Teamfight Tactics (TFT) Patch 16.1 patch notes kick off Set 16 Lore & Legends, bringing the new Unlockables mechanic, Lorefinder progression, and a fresh ranked season to Teamfight Tactics. This update also tweaks player damage, XP curves, shop odds, and carousel spatula rates to reward tempo play and late game flexing, while shaking up Augments, items, Radiant items, and Artifacts for the new 100 unit roster. Below, we break down the most important system changes so you know what actually matters for your first Lore and Legends lobbies.
TFT Patch 16.1 Overview
TFT Patch 16.1 launches Set 16 Lore and Legends on December 3, bringing:
- 100 total champions, the largest roster yet
- 60 base champions plus 40 Unlockable champions
- New Lorefinder progression tied to Unlocks
- A fresh ranked season with a soft reset
- Big system updates to player damage, XP, shop odds, carousels, Augments, items, Radiants, and Artifacts
There is also a planned 16.1B patch about a week later to clean up bugs and early balance outliers, especially ahead of the TFT Paris Open.
New Progression and Ranked Season
Lore & Legends Pass
- Lore and Legends launches with a Part 1 Pass and Pass Plus.
- Pass Plus costs 1295 RP and upgrades the free track, letting you claim all premium rewards you have already progressed toward.
Lorefinder
Lorefinder is the new progression track tied to Unlockable champions.
- You earn progress as you unlock champions across games.
- You get bonus rewards if you top-four with each Unlock at least once.
It basically turns the huge champion roster into a long term “collect and win with everyone” challenge.
Ranked Reset
TFT Patch 16.1 starts a brand new ranked season for Standard and Double Up.
Key points:
- When Lore and Legends goes live, you can start climbing again once you patch or update on mobile.
- Your starting rank is between Iron II and Silver IV depending on last set’s finish, for both Standard and Double Up.
- You get 5 provisional games where you cannot lose LP for bottom-four, and you gain extra LP for top-four.
- Mobile has up to a 24 hour delay compared to PC. During that gap, mobile players who do not have the new set yet cannot keep climbing on the old one.
TFT Mobile Notification Rewards
If you opt in to mobile notifications, you get small rewards each set, such as Treasure Tokens and eventually an emote. You get one reminder at your first login of a new set, and can opt in or out any time.
Set Mechanic – Unlockable Champions
Lore and Legends’ big mechanic is Unlockable Champions. There are 40 Unlockables on top of the standard 60 unit roster.
Core rules, simplified:
- Unlockables start locked and do not appear in your shop until you meet their condition in that game.
- Once you unlock one, it appears in the far right slot of your shop on your next roll and then becomes a normal shop unit for the rest of that game.
- Unlockables use the same pool sizes as other units of their cost. Legendary Unlockables (above 5 cost) still share the same tiny 9 copy pool.
- If multiple players unlock the same champion, they all pull from the same shared unlocked pool.
- If you keep ignoring an unlocked unit and never have a copy on your board or bench, the game will lower that unit’s appearance rate in your shop down to 20 percent of normal to avoid clutter. If you later buy the unit, its odds return to normal.
- Selling an Unlockable returns it to the pool like any other unit.
- For 4 and 5 cost Unlockables, if only a few people in the lobby have them unlocked, odds of finding copies after your third one get much worse. Once at least four players have that champ unlocked, odds go back to normal.
- Unlocks do not carry between games. You start fresh every match.
Bilgewater special note: Bilgewater “shops” behave like normal shops. When a Bilge shop shows a Bilgewater unit, that copy is temporarily removed from the pool. When the shop refreshes, it goes back in.
System Changes that Affect Every Game
Player damage
Player damage now hits a bit harder in Stage 3 but softer in Stage 4.
- Stage 3 flat damage: 5 → 6
- Stage 4 flat damage: 8 → 7
You still take extra damage for each enemy unit left alive. The intent is:
- Stage 3 matters more, so early tempo boards and reroll comps feel more rewarding.
- Mid game stays a bit longer and more stable for level 8 boards, thanks to the Stage 4 reduction plus XP changes.
XP to level
Leveling is reshaped to push more power into level 8 and make level 9 and 10 reward strong boards instead of pure rush:
- XP to 8: 48 → 60 (harder to rush 8)
- XP to 9: 76 → 68
- XP to 10: 84 → 68
So it takes longer to hit 8, but easier to climb from a solid level 8 board into 9 and 10.
Shop Odds
Shop odds at high levels now give you more access to 4 and 5 cost units.
- Level 8: 15/20/32/30/3 percent for 1/2/3/4/5 cost (more 4 costs, fewer 2s and 3s)
- Level 9: 10/17/25/33/15 percent (more 5 costs, fewer 1s and 2s)
This means a good economy into level 8 and 9 pays off more when you roll for late game carries.
Carousel Spatulas and Pans
Carousels now show Spatulas and Frying Pans more often.
- Stage 2 and 4:
- One spat/pan odds: 11 → 15 percent
- Three spat/pan odds: 1 → 3 percent
- Stage 3:
- One spat/pan odds: 12 → 15 percent
This supports “Prismatic trait” fantasies that rely on hitting two emblems and level 10.
Roles and Movement
Assassin returns as a formal role again:
- Assassins take 15 percent less damage from all enemies except the one they are actively fighting.
Champion movement also gets a small quality of life buff:
- Units start moving to new hexes faster when they swap targets, which should cut down on weird “stutter” pathing at high movement speeds.
