Introduction
Hey everyone! The official Patch 6.22 notes are released and it's basically...massive. I'll do a few detailed posts breaking down the changes later this week, so stay tuned! For those of you hungry for a good TLDR:What's New in Patch 6.22?
Assassins have been completely reworked, and the jungle now has strange new mechanics in the form of "plants". Read on for more details on the changes below!Summary
Buffs: IvernNerfs: Kled
Tweaks: Alistar, Evelynn, Teemo, Twitch, Vayne, Wukong
Reworks: Katarina, Leblanc, Rengar, Akali, Ekko, Fizz, Kha'Zix, Shaco, Talon, Zed
With Worlds finished up and ranked concluded, the 2016 season has drawn to a close. Welcome to pre-season.
From revamping the Ranked system (again), to adding some much-overdue features in Replays and Practice Tool to finally moving the client update to open beta, it’s a year for leveling up all around. We’re hard at work to make a season worth remembering, and that starts right here.
So what else is on the agenda? The latest in our series of class updates - the Assassins - are prowling the rift, armed to the teeth and ready to parkour across any obstacle to reach their prey. While the Patch Notes have all the info below (and some sweet videos), let’s take a second to talk about the goals. Unlike a full-scale update (like Yorick or Poppy), class updates aren’t targeted at reinventing characters from the bottom up. They’re for taking a group of champions that feel a little too similar and making them more distinct while improving their overall game health.
While Assassins may receive top-billing, there are plenty of other gameplay changes in pre-season’s supporting cast. The notes are plenty long on their own, so we’ll let you scour the pages below to learn all about them.
All in all, pre-season is a time of chaos and change. It’s a tumultuous period where innovators thrive and the only way out is through. So grab an Edge of Night, channel yourself a spell-shield and dive right in. We’ll be tossing daggers right next to you.
Like we always do about this time - good luck, have fun.
Patrick "Scarizard" Scarborough
Paul "Aether" Perscheid
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman
Lucas "Luqizilla" MoutinhoAssassin Updates
Talon
Part of the challenge when undertaking a class update is finding a niche for each champion to fill in an ever-expanding roster, and Talon was no exception. For once in his life, ‘More Blades’ wasn’t an acceptable answer. Instead, we decided to take our cues from the most impressive Talon players out there and really focus on amping what had become an emergent strength of his: roaming. Roaming as a concept can be somewhat evergreen (technically every champion is a roaming champion if you put your mind to it), but when we saw the staggering amount of Talons purchasing Boots of Mobility and running to sidelanes for kills, we set out to embrace the style.
Enter Talon’s newfound obsession with parkour. Thanks to the new Assassin’s Path, we’re letting Talon be the assassin that’s never too far from the fray, providing some seriously impressive gank paths to catch his prey off guard. By giving Talon more opportunities to be at the right place at the right time, we can afford to slow his burst while keeping him an ever-present threat on the map. To the rock-climbers and free-runners of the Rift, this one’s for you.
General
BASE MOVEMENT SPEED350 ⇒ 335
HEALTH GROWTH STAT85 ⇒ 90
BASE ATTACK DAMAGE55 ⇒ 60
BASE ATTACK SPEED0.668 ⇒ 0.625
ATTACK SPEED GROWTH STAT2.7 ⇒ 2.9
SWIFT STABBINGAttack frame improved
NEWPassive - Blade's End
Talon’s abilities wound champions and epic monsters for a short duration, stacking up to three times. When Talon basic attacks a fully wounded target, they bleed for a large amount of physical damage over time.
DAMAGE60-160 (+2.0 bonus attack damage) over 2 seconds (at levels 1-11)
UPDATEDQ - Noxian Diplomacy
Talon leaps to a target, dealing physical damage. If cast within melee range, Talon does not leap but instead critically strikes his target for 150%. Whenever Noxian Diplomacy kills a unit, Talon restores health and refunds 50% of its cooldown.
COOLDOWN8/7/6/5/4 seconds ⇒ 8/7.5/7/6.5/5 seconds
COST40/45/50/55/60 mana ⇒ 30 mana at all ranks
RANGE550 (170 if used from melee)
DAMAGE80/100/120/140/160 + 1.0 bonus attack damage (120/150/180/210/240 + 1.5 bonus attack damage from melee)
HEAL ON KILL17-51 (from levels 1-18)
W - Rake
COOLDOWN10 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 9 seconds at all ranks
COST60/65/70/75/80 mana ⇒ 55/60/65/70/75 mana
SLOW20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 40/45/50/55/60%
SLOW DURATION2 seconds ⇒ 1 second
NEWWAIT FOR ITRake’s slow now only applies when the blades return
NEWWAAAIT FOR ITNow has a 0.7 second delay before returning to Talon
RANGE750 ⇒ 900
ARC40 degrees ⇒ 22 degrees
INITIAL DAMAGE30/60/90/120/150 (+0.3 bonus attack damage) ⇒50/60/70/80/90 (+0.4 bonus attack damage)
RETURN DAMAGE30/60/90/120/150 (+0.3 bonus attack damage) ⇒60/90/120/150/180 (+0.7 bonus attack damage)
TOTAL DAMAGE60/120/180/240/300 (+0.6 bonus attack damage) ⇒110/150/190/230/270 (+1.1 bonus attack damage)
NEWE - Assassin's Path
Talon vaults over the nearest structure or terrain in a target direction. The vault’s speed is affected by Talon’s movement speed. Talon cannot vault over the same section of terrain for a period of time.
COOLDOWN2 seconds at all ranks
COOLDOWN ON TERRAIN160/135/110/85/60 seconds
TERRAIN COOLDOWNTerrain that’s currently on cooldown will appear outlined in red for Talon
AINT NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGHTalon can vault over player-made terrain as well
R - Shadow Assault
DAMAGE PER STRIKE120/170/220 (+0.75 bonus attack damage) ⇒80/120/160 (+0.8 bonus attack damage)
MINIMUM TIMEBlades now have a minimum lifetime of 0.8 seconds before returning to Talon
GUIDED BLADESBlades can now be redirected to the target of Talon’s first basic attack
WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE THAT MANY BLADESNow has way more blades
Katarina
Kat’s truly the embodiment of the phrase ‘feast or famine’; crushing entire fights in a second of button mashing, or throwing limp daggers in a poor attempt to contribute from behind. This has led to a pretty tight leash for Kat’s balance - while you can succeed on her, we’ve had to fine tune every part of her laning to ensure she can’t reliably hit her penta-killing critical mass every game.
This update seeks to remove Kat’s harsh restrictions while also delivering on her lightning-speed high-skill fantasy. Armed with her new Dagger mechanic, Kat’s got the flexibility to orchestrate flashy fights (or smooth getaways) in a way that both she and her opponents can engage with. This lets us ease up on a lot of the base-stat restrictions needed to artificially keep her down, given that Katarina’s opponents always have a clue as to when and how she might move in for the kill.
As a result of the changes, it’s important to talk about one key line below: Katarina can no longer target wards with Shunpo. It’s not a decision that was taken lightly, but a large part of Kat’s update is centered around telegraphing her potential mobility to assailants. Ward-hopping breaks this at a fundamental level - giving her far too many easy outs in tense situations. Kat’s all about finding the right mix of premeditation and reaction in her playmaking, so you’ll have to think on your feet and use all of your tools to survive.
