Introduction

Hi everyone and welcome to Patch 6.8! This time around, Riot's released more tweaks than direct nerfs and buffs than usual, but it's clear they're trying to move use away from the tank meta back into a more risk/reward type scenario.

Check out this quick summary of changes and the full scope below!

Summary

Buffs: Galio, Olaf, Rumble

Nerfs: Master Yi

Tweaks: Ekko, Graves, Kog'Maw, Miss Fortune

Other Nerfs: Iceborn Gauntlet, Mercurial Scimitar, Corrupting Potion, Grasp of the Undying

Patch 6.8 notes

BY SCARIZARD

Greetings, summoners.

Welcome to patch 6.8, the one before mid-season (pre-mid-season?!). We’ll have more than enough time to talk about the specifics of that spicy update, but for the moment let’s ask this question - how do we balance in the face of an impending major update?

As you’d expect, the answer is ‘carefully.’ Knowing that all sorts of changes are coming for mages and their items limits what we can do in the short-term. Why buff a mage item or champion when we’ll be making sweeping changes to the entire class? Alternatively (I’m talking to you, Riven mains), buffing a champion that’s underperforming due to the current landscape is equally difficult, knowing that everything is about to change. Who gets stronger when the update hits? Who’s weaker? Does Zed still kill everyone (probably)? So, instead of talking about what we’re not changing in 6.8, let’s talk about what we are.

If our goal is to be careful, then that means focusing on outliers - either too dominant or too weak - that we don’t think mid-season will impact significantly. We’re toning down some early-game sustain, as well as the main offenders in the ‘Everyone Gets To Be A Tank’ party (Ekko, Iceborn Gauntlet). We’re also showing love to some fan favorites (MF, Rumble) that play particularly well with and against the wizardly warriors to be spruced up next patch.

Mix it all together with a fabulous new Taric and you’ve got yourself a medium-sized patch with just enough excitement to hold you over until a cadre of updated mages waltz up and optic blast you into the next dimension (look out for Malzahar). That’s all for us this patch - we’ll see you around the Rift, playing some new champion named ‘Galio’.

Good luck, have fun.

Patrick "Scarizard" Scarborough

Champions

Taric

Taric, the Shield of Valoran, will be updated with the launch of patch 6.8! To learn more, check the following links:

Ekko

W and E base damage down, but AP scaling increased.

Ekko’s rampage through toplane may be a problem of the present, but this isn’t the first time this has happened. To recap our feelings about Tank Ekko (from way back in 5.15) - it’s about tradeoffs. AP Ekko earns his game-ending skirmish potential by putting himself at constant risk: Chronobreak and Parallel Convergence are unwieldy when Ekko’s fragile enough to die before he can use them optimally. Tank Ekko’s survivability makes these tools much more reliable, but due to a combination of low cooldowns and high base damage, he still brings the beatdown as well. We’re fine with Tank Ekko shining in specific situations, but significantly lowering the build’s damage output (relative to AP-focused builds) ensures Ekko’s risk-reward paradigm is kept in check.

W - Parallel Convergence

PASSIVE ON-HIT DAMAGE5% of the target’s missing health ⇒ 3% of the target’s missing health

PASSIVE ON-HIT RATIO1% per 50 ability power ⇒ 1% per 33 ability power

NEWI LIKE HITTING YOUNow deals a minimum of 15 damage to minions and monsters

E - Phase Dive

BASE DAMAGE50/80/110/140/170 ⇒ 40/65/90/115/140

RATIO0.2 ability power ⇒ 0.4 ability power

Galio

E costs less and gives more movement speed.

Galio presents a powerful option for those who like to make a big impact in close quarters, but often runs out of steam before teams start grouping up. We’re tossing him a stone to help smooth his laning interactions (especially when pushed into his tower), as well as enable sweet roaming plays if the situation arises.

E - Righteous Gust

COST70/75/80/85/90 mana ⇒ 60/65/70/75/80 mana

MOVEMENT SPEED20/28/36/44/52% ⇒ 30/35/40/45/50%

Graves

Basic attacks deal less damage, but crits are more valuable.

Graves doesn’t know the first thing about time-travel, but he and Ekko share a lot of similarities this patch - they deal tons of damage, and they’re practically unkillable. While Graves isn’t building pure defense, his unique interactions with lifesteal and basic-attack scaling let him get away with prioritizing efficient hybrid defensive items (Death’s Dance, Maw, Sterak’s) to wreck early and wreck late. We’re retuning New Destiny’s specs so Graves has to make a choice between being critting people’s heads off or being the gritty, sustained cleanup crew.