Opening Encounters Refresh
Opening Encounters are back with a new mix and lower overall impact than last set. One big change:
- Wandering Trainer is gone.
- New encounter Emblem Ensemble replaces it, giving you three random emblems instead of a golem holding three.
This keeps emblem high rolls exciting but forces you to still hit level 10 if you want the strongest Prismatic trait breakpoints.
The full Opening Encounter list includes things like:
- Golden Gala, Prismatic Party, and other prismatic Augment modifiers
- 2-cost and 3-cost start options
- Upgraded start, component anvils, loot subscriptions, gold subscriptions
- Howling Abyss, Silver Scrapes, Reckoner Arena, and more
You do not need to memorize the full drop table, but know that:
- Some starts give you units or econ.
- Some shift Augment timing or rarity.
- Some give you items or emblems and push you into specific comps from the start.
Augments: What Left, What Returned, What Changed
Removed Augments
A large batch of Augments has been vaulted for Lore and Legends. This includes things like All That Shimmers, Cloning Facility, Moonlight lines, various econ Augments like Gold For Dummies and Raining Gold plus, and many niche effects that did not fit the new set’s pacing or unlock system.
You do not need to track each one. Just assume a lot of the “old familiar weirdos” are gone and that new unlock driven patterns are the focus.
Returning Augments
Several fan favorites return, sometimes with new tuning or upgrades. Highlights:
- Band of Thieves now has stronger Band of Thieves II plus and double plus versions that give the extra Thief’s Gloves at different timings.
- Binary Airdrop has no unit limit now, gives fully random temporary items, and grants two item components up front.
- Celestial Blessing gets stronger Omnivamp and much bigger shields on the Prismatic version.
- NO SCOUT NO PIVOT now gives a scaling teamwide aura instead of buffing specific units, and even benefits dummies and summons.
Adjusted Silver, Gold, and Prismatic Augments
TFT Patch 16.1 also does a broad balance pass to fit the new XP and damage curves. A few examples:
Silver tier:
- Glass Cannon I now starts you at 75 percent health (down from 90) but buffs your damage more.
- Kingslayer now pays 1 gold every round, win or lose.
- Lategame Specialist gives more gold.
Gold tier:
- Glass Cannon II mirrors the I change with lower starting health but much higher damage.
- Hustler now gives more immediate gold and 2 XP per round.
- Pandora’s Bench is now gold tier, gives a Lesser Duplicator, and has slightly cheaper gold.
Prismatic tier:
- Belt Overflow, Sword Overflow, and Wand Overflow all shift to 4 components instead of 5 with stronger per piece bonuses.
- Going Long, Tiniest Titan, and Quality Over Quantity all see buffs to keep them competitive with the new set pacing.
The takeaway: expect slightly riskier “glass cannon” style Augments and more econ and XP Augments tuned around the slower level 8 timing.
Items, Radiant Items, and Artifacts
Core item tuning
Core items get a large pass to keep them from becoming either mandatory or unusable in the new environment. A few notable shifts:
- Adaptive Helm gains more mana regen and tank stats.
- Bloodthirster and Giant Slayer lose some raw AD/AP.
- Warmog’s Armor loses base health but buffs max HP scaling.
- Kraken’s Fury, Sterak’s Gage, and other popular items see smaller nerfs to their overperforming stats.
The general theme:
- Tank items get a bit more attractive.
- Some of the best pure damage items give up a little power.
- Mana and utility items get nudged so casters remain relevant with the huge champion pool.
Radiant Items Standardized
Radiant items are now tuned to be exactly double the stats of their base versions in almost every case, with a few exceptions where the effect cannot literally be doubled.
Examples:
- Rabadon’s Deathcap Radiant offers much more AP but less extra damage amp.
- Bramble Vest Radiant gains more armor and max HP but lower automatic damage reduction.
- Giant Slayer Radiant shifts more into attack speed and damage amplification instead of raw AD/AP.
The goal is clear math: core items < Artifacts < Radiants, with Radiants feeling splashy but predictable.
Artifacts – New, Removed, Adjusted
New Artifacts join the pool, including several Darkin themed items that interact with the Darkin trait, plus a handful of flavorful tools like Void Gauntlet, Cappa Juice, Eternal Pact, Hellfire Hatchet, and Shadow Puppet.
Removed Artifacts include Innervating Locket, Unending Despair, Deathfire Grasp, Manazane, Spectral Cutlass, and Trickster’s Glass.
Many remaining Artifacts are rebalanced to sit between core items and Radiants in power:
- Blighting Jewel, Dawncore, Death’s Defiance, Hullcrusher, Gambler’s Blade, Mogul’s Mail, Mittens, Rapid Firecannon, Sniper’s Focus, and more all get stat and effect adjustments.
In short, expect Artifacts to still feel special to their ideal users, but not as sharp or game-warping as before.
With these TFT Patch 16.1 changes in mind, your first Lore & Legends games will feel very different: slower rush to level 8, more rewards at levels 8-10, harsher Stage 3 damage, and a ton of new Augment, item, and Artifact combinations to explore around Unlockables.
Welcome to Lore & Legends!
That wraps up the biggest system and balance changes from the Teamfight Tactics (TFT) Patch 16.1 patch notes and how they reshape Set 16 Lore & Legends. If you are looking for comp ideas, trait breakdowns, or beginner-friendly tips to climb in the new ranked season, be sure to check out our TFT hub for more guides, news, and meta updates.