General
BASE HEALTH510 ⇒ 590
HEALTH GROWTH STAT83 ⇒ 82
BASE HEALTH REGEN4.5 ⇒ 7.5
HEALTH REGEN GROWTH STAT0.55 ⇒ 0.7
BASE ARMOR27 ⇒ 28
BASE MAGIC RESIST32 ⇒ 34
BASE MOVEMENT SPEED345 ⇒ 340
UPDATEDQ - Bouncing Blades
Katarina throws a dagger, dealing damage to her target and nearby enemies. Then, the dagger ricochets onto the ground behind her initial target . If Katarina picks up a dagger, she uses it to slash through all nearby enemies.
COOLDOWN10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds ⇒ 11/10/9/8/7 seconds
DAMAGE60/85/110/135/160 ⇒ 75/105/135/165/195
RATIO0.45 ability power ⇒ 0.3 ability power
RANGE675 ⇒ 625
TARGETS HIT4 ⇒ 3
NEWDAGGERSPicking up a dagger causes Katarina to slash all enemies around her in a small area
DAGGER RADIUS340
DAGGER DURATION4 seconds
DAGGER SPIN DAMAGE75-285 (at levels 1-18)
DAGGER SPIN RATIO1.0 bonus attack damage + 0.55/0.7/0.8/1.0 ability power (at levels 1-16)
NEWW - Preparation
Katarina tosses a dagger into the air and gains movement speed for a short duration.
COOLDOWN15/14/13/12/11 seconds
MOVEMENT SPEED50/60/70/80/90%, decaying over 1.25 seconds
DELAY UNTIL DAGGER LANDS1.25 seconds
E - Shunpo
COOLDOWN12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds ⇒ 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds
DAMAGE40/70/100/130/160 ⇒ 30/45/60/75/90
RANGE700 ⇒ 725
RATIO0.25 ability power ⇒ 0.65 total attack damage + 0.25 ability power
NEWWIDE BERTHShunpo now targets an area around Katarina’s target, and strikes the nearest enemy if cast on an ally or dagger
NEWON A KNIFE’S EDGEIn addition to allied and enemy units, Katarina can target daggers with Shunpo. Targeting a dagger with Shunpo or walking over it refunds 78/84/90/96% (at levels 1-16) of Shunpo’s total cooldown
NEWA NEW RESETShunpo now resets Katarina’s basic attack timer
REMOVEDTHE SHUNPOLICEShunpo can no longer target wards
R - Death Lotus
DAGGERS THROWN10 ⇒ 15
DAMAGE PER DAGGER35/55/75 (+0.375 bonus attack damage)(+0.25 ability power) ⇒ 25/37.5/50 (+0.22 bonus attack damage)(+0.19 ability power)
TOTAL DAMAGE350/550/750 (+3.75 bonus attack damage)(+2.50 ability power) ⇒ 375/562.5/750 (+3.30 bonus attack damage)(+2.85 ability power)
NEWLESS MISTAKESCannot be cancelled by movement and basic attack commands in the first and last 0.25 seconds of channeling
NEWDEATH RADIUSNow displays Death Lotus’ radius to Katarina and her enemies
LeBlanc
When it comes to identity, Leblanc’s intended to be a fast-paced combo-oriented assassin that uses misdirection and deceit to make her opponent’s heads spin. In reality, however, things play out a little differently. While combos are certainly the name of Leblanc’s game, her largest issue is how little deceiving and misdirecting she actuallyends up doing. When your biggest mind-game ability is also the one you double-cast to blow someone up, something’s gotta give.
With her update, we’re letting Leblanc make more tricky plays than ever before. By utilizing Mimic either to create a split-second diversion in the heat of an all-in, or creating a global (!) distraction to fake out unsuspecting side-lanes, your success with LB will depend as much on your creativity as your mechanical skill.
General
HEALTH GROWTH STAT75 ⇒ 80
NEWPassive - Sigil of Malice
LeBlanc’s abilities apply Sigil of Malice to her target. After a short duration, striking the target with LeBlanc’s abilities detonates the sigil, dealing magic damage.
SIGIL DURATION4 seconds
SIGIL ARM TIME1.5 seconds
DAMAGE40-300 (at levels 1-18)
RATIO0.8 ability power
Q - Shatter Orb
NEWRENAMEDSigil of Malice ⇒ Shatter Orb
RATIO0.4 ability power ⇒ 0.5 ability power
COST50/60/70/80/90 mana ⇒ 40/45/50/55/60 mana
REMOVEDIT’S HER PASSIVE NOWNo longer applies a mark
NEWSHATTER FLUXIf Shatter Orb triggers Sigil of Malice, it chains to the nearest ready Sigil of Malice
MINION BOUNCE DAMAGEShatter Orb bounces deal 120% damage to minions
W - Distortion
DAMAGE85/125/165/205/245 ⇒ 70/100/130/160/190
RATIO0.6 ability power ⇒ 0.4 ability power
COST80/85/90/95/100 mana ⇒ 70/80/90/100/110 mana
LESS FACEPLANTINGImproved Distortion’s detection when traversing walls
NEWINTERFERENCENow has an 0.25 second delay before returning to her original position when recasting Distortion
E - Ethereal Chains
NEWETHEREAL CLARITYNow displays tether range to allies and enemies
REMOVEDDAMNED IF YOU DONo longer slows enemies during the tether
UPDATEDR - Mimic
On cast, creates a copy of LeBlanc before both becoming invisible for a brief moment. Afterwards, both LeBlanc and her copy cast an empowered version of one of LeBlanc’s basic abilities. Only the real LeBlanc deals damage. Empowering Mimic itself creates a copy of LeBlanc at a target location with global range. Once conjured, the copy will walk towards the nearest visible enemy champion, casting a fake version of LeBlanc’s last used spell before disappearing. Empowering Mimic has its own cooldown.
COOLDOWN40/32/24 seconds ⇒ 54/42/30 seconds
MIMICKED MIMIC COOLDOWN160/140/120 seconds
MIMICKED SHATTER ORB DAMAGE150/300/450 (+0.9 ability power) ⇒150/275/400 (+0.6 ability power)
MIMICKED DISTORTION DAMAGE150/300/450 (+0.9 ability power) ⇒125/225/325 (+0.5 ability power)
MIMICKED ETHEREAL CHAINS DAMAGE100/200/300 (+0.6 ability power) ⇒100/160/200 (+0.4 ability power)
NEWMIMIC MANTRACan now mimic any of LeBlanc’s spells, not just her most recently used
STEALTH DURATION ON CAST0.1 seconds
MIMICKED BASIC ABILITY CLONE DURATION2.5 seconds
Rengar
For all of Rengar’s past history of being frustrated, let’s set one thing straight: we’re actually okay with him leaping on someone and then swiftly murdering them. Rengar’s issue hasn’t been that his assassinations are too effective, rather that his victims have almost no time to react to his attacks. This makes Rengar’s role a binary one - recklessly diving onto targets with no hope of retaliation, or recklessly diving and getting obliterated.
Rengar’s update is focused on leveling out these extremes on bothends of the spectrum. For opponents, this means better awareness of when Rengar’s on the hunt and who he’s got in his sights. For Rengar, this means giving him access to more potent defensive tools so he can live to fight leap another day when things go south. Rengar still rewards patience and awareness, and now he’s got more flexibility to boot.
General
ATTACK DAMAGE GROWTH STAT3 ⇒ 1
BASE ATTACK SPEED0.679 ⇒ 0.625
ATTACK SPEED GROWTH STAT2.85 ⇒ 3.5
ARMOR GROWTH STAT3.5 ⇒ 3
HEALTH REGEN4.3 ⇒ 7
HEALTH REGEN GROWTH STAT0.4 ⇒ 0.5
MAXIMUM FEROCITY5 ⇒ 4
UPDATEDPassive - Unseen Predator
While in brush, basic attacking causes Rengar to leap towards his target. Leaping to enter combat generates 1 Ferocity. At 4 Ferocity his next ability is empowered. Casting an empowered ability increases Rengar’s movement speed for a short duration. Killing unique champions grants Rengar their trophies, increasing the strength of his Bonetooth Necklace.
