Who let the dogs out? Naafiri midscope update to buff her in jungle and add “more dogs”

The League of Legends developers are releasing the hounds this week with lead designer August Browning announcing Naafiri will receive a midscope update, addressing the champion's weaknesses on the Rift.

In line for Naafiri is a boost to the number of packmates — the official patch note from August is "MORE DOGS" — as well as a boost to her effectiveness in jungle. It comes as the Hound of a Hundred Bites slips further in win and pick-rate.

Riot August confirmed Naafiri would be getting a midscope update on March 3, with the changes landing on the public beta environment (PBE) as early as this week. We're likely getting exact adjustments in the coming days, but August shared the team's goals for the Darkin hound.

"[We want to] add a bit more outplay potential and skill expression to her kit," August said, with the champion's effectiveness in the jungle and as a solo laner in the magnifying glass. More importantly, the note "MORE DOGS" was added, meaning Naafiri's pack size is surely to grow.

Naafiri landed in July 2023 with patch 13.14, but after a short period at the top of the food chain, nerfs brought her back to earth. Players experimented with Naafiri in several positions. She was advertised as a potent assassin and primarily a mid laner, but could be played in the jungle.

However, her ability to gank was weaker than the average jungler, and launch nerfs hit her damage output hard. She needed to get ahead to put games away and struggled from behind, forcing most into the mid lane.

Patch 14.12 last July was supposed to enable Naafiri in the jungle with buffs to her packmates and allow her Darkin Daggers and bleed effects to hit large jungle monsters. Still, her clear speed was slower than average, and the changes did little to help her ganking effectiveness.

Naafiri boasts a 51% win rate in the mid lane, according to stats site u.gg, but there's little data to suggest she's any good in the jungle or as a solo laner outside of mid right now.

Exact Naafiri changes will be shared later this week when the midscope arrives on the PBE. After that, it'll be plenty of adjusting and tweaking before the changes come to the live game. Until then, jump into Naafiri this week and unleash the hounds. The more data available, the faster Riot can deploy the changes!

For more League of Legends news and updates, stick around at esports.gg.