League of Legends patch 25.16 is bringing multiple champion buffs and nerfs, with one specific Nautilus buff potentially making him viable for the jungle again and leaving players to wonder if he may soon be back atop the jungler meta.
Every League of Legends champion has one or two designated roles where they fit most ideally. Whether it’s Kayne exclusively being a jungler or Lux being ideal for support and mid, League developers switching things around usually doesn’t always end well.
Patch changes often indicate how champions will be affected to fit into different roles by buffing or nerfing their abilities or stats. Gwen’s jungler rates took a hit in patch 25.06, for example. Patch 25.16 is slated to do the opposite by making typical support champion Nautilus viable for the jungler role once again.
LoL patch 25.16 has enabled jungle Nautilus in a move that’s likely to make him one of the stronger CC-focused jungle champions in the game. Nautilus’ Riptide ability has been significantly adjusted, making his early camp clear much more efficient.
Previously, the Riptide ability had a 150% base damage multiplier, which wasn’t too useful in the early game since the champion’s E damage is low early. According to the Public Beta Environment changes, Nautilus now deals flat bonus damage with Riptide, starting at 150 and scaling up to 250. And that isn’t all, as the attack also scales with 50% of the champion’s AP, helping him clear AoE camps like Raptor and Wolves quicker while losing less HP in the process.
Riot Games
The exact flat bonus damage scaling for Nautilus’ Riptide is 150/175/200/225/250, alongside the +50% AP. Subsequent hits deal 50% of this, making it a viable strategy to kite caps and increase the number of monsters hit by a single E. The Riptide revamp means that players can expect to see Nautilus players going AP jungle builds instead of the pure tank build the champion previously has seen.
Regardless of the loss of some survivability, Nautilus is still a monster when it comes to CC. The champion’s previous CC chain remains fully viable, with the faster jungle clear making it easier for him to catch an enemy by surprise with his Q to hook them before rooting them in place with his auto-attack passive. Pair that with Riptide, and then Nautilus’ ultimate ability after hitting level 6.
Keeping the high damage Nautilus will likely deal with his high AP aside, this much CC should be more than enough to ensure the allied laner all the time they need to secure a kill from the gank attempt.
League of Legends patch 25.16 will slightly adjust several champions, including increasing Warwick’s base AD and making Sylas’ passive better suited for jungling.
Sylas stands as the other champion who League of Legends patch 25.16 is adjusting to make him more viable for jungling, in addition to Nautilus. The champion’s Petricite Burst passive remains largely the same, but it now deals 150% damage to monsters every time the passive is triggered. Considering the passive is triggered every time Sylas casts a spell, the champion’s jungle clear and sustain should be much more efficient without affecting mid or top lane Sylas players.
Riot Games
In addition to Nautilus and Sylas, the champions getting buffed in patch 25.16 include:
Lulu and Yuumi stand as the two most controversial nerfs this patch, especially since Lulu already saw a recent nerf in patch 25.10. The champions the patch is slated to nerf include:
Aside from these changes, Mordekaiser, Varus, Viego, and Warwick will all seeing more middling adjustments in the upcoming patch. In particular, Warwick is seemingly being shifted toward top lane viability with an increase to his base AD. On the other hand, his Eternal Hunger passive is being toned down. This means that players may see fewer jungler Warwick ganks, at least in the early game.
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