League of Legends Patch 14.15 is shaping up to be one of the biggest this season, and the more we hear about it, the bigger it seems to get. Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, League’s lead gameplay designer, has announced some major changes coming to the game’s core item: boots.
boots WEIGHTED by inflation | LS Patch 14.15 Overview
The developers are specifically looking to weaken the defensive boot options, as they’ve had too much of an impact in games, especially in the mid and top planes where two champions are pitted against each other. “For a long time, defensive boots have been too good at high levels of the game,” Phroxzon wrote on X (formerly Twitter) today, July 23. He explained how these items were “very strong for their price,” resulting in matchups where neither champion could die due to their effectiveness in the lane.
“We’re looking to reduce the potency of all boots,” Phroxzon added, saying that Riot is “looking to make magic resistance components weaker” because Mercury Treads are “disproportionately strong” compared to other boot options. This will also result in some magic resistance items getting a buff where necessary to compensate for the change. League of Legends hasn’t had a refactoring of its boots like this in a while, partly because these items were the only ones bought in every match, elo, and matchup.
Boots significantly increased defensive stats in one-on-one situations, especially when defending against a magic damage or a champion with high crowd control. In such cases, Mercury Treads were an absolute must-have item, and were prioritized over true defensive items specifically made for destroying mages like the Hexdrinker.
