Official Patch 6.19 Notes Released!

Introduction

The latest patch notes for 6.19 are available, and sport a sizable nerf to Soraka coupled with a a big tweak on Kog'Maw. Meanwhile, two historically problem junglers (Dr. Mundo and Udyr) were given a decent sized buff, so expect to see a lot more of them in the upcoming patch. Check out this quick summary and full scoop below!

Summary

Buffs: Corki, Dr. Mundo, Singed, Udyr

Nerfs: Anivia, Aurelion Sol, Cassiopeia, Kled, Soraka, Twitch,

Tweaks: Kog'Maw

Patch 6.19 notes

BY SCARIZARD, AETHER, & GENTLEMAN GUSTAF

Got patching problems? Check the Boards for tips and solutions!

Greetings, Summoners.

Welcome to 6.19, the one where we return to our normal programming. That means two things: first, we can tackle a few projects deemed too risky for patches hyper-focused on Worlds, and second, our balance focus has returned to standard calibration.

So, what’ve we got? The biggest change of the patch is a partial revert of last year’s update to Kog’Maw. The context there is twice as long as this foreword, so we’ll gloss over the topic here. Void doggos aside, we’re also looking at champs whose strengths or weaknesses are out of whack. We’ve got a few late-game champs who are taking over too early (Soraka, Cassiopeia) as well as a few champs who are falling off too hard as the game progresses (Corki, Mundo). That’s no bueno, so we’re taking steps to even things out.

Toss in a few quality-of-life and usability features and we’ve got ourselves a patch! May your HUD pings be plentiful, your item undos less painful, and your summoner spells safe from “user error” at the start of the game.

Good luck, have fun.

P.S. - you’ll notice Kog’Maw out of alphabetical order. We’re going to start using the top of the Champions list to ‘feature’ large or more contentious changes. We’ve dabbled with this before, but now it’s explicit. Top of the notes? It’s a Big Deal (™)

 Patrick "Scarizard" Scarborough Paul "Aether" Perscheid Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman

Champions

Kog'Maw

Q and W have been reverted to their pre-update paradigms.

Let’s start with the bottom line: Kog’Maw’s being partially reverted to his pre-2016 status. While we’ve had champions that take a couple of passes to get right (...Ryze), this is the first time we’ve actually gone back on a Champion Update. To understand how we got here, let’s take it all the way back to last year’s pre-season.

Our goal for the Marskman update was to create strategic identities for them outside of ‘who does the most damage’. What does each marksman do that their classmates don’t? Kog’Maw already had an answer to that question: be the glass cannon, demanding an entire team’s resources to support. So rather than create a distinct identity, we took a different approach: sharpen the one he already had. If ‘glass cannon’ was cool, could we push things further and make a ‘glass turret’?

10 months and 5 attacks per second later, how did that shake out? Well, Kog’s gameplay has actually moved away from the niche he previously filled. Transforming into an immobile turret is certainly unique, but it creates a ‘feast or famine’ situation. Kog can’t move between attacks in the late game, so either he mows down everyone in range, or enemies walk to safety since Kog can't keep pace. Compared to the consistent payoffs of old-school ‘Jugger-Maw’ comps, playing with today’s Kog’Maw feels too hit-or-miss.

As an aside, new Kog's created some warping effects on the items system. Specifically, on-hit items (Rageblade, Wit’s End, even Skirmisher’s Sabre) are balanced with the attack speed cap in mind, and Kog'Maw's pushing the strength of these effects past their designs. This puts heavy restrictions on the item system, all to support a single champ.

All said, we’re left with two choices - continue to make concessions toward Kog’Maw’s ‘glass turret’ ideal, or hit the reset switch to a stabler (though still imperfect) Kog. The updated kit's moved too far from what made Kog’Maw special, so we opted for the latter. This transition may be choppy, as many of League’s underlying systems have changed since Kog'Maw's update, but we’ll be monitoring how he readjusts and make any changes necessary to support him.

General

BASE ATTACK SPEED0.625 ⇒ 0.665

ATTACK SPEED GROWTH STAT3.5% ⇒ 2.65%

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Q - Caustic Spittle

NEW?BONUS ATTACK SPEEDNow grants 15/20/25/30/35% attack speed

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UPDATEDW - Bio-Arcane Barrage

W no longer doubles Kog’s attack speed or the attack speed cap, but deals more max health per hit, has a higher range early, and lasts longer.