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED ON EMPOWERED CAST30/40/50% (at levels 1/7/13)
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED DURATION1.5 seconds
REMOVEDSET BONUSBonetooth Necklace rewards removed
NEWTONIGHT WE HUNTWhenever a unique champion is killed within 1.5 seconds of taking damage from him, Rengar’s attack damage is permanently increased:
1 TROPHY1 + 2% attack damage
2 TROPHIES3 + 6% attack damage
3 TROPHIES6 + 12% attack damage
4 TROPHIES10 + 20% attack damage
5 TROPHIES15 + 30% attack damage
UPDATEDQ - Savagery
Rengar slashes enemies in an arc in front of him, followed by piercing in a line, generating 1 Ferocity. Both strikes deal physical damage. If used at 4 Ferocity, Savagery’s damage is significantly increased.
COOLDOWN6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
DAMAGE30/60/90/120/150 ⇒ 40/60/80/100/120 per hit
RATIO0/0.05/0.1/0.15/0.2 total attack damage ⇒ 0.3/0.4/0.5/0.6/0.7 bonus attack damage per hit
EMPOWERED DAMAGE30-240 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 60-196 per hit (at levels 1-18)
EMPOWERED RATIO0.3/0.35/0.4/0.45/0.5 total attack damage ⇒ 1.1 bonus attack damage per hit
CAST PARADIGMTargeted ⇒ Directional AoE
W - Battle Roar
COOLDOWN12 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 20/18/16/14/12 seconds
REMOVEDKITTY GRITNo longer grants Rengar 10/15/20/25/30 armor and magic resistance per champion hit
NEWIT’S LIKE EKKO ULTNow heals Rengar for 50% of the damage he took in the last 1.5 seconds (represented by grey health). Battle Roar heals 100% of the damage dealt by monsters.
REMOVEDTHE BASE DOES THISCasting Battle Roar at 4 Ferocity no longer heals Rengar
NEWCATNAROKCasting Battle Roar at 4 Ferocity breaks crowd control and renders Rengar immune to incoming crowd control for 1.5 seconds. Empowered Battle Roar can be cast while disabled.
E - Bola Strike
EMPOWERED DAMAGE50-340 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 50-305 (at levels 1-18)
SLOW60/65/70/75/80%, decaying over the duration ⇒30/45/60/75/90%, non-decaying
SLOW DURATION2.5 seconds ⇒ 1.75 seconds
UPDATEDR - Thrill of the Hunt
Rengar activates his predatory instincts, becoming camouflaged for the duration. While active, Rengar gains bonus movement speed and vision of the nearest enemy champion. Rengar can leap without being in brush during this time, and leaping to the revealed champion results in a critical strike. Attacking or using abilities ends Thrill of the Hunt.
COOLDOWN150/110/70 seconds ⇒ 130/100/70 seconds
DURATION7/12/17 seconds ⇒ 14/22/30 seconds
COOLDOWN BEGINSOn cast ⇒ When Thrill of the Hunt ends
NEWFOCUSRengar enters camouflage after 2 seconds
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED15/30/45% while moving towards enemy champions ⇒ 20/30/40% at all times while active
ONE-EYEDRengar gains vision of all enemy champions within 2000/3000/4000 range ⇒ the closest enemy champion within 2000/3000/4000 range
RENGAZEEyes appear over the head of the target Rengar gains vision of (visible to both teams)
REMOVEDBONUS MOVEMENT SPEED AFTER STEALTHRemoved
REMOVEDBONUS FEROCITY GENERATION AFTER STEALTHRemoved
NEWCAMOUFLAGECamouflage is a new type of stealth. Like Evelynn’s Passive - Shadow Walk, Rengar is visible to nearby enemies and gains an indicator showing him who can see him and who cannot.
Fizz
R now grows as the fish travels along its path, resulting in different sizes of sharks.
As one of our more all-or-nothing assassins, Fizz occupies a tricky spot on the balance spectrum. On one hand, it’s easy for Fizz to feel shut out of a matchup due to his lack of laning tools. On the other, thanks to the effectiveness of using Chum the Waters up close, it’s pretty difficult to avoid Fizz’s all-in when he decides to get frisky. Our changes this patch are aimed at embracing what makes Fizz unique among assassins—best-in-class ranged initiation—while better telegraphing the moments when he’s able to go in for the kill.
Q - Urchin Strike
COOLDOWN10/9/8/7/6 seconds ⇒ 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds
COST50/55/60/65/70 mana ⇒ 50 mana at all ranks
FIXEDSheen now properly activates when used on targets right next to Fizz
UPDATEDW - Seastone Trident
Passively, Fizz’s basic attacks cause his enemies to bleed for magic damage. When activated, Fizz’s next basic attack deals magic damage, increased by 300% if the target has bled for at least 2 seconds.
COOLDOWN10 seconds ⇒ 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds
COST40 mana at all ranks ⇒ 30/40/50/60/70 mana
PASSIVE DAMAGE20/30/40/50/60 ⇒ 25/40/55/70/85
PASSIVE RATIO0.45 ability power ⇒ 0.33 ability power
PASSIVE DURATION3 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
REMOVEDSEEYASTONENo longer empowers Fizz’s basic attacks for 6 seconds
NEWSUPER TRIDENTNow resets Fizz’s basic attack timer and empowers his next attack
ACTIVE DAMAGE10/15/20/25/30 ⇒ 25/40/55/70/85
NEWBLOOD IN THE WATERIf Fizz’s target has bled for at least 2 seconds, Seastone Trident’s damage increases to 75/120/165/210/255 (+1.0 ability power)
NEWALMOST GOT THE RESETIf Seastone Trident’s active kills a unit, 20/28/36/42/50 mana is refunded and its cooldown is set to 1 second
NEWMORE TRIDENTIn addition to basic attacks, Seastone Trident’s passive is also applied onto enemies Fizz dashes through during Urchin Strike and any enemies affected by Chum the Waters
E - Playful / Trickster
THAT’S THE ACTUAL SIZENow shows Fizz an indicator of the area damaged before he lands. Enemies see a red flash of this area after he lands.
COST90/100/110/120/130 mana ⇒ 90/95/100/105/110 mana
FIXEDZhonya’s Hourglass now properly delays Playful / Trickster’s damage
R - Chum the Waters
DELAY BEFORE SHARK1.5 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds
NEWSHARK WEEKFizz summons different sharks based on how far the fish traveled before latching onto an enemy. The further the fish travels, the larger and more damaging the shark.
- GUPPY SHARKIf Chum the Waters travels less than 455 units, it will summon a Guppy Shark after 2 seconds.
- GUPPY AREA OF EFFECT200
- DAMAGE150/250/350 (+0.6 ability power)
- SLOW40%
- KNOCKBACK150
- NORMAL SHARKIf Chum the Waters travels between 455 and 910 units, it will summon a normal (but still terrifying) shark.
- NORMAL AREA OF EFFECT325
- DAMAGE225/325/425 (+0.8 ability power)
- SLOW60%
- KNOCKBACK250
- GIGALODON SHARKIf Chum the Waters has traveled at least 910 units, it will summon a massive Gigalodon Shark
- GIGA AREA OF EFFECT450
- DAMAGE300/400/500 (+1.2 ability power)
- SLOW80%
- KNOCKBACK350
NEWGET OUT OF THE WALLChum the Water’s fish can no longer be placed inside of terrain.
