Complete TFT Set 8 guide with Hero Augments, ranked reset strategies, and item optimization tips
TFT Set 8: Monsters Attack Launch Overview
The highly anticipated TFT patch 12.23 introduces the eighth competitive season, Monsters Attack, bringing a complete transformation to the autobattler experience. This December update represents the final major content release of the year and marks a significant departure from the Dragonlands theme that dominated Set 7.
Monsters Attack! delivers a fresh gaming landscape with Spatulopolis as the new battleground, introducing innovative mechanics while maintaining the core strategic depth that defines Teamfight Tactics.
Players bidding farewell to Dragonlands will discover an entirely reimagined gameplay environment where tactical decisions carry even greater weight. The foundation remains familiar, but nearly every aspect has received thoughtful refinement to enhance strategic diversity.
This comprehensive guide breaks down the essential changes, providing strategic insights to help you master the new meta from day one. Understanding these systems early will give you a competitive edge during the initial ranked climb.
Patch Deployment Schedule and Global Rollout
TFT patch 12.23 is scheduled for deployment on Wednesday, December 7, 2022. Standard maintenance procedures will apply, with servers typically going offline around 5am local time and resuming operations by 8am across most regions.
The update follows Riot’s established regional rollout pattern, beginning with Oceania where patch notes typically become available as Australian servers come online. The global deployment then progresses systematically over the following 24-hour period, ensuring all players worldwide gain access within a single day.
Pro Tip: Plan your practice sessions for the evening of December 7th to maximize your early adaptation period. The first 48 hours post-launch represent the most volatile meta period, offering significant LP gains for players who quickly identify powerful compositions.
Core Gameplay Evolution in Set 8
Monsters Attack represents more than a thematic refresh—it introduces foundational changes that redefine optimal play patterns. The roster expands with 59 strategically distinct champions, including debut appearances for Bel’Veth and Rammus, effectively completing the League of Legends champion representation in TFT except for the most recent additions like K’Sante.
The revolutionary Hero Augments system operates alongside traditional Augments, providing targeted power spikes for specific champions while maintaining team-wide strategic considerations. These game-defining choices appear once per match (with a 5% chance of exclusion) and present players with critical decisions about developing dominant carries or supportive anchors.
The departure of Set 7’s Treasure Dragon doesn’t reduce player agency, as new Item Anvils in later stages provide controlled customization opportunities. Enhanced Boss Battles against Aurelion Sol, Urgot, or Zac deliver superior rewards compared to previous end-game PVE encounters, including chances for Tome of Traits and specialized Enhanced Item Anvils featuring Ornn artifacts.
Common Mistake to Avoid: Don’t overlook the significance of physical spell changes. These abilities now function identically to magic spells—they cannot be dodged but also cannot critically strike without specific enhancements like Jeweled Gauntlet. This consistency change impacts champion positioning and itemization decisions significantly.
Ranked Reset and Competitive Structure
When Monsters Attack! becomes available in your region, the ranked ladder opens for the season’s initial competitive phase.
Placement following the reset ranges from Iron II to Bronze IV based on your concluding rank from the previous competitive set. This applies uniformly to both Standard and Double Up ranked queues.
Five provisional matches provide LP protection during your early ranked exploration. Sub-top-4 finishes in these initial games won’t deduct LP, while top-4 placements yield bonus LP rewards to accelerate your climb.
Hyper Roll ratings reset to the baseline 500 points, creating a fresh competitive environment across all game modes.
Strategic Insight: Use your provisional matches to experiment with unfamiliar compositions without penalty. The protected LP period represents the ideal time to test the boundaries of new champions and trait combinations before committing to your primary climb strategy.
Hero Augments Deep Dive Strategy
Hero Augments introduce a sophisticated layer of strategic specialization, allowing players to elevate specific champions into central roles. Each champion possesses two distinct augment options—one emphasizing carry potential and another focused on supportive capabilities.
All participants receive Hero Augment selections simultaneously during designated Armory intervals at stages 2-1, 3-2, and 4-2. The game ensures balance by offering augment options from identical cost brackets to all players.
A minor 5% probability exists for matches to proceed without any Hero Augment offerings, preserving game variety.
Stage 2-1 Armories restrict options to 1/2-cost or 2/3-cost unit augments, establishing early-game direction.
Stage 3-2 selections focus on 2/3-cost or 3/4-cost units, enabling mid-game transitions.
Stage 4-2 offerings concentrate on 3/4-cost or 4/5-cost units, defining late-game compositions.
The semi-tailored system intelligently presents options that complement existing board states, though strategic flexibility remains essential for adapting to offered choices.
With 118 unique Hero Augments available, mastery requires understanding synergies across different champion combinations.
