League of Legends is known for constantly evolving, with champions often getting reworks to stay relevant in the ever-changing meta. One of the most notable reworks coming in Patch 25.6 is the revitalization of Naafiri, a champion who has largely been overlooked since her release in July 2023.
Known for her dog pack abilities and high mobility, Naafiri has struggled to make an impact, both in casual play and professional League of Legends tournaments. Riot Games is now making substantial changes to her kit, aiming to bring her back into the spotlight.
In this article, we’ll explore the major Naafiri changes and what they mean for the champion’s future in League of Legends.
Why Naafiri Needs a Rework
Naafiri’s lack of popularity among League of Legends players has been a glaring issue for Riot Games since her introduction. Despite being a powerful champion in theory, she has struggled to find a place in the game’s competitive scene.
Naafiri was designed with a unique dog-themed kit, which included abilities that summoned a pack of hounds to attack enemies. However, her low pick rate and absence from high-level competitive play made it clear that she needed adjustments.
Key Issues with Naafiri’s Current State
- Low popularity: Naafiri rarely appears in both casual games and professional tournaments.
- Underwhelming impact: Despite having strong base stats, her ultimate and other abilities have felt less impactful than other champions.
- Lack of mobility and flexibility: Naafiri struggles in high-paced fights, where champions with more mobility tend to outperform her.
Naafiri’s Rework in Patch 25.6: What’s Changing?
The upcoming Naafiri rework in patch 25.6 looks to address these problems by giving her a series of impactful changes. Riot Games has decided to completely overhaul her abilities, adjusting her ultimate and mobility, as well as tweaking her stats. Let’s break down the changes that will make Naafiri a more viable pick.
Naafiri’s Stat Adjustments
To begin, Riot Games will tweak Naafiri’s base stats, aiming to make her more competitive in various stages of the game. The new stat changes are designed to improve her sustainability in fights and provide better scaling as the game progresses:
- Health: 635 + 120 per level → 635 + 110 per level
- Health Regeneration: 9 + 0.9 → 8 + 0.8
- Other Stats: Adjustments to enhance overall performance in combat and scaling.
These changes aim to balance Naafiri’s durability and sustain without overwhelming her role as an assassin-like jungler and mid-laner.
Naafiri’s Passive Ability Changes
Naafiri’s passive has undergone some significant changes. The number of dogs summoned by her passive has increased at higher levels, which can provide more control over objectives and fights. Additionally, the scaling of damage with her dog pack is more consistent, which improves her performance in longer team fights. Here’s a breakdown of the new passive changes:
- Max number of dogs: 2/3 → 2/3/4/5 at levels 1/9/12/15.
- Damage from pack: 12-32 + 5% AD → 10/20 + 4% AD.
- Area damage reduction: 76-50% → 75-40% at level 14.
- Tower damage to pack: 25% → 50%.
- Bonus damage to jungle monsters: 155% bonus damage.
- Taunt duration: 3 seconds → 2 seconds.
This makes Naafiri’s dog pack more reliable in fights and more effective against jungle monsters.
Changes to Naafiri’s Q Ability
The Q ability will also see adjustments, with both the initial damage and the second cast damage being slightly lowered. However, these changes are aimed at giving Naafiri more reliable scaling as she progresses through the game.
- First cast damage: 35-75 → 30-70.
- Second cast damage: 30-90 → 25-85.
Naafiri’s W Ability: A Complete Overhaul
One of the most notable changes is the complete rework of Naafiri’s W, which is now her ultimate ability. This change is crucial for improving her impact in teamfights and enhancing her mobility:
- New Functionality: Naafiri becomes untargetable during the cast, providing increased safety.
- Hunt Duration: 15 seconds → 5 seconds.
- Movement Speed: +20-30% for 5 seconds.
- Bonus AD: 20% of total AD.
- Cooldown: 120-100 seconds → 20-16 seconds.
- Mana Cost: 100 → 60.
- Dogs Summoned: 2 dogs, rather than 2/3/4.
- No shield or healing: Removed the shield and healing effects.
With these changes, Naafiri’s W will have a more tactical impact in both casual and high-level competitive play, enabling her to make quicker decisions and act with greater mobility.
Changes to Naafiri’s E Ability
Naafiri’s E ability also receives a slight improvement, especially in terms of damage and range. With these changes, her dash will be more versatile and will not be tied to a fixed distance:
- Cooldown: 10-8 seconds → 9-7 seconds.
- Range: 350 → 450.
- Initial damage: 35-90 + 0.5 AD → 15-55 + 0.4 AD.
- Dash behavior: Dash to the cursor instead of a fixed maximum distance.
These adjustments make her E ability more effective in positioning and combo execution.
Naafiri’s R Ability: Major Rework
Naafiri’s R ability (previously her W) has undergone a total transformation. It now features a shorter cooldown and more impactful scaling, along with an ability to reset when securing a kill:
- Cooldown: 22-14 seconds → 110-80 seconds.
- Mana Cost: 70-30 → 100.
- Range: 700/770/860/940 → 900.
- Damage: 30-90 + 9.8 AD → 150-350 + 1.2 AD.
- No minion interaction: Cannot be blocked or used on minions.
- Reset Mechanism: Can be recast if Naafiri secures a kill within 7 seconds.
These changes will help Naafiri deal more burst damage and provide better scaling as the game progresses.
Will Naafiri Become a Popular Pick After the Rework?
With the upcoming Naafiri rework in patch 25.6, Riot Games is making several bold moves to make her a more attractive pick in both solo queue and professional play.
By reworking her ultimate, increasing her mobility, and tweaking her damage output, Naafiri could finally find her place in the League of Legends meta. If Riot can balance her stats effectively, it’s possible that Naafiri will become a more popular champion and a viable pick in various roles.