REMOVEDULTRA RAPID KOG’MAWNo longer doubles Kog’Maw’s attack speed, increases his attack speed cap to 5.0, or decreases his cast times by 50%

REMOVEDFLAT MAGIC DAMAGENo longer deals 4/8/12/16/20 bonus magic damage per basic attack

MAX HEALTH DAMAGE2% of the target’s maximum health ⇒ 2/3/4/5/6% of the target’s maximum health

MAX HEALTH DAMAGE RATIO0.75% max health per 100 ability power ⇒ 1% max health per 100 ability power

BONUS RANGE90/120/150/180/210 ⇒ 130/150/170/190/210

COOLDOWN13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds ⇒ 17 second at all ranks

NEW?COOLDOWN PARADIGMBio-Arcane Barrage’s cooldown begins on cast, rather than when the effect ends

DURATION6 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 8 seconds at all ranks

Anivia

E damage lowered.

Anivia’s historically succeeded by establishing control over the battlefield through persistent threat of AoE lockdown. Frostbite is her follow-through when she lands a crowd control ability, but it hits so hard it’s single-handedly winning trades for her. We’re toning Frostbite’s damage down so Anivia has to utilize her entire kit to succeed, rather than leaning on a single ability.

E - Frostbite

DAMAGE55/85/115/145/175 ⇒ 50/75/100/125/150

CHILLED DAMAGE110/170/230/290/350 ⇒ 100/150/200/250/300

Aurelion Sol

Passive damage up, W damage down. W’s cost adjusted. E no longer requires build-up to cast.

Aurelion Sol is a sassy dragon who favors extended fights where he can pummel enemies with his stars. The catch is that, as an innately-squishy champ, Aurelion has to survive those encounters himself. Investing in defenses is the obvious solution to the problem, but comes at the tradeoff of deferring more damage-focused purchases. As it turns out, Aurelion doesn't need ability power to be a mid-game threat due to how much base damage he gets from Celestial Expansion rank-ups.

That said, Aurelion’s damage ends up in a reasonable spot once his build is balanced out in the late-game with a mix of offense and defense, and we don’t want to take that away. So, instead of a straight-up nerf, we’re moving base values around to smooth Aurelion’s damage progression over the game. If he wants to continue to be a mid-game damage threat, he'll now need to make riskier purchases early on.

On an entirely separate note, we've got a set of usability improvements for Comet of Legend. Removing Escape Velocity as a requirement to press E is a straight-up buff, but there are a few quality-of-life improvements bundled in as well. Fly high, Aurelion Sol.

Passive - Center of the Universe

DAMAGE20-97 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 20-130 (at levels 1-18)

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W - Celestial Expansion

BONUS DAMAGE10/20/30/40/50 ⇒ 5/10/15/20/25

COST40 + 16/22/28/34/40 mana per second ⇒ 40 + 22/24/26/28/30 mana per second

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E - Comet of Legend

REMOVEDESCAPE VELOCITYAurelion Sol may now cast Comet of Legend any time outside of combat (goes on 5 second cooldown when taking damage)

JUST KEEP FLYINGComet of Legend can now only be cancelled by recasting the ability

BLASTOFFAurelion now takes flight immediately, even if cast outside the cast range

AUTOCORRECTWhen cast during Comet of Legend, Starsurge now travels in the same direction as Aurelion Sol if it was cast just slightly off-angle

Cassiopeia

W cast range reduced. E healing down.

We’ve had this conversation a few times since mid-season, but to restate one of our beliefs: late-game characters like Cassiopeia need to have windows of interaction in the early game so opponents have a fair chance of winning. As Cass players learned to play around their bootless immobility, those windows have gradually closed. With finer mastery over their combat ranges, Cassiopeia players are now controlling too much of the battlefield from too far a distance, all the while sustaining through the damage opponents do manage to land. We’re heightening the risks Cassiopeia needs to take in lane to re-open those windows of interaction necessary to justify her late-game hyperscaling.

Passive - Serpentine Grace

AN UNNECESSARY PATCH NOTECassiopeia still can’t wear boots. We thought you’d like to know.

