League of Legends Hotfix Buffs Zeri

Riot Games released yet another set of Zeri changes in League of Legends this week to once again try to get the champion in a suitable spot. The marksman who's taken a particular interest in bruiser items got nerfed in the patch notes for Patch 12.7 after Riot said it'd be targeting Zeri once more, but it seems those nerfs were a bit too much. As such, Zeri's now been buffed up a bit by a hotfix which is already live in the game.

Riot August, the lead champion designer working on League and the creator of Zeri among other champs like Jinx, Senna, Viego, and more, shared the hotfix in question for Zeri this week after the patch had already gone live. Given that it was indeed a hotfix, it's likely players didn't notice the changes at all since it didn't require a big download or anything like that, but if you're an avid Zeri player or an avid Zeri banner, you'll want to check out the buffs below to see where she currently stands.

Zeri Hotfix

Stats

• HP: 500 >>> 530

Q – Burst Fire

• R stacks and E refreshes on crit: 2 >>> 3

W – Ultrashock Laser

• Slow duration: 1-2 >>> 2
• AD ratio: 1.2 >>> 1.4

E – Spark Surge

• Cooldown: 28-22 >>> 26-20

While these are indeed buffs for Zeri, it's worth keeping in mind that these follow the extensive nerfs for the champion released in the patch just this week, so they're better considered reductions of those nerfs as opposed to making the champion stronger than she was pre-patch. The Spark Surge "buff" here, for example, is still an overall nerf compared to Zeri before Patch 12.7. Her Spark Surge ability used to be on a flat 23-second cooldown, for example, before it was changed to a scaling one starting at 28 seconds. It'll start at 26 seconds now which is a bit better for her, but it's still three more seconds than before.

This is just the latest round of changes for Zeri, and there are bound to be more in the future given the champion's unique playstyle and builds. These buffs likely won't deter Zeri players from continuing their progression with the champ, but with the Mid-Season Invitational esports event coming up soon, we'll have to see how viable a pick the pros see Zeri to be after this.