Recently, Riot released specific information about patch 11.13, particularly regarding the items in the list that will be nerfed this time. One of the items undergoing the most changes is the Reaction Hammer. Specifically, in the old version, the Mighty Smash ability when activating the Reaction Hammer would allow the owner to dash a distance of 300 units, dealing 75% AD to all enemies within the range of the ability, slowing them by 40% and decreasing over 2 seconds.
In the new version, Riot removed the dashing ability when activating Mighty Smash, compensating by increasing the damage to 150% and slowing by 90% (decreasing to 40%) over 3 seconds, which can be activated while moving, but the movement speed of the Brave has also been reduced from 30 to 20 and the movement speed of the Mythic passive has been decreased from 3% to 2%.
With this update, it can be seen that Riot has “issued a death sentence” for melee Fighter champions that lack mobility, such as Gnar, Darius, Sett… Conversely, this can be considered a significant buff for champions that already have mobility, like Lee Sin, Hecarim, Renekton, Malphite… The slowing effect of this item can enable agile champions to easily poke opponents during the laning phase or use it in ganks and team fights…
However, many players still believe that Riot is being quite… unfair as pure tank Fighters, which are already quite sluggish, now lose one of their core items that increases their mobility. Furthermore, now ranged champions and Assassins like Nocturne and Vayne become even stronger as they can build Reaction Hammer and “kite” opponents to death. Not to mention, the increased health (from 200 to 400) will help somewhat fragile Fighters endure longer in fights and during the laning phase, allowing them to confidently trade abilities.
Besides the aforementioned names, some familiar champions in the Fighter role for initiating fights, such as Shen, Riven, Lee Sin, or Jax, will also use the new Reaction Hammer very effectively. But perhaps, when hearing the community complain too much, Riot might find a way to ensure champions like Sett, Darius, or Gnar do not completely disappear from the Summoner’s Rift.