Hey y'all. Congratulations, you survived last patch's spiciness! You win nothing.
We're taking another pass at nerfing Urgot, along with first-time nerfs to some other dominant champerdogs. But we're also giving a little love to a troll, a horse, and a screeching Void monster. As a quick follow-up to marksman items, we're making some minor adjustments to Essence Reaver and Kai'Sa's recommended items (stop building Stormrazor first), but otherwise have kept things mostly untouched.
We also kneecapped the top lane Frostmancy strat partway through last patch, but it bears repeating here given the notoriety the strategy attained. We're looking into more permanent solutions to both Spellthief's Edge and Ancient Coin item lines, but for now we're carrying 9.3's mid-patch update forward.
Let's get into it!
Paul "RiotAether" Perscheid Hanna “shio shoujo” Woo
Preseason's changes to Dark Harvest and rune stats were more than "just a little" nice for Karthus. Now he's everywhere and ruining your life. Less damage on Lay Waste will help opponents have a chance at fighting back. Here's the caveat we'll add for our "5 damage lul" change— Karthus spams his Q more often than most champs cast their abilities, so the numbers definitely add up.
Ardent Blaze allows Lucian to rapidly max out Manaflow Band, trivializing the cost of spamming his abilities. We're forcing more of a tradeoff if Lucian goes the Manaflow optimization route by sapping his resources faster and weakening the strength of his all-in when he does.
W - Ardent Blaze
COST :[50]⇒ 70 mana
BASE DAMAGE :
[85/125/165/205/245]
⇒
75/110/145/180/215
Rek'Sai Burrowed Q now grants Fury. Unburrowed Q ends when burrowed for more than 1 second. Rek'Sai now burrows on respawn. Tremor Sense visuals brightened. R is undodgeable.
We took a quality-of-life pass at Rek'Sai's abilities, implementing smaller visual additions and kit revisions to help her feel better to play. Queen's Wrath will come off cooldown earlier after clearing a camp since Rek'Sai no longer has to wait for the buff to expire before the cooldown starts, and (a couple of very specific cases aside) Void Rush is no longer avoidable.
Passive - Fury of the Xer'Sai
NOT ORANGEBUT : Fury Bar now changes color from yellow to red when charged to max
Q - Prey Seeker
FAST AND THE FURY-OUS : Now grants 25 Fury to match Rek'Sai's other abilities
Q - Queen's Wrath
CALM DOWN : Effect now ends and goes on cooldown if Rek'Sai is burrowed for more than 1 second
W - Burrow
TREMOR SENSE : Tracking visuals for nearby enemies brightened
6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER : Rek'Sai immediately burrows on respawn once she has at least one point in W
R - Void Rush
GOTTA GO FAST : Enemies can now only dodge Void Rush by dashing or blinking massive distances away from Rek'Sai
Sylas Q radius increased vs champions. W heal decreased. R no longer fizzles if Sylas loses vision of his target.
Sylas has landed in a pretty good spot since release, but there are a few usability issues on Chain Lash which we want to address. These fixes (plus a small Kingslayer nerf) will offer Sylas players a more meaningful choice between maxing Q or W first.
Q - Chain Lash
DETONATION RADIUS :
200 vs minions and monsters,
[150]
⇒
180
vs champions
CAST RANGE INDICATOR : Now includes an indicator to show the detonation location and radius
W - Kingslayer
BASE HEAL :
[50/85/120/155/190]
⇒
50/80/110/140/170
ICON : Icon border now glows when Sylas is within the max healing threshold
NUMBERS : Kingslayer's damage displays as a crit if Sylas' target was within the bonus damage threshold
R - Hijack
TURRET AGGRESSION : Sylas no longer draws turret aggro when stealing an enemy's ultimate
??? : Hijack no longer fizzles if Sylas loses sight of his target before the cast finishes
Before Worlds, we gave Thresh some buffs that allowed him to throw his hook more often in the early game. We're partially reverting those changes since he's proving to be too oppressive in lane.
Q - Death Sentence
COST :[60]⇒ 70 mana
COOLDOWN :
[16/15/14/13/12]
⇒
20/18/16/14/12
seconds
Urgot Q cost increased. W shield decreased, cost increased early.
We thought we had put Urgie in a good place after the last nerfs in 9.2. Alas, he's continued to be an unstoppable force in lane with help from his low-cost shield and canisters. Urgot players will now have to choose between poking from range or shielding up to duel when spending their mana.
We buffed Yasuo last midseason when Infinity Edge lost its critical strike chance and bonus crit damage. As of last patch, Infinity Edge once again has critical strike chance and bonus crit damage so we're mostly reverting his midseason buffs (Steel Tempest gets to keep some buff since IE didn't get all its bonus crit damage back).
Base Stats
ATTACK DAMAGE :[63]⇒ 60
Q - Steel Tempest
CRITICAL STRIKE DAMAGE :[+80%]⇒ +60%
Zed Attack speed growth increased. Q damage increased. W recast range increased; cooldown decreased. R no longer grants attack damage on kill.
