Riot Games announce Mel's W new rework and other changes on the champion

Another change is on the way for Mel in League of Legends. One of the most controversial champions in terms of balance since her release is set to receive another round of adjustments. Riot Games announced on Tuesday, October 20, in a developer article published on its website, that several changes to the champion will arrive with patch 26.22.

The most significant change will affect “Rebuttal”, Mel’s W, one of the most frustrating abilities for many players. The spell defines much of the champion’s identity and has already undergone numerous adjustments. Since her release, Mel has received a long list of changes, with many players arguing that she may be one of the game’s most poorly designed champions, given her ability to reflect spells while also dealing enormous amounts of damage.

The biggest upcoming change is that Mel’s W will no longer reflect projectiles as it does now. Although the developers had hoped to find a viable solution that would preserve this gameplay mechanic, which is central to the champion’s identity, Riot Games has ultimately opted to rework it into something different. From now on, the shield created by W will destroy incoming projectiles rather than reflect them, dealing a small amount of damage in return while also granting a shield and movement speed to her and nearby allies. “She will no longer be able to do things like reflect a Seraphine Ultimate to charm the entire enemy team or nuke Jhin with his own Fourth Shot,” the developers explained in the article.

Mel’s other abilities will also receive adjustments to make her less frustrating to play against. Her passive, for instance, will deal less damage and have a shorter duration in the early game, while gaining increased health and armour scaling. Mel will also lose some of her laning power, particularly during the early levels, with a nerf to her Q. “We are making [Q] moderately more fair to play against in lane, slowing it down a hair and shifting more of its damage into subsequent hits rather than the first initial explosion.” The root duration on her E will be shorter at close range but longer when the ability connects at maximum range. Finally, her ultimate will also be nerfed, with a longer cooldown and weaker scaling based on ability rank.

These changes could help make Mel a more balanced champion while preserving her strengths. They are scheduled to arrive in approximately three weeks with patch 26.22.