The galactic champion, Aurelion Sol, introduced in the League of Legends, generated mixed reactions among the game enthusiasts. Initially, it was seen as an answer to players' fascination for Ao Shin. The champion was marked by stars circling around, causing damage to any rival it bumped into.
However, this attribute led to somewhat stiff gameplay experiences, which wasn’t welcomed by many. Despite maintaining a high win rate, the champion was rarely chosen by players. This led to the decision by Riot to rework Aurelion Sol in 2023, providing him with new Q, E, and R capabilities.
The rework appeared successful initially, leading to a steep rise in the champion's win rate. But, as the game developers identified this surge, they carefully nerfed it. This nerfing was done to an extent where Aurelion Sol's presence in the game became almost negligible owing to his diminished figures.
A recent patch 14.3, however, introduced a mini-rework, which once again led to a boost in the champion's win rate. But, this success was short-lived as a subsequent hotfix nerf brought the champion's numbers down again. This has left many players disappointed, terming him worse than his pre-mini-rework version.
Player's Discontent over Hotfix Aurelion Sol Nerfs
The hotfix has resulted in criticisms from the League of Legends players, who think that the current version of Aurelion Sol is weaker than its pre-update version. Perturbed players have termed the entire exercise of mini-reworking useless.
A player pointed out specific data to express his despair, “His W went from 14/15.5/17/18.5/20% pre patch to 18/20/22/24/26% and now 8/9/10/11/12% post hotfix”. Apart from this, he also noted how the E stacking and Q stacks have been influenced negatively post hotfix.
The list of modifications post hotfix doesn't halt there. The ability of Aurelion Sol to farm with Q has been brought down considerably. Further, the extent of damage he could inflict with Q while using W was more than halved due to the hotfix.
Such drastic changes led to massive outcry from players. One player, in frustration, mentioned, “What in the holy f**k, u can’t make this sh** up”. The exasperation and surprise of players over this hotfix is evident.
Change May Lead to Random Outcomes
A few players have also expressed skepticism over the game developers’ decision to implement the nerf. One player stated sarcastically, “I’m convinced they’re just rolling the dice at this point”. League of Legends players have their fingers crossed, hoping the nerf doesn't ruin Aurelion Sol's gameplay completely.
Although the nerf patch has only been in effect for a day or two, players have already expressed their disapproval. We'll continue to observe the effect of this nerf on Aurelion Sol's performance and player's reactions in the coming days.