Passive - New Destiny

RATIO ON FIRST HIT0.75 - 1.1 total attack damage (from levels 1-18) ⇒ 0.7 - 1.0 total attack damage (from levels 1-18)

BULLETS ON CRIT8 ⇒ 6

NEWCRITICAL THINKINGEach crit bullet deals 140% damage (Infinity Edge increases this to 160%)

Kog'Maw

Q shred up at early levels. W damage down.

When last we joined Kog’Maw on his adventures through patch notes, we spoke a lot about giving hypercarries a more even power curve than just ‘great late, awful early.’ These changes are furthering that philosophy, letting Kog feel like he gets to have a Q and reining in his insane power spike.

Q - Caustic Spittle

ARMOR/MR SHRED12/16/20/24/28% ⇒ 20/22/24/26/28%

W - Bio-Arcane Barrage

BASE ON-HIT DAMAGE10/15/20/25/30 ⇒ 4/8/12/16/20

Master Yi

R cooldown up and duration down, but its reset duration increased.

While much of Master Yi’s strength comes from his synergy with two powerful items (Guinsoo’s Rageblade + Sated Devourer), his lack of downtime has always been a frustration. We’re tuning Yeezy’s all-in window to reward using Highlander at the right time, rather than ‘whenever.’

R - Highlander

COOLDOWN75 seconds ⇒ 85 seconds

DURATION10 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds

EXTENSION ON KILL OR ASSIST4 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds

Miss Fortune

W duration and cooldown up. Love Tap no longer extends W’s duration, but now reduces its cooldown.

Ever since Miss Fortune’s dominating preseason performance, the Bounty Hunter’s business seems to be anything but booming. Her contributions to clustered fights are still worth a pretty silver serpent, but MF’s ability to compete alongside her marksman siblings outside of that best-case scenario is lacking. Retuning Strut for higher potential uptime should bring Miss Fortune’s baseline a little closer to the expectations of her class, without hindering the unique bullet-hell style of teamfighting she’s known for.

W - Strut

ATTACK SPEED DURATION3 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds

COOLDOWN8 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds

REMOVEDTAP DANCINGApplying Love Tap no longer extends the duration

NEWSTRUT YOUR STUFFCooldown now begins on-cast instead of when the buff expires

NEWGUNS BLAZINGWhile Strut is on cooldown, applying Love Tap reduces its remaining cooldown by 2 seconds (scales down with cooldown reduction)

Olaf

W lifesteal and R’s armor and magic resist increased.

Olaf’s a champion that has all the tools necessary to stick to targets and wreck faces in a big brawl, but there’s one problem: he’s dying too fast. Berserkers thrive in bloody combat, so we’re amping Olaf’s durability to tip the scales in his favor when he picks the right moment to go all-out (instead of falling flat).

W - Vicious Strikes

LIFESTEAL9/12/15/18/21% ⇒ 14/16/18/20/22%

R - Ragnarok

PASSIVE ARMOR/MR10/20/30 ⇒ 20/30/40

Rumble

Q deals full damage to minions. R’s cooldown lowered.

Once a professional staple, Rumble’s struggled to succeed in 2016. This scrappy yordle’s game is one of attrition; nickel-and-diming opponents with persistent damage and forcing them out of lane (or Equalizing them for overstaying their welcome). This season’s premium sustain options - Corrupting Potion and Grasp of the Undying - has left Rumble lacking the ability to get damage to stick. Rather than commit ourselves to an arms-race of upping his damage to compete with early game sustain (which we’re taking a swing at further below), we’re opting to instead give Rumble greater flexibility in lane control.

General

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLENow has a recommended item page for Jungle

Q - Flamespitter

DAMAGE TO MINIONS50% ⇒ 100%

R - The Equalizer

COOLDOWN120/110/100 seconds ⇒ 110/100/90 seconds

Splash Updates

11 completely new splashes that’ll be around for a long time.

As mentioned last patch, the Global Splash Unification work is a short-term solution. So, what’s the long-term solution? Comprehensive updates like the eleven splashes here. Splash updates are now baked into our Champion Update process (see: Poppy, Shen, and of course Taric), and we’ll opportunistically release small batches like this one when we can.

Viscero Xin Zhao

Darius

Evelynn

Fiddlesticks

Kennen

Blade Mistress Morgana

Rammus

Galactic Renekton

Swain

Warwick

Tundra Hunter Warwick

Global Splash Unification

Updating old splash arts to be the same in all regions. Part several of several.

Context here’s the same as with last patch. These splash swaps are short term changes to ensure players in all regions see the same splashes. They aren’t taking the place of proper upgrades (like the ones in the section above)!

