This preview for TFT patch 14.9 shows systems changes to reduce the amount of 3-star 4-costs players are able to hit.
Teamfight Tactics (TFT) lead designer Stephen "Mortdog" Mortimer put out a post on X previewing details about the upcoming systems changes in TFT patch 14.9. The balance team found that the amount of 3-star 4-costs TFT players hit is too much for the standard they would like to set. They also realized that there are many different contributing factors to the problem.
Find out all the systems changes that TFT patch 14.9 will implement to alleviate the 3-star 4-cost prevalence issue.
Set 11 TFT patch 14.9 preview: systems changes
Player damage
- Stage Base Damage from Stage 4 to 6 increased by 1 each
- Stage 4: 7 to 8
- Stage 5: 9 to 10
- Stage 6: 11 to 12
Stage Base Damage is increasing again towards the later stages of the game. This is part of the solution to reduce the amount of 3-star 4-costs in the late game by speeding up the tempo of the late game.
Shop odds
- Level 8
- 2-cost odds increased from 25% to 27%
- 4-cost odds reduced from 22% to 20%
- Level 9
- 1-cost odds increased from 10% to 15%
- 4-cost odds reduced from 35% to 30%
Level | 1-cost | 2-cost | 3-cost | 4-cost | 5-cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | 18% | 27% | 32% | 20% | 3% |
9 | 15% | 20% | 25% | 30% | 10% |
The likelihood of seeing 4-cost units at Levels 8 and 9 will be lowered. This is the next part of the multi-pronged solution to bringing down the amount of 3-star 4-costs being found by the player base.
XP cost
- Level 8 to 9
- Gold needed increased from 72 to 80 gold
- Level 9 to 10
- Gold needed decreased from 84 to 80 gold
The ability to go Level 9 is also being slightly gated so players aren't able to reach better shop odds for 4-costs too early in their respective games.
Encounter removal
A few encounters exacerbate this problem severely by easily allowing access to copies of 4-cost units. They will be removed in TFT patch 14.9.
- Cho'Gath
- "Cho'Gath will give you 2 Lesser Champion Duplicators or 1 Champion Duplicator."
- Kha'Zix
- "Kha'Zix causes XP to cost 3 gold instead of 4 this game. EVOLVE!"
- Neeko
- "Neeko adds a Champion Duplicator to every champion on Carousel!"
- Syndra
- "Syndra unleashes a Carousel of 2-star 4-cost champions."
These encounters grant immediate access to copies of 4-cost units or provide a quicker route to higher odds of those champions. The removal of these encounters should reduce 3-star 4-cost prevalence in the future.
Set 11 TFT patch 14.9 preview: Double Up changes
The 3-star 4-cost problem also exists in Double Up, and changes will be enacted to remedy the problem in the duo game mode as well.
- Minimum time for reinforcements to begin increased from 7 seconds to 12 seconds
- Player damage taken to be rounded up to nearest whole number
- Base player damage increased
- Stage 2: 2 to 3
- Stage 3: 5 to 6
- Stage 4: 6 to 8
- Stage 5: 8 to 10
- Stage 6: 11 to 12
Mortdog's thoughts on 3-star 4-cost problem
Read all about Mortdog's thoughts on the situation below.
That's all for this second TFT patch 14.9 preview. Check out our article on the new artifacts and support items that are on their way in our first TFT patch 14.9 preview!
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