Patch 7.4 changes to Turret First Blood and bonus experience aim to slow down snowballing

One of the biggest criticisms of League of Legends’ Season 7 meta so far is how heavily it has favored snowballing, and giving teams who were facing a deficit too few ways back into the game.

The added gold of provided by Turret First Blood was at the forefront of this with professional teams who take the first tower winning almost 70% of their games. To help curb this advantage, Patch 7.4 has added a few changes to how much gold Turret First Blood gives and where that gold goes:

Turret First Blood

LOCAL BONUS :: 275 gold >>> 300 gold

[REM] GLOBAL BONUS :: No longer grants 25 gold to all teammates

TOTAL BONUS :: 400 gold >>> 300 gold

While these changes should help the snowballing issue, Riot has also added a few more mechanics in this patch to alleviate it further. Namely, changes to the way that players and teams who are underleveled in a game can receive bonus experience to catch up:

Catch-Up Experience

[NEW] Teamwork bonus experience

When you’re lower level than your team.

I’M STILL RELEVANT :: Earning a kill or assist while below your team’s average level now grants bonus experience

OFFICIALLY BEHIND :: Teamwork bonus experience kicks in at just over one full level behind your team’s average, scaling with XP (not level)

LET’S NOT GET TOO CRAZY :: The bonus scales slightly more aggressively at first, capping at +60% bonus experience at four full levels’ difference

Underdog bonus experience

When you’re lower level than your opponent.

SUBTLE STUFF :: Bonus experience for kills/assists on higher-level champions has been slightly increased. (At 4 levels’ difference, this adds about 10% more bonus experience than before)