It’s only been a day since the release of League of Legends‘ newest champion Samira, but Riot Games’ developers have already recognized that she might have been a bit too strong. As a result, she’s been given a couple of nerfs in the game’s latest micropatch today.
“We’re still very committed to releasing new champions long term balanced,” lead gameplay designer Mark “Scruffy” Yetter said. “Sometimes we get lucky and nail it exactly on launch, but most of the time it’s about fast follow up. Based on our estimates and goals she looked clearly too strong on day one so we’re acting fast.”
First, Samira’s base health points have been lowered from 600 to 530. Her powerful ultimate ability, Inferno Trigger, will also be getting lowered by a significant amount. These changes were made to make her a bit more vulnerable during the early game, while also peeling away some strength from her ultimate.
Many people have already reported that Samira is turning out to be strong in both the mid and bottom lanes. She has a 51-percent win rate in ranks above Diamond, according to U.GG, which is extremely high for any champion.
Her outright damage was already surprising, but her ultimate ability makes her a powerhouse that can’t be stopped if she gets going early. Combined with her Blade Whirl ability that destroys enemy projectiles and she’s become a menace in multiple roles.
Riot will need to find a way to balance her kit before she takes over the meta. We’ve seen these balancing problems crop up again and again, like with the original release of Aphelios. The once-dominant marksman became one of the most picked and banned champions in the game earlier this year before a plethora of nerfs brought him back down to Earth.