The augment pool expands further with 100 returning augments from previous sets and 63 trait-specific Heart, Crown, Crest, and Soul Augments.
Advanced Technique: Track which cost brackets appear in your early Hero Augment offerings to predict future options. If you receive 2/3-cost options at 2-1, you can anticipate 3/4-cost options at 3-2, allowing for more informed unit acquisition throughout the mid-game.
Item System Revolution and New Mechanics
The item ecosystem undergoes substantial rebalancing with champion base stats receiving buffs while item power sees measured reductions. This shift encourages more diverse champion utilization rather than item-dependent carry strategies.
Item Anvils debut at Stage 4-7 PVE encounters, presenting three component choices for strategic flexibility.
Additional Completed Item Anvils arrive during Stages 5-7 and 6-7 PVE rounds, offering selection from five finished items.
PVE Boss engagements commence at Stage 5-7, featuring Aurelion Sol, Urgot, or Zac with guaranteed Completed Item Anvil drops.
Bosses may rarely drop Tome of Traits alongside standard item rewards.
Exceptionally rare Enhanced Item Anvils provide access to five Ornn item selections instead of conventional completed items.
Critical system-wide changes include:
Excess Critical Strike Chance beyond 100% now converts to bonus Critical Strike Damage at 2:1 efficiency.
Grievous Wounds healing reduction decreases from 50% to 30%, extending combat sustainability.
Attack Damage bonuses transition from flat values to percentage-based scaling relative to base AD, unaffected by other AD sources.
New item keywords introduce clearer effect categorization:
Burn: True damage over time based on target’s maximum Health
Chill: Attack Speed reduction
Disarm: Movement and attack prevention
Mana Reave: Maximum Mana increase until next ability cast
Omnivamp: Healing proportional to damage dealt
Shred: Magic Resistance reduction
Stun: Complete action prevention
Taunt: Forces eligible nearby enemies to attack the taunter
Wound: Healing received reduction
Optimization Tip: The AD percentage scaling change makes champion base stats more significant than previous sets. Prioritize champions with naturally high base AD for carry roles when building AD-focused compositions, as they benefit disproportionately from the new scaling system.
Combat and Balance Adjustments
Base player damage progression adjusts to: Stages 1/2/3/4/5/6/7+ → 0/0/3/4/6/9/15/150
Surviving unit damage contributions remain unchanged: 2/4/6/8/10/11/12/13/14/15…
Significant augment rebalancing includes:
Best Friends I/II/III values adjusted for better balance
Big Friend I/II Damage Reduction: 10/18% → 9/15%
Binary Airdrop Components: 2 → 1
Blue Battery I REWORKED: Gold augment providing 10 Mana per cast plus 8 Ability Power
Built Different series receives comprehensive stat reductions across all tiers
Celestial Blessing Omnivamp: 12/20/35% → 10/15/25%
Celestial Blessing Overheal Shield: 300/450/600 → 200/300/400
Cybernetic implants line receives Health reductions and AD conversion to percentages
Electrocharge damage values reduced across both tiers
Featherweights Attack Speed: 25/35/60% → 20/30/50%
High Roller Bonus Gold: 10 → 6
Lategame Specialist Gold: 45 → 40
Last Stand stat reductions across all parameters
Lucky Gloves Sparring Gloves: 3 → 2
Rich get Richer enhancements with increased gold values
Scoped Weapon I range conversion and Attack Speed adjustment
Thrill of the Hunt Healing: 400/700 → 300/550
Trade Sector+ Gold: 8 → 12
NEW AUGMENT Threat Level: 75 Maximum Health per Threat
Triforce series receives comprehensive stat reductions
Verdant Veil Bonus Attack Speed: 5% → 15%
Common Mistake: Don’t underestimate the impact of the player damage increase at stages 3 and 4. The early-game damage bump means econ strategies require more careful health management—losing rounds with multiple surviving opponents can rapidly deplete your health pool.