Kha'Zix
Evolved Q refunds Q’s cooldown when cast on Isolated targets, Evolved W heavily slows Isolated targets, and Evolved R stealths Kha’Zix when entering brush.
While Kha’Zix’s evolution mechanic promises the ability to tailor your decisions to the game at hand, the balance of power between options has made that promise a difficult one to keep. For pre-season, we’ve retooled KZ’s evolutions by playing up his other unique mechanic: Isolation. While you’re welcome to still just evolve wings first (because it’s sweet), we’re pushing more of Kha’Zix’s power into stalking Isolated targets rather than overwhelming them. This focuses his decisions less on which give Kha’Zix the most damage potential and instead on which will help him hunt his prey game to game.
Passive - Unseen Threat
DAMAGE15 - 190 (+0.5 ability power) ⇒ 10 - 146 (+0.4 bonus attack damage)
Q - Taste Their Fear
COOLDOWN3 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
RATIO1.2 bonus attack damage ⇒ 1.4 bonus attack damage
BONUS DAMAGE TO ISOLATED TARGETS30% ⇒ 50%
EVOLUTION NAMEEvolved Enlarged Claws ⇒ Evolved Reaper Claws
REMOVEDBIG CLAWSEvolving Taste Their Fear no longer increases its damage against Isolated targets
NEWSWIFT CLAWSEvolving Taste Their Fear now refunds 60% of its cooldown when cast on Isolated targets
W - Void Spike
SLOW20% ⇒ Removed
EVOLVED SLOW50% ⇒ 40%
NEWISOLATED SLOW80% on Isolated targets
R - Void Assault
INVISIBILITY DURATION1 second ⇒ 1.25 seconds
EVOLUTION NAMEEvolved Active Camouflage ⇒ Evolved Adaptive Cloaking (it’s not a Camouflage effect!)
REMOVEDACTIVE CAMOUFLAGEEvolving Void Assault no longer increases Kha’Zix’s invisibility duration or number of charges
NEWAGGRESSIVE CLOAKINGWhile evolved, Kha’Zix gains Void Assault’s invisibility and movement speed for 2.5 seconds upon entering any brush while out of combat (with a maximum of 1.25 seconds after exiting the brush). This effect has a 10 second cooldown per brush.
Akali
Passive causes Akali’s next two attacks to heal and deal bonus damage. W teleports Akali to the cast location.
If you’ve been keeping up with the Assassin notes so far, you’re probably noticing a pattern - each update contain equal parts ‘how do we make this less frustrating?’ and ‘how do we make this feel cooler? Akali’s no different. On the subject of making her more unique, we’re playing up Akali’s ‘smoke bomb’ to feel like a more potent defensive tool, giving her more ninja-like ways to juke, dodge, and mindgame her opponents in combat. As for answering that first question, we’re focusing more of her damage in repeatable, telegraphed spikes, ala Mark of the Assassin. We’re not re-inventing the wheel, but Akali’s update should appeal to those patient enough to wait for the right moment to strike.
UPDATEDPassive - Twin Disciplines
Akali’s first two attacks have bonus effects. Akali’s first basic attack heals her, while the second deals bonus damage. A few seconds after her first attack, this resets.
COOLDOWN8/7/6/5/4 after first attack (at levels 1/3/5/7/9)
FIRST STRIKE HEALING5-60 (at levels 1-18)
HEALING RATIO0.6 bonus attack damage + 0.3 ability power
SECOND STRIKE BONUS DAMAGE10-100 (at levels 1-18)
SECOND STRIKE RATIO0.5 bonus attack damage + 0.5 ability power
W - Twilight Shroud
NEWSMOKE BOMBNow teleports Akali to the cast location, placing Twilight Shroud at her original position
NEWCAN’T CAST THAT YETCasting Twilight Shroud places Akali’s other abilities on a 0.5 second global cooldown
NEWCAST RANGE250
NEWSPEEDY SHROUDAkali now retains Twilight Shroud’s full bonus movement speed value until she leaves the area
E - Crescent Slash
COOLDOWN5/4/3/2/1 second ⇒ 5/4.5/4/3.5/3 seconds
DAMAGE30/55/80/105/130 ⇒ 70/100/130/160/190
RATIO0.4 ability power + 0.6 total attack damage ⇒ 0.5 ability power + 0.7 bonus attack damage
NEWALMOST GOT THE RESETIf Crescent Slash kills a unit, its cooldown is 60% refunded
R - Shadow Dance
COOLDOWN2/1.5/1 second ⇒ 2 seconds
DAMAGE100/175/250 ⇒ 50/100/150
RATIO0.5 ability power ⇒ 0.25 ability power
Zed
Zed now gains a portion of the attack damage of champions killed with Death Mark for himself.
Among our assassins, Zed’s the generalist—some stabbing here, a bit of sidelane pressure there—the Master of Shadows does just about everything you want from the role. It’s because of this that he’s been such a balance headache: whenever assassins are good as a class, Zed’s right there to push his knife-wielding brethren out of the spotlight. We’re giving Zed some more differentiation to help inform when you should and shouldn’t consider picking him.
Given his ‘fondness’ for marksmen, we sought to hit two birds with one stone—reducing some of his general power while making him theblade in your arsenal when it comes to dealing with physical damage threats. While Zed will still be potent in the right hands against most team compositions, his true late-game scaling is now dependent not just on how he executes his foes, but who he chooses to mark for death. And how many BF Swords they have.
W - Living Shadow
REMOVEDOVER THE TOPNo longer provides 4/8/12/16/20% bonus attack damage
ENERGY RETURN ON MULTI-HIT20/25/30/35/40 ⇒ 30/35/40/45/50
SHADOW SWAP RANGE1100 ⇒ 1300
E - Shadow Slash
COOLDOWN4 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 5/4.5/4/3.5/3 seconds
DAMAGE60/90/120/150/180 ⇒ 65/90/115/140/165
R - Death Mark
NEWSHADOW REAPINGWhenever Death Mark kills an enemy, Zed steals their shadow for himself, gaining a portion of their attack damage. Zed can only possess one shadow at a time, and only steals a new shadow if it would give him more damage.
REAPING BONUS5 attack damage + 5/10/15% of the target’s total attack damage
Ekko
Passive slow removed. R triggers Parallel Convergences that Ekko travels through while Chronobreaking.
Unlike many of the champions included in the Assassin Update, Ekko’s changes are just a continuation (albeit a bit more dramatic) of our narrative this season. While Tank Ekko’s been at varying levels of power all year, the key takeaway has been that his pattern, regardless of items, has enough risk that it will always be his best interest to mitigate it. So while these changes don’t aim (or claim) to ‘destroy Tank Ekko once and for all’, they do give damage-focused Ekko builds a more extreme degree of safety from Chronobreak. By allowing AP-focused builds to have a true reset we’re able to cut some of Ekko’s superfluous power and introduce more ways for Ekko to style on you rather than overwhelm you with force.
