The nerfs to Gangplank are designed to tone down his strength in lane with nerfs to his barrels.
League of Legends patch 12.14 is set to release officially tomorrow according to the official patch release schedule by Riot Games. LoL patch 12.14 is expected to hit Gangplank pretty hard. These changes should have a steep impact both in solo queue and the professional scene.
As is the case before every patch, Riot Phroxzon will release early patch notes. Here is what Phroxzon had to say ahead of 12.14.
Gangplank receives laning phase nerfs
When played correctly, Gangplank is one of the best champions in League of Legends, and also the most fun. Hitting the perfect barrel combo is extremely satisfying. GP in many ways is a jack of all trades, he can play both the weak side and strong side effectively, on top of that, his zoning and cross-map ultimate allows for GP to be a useful champion at all stages of the game.
Gangplank is a popular champion across every skill level. In the lower divisions (silver), GP has a pick rate of 6%, which is the 6th highest picked champion on the current live patch (12.13). according to U.GG. In the higher elo (Diamond+), GP is picked at 8.5%, which is the fourth highest of all top laners.
Not only in solo queue is Gangplank a prominent feature, GP is one of the most picked top lane champions in professional League of Legends. According to gol.gg, Gangplank is the second most picked top laner across every professional league in the world, being picked 526 times this summer split.
In LoL patch 12.14, Phroxzon has stated the intent is to weaken Gangplanks' early laning power. The intent behind this is to move some of the crit incentives from his E - Powder Keg into more 'commital damage'.
Gangplank LoL patch 12.14 notes
Here are the adjustments Riot has made to Gangplank in LoL patch 12.14:
Base stats
Base Health: 640 > 600
Health per level: 104> 114
Base armor: 35 > 31
Passive: Trial by fire
Damage: 55-310 (+100% bonus AD) > 55-310 (+100% bonus AD) (+250% Critical Strike Chance)
Q: Parrrley
Base Damage: 20/45/70/95/120 > 10/40/70/100/130
E: Powder keg
Slow amount: 40%-80% > 30%-60% (+.25% per 1% Crit Chance) at all ranks
Bonus physical damage: 80/105/130/155/180 > 75/105/135/165/195
E bonus damage on crit: 25% > 10%
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