Comprehensive Itemization Changes
Foundation item adjustments establish new build priorities:
B.F. Sword: +10 AD → +10% Base AD
Sparring Gloves: 5% Critical Strike Chance → 20% Critical Strike Chance
Sparring Gloves: Dodge Chance completely removed
REPLACED: Guardbreaker substitutes Banshee’s Claw
NEW: Guardbreaker crafting from Sparring Gloves + Giant’s Belt
Guardbreaker provides 20% bonus AD, 20 AP, and 30% damage boost against shielded targets for 3 seconds
Completed item reworks and adjustments:
Archangel’s Staff Bonus AP: 20 → 10
Bloodthirster Omnivamp: 25% → 20%
Blue Buff REWORKED: 10 bonus starting Mana, 15 AP, reduces maximum Mana by 10, takedowns within 3 seconds of casting grant 10 Mana
Bramble Vest Bonus Armor: 45 → 30 (70 Total)
Chalice of Power AP Granted: 30 → 25
Deathblade: 25/45/65 AD → +40% Base AD (+60% Total)
Dragon’s Claw: 80 MR → 30 MR (70 Total)
Dragon’s Claw Health Regen: 1.2% per attacker → 5% every 2 seconds
Edge of Night Attack Speed on Proc: 40% → 15%
Gargoyle Stoneplate Armor & MR per target: 16 → 15
Giant Slayer REWORKED: 20% base AD (30% total), 20 AP, 30% bonus damage against 1600+ Health targets
Guinsoo’s Rageblade Attack Speed per auto: 6% → 5%
Hand of Justice: 15 AD & AP → 15% Base AD & AP
Hand of Justice Omnivamp: 15% → 10%
Hextech Gunblade Omnivamp: 25% → 20%
Infinity Edge REWORKED: Enables ability crits, 15% Base AD and Crit Chance (25% AD and 35% Crit total), no longer Unique
Jeweled Gauntlet REWORKED: Enables ability crits, 15 AP and Crit Chance (25 AP and 35% Crit Total)
Last Whisper: 10% Attack Speed → 10% Base Attack Damage
Morellonomicon bonus AP: 20 → 10 (20 Total)
Quicksilver: 15% Dodge → 20% Crit Chance, Bonus Attack Speed: 20% → 30%
Protector’s Vow REWORKED: 15 bonus starting Mana (30 total), 40% Health trigger for 25% max HP shield with 35 Armor & MR
Rabadon’s Deathcap bonus AP: 60 → 50 (70 Total)
Ruunan’s Hurricane: 20 AD → 20% Base AD, bolt AD ratio: 70% → 50%
Shroud of Stillness: 15% Dodge → 20% Crit Chance, additional 250 HP
Spear of Shojin: Now grants 15 AP, REWORKED: 20 Mana every 3 attacks
Statikk Shiv: 10% Attack Speed → 15 AP, Shock Damage: 50 → 30
Thieve’s Gloves: 10% Crit & 10% Dodge → 40% Crit Chance
Titan’s Resolve: 2 AD & 2 AP per stack → 2% Base AD & 2 AP per stack
Zeke’s Herald Attack Speed: 30% → 20%
Zephyr now grants 15% Attack Speed
Radiant and Ornn item adjustments:
Statikk Favor (Radiant): 30% Attack Speed → 40 AP
Shroud of Reverence (Radiant): +250 Health, Dodge 15% → Crit 20%
Mistral (Radiant): +20% AS
Dragon’s Will (Radiant) Regen: 8% maximum Health every 1.5 seconds
Death’s Defiance (Forge) Omnivamp: 25% → 20%
Anima Visage (Forge) Health Regen: 5% per sec → 4% per sec
Eternal Winter (Forge) Slow/Freeze Duration: 2 → 1.5 sec
Obsidian Cleaver (Forge) Sunder/Shred: 60% → 50%
The Collector (Forge) execute threshold: 10% → 12%
Optimization Tip: The Infinity Edge and Jeweled Gauntlet changes make ability crits more accessible, opening new build possibilities for spell-based carries. Combining these items with high-base-AD champions can create devastating burst combinations that weren’t viable in previous sets.
Double Up Enhancements: Gift Armories
The cooperative Double Up experience receives significant quality-of-life improvements with the introduction of Gift Armories, replacing the previous Assist Armory system.
Initial Gift Armory appears during Stages 3-5 and 3-6
Secondary Gift Armory activates at Stages 5-2 and 5-3
Enhanced loot variety provides partners with more strategic coordination options
Three options consistently available with varied resource requirements
Two premium options requiring gold investment alongside one complimentary selection
Gold-cost gifts offer superior strategic value and excitement factor
Early and late-game armories feature distinct gift categories
Single selection limitation maintains strategic decision importance
Unit selling enabled during Gift Armories to facilitate premium gift acquisition
Randomized Gift Armory types each game increase matchup variety
Premium offerings include random Radiant Items and Tactician’s Crowns at highest cost tiers
Consistent armory types across all players with varied specific offerings
Advanced Strategy: Coordinate with your partner about which gift types to prioritize based on your combined composition needs. Establishing gift priorities before they appear ensures you make time-efficient decisions during critical combat phases.
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No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » TFT patch 12.23 notes: Monsters Attack as TFT Set 8 goes live Complete TFT Set 8 guide with Hero Augments, ranked reset strategies, and item optimization tips