General
BASE MANA REGEN6 ⇒ 7
Passive - Z-Drive Resonance
REMOVEDZ-DIFFUSERNo longer slows enemy champions
DAMAGE20-190 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 30-140 (at levels 1-18)
Q - Timewinder
OUTGOING RATIO0.2 ability power ⇒ 0.3 ability power
LOLLIPOPSTimewinder’s radius increases by 50 as it hovers by the end of its travel distance, returning to normal while it travels back to Ekko
R - Chronobreak
HEAL RATIO20% of health recently lost plus an additional 6% per 100 ability power ⇒ flat health equal to 0.6 ability power
NEWIT’S BETTER WITH APChronobreak’s heal is increased by 3% for each 1% of maximum health lost in the last 4 seconds
NEWTIME WALKChronobreaking through W - Parallel Convergence will trigger the stun and shield
Shaco
R leaves a nest of Jack-in-the-boxes on death. W has more health.
While Shaco’s changelist may appear large, the goals are actually very simple: dialing back his extremes. Shaco’s well known for ending games quickly - either by dominating so hard one team surrenders, or failing to convert those beginning minutes and quickly diminishing in effectiveness. We’re reducing the power of Shaco’s frustrating early ganks and translating that power into more utility within skirmishes. By shifting when exactly Shaco can impact a game most, we’re making him more accessible to the average player while letting the trained Shaco mains out there display their dominance (without causing as many broken keyboards).
General
THIS HELPS MORE THAN YOU THINKRecommended items updated
UPDATEDPassive - Backstab
Upon attacking a unit from behind, Shaco critically strikes them. Shaco can’t backstab the same unit for a short duration.
COOLDOWN PER TARGET3 seconds (affected by cooldown reduction)
BACKSTAB CRIT DAMAGE120-145% (at levels 1-18)
BACKSTAB CRIT AGAINST MONSTERS200%
Q - Deceive
COST90/80/70/60/50 mana ⇒ 60 mana at all ranks
COOLDOWN14 seconds ⇒ 11 seconds
CAST TIMERandomly between 0.05 seconds and 0.3 seconds ⇒ 0.125 seconds
STEALTH DURATION3.5 seconds ⇒ 1.5/2.25/3/3.75/4.5 seconds
REMOVEDCRITICALLY DECEPTIVENo longer causes Shaco’s next basic attack to critically strike
NEWBASE DAMAGENow deals 20/35/50/65/80 (+0.5 ability power) bonus damage on Shaco’s next basic attack. This damage can critically strike.
NEWFOOL ME ONCEDealing damage with Deceive lowers its cooldown by 2.5 seconds
NEWSNEAK KINGCan now place W - Jack in the Box while stealthed. Placing a Jack in the Box briefly reveals Shaco’s position, but doesn’t make him targetable.
W - Jack In The Box
NEWBIGGER BOXNow gains 0-400 bonus health (from levels 1-18)
ARM TIMERandomly between from 2.1 seconds to 2.3 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds
BASICALLY WARD HEALTHJack-in-the-Boxes now instantly die to turret shots, and lose a minimum of 1/3rd of their health from champion basic attacks
DAMAGE VS TURRETS100% ⇒ 50%
E - Two-Shiv Poison
SLOW10/15/20/25/30% ⇒ 20/22.5/25/27.5/30%
DAMAGE50/90/130/170/210 (+1.0 bonus attack damage) (+1.0 ability power) ⇒ 5/35/65/95/125 (+0.85 total attack damage) (+0.9 ability power)
NEWMISSING HEALTH DAMAGENow deals an additional 3-8% of the target’s missing health (at levels 1-11)
REMOVEDDEBILITATING POISONNo longer slows monster attack speed
R - Hallucinate
INVULNERABILITYRandomly between 0.25 seconds to 0.5 seconds ⇒ 0.5 seconds
DAMAGE TO TURRETS50% ⇒ 35%
NEWNO FOOLING TURRETSShaco’s clone now takes double damage from turrets
NEWCLEARING CHARADEShaco’s clone can now attack wards
NEWIT’S MULTIPLE TRAPSNow creates a nest of Jack-in-the-Boxes upon death. These boxes activate together, and receive damage together.
NEST DURATION6 seconds
NEST FEAR DURATION0.75 seconds
NEST DAMAGE25/50/75 (+0.15 ability power) per attack
NEST HEALTHGains 210-950 bonus health (from levels 6-18)
Stealth Mechanics
Introduction
Conceptually, stealth is easy to understand: “you can’t see me.” Mechanically, that means a few things. First, stealth is tied to the vision game: when you don’t know where someone is, there’s a chance they’re closing in on you. This creates both strategic and tactical advantages: for example, Evelynn roaming the map unseen or Wukong getting into initiation range. Second, stealth is a powerful (albeit unwieldy) form of in-combat defense, since stealthed champs can’t be targeted and skillshot aiming becomes rough guesswork.
Across League’s history, we haven’t done a great job of handling these traits separately. Case in point: Vision Wards are the one-size-fits all counter to stealth, regardless of what enemies are trying to do while unseen. To keep things generallybalanced, we’ve had to give stealth champions more overall power to offset situations when pink wards shut them down, and that makes them overbearing when wards aren’t in play. There’s simply not enough middle ground.
Crafting a more refined approach to stealth has implications on multiple parts of the game, and pre-season’s the best time for us to adjust all those levers at once. Make sure to read both this and the Wards section for the complete story!
Camouflage
Longer duration ‘strategic’ stealth. Revealed by proximity, turrets, and Control Wards.
The longer duration of Camouflage effects make them ideal for roaming around lanes and the jungle unseen, moving from one victim to the next. Nearby enemies can see through Camouflage, however, making it less reliable in the middle of fights.
WHO GOES THERE?Camouflaged champions are revealed by nearby enemy turrets, champions, and Control Wards
A SHORT LISTThe following stealth abilities are Camouflage effects:
- Evelynn’s Passive - Shadow Walk
- Rengar’s R - Thrill of the Hunt
- Twitch’s Q - Ambush
Invisibility
Shorter duration ‘tactical’ stealth. Revealed only by turrets.
Invisibility effects don't last long enough for users to move from one lane to another, but are well-suited for maneuvering in combat (whether that's to start a fight or reposition within one). Turrets are the only entities that passively see through Invisibility, in line with their nature as safe havens.
SOMETHING’S NOT QUITE RIGHTInvisible champions are passively revealed only by nearby enemy turrets
A LESS SHORT LISTThe following stealth abilities are Invisibility effects:
- Akali’s W - Twilight Shroud
- Kha’Zix’s R - Void Assault
- LeBlanc’s R - Mimic
- Shaco’s Q - Deceive
- Talon’s R - Shadow Assault
- Teemo’s Passive - Guerilla Warfare (formerly “Camouflage”)
- Vayne’s R - Final Hour
- Wukong’s W - Decoy
Shimmer
Hitting stealthed units briefly reveals their location.
This pre-season, we wanted to create a way to deal with stealth that isn’t just “turn it off.” This new shimmer mechanic is a means of scouting for—and reacting to—stealthed enemies without completely exposing them to retaliation.
WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?Damaging an Invisible or Camouflaged enemy (ex. skillshots, area-of-effect abilities, etc) will cause the air around them to shimmer, momentarily revealing their location but not making them targetable or canceling the stealth effect
NO DISCOSChampions only shimmer up to once per second, even if they take additional damage during that time
Wards
NEWControl Ward
Vision Ward update. Reveals Camouflage but not Invisibility. Disables nearby enemy wards.
With the addition of the shimmer mechanic as a close(ish)-quarters way to interact with stealth, we felt confident removing Vision Wards from the combat equation. That leaves us with an item that serves one purpose: vision control. (Hence the name change: Control Wards.) With power to spare, we doubled down on the control aspect, and the result is a tool that not only reveals nearby enemy vision, but actively denies it. Controlling indeed.