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W - Miasma

CAST RANGE900 ⇒ 800

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E - Twin Fang

HEALING ON POISONED TARGETS5/10/15/20/25 ⇒ 5-22 (at levels 1-18)

Corki

Attack damage per level up.

Sheen buff? Sheen buff.

...More seriously, Corki’s been struggling ever since his Patch 6.3 nerf, but zooming out a bit brings us to a bigger question: what is Corki? Is he a mage who cares about his auto attacks? Is he a marksman who relies on spells? That tension is at the root of Corki’s unclear identity. Patch 6.3 framed Corki as the least marksman-y marksman, able to get by without reliance on his basic attacks. However, there is a threshold where that goes too far, and Corki has crossed it. Corki doesn’t need to be a carry who can get away with just standing and attacking, but his Trinity empowered autos between spells should be more explosive.

General

ATTACK DAMAGE GROWTH STAT2.5 ⇒ 3.5

ATTACK DAMAGE AT LEVEL 1898.5 ⇒ 115.5

Dr. Mundo

E damage up, cooldown reduced.

When we last visited Dr. Mundo, the early game sustain of Grasp of the Undying was making it difficult to punish his laning phase. At the time, we nerfed his early damage so that opponents could win trades and set him behind. With Grasp now significantly weaker, Mundo is missing out on damage at all stages of the game. When Mundo scales into the late game he still goes where he pleases, but without damage, his opponents don’t care.

E - Masochism

MINIMUM DAMAGE20/40/60/80/100 ⇒ 30/50/70/90/110

MAXIMUM DAMAGE40/80/120/160/200 ⇒ 60/100/140/180/220

COOLDOWN7 seconds ⇒ 6 seconds

Kled

Kled does full damage to monsters and minions while dismounted. R’s range and duration decreased.

This is Kled’s first visit to the patch notes, so we’ll share our initial read on him. He’s hitting the fantasy of scrappy, aggressive insanity we envisioned, but is more feast-or-famine than we’d like in terms of overall performance.

Specifically, Kled runs away with even small leads due to how much power is packed into CHAAAAAAAARGE!!! Its giant range gives Kled a quick trip back top after recalling (often in the form of ganking his own lane), and regardless of where Kled’s headed, allies have an eternity to decide whether to come along for the ride or not. But if Kled falls behind, remounting Skaarl can feel like an impossible task. Farming to build courage is meant to be risky, but it’s also complicatedsince Kled’s last-hit threshold changes while dismounted. If he can’t tell which risks are worth taking, he just doesn’t take risks.

To even the Cantankerous Cavalier out, we’re asking Kled and his team put a little more footwork into making strong CHAAAAAAAARGE plays, while throwing him a bone when Skaarl’s abandoned him.

Passive - Skaarl, the Cowardly Lizard

REMOVEDDISMOUNTED DAMAGE REDUCTIONKled’s basic attack damage against minions and monsters is no longer reduced by 20%

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R - Chaaaaaaaarge!!!

MOVEMENT SPEED TRAIL DURATION8 seconds ⇒ 6 seconds

RANGE4500 at all ranks ⇒ 3500/4000/4500

Leona

Whoops.

E - Zenith Blade

BUGFIXFixed a bug preventing Leona from Flashing during Zenith Blade’s cast time

Singed

Poison ticks much faster but damage over time is unchanged.

This one’s pretty simple. A smoother tick rate makes Poison Trail’s payoff more consistently reflect how well Singed was able to outmaneuver his opponents (or how quickly opponents were able to escape).

Q - Poison Trail

TICKS PER SECOND1 ⇒ 4

DAMAGE PER SECONDUnchanged

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W - Mega Adhesive

A STICKY SITUATIONFixed a bug where Mega Adhesive lasted 0.5 seconds longer than intended

Soraka

W cooldown increased at early ranks.

Killing an opponent through Soraka’s barrage of heals can feel like an exercise in futility. We like her ability to sustain an ally through otherwise lethal damage in teamfights, where one positioning mistake can spell death for the squishy healer. But in lane - where she can hang way back and sustain - punishing Soraka without an aggressive support like Blitzcrank or Leona can be pretty frustrating. The low early cooldown on Soraka’s heal prevents opposing lanes from meaningfully trading with her carry, so we want the sustain train to start off slower before picking up steam.

W - Astral Infusion

COOLDOWN4/3.5/3/2.5/2 seconds ⇒ 8/6.5/5/3.5/2 seconds

Twitch

Q attack speed down.

