League of Legends patch 25.23 notes: Return of Winter Rift, Zaahen release, and more

League of Legends patch 25.23 notes were out on November 19, 2025. While this update adjusts the prowess of several champions, the key factors are the release of Zaahen and the return of the long-awaited Winter Rift. Furthermore, Blue Essence Emporium is also back, and the Arcane Anniversary event is live.

Here are the changes coming with the League of Legends patch 25.23.

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League of Legends patch 25.23 notes: Winter Rift has returned

The Winter Rift in LoL (Image via Riot Games)

To celebrate the upcoming holiday season, Riot Games has brought the Winter Rift back in League of Legends, as some intriguing changes have been made on the Summoner's Rift.

Also, all Winter legacy skins will be available for purchase when patch 25.23 goes live, and they will remain available until the Winter Rift disables early next year.

Note: New winter-themed skins will be released in the LoL patch 25.24.

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Zaahen is available with League of Legends patch 25.23

With the release of League of Legends patch 25.23, you can now finally queue up using Zaahen. While the lore shows he was reborn following Xin Zhao's death, don't worry, you can still use both characters in-game.

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Champion buffs in League of Legends patch 25.23

All buffs, nerfs, and adjustments in League of Legends patch 25.23 (Image via Riot Games)

1) Aatrox

Passive - Deathbringer Stance

• Monster Damage Cap: 100 ⇒ 100 - 320 (based on level)

Q - The Darkin Blade

• Bonus Monster Damage: 0 ⇒ 40 flat bonus damage (multiplied by other effects like sweetspots and multicasts)

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2) Ahri

W - Fox-Fire

• Subsequent hit damage: 30% ⇒ 40%
• Maximum single-target hit damage: 64 / 96 / 128 / 160 / 192 (+ 64% AP) ⇒ 72 / 108 / 144 / 180 / 216 (+ 72% AP)

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3) Ambessa

Q - Cunning Sweep / Sundering Slam

• Monster Damage: +125 ⇒ +150

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4) Cho'Gath

E - Vorpal Spikes

• Monster Damage: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+30% AP) + up to 200 based on target max HP ⇒ 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 / 300 (+30% AP)

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5) Jayce

Q - To the Skies! (Hammer Stance)

• Bonus Monster Damage: 0 ⇒ 50 flat bonus damage

Q - Shock Blast (Cannon Stance)

• Bonus Monster Damage: 0 ⇒ 50 flat bonus damage

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6) Jhin

Base Stats

• Base AD: 59 ⇒ 61

Passive - Whisper

• Move Speed on Crit: 14% (+.4% AS) ⇒ 14% (+.44% AS)

W - Deadly Flourish

• Damage: 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+ 50% AD) ⇒ 70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+ 50% AD)

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7) Malphite

W - Thunderclap

• Monster Modifier: 1x ⇒ 2x

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8) Miss Fortune

R - Bullet Time

• Damage per wave: 75% Total AD (+ 25% AP) ⇒ 80% Total AD (+ 25% AP)

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9) Ornn

W - Bellows Breath

• Active Monster Damage Cap: 155 / 180 / 205 / 230 / 255 ⇒ 260 / 320 / 380 / 440 / 500
• Passive Monster Damage Cap: 250 ⇒ 260 / 320 / 380 / 440 / 500
• Level-up tooltip now displays the minimum and maximum damage per rank.

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10) Riven

Passive - Runic Blade

• Bonus Monster Damage: 0 ⇒ 50 flat bonus damage

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11) Sion

Q - Decimating Smash

• Monster Mod: 150% ⇒ 165%

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12) Skarner

Base Stats

• AD Growth: 4 ⇒ 5

Q - Shattered Earth / Upheaval

• Cooldown: 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 ⇒ 8 / 6.75 / 5.5 / 4.25 / 3
• Target Max HP Damage: 8% ⇒ 9%

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13) Swain

E - Nevermove

• Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+ 70% AP) ⇒ 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 / 250 (+ 70% AP)
• Mana: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 ⇒ 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70

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14) Tristana

Base Stats

• AD Growth: 2.5 ⇒ 2.9

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15) Volibear

Base Stats

• Base Attack Damage: 62 ⇒ 65

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16) Xayah

Passive - Clean Cuts

• Damage: 30 / 40 / 50% AD ⇒ 35 / 45 / 55% AD to secondary targets

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17) Zeri

R - Lightning Crash

• Move Speed per Stack: .5% ⇒ 1%

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Champion nerfs in League of Legends patch 25.23

1) Ashe

Q - Ranger's Focus

• Attack Speed: 25 / 37.5 / 50 / 62.5 / 75% ⇒ 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60%

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2) Caitlyn

Passive - Headshot

• Champion Damage Increase: 60 / 90 / 120% total AD ⇒ 60 / 80 / 100% total AD (Crit formula unchanged)
• Non-Champion Damage Increase: 110 / 115 / 120% total AD ⇒ 110% total AD (Crit formula unchanged)

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3) Hwei

QE - Molten Fissure

• Hit Damage: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 30% AP) ⇒ 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 (+ 30% AP)
• Damage over time: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+ 50% AP) ⇒ 50 / 87.5 / 125 / 162.5 / 200 (+ 60% AP)
• Total Damage: 70 / 140 / 210 / 280 / 350 (+ 80% AP) ⇒ 70 / 122.5 / 175 / 227.5 / 280 (+ 90% AP)

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4) Jinx

R - Super Mega Death Rocket!