HOW CONTROLLINGControl Wards reveal and disable nearby hidden enemy traps and Sight Wards in a 900-unit radius. Camouflaged enemies in the area are also revealed, but Invisible enemies are not.
RUDEControl Wards are visible to the enemy team while they’re actively disabling a ward
COST75 gold
HEALTH4
WARD LIMITEach player can have 1 Control Ward on the map and 3 in their inventory
WARD VENGEANCEWards disabled by a Control Ward still grant vision of their attackers while being killed
Ward Rewards
Ward kills grant more experience. Attacking wards no longer proc lifesteal effects.
The warding game has always been an important part of League, and that’s only becoming more true this pre-season. From one perspective, this means hunting for wards is its own reward. In another light, however, players are punished for contesting vision as an ‘objective’ since they sacrifice experience and map presence to do so. We’re upping the payoff for ward kills to make it clearer that yes, vision clearing is a thing you should do.
Ward experience
SIGHTSTONE & TOTEM WARDS30 experience on kill ⇒ 40 experience on kill
CONTROL WARDS40 experience on kill
FARSIGHT WARDS15 experience on kill ⇒ 20 experience on kill
Ward lifestealing
With Control Wards no longer nullifying stealth, wards are moving away from in-combat interactions. This change is in line with that direction.
REMOVEDBLOOD FROM A SIGHTSTONEAttacking wards no longer procs lifesteal or omnivamp effects
Assassin Itemization
Lethality
Flat armor penetration has been replaced with Lethality, which scales with target level.
Assassins have a snowball problem. When ahead, they’re really ahead, but when behind, they’re pretty underwhelming. In part, this is the nature of a 1-on-1, outplay champion. But for physical assassins, flat armor penetration is exacerbating the problem. Mages and marksmen—the assassin’s natural prey—don’t typically build defenses early on, so the bulk of their armor in lane comes from levels (Zhonya’s Hourglass is the main exception). So, if assassins start snowballing, flat armor penetration punches through a significant portion of their target’s armor, continuing the snowball. But if assassins fall behind, their threat is mitigated by their targets’ innate stats alone. To give attack damage based assassins more consistency, we’re reworking armor penetration to be more consistently impactful late game without being overbearing early on.
Lethality
MATHLethality immediately grants 40% of its value as flat armor penetration. The remaining 60% scales linearly with enemy level.
EXAMPLE10 lethality grants 4 flat armor penetration up front and 0.33 flat armor penetration per enemy level, capping at the full 10 once enemies are level 18.
UPDATEDPrecision (Tier 5 Cunning mastery)
About the same amount of flat armor penetration, except now it’s lethality.
LETHAL PRECISION!0.6 (+0.06 per level) flat armor penetration / point ⇒ 1.7 lethality / point
FIVE TIMES AS PRECISEAt 5 points, grants 3 (+0.3 per level) flat armor penetration ⇒ 8.5 lethality
UPDATEDFlat Armor Penetration Runes
These now grant lethality instead of flat armor penetration, and they all break even at level 12.
NAME“...of flat armor penetration” ⇒ “...of lethality”
GREATER MARKS1.28 flat armor penetration ⇒ 1.60 lethality
GREATER QUINTESSENCES2.56 flat armor penetration ⇒ 3.20 lethality
FULL PAGE19.2 flat armor penetration ⇒ 24.0 lethality
UPDATEDHybrid Penetration Runes
Only the armor penetration is changing (to lethality)! These also break even at level 12.
NAME“...of hybrid penetration” ⇒ “...of precision”
GREATER MARKS.9 flat armor penetration ⇒ 1.13 lethality
GREATER QUINTESSENCES1.79 flat armor penetration ⇒ 2.24 lethality
FULL PAGE13.47 flat armor penetration ⇒ 16.89 lethality
Serrated Dirk
Attack damage up. On-hit damage after kill removed. Out of combat movement speed added.
Assassins are best when they have to find the right moment to all-in their opponents. The ability to whittle their opponents down simply isn’t a major class strength for them. In other words, Most assassins want better roaming and better burst out of their items, not better lane harass. So, we’re giving it to them.
ATTACK DAMAGE20 ⇒ 25
REMOVEDFLAT ARMOR PENETRATIONNo longer grants 10 flat armor penetration
NEWLETHALITYUNIQUE Passive: +15 lethality (breaks even at level 8)
REMOVEDONE-TWONo longer provides UNIQUE Passive: After killing a unit, your next basic attack or single target ability deals +15 bonus damage on-hit
NEWKNIVES MAKE YOU FASTERUNIQUE Passive: +20 movement speed while out of combat
NEWPoacher's Dirk
Transforms into Serrated Dirk after killing three Large Monsters in the enemy jungle.
An item that rewards aggressive junglers andbird stealersmid laners for trespassing into enemy territory in the early game.
TOTAL COST750 gold
BUILD PATHLong Sword + 400 gold
ATTACK DAMAGE15
KNIVES MAKE YOU FASTERUNIQUE Passive: +20 movement speed while out of combat
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYEAfter poaching 3 unique camps from the enemy jungle (60 second cooldown) transforms into a Serrated Dirk
NEWEdge of Night
New Serrated Dirk upgrade. Channel for a spellshield.
More than any other class, assassins are too easily shut down by stray or ambient crowd control. We’re giving them some ability to plan for—and avoid— interruption as they dive in, at the cost of some slot efficiency compared to other assassin items.
TOTAL COST3100 gold
BUILD PATHPickaxe + Serrated Dirk + Null-Magic Mantle + 675 Gold
ATTACK DAMAGE60
MAGIC RESIST35
LETHALITYUNIQUE Passive: +15 lethality
KNIVES MAKE YOU FASTERUNIQUE Passive: +20 movement speed while out of combat
NO PLSUNIQUE Active - Veil: Channel for 1.5 seconds to grant a spell shield that blocks the next enemy ability. Lasts for 10 seconds. (45 second cooldown) (Can move while channeling. Damage breaks the channel.)
UPDATEDDuskblade of Draktharr
Mini-Death-Mark removed. Deal bonus damage after being unseen. Disable nearby enemy wards when spotted.
Roaming is core to the assassin playstyle, but their items could do more to enable them to gank efficiently. Duskblade of Draktharr now gives assassins a way to...detect… detection and be rewarded for catching champions by surprise.
ATTACK DAMAGE75 ⇒ 65
REMOVEDSTABBING SLOWS YOU DOWNNo longer grants +5% movement speed
NEWKNIVES MAKE YOU FASTERUNIQUE Passive: + 20 Movement Speed out of Combat
REMOVEDFLAT ARMOR PENETRATIONNo longer grants 10 flat armor penetration
NEWLETHALITYUNIQUE Passive: +15 lethality (penetration breaks even at level 8)
REMOVEDNIGHT HAS FALLENNo longer deals a portion of damage recently dealt to the target as bonus damage after a delay
NEWSURPRISEUNIQUE Passive - Nightstalker: After being unseen for at least 1 second, your next basic attack will deal 50 (+2 per lethality) true damage on-hit
NEWIT’S WARDEDUNIQUE Passive - Blackout: Disable nearby enemy wards for 8 seconds after being spotted by one (90 second cooldown)
Youmuu's Ghostblade
Move faster. Active no longer grants attack speed.
The base stats attached to Youmuu’s Ghostblade were a bit of a grab-bag for physical damage, making it useful for basically every AD-focused champion. Most of its unintended users benefit too much from the active’s attack speed, so we’re removing it.