The following splash arts have been modified or replaced with the Tencent version (apologies for the wall of text):

Modified updates from 6.7

Crimson Akali, Stinger Akali, Gentleman Cho’Gath

Annie-Ryze

Frostfire Annie, Goth Annie, Commando Garen, Dragon Fist Lee Sin, Crimson Elite Riven, Rumble in the Jungle, Bilgerat Rumble, Tribal Ryze, Triumphant Ryze, Zombie Ryze

Shaco-Swain

Mad Hatter Shaco, Royal Shaco, Nutcracko, Workshop Shaco, Asylum Shaco, Boneclaw Shyvana, Hextech Sion, Warmonger Sion, Warrior Princess Sivir, Spectacular Sivir, Huntress Sivir, Bandit Sivir, PAX Sivir, Muse Sona, Divine Soraka, Bilgewater Swain

Talon-Urgot

Renegade Talon, Recon Teemo, Cottontail Teemo, Highland Tryndamere, King Tryndamere, Musketeer Twisted Fate, Kingpin Twitch, Whistler Village Twitch, Gangster Twitch, Primal Udyr, Giant Enemy Crabgot, Butcher Urgot

Vayne-Zilean

Vindicator Vayne, Veigar Greybeard, Nosferatu Vladimir, Vandal Vladimir, Thunder Lord Volibear, Big Bad Warwick, Feral Warwick, Base Xin Zhao, Commando Xin Zhao, Winged Hussar Xin Zhao, Major Ziggs, Groovy Zilean

Items

Iceborn Gauntlet

Proc damage decreased.

Sheen’s always offered champions with low cooldowns and high base damage a cost-efficient damage option (without having to go too far into full-damage builds). From there, the branching paths tell the story of what you want your Sheen to do. Do I want an extra AP Ratio? Lichbane. Do I want to deal tons of damage? Trinity Force. In-fight utility? Iceborn Gauntlet. The latter has done a fantastic job of holding up its utility promise - but the extra damage it provides is allowing beefier builds to squeeze too much effectiveness out of their kits. Given how much cheaper it is to build than the other Sheen upgrades, we’re taking a stab at sharpening those identities and making Iceborn markedly weaker than its alternatives at winning duels.

SPELLBLADE125% base attack damage ⇒ 100% base attack damage

Mercurial Scimitar

Cost and attack damage lowered.

Mercurial Scimitar is really gold efficient. Reaaaaally gold efficient. That’s not a problem by itself, but when tied to an incredibly powerful active in the form of Quicksilver Sash’s omni-cleanse, over-efficiency pushes Scimitar over the edge. Mercurial’s often purchased for its amazing statline alone, and its active is conveniently countering a lot of champions in the process. Scimitar’s still a great choice for a carry under pressure, but shrinking its efficiency means it makes less sense without a clear use for the active.

TOTAL COST3700 gold ⇒ 3600 gold

COMBINE COST625 gold ⇒ 525 gold

ATTACK DAMAGE75 ⇒ 65

Corrupting Potion

Gives less health but more mana.

Corrupting Potion was our attempt at allowing champions to declare their intent to fight via its burn effect: compared to the Doran’s items, Corrupting Potion only gets its full value if you take advantage of its burn by trading aggressively with other champions.

Unfortunately, the high sustain on Corrupting Potion also makes it the go-to item for champions who want to passively sit in lane. While the mana enables champions to trade more often, the health is just delaying recalls to base. We’re sharpening the trading aspects of Corrupting Potion while dialing back on the sustain.

HEALTH REGENERATION150 health per charge ⇒ 125 health per charge

MANA REGENERATION50 mana per charge ⇒ 75 mana per charge

Masteries

Feast

Cooldown increased.

Feast has become the poster child for conservative gameplay. Access to this sustain has crowded out the riskier mastery options at that level (namely Double-Edged Sword), making it hard for lane bullies to succeed at forcing weaker laners back to the fountain. Limiting Feast to one proc per wave tones down the impact it has on lane while keeping its heal amount satisfying.

COOLDOWN25 seconds ⇒ 30 seconds

Secret Stash

Gives less health but more mana.

You can probably write this patch note on your own. Using abilities more in lane: good. Sustaining effortlessly through lane: bad. Biscuit is another place to drive that home. Corrupting Biscuit.

INSTANT BISCUIT HEALTH20 ⇒ 15

INSTANT BISCUIT MANA10 ⇒ 15

Grasp of the Undying

Less health and damage.

If you’ve spent some time in top lane during Season 6, you’ve seen Grasp of the Undying again, and again, and again (there’s an Ekko joke somewhere in here). We have nothing against a tank mastery being strong on tanks, but not only is the level of sustain making tanks immovable in lane, the damage turns them from CC bots to killing machines. Who are still CC bots.

This change probably won’t solve Grasp’s problems on its own, but we want to at least tone it down while we continue exploring our options.