While not much has changed in recent history for Twitch himself, the game around him has become more favorable to the Plague Rat across the season. As a result, he’s steadily snuck his way to the top of the charts. Given how powerful Twitch’s assassination potential is when he ults out of stealth (Q attack speed times R bonus damage equals murder!) we’re giving opponents a bit more ground to stand on when Twitch doesn’t have Rat-ta-tat-tat to amplify his damage.

Q - Ambush

ATTACK SPEED30/40/50/60/70% ⇒ 30/35/40/45/50%

Udyr

R’s cone proc deals more damage but its area-of-effect burn ticks one less time.

Udyr’s abilities each follow a similar pattern: an impactful activation followed by a smaller sustained effect. Skilled Udyr players are rewarded for managing their ability cooldowns well, maximizing the impact of these activations. For that ability management to feel good, it’s important that the active portions of the ability be strong - and feel satisfying - compared to the passives. Phoenix stance isn’t living up to that expectation, with the passive burn actually contributing moredamage than the on-hit cone. Giving Udyr slightly more explosive damage - rather than a slow burn - should help Udyr players feel the impact of their abilities more clearly.

R - Phoenix Stance

PROC DAMAGE25/60/95/130/165 ⇒ 40/80/120/160/200

BURN DURATION5 ticks over 5 seconds ⇒ 4 ticks over 4 seconds

BURN DAMAGE PER TICK10/20/30/40/50 (unchanged)

CLARITYPhoenix Stance’s burn visual effects updated to better fit the area of effect

Skin Splash Updates

Fiora’s Nightraven and Royal Guard skins are getting a splash update this patch!

Nightraven Fiora

Royal Guard Fiora

In addition, Cottontail Teemo’s also getting a splash update!

Cottontail Teemo

Summoner Spells

Summoner spells have a 15-second cooldown on load-in.

This one goes out to all of you who’ve burned Flashed when trying to say hi in chat.

GLHFLASHSummoner spells now have a 15-second cooldown at the start of the game

FOR REASSURANCESmite charge timing is unaffected by this change

Item Shop

A bunch of quality of life and usability improvements!

Given how well-received the HUD pings were, we decided to spend some time giving a bit of love to the item shop as well.

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Undo Purchase

This one needs a bit context. Undoing a purchase subtracts health to avoid weird abuse cases around buying a regen-increasing item to heal faster, undoing the pickup, then buying something else. But, the time lost still sucks. Well, not anymore!

BUYER’S REMORSEUndoing a purchase still subtracts health gained since the original purchase, but now adds back the health you would’ve regenerated if you hadn’t made the purchase in the first place

Item Pings

LET ME LAST HITPinging an item in the shop generates a chat message letting your team know how much gold you need to purchase the item

PERIPHERAL PINGINGYou can now use normal pings on the map outside the item shop window

Fast Selling

IT’S WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKEItems can now be sold by right-clicking them in the shop window inventory

HUD Pings

A summary of pings added since 6.14.

We’ve quietly made a bunch of fixes and additions to the HUD pings feature since it launched in 6.14. So.. here, have some documentation.

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Pings added post-launch

• Enemy/ally summoner spell cooldowns (via the scoreboard)
• Respawn timers
• Passives with cooldowns
• Experience
• A bunch more items
• Current gold
• Gold needed for purchase (see above)

Bugfixes

• Fixed a few cases where the Oppressor mastery wasn't amplifying the damage of abilities which applied movement-impairing effects
• Lee Sin's Q2 - Resonating Strike and W1 - Safeguard no longer cause him to dash directly on top of his target
• Zyra's plants now properly count as pets, rather than area-of-effect abilities, for the slow effect of Rylai's Crystal Scepter
• Fixed a bug that allowed Alistar to basic attack during W - Headbutt's animation
• Final Boss Veigar once again plays VO lines when casting R - Primordial Burst
• Captain Volibear's golden shoulderpad (did you know it's called an epaulet? High fashion!) no longer disappears into his shoulder during one of his idle animations

Chromas

The following chromas will be released this patch!

Lunar Goddess Diana

Debonair Ezreal

Mecha Malphite

Battle Bunny Riven

Upcoming Skins

For real this time. Look for Championship Zed to release as the World Championship draws closer!

Championship Zed