Patch 2.1.62 landed on the Advanced Server on March 6, 2026. Seven heroes touched, two game modes updated, Ruby and Saber reverted. Moonton flagged Melissa, Terizla, and Yi Sun-shin as the patch's major changes, and for once, that label is accurate. Here is everything that moved, and what it means for the live server meta.
#Full Change Summary
| Hero | Direction | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Freya | Nerf | Balance |
| Melissa | Buff / Adjustment | Major Change |
| Ruby | Revert | Adjustment |
| Saber | Revert | Adjustment |
| Terizla | Buff | Major Change |
| Xavier | Buff | Balance |
| Yi Sun-shin | Adjustment | Major Change |
#Yi Sun-shin: The Adjustment That Is Actually a Nerf
Moonton's phrasing: "slightly reduced the strategic importance of Yi Sun-shin's Ultimate." Translation: the global map pressure that made Yi Sun-shin the centerpiece of coordinated draft strategies is getting trimmed.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Turtle Ship Max Duration | 15s | 10s |
| Passive Attack Speed scaling | No | Yes |
The 33% reduction in Turtle Ship duration is the headline. At 15 seconds, YSS could deploy the ship from a comfortable distance and use the travel time as a scouting tool, a pick setup, or a zoning instrument across the entire map. At 10 seconds, the ship needs to be launched closer to the target to arrive before it expires. Less strategic flexibility, more mechanical execution.
Moonton pairs this with a genuine passive buff: Enhanced Basic Attacks now scale with Attack Speed. This opens up a new attack-speed itemization path and is the first time YSS's AA chain has benefited from AS stacking. It partially offsets the ult nerf in side lane contexts, where the ship duration matters less than in cross-map plays.
Net read: This is a pro play adjustment. In solo queue, YSS players rarely extracted the full 15 seconds of Turtle Ship utility anyway. At Mythic+ and in MPL, however, the ship was a legitimate draft tool. The duration cut makes the ult more reactive and less proactive. Moonton's own note says "we will continue to monitor", which is developer-speak for "we're not confident this is calibrated correctly yet."
YSS's ban rate at Mythic sitting around 28% pre-patch suggests the hero was considered a priority. Expect that number to soften post-live if the ult nerf holds.
#Terizla: No More Mana, No More Problems
This is the most structurally significant change in the patch.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Mana System | Present | Removed |
| Skill Cost | Mana-dependent | Free |
Terizla's gameplay loop has always been built around Spell Vamp. His skills deal high damage and return HP proportionally, meaning a Terizla at 30% HP after a trade can recover to near-full before the enemy can follow up. The problem: his Mana pool would drain faster than his HP recovered, forcing base recalls that interrupted his sustain cycle.
Removing Mana doesn't buff his numbers. His damage, cooldowns, and healing percentages stay identical. What it changes is continuity. Terizla can now full-rotation through waves and team fights back to back without a recall tax. That's a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade in the EXP lane, where sustain across extended skirmishes defines who wins the 2v1.
The comparison to Hilda and Khaleed (two mana-free fighters who dominate the EXP lane through attrition) is apt. Both heroes benefit specifically from not having to manage a secondary resource during extended brawls. Terizla now sits in that category.
He was already functional at Mythic. This change makes him more consistent, specifically in the mid-to-late game where mana runs out fastest. If you were already running Terizla in EXP lane, nothing about his playstyle changes. If you were avoiding him because of the recall-every-two-waves issue, that objection is now gone.
#Melissa: A Kit Restructure, Not Just a Buff
Melissa's changes are the most technically complex in this patch. Three skills touched, all in different directions.
| Skill | Change | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Skill 1 | Cooldown 7.5-5s → 5-3.5s. CD reduction from Muddles removed. | Adjustment |
| Skill 2 | Can now be cast during Skill 1. | Buff |
| Ultimate | Passive removed. Now grants shield: 300-700 (+200% Extra Physical Attack) on cast. | Adjustment |
The key interaction is Skill 2 during Skill 1. Previously, Melissa had to complete Skill 1's animation before accessing Skill 2, creating a window where she was committed to a direction and couldn't react. Canceling into Skill 2 mid-animation adds fluidity and makes her harder to trade against during the combo.
The Skill 1 cooldown reduction is a net positive despite removing the Muddle-based CD reduction mechanic. At max level, 5s base versus 7.5s base is straightforwardly faster. The Muddle mechanic was unreliable anyway, it required landing Muddles, which enemies could avoid.