HEALTH STEAL3% maximum health ⇒ 2.5% maximum health

Spell Shields

It’s well-known that spell shields can block multiple abilities that hit at the exact same time - basically, spell shields protect you for a tiny window of time, regardless of what hits you in that moment. This window is very slightly inconsistent depending on server refresh rates. Combined with the fact that certain spells in our game (like Corki’s R - Missile Barrage) are broken into multiple sections code-side, this means that on rare occasions, some part of these ‘multi-hit’ abilities falls on the wrong side of the refresh and ‘goes through’ spell shields. We’ve refactored the window to be consistent so this shouldn’t happen anymore.

SPELL IT OUTFixed a bug where certain abilities could pop a spell shield and still take effect.

Store Visual Refresh

We’re updating the League store later this patch with a visual refresh, which should help it look more like the rest of the client. The most noticeable change is the navigation bar moving from its old spot on the left side of the store to the top.

NEW LOOKThe League store has been updated to look more like the rest of the client

STREAMLINEDThe navigation bar has fewer categories

GAMEPLAYAccess this menu for runes and boosts

ACCESSORIESWard skins, summoner icons, and Hextech chests and keys live here.

BUTTONSRP purchase, gifting, and account (name changes, server transfers) buttons can be found on the right side of the navigation bar

New Champ Select

This patch, we've got changes in to address a few straggling concerns, including the return of the See More Stats panel! (Rest in peace, See More Stats graphs.)

MISPLACED MASTERIESFixed a bug where viewing another player's masteries when a New Champion Select queue popped caused you to lose access to your own masteries

CLICK METhe ranked stats panel view in the "See More Stats" menu has returned!

EFFECTIVE ADVERTISINGThe game creation lobby now indicates which types of points can be earned through matches arranged via New Champ Select

In-Game Settings

Spellcasting defaults to Quick Cast with Range Indicators. Saved settings are unaffected.

As a reminder, Quick Cast with Range Indicators makes it so that on key press, an ability’s range indicator appears, and on key release, it fires. This setup’s proven to be the most intuitive for new players, but required multiple changes in the options menu to get to (which can be overwhelming when you’re trying to learn everything). We removed that roadblock last patch by adjusting settings defaults, anticipating new players would get the desired win while existing players wouldn’t notice since the change doesn’t modify existing account settings.

...Turns out we underestimated how frequently “Restore Defaults” is still used, especially in PC cafes, and a lot of you chalked the change up to a settings bug. So, we’re here now to explain our reasoning and confirm that this is indeed intentional.

QUICK!Quick cast is now the default setting for all ability and item hotkeys

INDICATE!Range Indicators are now enabled by default

Bugfixes

The burn auras for Enchantment - Cinderhulk and Sunfire Cape no longer stack
Zed no longer gains 20 extra attack damage when activating W - Living Shadow
Karthus's W - Wall of Pain properly grants vision again
Fixed a bug where Karthus's abilities sometimes failed to apply the slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter during Passive - Death Defied
Ekko's Q - Timewinder on-hit sound effects when returning have been restored
Chilling Smite properly dismounts Quinn during R - Behind Enemy Lines
Fixed a bug where Renekton's W - Ruthless Predator sometimes wasn't applying the proper number of Black Cleaver stacks
Rammus's Q - Powerball self-knockup no longer overrides other knockup/knockback effects (ex. Poppy ult, Alistar Headbutt)
The Bandit mastery no longer grants gold when enemy pets (ex. Tibbers, Elise spiderlings) die
Urgot's R - Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser no longer completes its swap if Urgot dies mid-channel
Oracle's Extract can now properly be purchased while dead on Howling Abyss
Unmuting the Master Volume slider no longer causes individually muted sounds to play
Custom R - Feast sound effects for both Battlecast and Gentleman Cho'Gath have been restored
Increased the volume of Meowkai's E - ~~Sapling~~ Catling Toss sound effects
Increased the volume on a few of PROJECT: Yi's movement voiceover lines
Restored icy wind audio for Blackfrost Anivia's Passive - Rebirth revive channel
Gravelord Azir no longer sometimes plays Azir's base voiceover lines
Jhin's Q - Dancing Grenade bounces no longer play Karma's Q - Inner Flame audio when both are in the game. Thief.
Arcade Hecarim's E - Devastating Charge rainbow trail and arrow effects have been restored
Pool Party Lulu's W - Polymorph victims now properly identify themselves as Seals in chat, rather than Cupcakes

Upcoming Skins

Infernal Diana will be released in patch 6.8 to commemorate Team Fire’s victory in the 2015 All-Star event!

Apr 20, 2016

Official Patch 6.8 Notes Released!