TOTAL COST3200 gold ⇒ 2900 gold
COMBINE COST1000 gold ⇒ 700 gold
REMOVEDFLAT ARMOR PENETRATIONNo longer grants +20 flat armor penetration
NEWLETHALITYUNIQUE Passive: + 20 lethality
NEWKNIVES MAKE YOU FASTERUNIQUE Passive: +20 movement speed while out of combat
UPDATEDIT’S A GHOST BLADEUNIQUE Active: Grants +40% attack speed and +20% movement speed for 6 seconds (45 second cooldown) ⇒UNIQUE Active: Grants +20% movement speed and ignore unit collisionfor 6 seconds (45 second cooldown)
Maw of Malmortius
Builds out of Caulfield’s Warhammer instead of Serrated Dirk.
Like Youmuu’s Ghostblade, Maw of Malmortius is also a grab bag of damage stats; in designer talk, it isn’t really stat bound to class. Unlike Youmuu’s, Maw is warping what it means to be an assassin: assassins are bursty, while Maw supports an extended damage pattern. This wasn’t a problem while Maw of Malmortius was the only available defensive item for both classes, but with Edge of Night taking over as the go-to defensive item for assassins, we feel comfortable moving Maw into fighter territory. We’re cutting the Armor Penetration to make this a less attractive buy for assassins. If they’re opting into Maw for the shield, they will be paying a cost: weaker burst.
TOTAL COST3250 gold (unchanged)
BUILD PATHHexdrinker + Serrated Dirk + 850 gold ⇒ Hexdrinker + Caulfield’s Warhammer + 850 gold
REMOVEDFLAT ARMOR PENETRATION+10 flat armor penetration
NEWCOOLDOWN REDUCTION+10% cooldown reduction
UPDATEDCLINGYUNIQUE Passive - Lifegrip: When Lifeline triggers, gain +20 attack damage (in addition to the previous +10% spell vamp and 10% lifesteal) until out of combat.
Living Jungle
Introduction
Introducing plants to the Rift.
Pre-season is here and with it are new things to explore in the jungle. We want to make Summoner’s Rift feel more alive and that’s where Plants come into play. Plants create new ways for teams to take control of the map and approach objectives, as well as how you engage in future fights. Different plants spawn in on the map during certain parts of the game in order to provide interesting combat situations and rewarding players who adapt to them.
Plants have evolved pretty significantly during their time on PBE, and we’ll continue iterating on them throughout pre-season. We’re excited to see how you use them!
Spawn locations
- Red = Blast Cone
- Blue = Scryer’s Bloom
- Green = Honeyfruit
General mechanics
FOLIAGEPlants are stationary, neutral units with 1 health. Destroying them (via basic attack) triggers an effect.
NURTUREPlants spawn as inactive seeds and take 60 seconds to become usable. Each seed type has a unique appearance.
FIRST SPAWNFirst spawn locations for all plants are pre-determined
SPAWN NATUREEach plant has its own set of spawn rules - see below
STARTER GARDENThe first wave of plants is identical in every game
Blast Cone
FLY AWAYKnocks away nearby units (including the attacker) when destroyed—even over walls
AIM THEREBlast Cone displays a self-only indicator to champions in the blast radius, showing where they’ll land if it’s detonated
SPAWN POINTSBlast Cones spawn in two spots per jungle quadrant, an inner point toward the center of the quadrant, and an outer point near Baron/Dragon
FIRST INNER CONE SPAWN1:15 - 1:25
FIRST OUTER CONE SPAWN2:15 - 2:30
INNER CONE RESPAWN TIME5 - 7 minutes
OUTER CONE RESPAWN TIME5.5 - 6.5 minutes
Scryer's Bloom
SIGHT BEYOND SIGHTWhen destroyed, releases vision-granting pollen in a large cone that flies in the direction the attacker was facing, revealing units and wards for 12 seconds (3 seconds on champions)
AIM THEREScryer’s Bloom displays a self-only range indicator to champions on mouse-over, showing which direction the pollen will fly
SPAWN POINTSScryer’s Bloom can spawn in two spots per jungle quadrant, close to river ramps
FIRST SPAWN3:00 - 3:30, always at each quadrant’s spawn point nearest to the side lanes
NEXT-SPAWN TIME5 - 6.5 minutes at either spawn point, starting once a given quadrant’s Scryer’s Bloom is destroyed
NO TWO BLOOMSOnly one Scryer’s Bloom can be present per quadrant
Honeyfruit
TREE OF MANY FRUITSDrops 5 fruits on the ground when killed
I ATE AN ORANGE AND IT WAS KEach fruit heals for 3.5% of max health or 8 (+6 per level) flat health, whichever is higher.
FOOD COMAEating a fruit slows you for 35% for 0.25 seconds
SPAWN ZONESHoneyfruit spawn along river walls, starting near Dragon or Baron pits and slowly extending closer toward lanes over the course of the game
FIRST SPAWN5:00 - 5:30 minutes
RESPAWN TIME5.5 - 7 minutes
THE FRUIT NEVER FALLS FAR FROM THE TREEIf a Honeyfruit isn’t taken before its respawn timer completes, a second Honeyfruit may spawn. No more than two Honeyfruits can exist per half of the river.
Summoner's Rift
Smite
Smite bonuses (the benefits you get from Smiting a camp) are a feature we actually think functions pretty well at giving junglers tools to contest objectives and control the map. However, we think we can do better, so we’re removing Smite bonuses to give us room to make improvements elsewhere. However, there is one important function of Smite bonuses that we haven’t reliably replicated elsewhere: sustain. Smite will continue to carry that burden whenever used on any camp.
REMOVEDNO MORE WOLF SPIRITLarge monsters no longer grant bonuses when Smited. (Red and blue buffs still exist!)
NEWMORE HEALTH THOUGHSmite now heals you for 100 + 10% of your maximum health when used against monsters
AMMO RECHARGE TIME75 seconds ⇒ 90 seconds
AMMO CHARGE START TIME1:25 ⇒ 1:40
Hunter's Machete
On-hit damage up. Lifesteal up.
With Krug and Gromp Smite bonuses gone, we’re upping both the damage and sustain on Hunter’s Machete (and its upgrades) to compensate.
ON-HIT DAMAGE20 ⇒ 25
LIFESTEAL8% ⇒ 10 %
PAY IT FORWARDThese changes apply to Hunter’s Machete upgrades as well
Monster Spawn & Reward Changes
Monster respawn times longer. Monster gold and experience rewards up.
The gap between fast-clearing and slow-clearing junglers is too high. Clearing is always going to be easier for power farmers and bursty clearers, but we think some aspects of the scaling of the jungle monsters is accentuating those differences out a bit too much.
First, junglers pay too much of an opportunity cost when ganking, thanks to how quickly jungle monsters respawn. Champions with high clear speeds can afford to sneak in a gank or invade while their camps are respawning, while champions with lower clear speeds are far too often just leaving their camps sitting whenever they try to do anything. We want more time in between spawns so that slower clearing junglers aren’t giving up so much if they clear their camps before ganking. To compensate, we’re upping the gold and experience rewards for killing camps.
Second, the way that monsters scale is disproportionately benefitting fast clears. The level of camps is based on the average level of the players in the game, which mean faster clearers end up fighting a weaker overall jungle (because they’re clearing it earlier). This is most notable early game, so we want to create brackets of levels that aren’t as sensitive to small variations in levels. These brackets should correspond approximately to “first buffs and first clear”, “second clear and second buffs”, and “next few clears”, but your mileage may vary depending on game pacing and jungle choices.
SMALL CAMP RESPAWN100 seconds ⇒ 150 seconds
MONSTER LEVELINGMonster levels now fall into four brackets, dependent on the average character level in game.
