Riot’s use of Janna’s Zephyr poke power, will make Howling Gale a better attack spell in League of Legends Update 12.1

In League of Legends’ Patch 12.1 is coming, the winds of change are coming once again. This time around, Janna is getting some far-reaching changes to her gear that will change her gameplay early in the game.

Riot Games’ lead champion designer, August Browning, has confirmed multiple tweaks to her ability that will “[drain] her W + AA poke power,” while also making her Howling Gale a lot more powerful as an attack skill.

First, Janna’s Q reduces mana cost late in the game, while both min and max range are increased. This skill’s movement time is being reduced by 0.25 seconds and the damage will be increased by 20 at later levels, especially when fully charged. As a result, Janna will be able to use her Q more to take some meaningful damage off, if she can hit enough spells.

“To clarify, what makes Q stronger offensively is the range and minimum movement speed,” August speak in a next post. “Q’s max hit is much harder to dodge, and snapcast kills are easier to hit, especially when paired with W.

Although the poke power of her W skill is limited, August says its effectiveness will be more useful for utility purposes. Zephyr’s cooldown may be increased to 12 seconds at all ranks, but the ability’s range, slow duration, damage, and passive movement speed are all increasing to compensate for the longer duration. It would be perfect when setting up a gank for a jungler or chasing down enemies from a skirmish.

However, for anyone who enjoys fighting with constant shields in teamfights, there’s some bad news in this new update. Although Janna’s E shield is having a shorter cooldown and more time before it decays, Riot’s passive removal of slowing or knocking up enemies will reduce E’s cooldown by 20%. At max rank, nine seconds is a long time to wait for another shield, especially in big teamfights. So Janna players will need to think more carefully about the champions they defend.

Release date for League Patch 12.1 is yet to be announced.

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