• Maximum Damage: 300 / 450 / 600 (+ 155% Bonus AD) (+ 25 / 30 / 35% missing HP) ⇒ 250 / 400 / 550 (+ 130% Bonus AD) (+ 25 / 30 / 35% missing HP)

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5) Kai'Sa

Base Stats

• Base Armor: 27 ⇒ 25

R - Killer Instinct

• Cooldown: 120 / 90 / 60 ⇒ 130 / 100 / 70

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6) Rek'Sai

Passive - Fury of the Xer'Sai

• Fury gained on minion hit: 20% ⇒ 16% (5 ⇒ 4)
• Max HP gained: 10 - 20% (based on level) ⇒ 9 - 20% (based on level)

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7) Vladimir

Base Stats

• Base Health: 607 ⇒ 600
• Base Armor: 27 ⇒ 24

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Champion adjustments in League of Legends patch 25.23

1) Dr. Mundo

E - Blunt Force Trauma

• Bonus Attack Damage from Maximum Health: 2 / 2.2 / 2.4 / 2.6 / 2.8% ⇒ 2 / 2.3 / 2.6 / 2.9 / 3.2%
• Fixed a bug where Dr. Mundo was getting maximum damage at 30% missing HP instead of 70% missing HP.

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2) Fizz

Base Stats

• Base Armor: 22 ⇒ 26

Passive - Nimble Fighter

• Increased by 10 against jungle monsters (now 14 + 1% AP)

W - Seastone Trident

• Active and on-hit damage deals +60 damage to monsters

R - Chum the Waters

• Cooldown: 100 / 85 / 70 ⇒ 120 / 100 / 80

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3) Mel

Passive - Searing Brilliance

• Damage per spell: 24-99 (based on level) (+9% AP) ⇒ 24-150 (based on level) (+15% AP)

E - Solar Snare

• Root Duration: 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 / 2.25 ⇒ 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4 / 1.5 / 1.6

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System changes in League of Legends patch 25.23

Items

1) Sunfire Aegis

• Monster Damage Mod: 1.6x ⇒ 2x

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Bug fixes and QoL changes in League of Legends patch 25.23

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue where casting Sion's Death Surge while his Passive is active would activate Experimental Hexplate.
• Fixed an issue where Skarner's Q would sometimes be on cooldown for longer than intended in the practice tool after restarting a game.
• Fixed an issue where Ambessa doesn't lose a passive charge if the target dies mid-auto attack.
• Fixed an issue where Garen could stack his W passive without learning his W.
• Fixed an issue in Swiftplay where the Lethal Tempo rune would get automatically swapped to a champion's default in certain regions.
• Fixed an issue where if Mel reflected Vel'Koz's Q, it would reset the cooldown of her Q.
• Fixed an issue where Mundo's E bonus damage would reach its maximum at 30% missing health.
• Fixed an issue where the amount of Cassiopeia's W damage ticks would be doubled if an enemy walked into previously created clouds.
• Fixed an issue where Rengar would fail to stack Conqueror or Lethal Tempo when jumping from brush.
• Fixed an issue where Nocturne's R dash could fail to follow an enemy champion until the collision.
• Fixed an issue where Aurora's Spirits could be visible for other champions.

Skins bug fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Star Guardian Senna's R VFX to be distorted.
• Fixed an issue that caused Shan Hai Scrolls Lillia's VFX to be mispositioned when using chromas.

Quality-of-life changes

• “Hide My Name” and “Hide My Identifying Info” Streamer Mode settings are now respected in other players' spectator streams. e.g., if Spectator1 spectates their friend, Player1, any players in Player1's lobby with Streamer Mode enabled will have their name and/or information hidden in the spectator stream.
• In order to better protect players from negative in-game experiences, we're continuing to enhance Streamer Mode and shift public spectator experiences towards replays. The ability to spectate live games directly from ranked leaderboards is being replaced with a shortcut to that player's match history and replays. Right-click the player name on the ranked leaderboard > Match History.
• Added capability to access replays directly through the Riot API. M
• Updated AFK detection to better account for situations where players are disconnecting throughout the game.

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This covers all the changes coming with the League of Legends patch 25.23.

Check out more LoL news and updates:

• All LoL patch release dates in 2025
• LoL Worlds 2025 Playoff Stage
• Are Valorant and League of Legends down right now (November 18, 2025)? Server status explained