The theory behind Zed's Death Mark passive—kill high-AD threats to get stronger—breaks down in practice because the highest-AD target is often not the most important threat for Zed to go after. At the same time, buffs to make hunting the highest-AD target correct at all times would make Zed entirely reliant on Reaper of Shadows, preventing him from finding success in other ways. We're removing it and giving its power back to Zed in areas he's been struggling in, namely a better early lane and more powerful late-game splitpushing.
Base Stats
ATTACK SPEED GROWTH :[2.1%]⇒ 3.3%
Q - Razor Shuriken
DAMAGE :
[80/115/150/185/220 (+0.9 bonus AD)]
⇒
90/125/160/195/230 (+1.0 bonus AD)
W - Living Shadow
RECAST RANGE :[1300]⇒ 1950 range
COOLDOWN :
[22/20/18/16/14]
⇒
20/18.5/17/15.5/14
seconds
R - Death Mark
REAPER OF SHADOWS Zed no longer gains 5 (+5/10/15% target's AD)attack damage when Death Mark earns him a takedown on a target that would grant him a higher bonus than his current one
ConquerorUPDATED Grants stacking adaptive force on damaging enemy champions. At max stacks, converts a portion of damage vs champions to true damage and heals for that amount.
Conqueror was designed to help fighters in extended combat, but it offers too much immediate power since users can bypass its initial delay—the window where opponents should have the upper hand—by staying in combat against minions so Conqueror is prepped at all times. We're removing this workaround, meaning users will actually have to grapple with its ramp-up. They now gain Conqueror's bonus damage steadily over their first few hits in combat, so they won't be completely helpless when a fight breaks out. (Note: Conqueror gives adaptive force instead of attack damage now. Go wild, AP champs.)
In terms of Conqueror's "unlocked" state, we've turned half of its true damage conversion into healing. This gives tanks, who were previously melted by the conversion, a reasonable shot at standing against Conqueror champs while still giving fighters a tool to avoid being ground down in teamfights before reaching the enemy backline.
THE OLD THING After 4 seconds in combat, your first basic attack against an enemy champion grants 6-35 attack damage (levels 1-18) for 3 seconds and converts 20% of your damage against champions to true damage. Melee champions can refresh the duration by damaging an enemy champion.
THENEW THING Damaging attacks and abilities grant 3-15 adaptive force (levels 1-18) for 3 seconds (8 seconds for melee), stacking up to 5 times to a max of 15-75. At 5 stacks, 10% of your damage against champions is converted to true damage and you heal for that amount.
ATTRITION : Damage-over-time effects and ongoing sources of damage (ex. Yorick's Maiden of the Mist) can grant one stack every 5 seconds
Essence Reaver Attack damage increased. Cooldown reduction is now unique.
Essence Reaver was a little weak after the marksman item changes from the last patch. We're buffing it.
ATTACK DAMAGE :[60]⇒ 65
WHOOPS : Cooldown reduction is now UNIQUE
SHOP : Now appears in the correct shop categories
Mid-Patch 9.3 Item Updates
These changes went live last patch, but bear repeating for those who missed them. We took a heavy-handed approach to remove the "Frostmancy" strategy (harass your lane opponent with Tribute procs and maintain their income with Kleptomancy while ignoring last hitting) in top lane and are working on a more refined solution for the long-term.
First wave of top and bot lane minions are ghosted for longer after spawning.
This change addresses some edge cases and unintuitive interactions that (pro) players can use to interfere with the first minion wave of the game.
GHOSTED : The first wave of top and bot lane minions are ghosted for [18]⇒ 28 seconds after spawning (mid lane minions unchanged at 18 seconds of ghosting)
Things've been stable on the ARURF balance front over the past few weeks. We've got one new nerf for Garen and an official heads-up on some changes that shipped earlier but got lost somewhere in the bucket of champion balance updates.
Arcane Comet This change went live a while back so this is just formal notice!
BUGFIX : Proccing Arcane Comet while inside the Catapult of Champions no longer lets you right click to fire a second Arcane Comet like a skillshot
Elder Dragon This change went live a while back so this is just formal notice!
NERF : The first Elder Dragon buff is less tower-melty
ARURF Poro Pets
Once 9.4 drops, equip a poro pet summoner icon to bring a fluffy (or spiky or fiery or whatever) buddy along for the ride in your ARURF matches! These are the same icons that summoned poro pets in other modes like Legend of the Poro King and Nexus Blitz.
Bringing Kennen's attacks and abilities up to current League quality and readability standards.
BASIC ATTACK : Shuriken model and hit VFX updated for readability between basic attack, empowered attack, and Thundering Shuriken
MARK OF THE STORM : Proc VFX updated to better indicate source of the stun. Passive marks on minions are dimmer.
