Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s 1.9.42 update went live on 18 December 2024 at 00:00 server time, bringing a new hero, broad fighter adjustments, equipment changes, the launch of MLBB Rising Open and the start of Season 35, according to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Wiki patch notes page.
The update is built around a clear balance target: several basic-attack-focused fighters were flagged as too dependent on late-game splitting and too weak early, while equipment tweaks also pushed some marksmen further than intended. The patch answers that with hero reworks, item adjustments and system changes that reach beyond ranked play.
Lukas arrives as a transform-focused fighter
The headline addition is Lukas, described as the “Beast of Light,” a fighter who can transform into a Sacred Beast and dominate the battlefield. The wiki says Lukas becomes available on 21 December, server time.
His kit revolves around building Resolve over time or by damaging enemy heroes. Once Resolve is full, his Ultimate lets him transform. In human form, Lukas uses Flash Combo, which can be enhanced by basic attacks, dealing extra hits, stunning enemies and restoring HP when he hits an enemy hero. Flash Step gives him a quick dash and upgrades his next basic attack into Flash Strike, letting him blink behind enemies, gain attack speed and movement speed, and summon lightning storms with basic attacks for extra damage.
His Ultimate, Unleash the Beast, transforms him into Sacred Beast form, greatly improving his attributes and empowering all of his skills. In that state, he gains access to Shockwave Blast, a large-area attack fired after tapping Ultimate again.
Fighters get the biggest overhaul
The designer note on the page says the team noticed several fighter heroes, including Sun, Argus, Aulus and Zilong, leaned too heavily on basic attacks and struggled to find a suitable role. The stated goal is to improve their early-game presence and, in some cases, their durability without forcing them to buy defensive gear first.
Sun gets one of the largest updates. The patch raises his burst damage and crowd control to improve jungle ganks, while also boosting his early sustainability for the EXP Lane. His base HP drops from 2580 to 2500, HP growth falls from 235 to 210, and attack speed growth is lowered from 3% to 2%. At the same time, his passive now reduces the target’s physical defense by 5% per stack up to 6 stacks, and his HP recovery on the Doppelganger changes from 50% of physical attack to 75 plus 25% of the Doppelganger’s physical attack. Both Skill 1 and Skill 2 keep the same cooldown ceiling but now scale down to 8 seconds, while Skill 2 no longer stops when it hits hero units. His Skill 3 gets higher damage, a slow effect and a longer cooldown, and the Doppelganger duration on his Ultimate is cut from 12 seconds to 8.
Argus receives a new Ultimate and several lane-oriented changes. The patch notes say he had become too strong in high-rank matches because of his one-on-one pressure and split-pushing, so his damage and objective pressure are being trimmed while his early-to-mid game is improved. His passive’s basic regen drops from 200 HP to 150 HP, while its damage changes from 150 plus 100% of total physical attack to 180 plus 80%. Skill 2 now grants 100 Malice Energy on hit instead of the old cursed-target bonus, though its base damage is reduced to 120-240. The new Ultimate has Argus draw his Meteoric Sword, deal physical damage around him and become the Fallen Angel. If he hits a hero, he enhances the sword and gains massive Malice Energy after Demonic Slash. If he would take fatal damage during the transformation, the state resets immediately; if not, the cooldown is reduced by 50% when the skill ends.
Aulus is adjusted toward more active combat. His passive now caps at 3 stacks instead of 4, but each stack grants 15% attack speed. The old physical penetration and movement speed bonuses are removed. Skill 2 now slows enemies by 20% for 3 seconds, and at full Fighting Spirit stacks it deals additional damage based on the target’s max HP, capped against creeps. His Ultimate now gives basic attacks a 50-point physical damage bonus at all times, stacking with the full-stack effect.
Zilong also gets a more aggressive early game. The update raises his base HP regen from 30 to 50 and adds bonus damage when the target is below 50% HP. His Ultimate attack speed boost is reduced, from 45%-75% down to 35%-55%.
Other fighters and assassins are tuned as well. Badang’s Skill 1 foreswing is shortened, and his Ultimate gets longer control duration but a much longer cooldown. Harith’s dashes are faster, slightly shorter and smoother to chain, while his basic attack range is raised to keep his follow-up damage intact. Dyrroth’s HP recovery is reworked to scale from max HP instead of damage dealt, and his Skill 2 can now target all units in its second phase. Cici’s basic attack range rises from 3 to 3.8, helping her maintain passive stacks. Alucard gets a slightly longer pause after Skill 1 and a reduced cooldown to match. Lancelot’s Skill 2 damage is lifted for the early-to-mid game. Karrie’s Ultimate now increases each basic attack’s damage by 40 when activated, and Irithel’s Ultimate damage scaling is improved for mid-game fights.
Items, ranked play and match systems shift
Equipment changes follow the same theme of tightening ranged pressure and rebalancing attack-speed scaling. Malefic Gun is nerfed after the developers say some marksmen gained more from it than expected. Its attack range increase falls from 15% to 12%, and the movement speed boost from basic attacks now lasts 0.5 seconds instead of 1 second.
Rose Gold Meteor receives a buff, though the patch text in the page cuts off before the full item details are listed. Even so, the opening designer note makes its purpose clear: to give basic-attack fighters more durability without making them buy tank items first.
- Malefic Gun: attack range bonus reduced from 15% to 12%
- Malefic Gun: movement speed boost duration reduced from 1 second to 0.5 seconds
- MLBB Rising Open launches in the system section
- MCL is removed
- Season 35 begins with the update
System changes also touch squad features, ranked play and new features, alongside a batch of optimizations and fixed issues. The patch notes list MLBB Rising Open under system adjustments, while MCL is explicitly removed. The ranked section, squad adjustments and other system updates are all part of the same 1.9.42 release that reshapes the game’s competitive framework as well as its hero balance.
Mode changes round out the patch
The update also includes adjustments for Brawl and Magic Chess, though the wiki entry does not frame these as the biggest headlines of the patch. They sit alongside battlefield control optimizations, bug fixes, other adjustments and a long events section that covers StarLight, free heroes, the Fragment Shop, the Season 35 first recharge event, a new skin, Zodiac Summon and StarLight Fest.
Taken together, 1.9.42 is one of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s broader balance passes of the year, with a clear emphasis on fighter identity, basic-attack tuning and the systems that support ranked and competitive play.
sun changes buff or nerf?
both i guess but mostly buff. they cut his HP and attack speed growth, but the defense shred and better sustain on doppelganger should make early fights less awful. old sun needed too much time before he did anything, and that is bad when every game is a roam fiesta.
still feels like a trade i can live with if lane sun stops being useless before 10 mins. the 8 second clone on ult is the part that might actually matter more to me.
yeah, in my matches sun either snowballed or did nothing. when he got to full items he was annoying, but early he was just free farm for jungler. this at least gives him some lane threat.
fair, i just hate when they make a hero feel good only after the whole map is already decided.
mcl gone is the real win
nah, season 35 and the new open system matter more than losing mcl. modes come and go, ranked and comps are what people grind.