The Ultimate change is the one worth watching. Replacing the passive with a cast-activated shield introduces a defensive option that previously didn't exist. At max rank, 700 (+200% Extra Physical Attack) shield scales meaningfully with physical attack items, which Melissa already builds. This trades a passive survivability layer for an active one. Higher skill ceiling, but potentially more effective in the right hands.
Moonton's stated intent: "help her better deal with counter heroes." Counter-specific shielding on demand is the correct design answer to heroes that hard-counter Melissa's cage (Kaja, Franco, any grab that pulls her out of position).
#Freya: HP Regen Trimmed
Freya has been an EXP lane priority since her revamp, with sustain in the early laning phase that was disproportionate to her damage output.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate HP Regen per Basic Attack | 60-120 | 40-80 |
A 33% reduction at both ends of the scaling. The early-game impact is more pronounced: at level 4 with Ult rank 1, the regen per basic drops from 60 to 40. That's the window where Freya was previously unkillable in 1v1 trades, she simply healed faster than she could be burst down. The nerf targets exactly that window without touching her damage.
It's a measured adjustment. Her late-game regen at max ult rank still recovers meaningful HP per swing. Freya doesn't fall off the meta tier list; she just loses the early laning phase invincibility that was making her oppressive to match against. Per our S40 mid lane meta breakdown, EXP lane dominance has a direct ripple into objective control timing.
#Xavier: +10% Scaling, Not Enough to Matter Yet
Xavier's Skill 1 damage ratio gets a small nudge.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Skill 1 Damage | 480-650 (+100% Total Magic Power) | 480-705 (+110% Total Magic Power) |
The base damage range is unchanged at the low end (480) and increases by 55 at max rank (650 to 705). The Magic Power scaling jumps from 100% to 110%. At a typical late-game 600 MP build, that's +60 damage per Skill 1 cast. Not irrelevant, but not going to change his meta position in isolation.
Xavier's actual problem is not damage numbers, it's mobility and positioning vulnerability. A 55 damage increase on Skill 1 does nothing to address the fact that he gets deleted by any assassin who reaches him. This is a nudge to make him slightly more threatening if he's already in a safe position, which is a fair incremental approach without overpushing a problematic hero.
For full context on the mid lane meta these changes land into, see our MLBB S40 mid lane mage tier list.
#Ruby and Saber: Reverted
Both heroes had adjustments in the previous patch that are being rolled back in 2.1.62. Moonton did not specify which changes were reverted. The standard read: the adjustments were either too impactful, created unforeseen interactions, or are being reworked before going live. Neither hero has a further note in this patch.
#Mode Adjustments
Tide Siege adds Gord, Benedetta, Harith, Clint, and Eudora to the available hero pool. Monster waves get slightly stronger. Cecilion is toned down (he was likely overperforming in the wave-clear role). The Hybrid Lifesteal Buff drop from monsters is replaced by Adaptive Penetration Buffs, a shift that benefits burst damage builds over sustain-oriented ones.
Frozen Sea Showdown receives the most changes:
- Flicker can now cross the river at its narrowest point, adding an escape option that changes chase dynamics significantly.
- Cyclone Eyes added near enemy chests for attack and escape utility.
- A new crab skill, The Hunt, grants temporary Conceal state, semi-transparent until taking damage or using a skill. Flicker does not break it.
- Hook immobilization duration increased from 0.3s to 0.4s (a 33% increase, actually meaningful in combo windows).
- Glacial Hook buff removed from the buff bar display; hook range and size now scale purely by player level.
- Kill count ticker frequency increased near match end.
- Hook displacement chaining bug fixed.
#Verdict: What This Patch Actually Does to the Meta
Three real changes here. The rest is maintenance.
YSS: Pro play nerf, solo queue impact minimal. Still S-tier in drafts, slightly less oppressive in coordinated play. Watch the ban rate drop from ~28% over the next two weeks.
Terizla: Quality of life buff with real implications. Gets meaningfully better in drawn-out games. If you're building him through Spell Vamp itemization, the mana removal removes the only thing that was holding the kit back from its theoretical ceiling.
Melissa: Genuine kit restructure. The skill chaining improvement alone justifies a re-evaluation of her pick viability. Whether the Ultimate shield replaces the passive loss effectively depends on player execution, it's a harder mechanic but a better one.
Freya: Still strong. Less unkillable in the first 8 minutes. EXP lane meta continues but with slightly more counterplay.
Xavier: Still requires more than a 10% scaling increase to crack the top tier mid lane selections.
These changes are Advanced Server only. Live server deployment timing has not been confirmed. Treat this patch as directional, not final. Moonton's own YSS note explicitly leaves room for follow-up adjustments.
For live-server hero data, check the MLBB stats page to track how these changes ripple through the Mythic rank pool once deployed.