THUNDERING SHURIKEN : Shuriken model and hit VFX updated for readability between basic attack, empowered attack, and Thundering Shuriken
ELECTRICAL SURGE : Surge VFX updated. Empowered attack shuriken model and hit VFX updated for readability between basic attack, empowered attack, and Thundering Shuriken.
LIGHTNING RUSH : VFX updated to indicate area of effect and show Kennen's model during the animation
SLICING MAELSTROM : VFX updated to reduce visual noise
BLOOD MOON KENNEN : Unique VFX updated based on the same principles as the above
SUPER KENNEN : Does a superhero pose during Lightning Rush
SHURIKEN : All other skins use Kennen's base VFX aside from changing the shape of their shuriken where applicable
Bringing Riven's attacks and abilities up to current League quality and readability standards.
BASIC ATTACK : Visual noise reduced
RUNIC BLADE : Riven's sword and hand now glow instead of creating a green energy ball with rune trails on top of her hand
BROKEN WINGS : VFX updated to be less noise and unique per cast. Ground damage VFX added to indicate area of effect.
KI BURST : VFX updated to reduce visual noise on the ground symbol and better indicate area of effect
VALOR : Dash and shield VFX updated. Shield runes changed to be the pieces of Riven's sword.
BLADE OF THE EXILE : Buff VFX surrounding Riven cleaned up; stronger buff VFX added to her sword. Other ability VFX properly indicates increased area of effect while R is active. Wind Slash VFX is clearer and now appears as a single strike.
BATTLE BUNNY RIVEN : VFX infused with beta keratin (they're recolored orange). E shield runes are carrots.
DRAGONBLADE RIVEN : Has skin-specific smokey/firey VFX. Passive VFX is a flame ring around her hand. E shield runes are dragon crests.
Bringing Wukong's attacks and abilities up to current League quality and readability standards.
SFX UPDATES : Base, Volcanic, General, Jade Dragon, and Underworld Wukong have received updated basic attack, Q, E, and R SFX
BASIC ATTACK : Now has swipe VFX. Hit VFX added.
CRUSHING BLOW : Buff and swing VFX updated to reduce visual noise. Hit VFX updated to be more impactful. Armor debuff icon now appears on target.
DECOY : Cloud VFX on clone despawn updated to reduce visual noise
NIMBUS STRIKE Cloud VFX on dash updated to be wispier and leave a slight trail :
CYCLONE : VFX updated to be cloudier, less noisy, and easier to read. The tip of Wukong's staff now leaves a bright VFX trail to better indicate area of effect.
GENERAL WUKONG : Has gray recoloring on basic attack swipe and R VFX
JADE WUKONG : Has jade green recoloring on basic attack swipe, Q, and R VFX
UNDERWORLD WUKONG : Has spectral green recoloring on all VFX
RADIANT WUKONG : Q uses base's new swing and hit VFX. E dash and R VFX updated but still use skin-specific cloud effects.
We've been working on fixes and improvements to Ranked since the season started in 9.2. Here's a rundown of some changes coming this patch, as well as a quick summary of stuff we've already done that you might've missed!
New to 9.4
CHALLENGER : Challenger opens on February 20
SPLASH UP : LP splashing can now put your off-positions into promotion series
HEADS UP : You now get decay warnings for your off-positions
RANKED EMOTES : Once you've earned the Ranked emote, it'll upgrade as you complete promo series and climb the ladder
NAME DROP : The animated celebrations for promoting into a new tier now includes your summoner name
PAPER TRAIL : Hovering over your split points now shows you how you earned those points
Already shipped
GRANDMASTER : Grandmaster opened on February 7
SWAP STOP : Ranked is better at preventing position swap abuse
TOP HEAVY : LP gains and losses at Diamond and above were adjusted due to too many players rapidly climbing into Master and above
Fixed debug text in the Collection and Profile tabs
Neeko's Shapesplitter passive now properly damages turrets when Neeko has more ability power than attack damage
Kalista can no longer cast Rend with insufficient mana
Anivia's Flash Frost and Glacial Storm slow particles no longer persist on enemies
Twitch's Spray and Pray now properly procs Energized effects when attacking from Rapid Firecannon's max range
Urgot's Fear Beyond Death execute indicator no longer shows up on enemies when Urgot is dead
Fixed an issue where chargeable abilities (ex. Varus' Piercing Arrow could sometimes become unable to be cast, causing champions to sit through the entire charge window until the ability fizzled
Restored Festival Queen Anivia's SFX on her joke, taunt, dance, laugh, idle, and death animations
Restored Gun Goddess Miss Fortune's SFX on her death, homeguard, and recall animations
Turning off the "Show Loss of Control UI" toggle now properly keeps the option disabled across matches
Paul "RiotAether" Perscheid
Hanna “shio shoujo” Woo
Papercraft Anivia
Papercraft Nunu & Willump
Papercraft Anivia
Papercraft Nunu & Willump
