute threshold: 10% ⇒ 12%

DOUBLE UP

For our Double Up section, I’ve brought in the lead designer of the mode, Llord Llama, to go over our extensive changes to the new Gift Armory. Take it away, my Llord.

GIFT ARMORIES

With Monsters Attack!, we're making a big change to the Assist Armory in Double Up. Instead of taking turns selecting roughly equal boosts for one another, players in Double Up will now face a choice of gifts with different gold prices that they can buy for their partners. This will allow Double Up pairs to help one another out even more, and lets them pay to get the perfect power boost into their partner's hands. There'll always be a free option, though, in case you're caught short when the new Gift Armory shows up. The rewards range from consumables and item components on the low end all the way to Radiant items on the high end.

Enjoy an increased level of strategic cooperation!

--Llord Llama
  • The Assist Armory’s in Double Up have been changed into Gift Armories!
  • First one appears on Stage 3-5 and 3-6
  • Second one appears on Stage 5-2 and 5-3
  • Gift Armories have much more varied loot options to give to your partner!
  • There are always 3 options.
  • Two of the options will cost gold, while one will always be free.
  • Gifts that cost gold are more varied and exciting!
  • There are different gift options in the early and late game armories.
  • Like the Assist Armory you can only pick one option to send to your partner
  • You can sell units during the Gift Armory in case you want more gold to afford a nicer gift!
  • There are multiple types of Gift Armories, chosen randomly each game.
  • Different types of Gift Armories will have varying costs of offerings. The most expensive gifts being a random Radiant Item and a Tactician’s Crown!
  • All players will see the same type of Gift Armory option, although not the exact same offerings.


  • Copied to clipboard