- Levels 1-3
- Levels 4-6
- Levels 7-9
- Levels 10+: scales linearly.
REWARDSFirst clear gives about the same amount of gold/experience. Taking Krugs gives more. Rewards across game time slightly decreased.
Camp Updates
We like what camps like Gromp and Raptors have done for making different camps feel distinct to clear. This pre-season, we’re sharpening those distinctions even more.
Rift Herald
Rift Herald spawns later and hits less hard.
Rift Herald is supposed to be a threatening objective for split-pushers to contest. It’s high damage renders it too threatening to be worth taking, as it often turns into a trap for players who try to start it, especially early on. We’re pushing Rift Herald’s spawn back to a time more appropriate to such a strong objective, and dialing back on its damage so that players have clearer opportunities to secure it.
SPAWN TIME6 minutes ⇒ 10 minutes
ATTACK DAMAGE105 ⇒ 85
Elder Dragon
Elder Dragon is no longer more difficult for each drake you’ve taken. Aspect of the Dragon duration up.
Elder Dragon is supposed to be an epic late game objective that helps secure a win. The teams who should feel best about taking Elder Dragon are the ones who have already secured a few dragons. However, the more dragons you’ve already taken, the harder it is to take down. When Elder Dragon takes that long to kill, starting it can feel like a mistake, because it opens up baron to the other team. This is only compounded by the fact that Elder Dragon buff lasts half as long as Baron buff.
REMOVEDANGER MANAGEMENTElder Dragon no longer deals more damage and takes less damage based on how many elemental drakes your team has secured
ASPECT OF THE DRAGON120 seconds ⇒ 150 seconds
Minions
As the game scales past laning phase, some classes opt out of engaging with minions (hi, tanks and supports) while most others just steamroll through waves early on. We’re strengthening the differences between minion types in order to get a better picture of which champions are engaging with them and why they are doing so, creating more opportunities for other champions to interact with them as the game progresses.
Melee Minions
LIFE CHANGINGHealth growth over time increased by ~60%
LESS DAMAGEMelee minions no longer gain attack damage as the game progresses
Ranged Minions
LIFE CHANGINGHealth growth over time decreased by ~60%
MORE DAMAGERanged minions now gain ~100% attack damage as the game progresses
Turrets
Two years ago we made Inhibitors and Nexus turrets shoot laser beams instead of laser bullets. We're reverting that change from back then in order to streamline the way turrets attack across the board.
NEW? LASER STUFFInhibitor and Nexus turrets melt enemies with lasers ⇒ fire laser bullets like all other turrets
We’re standardizing the damage turrets deal to minions to ensure last hitting under turret isn’t changed with the minion health changes above. (Last-hit after one turret shot for casters, two for melees—in case you didn’t know.)
DAMAGE TO MINIONSTurret bullets now deal a fixed percent of minion max health:
- MELEE~45% health per bullet
- RANGED~70% health per bullet
- SIEGE~14% health per bullet
- SUPER~5% health per bullet
Minimap Icons
Reducing minimap clutter and improving icon readability on important objectives.
JUNGLE CAMPSKrugs, Raptors, Murkwolves, Gromp and Scuttlecrab now have smaller icons (Red Brambleback and Blue Sentinel icons unchanged)
TURRETSTurret minimap icons now change at 66% and 33% remaining health
NEWPLANTSPlants also have icons in the minimap once you gain sight of them
Aegis of the Legion Items
Aegis of the Legion
Aura removed. Health removed. MR increased. Armor added.
There’s just no way around it: Aegis of the Legion is too strong. No amount of magic resist would feel impactful on one champion without being overpowered on five, so we’re removing the aura. With that out of the way, we need to give supports other ways to accomplish what Aegis of the Legion did: protect their team. To do that, we’re introducing a few new items and bolstering a few old friends. More on that in a bit.
But what does Aegis look like without its aura? The Aegis line is for low-level champions who are at risk of deletion, yet are expected to roam and ward alone (supports and utility junglers, that’s you). With assassins running around, Aegis is the perfect buy to feel a bit safer straying into the Fog of War.
TOTAL COST1100 gold
BUILD PATHNull-Magic Mantle + Cloth Armor + 350 gold
MAGIC RESIST20 ⇒ 30
NEWARMOR30
REMOVEDHEALTHNo longer grants 200 health
REMOVEDBASE HEALTH REGENERATIONNo longer grants +100% base health regen
REMOVEDAURAUNIQUE PASSIVE - Legion: No longer gives nearby allied units +10 magic resist
Locket of the Iron Solari
Aura and health removed. Shield and magic resist increased. Now has armor.
With the Aegis aura gone, we want to make sure Locket still feels impactful in fights, so we’re doubling the shield. It also brings more magic resist than you can shake a stick at, so don’t worry about getting bursted before you can drop the bass. And by the bass we mean shield.
TOTAL COST2500 gold ⇒ 2200 gold
BUILD PATHAegis of the Legion + Kindlegem + 200 gold ⇒ Aegis of the Legion + Null-Magic Mantle + 650 gold
MAGIC RESIST20 ⇒ 60
NEWARMOR30
REMOVEDHEALTHNo longer grants 400 health
REMOVEDBASE HEALTH REGENERATIONNo longer grants +100% base health regen
REMOVEDCOOLDOWN REDUCTIONNo longer grants 10% cooldown reduction
WUB WUB WUBUNIQUE Active: Grants a shield to nearby allies that absorbs up to 35 (+35 per level) damage, decaying over 2.5 seconds (90 second cooldown). (Half effect if the target has recently been affected by another Locket of the Iron Solari.)
REMOVEDAURAUNIQUE PASSIVE - Legion: No longer gives nearby allied units +15 magic resist
UPDATEDBanner of Command
Redesigned. Now a tank item.
Unlike Locket, Banner’s being rebuilt from the ground up. Banner of Command previously built out of a tank item (Aegis of the Legion) and a mage item (Fiendish Codex). This felt fine for enchanters when Aegis was a must-buy, but made Banner inaccessible to tanks. With the number of caster support items already available, we felt it more appropriate to give tanks more options to build out of Aegis, rather than splitting the item’s functions between several classes (tanks and enchanters and the occasional burst mage).
TOTAL COST2200
BUILD PATHAegis of the Legion + Glacial Shroud + 100 gold
MAGIC RESIST30
ARMOR60
MANA400
COOLDOWN REDUCTION10%
STILL PROMOTEUNIQUE Active - Promote: Greatly increases the power of a lane minion and grants it immunity to magic damage. (120 second cooldown.)
REMOVEDAURAUNIQUE PASSIVE - Legion: No longer gives nearby allied units +15 magic resist
Enchanter Itemization
Forbidden Idol
Shrinking Forbidden Idol’s cost and effects so supports can pick it up faster.
COMBINE COST600 ⇒ 550
HEAL AND SHIELD POWER+10% ⇒ +8%
Chalice of Harmony
Chalice of Harmony now duplicates bonus mana regen as bonus health regen.
Chalice’s old passive was confusing. Is extra mana regen really worth it if you spend it all healing back to full? For all that complexity, it wasn’t having enough of an impact on the game, so we’re updating it to be clearer. Healers who invest in mana regen now get to spend less of that mana topping their health bars off.
TOTAL COST900 gold ⇒ 800 gold
COMBINE COST200 gold ⇒ 100 gold
REMOVEDOLD CHALICEUNIQUE Passive: Increases base health regen by 100% if current health % is lower than current mana %. Increases base mana regen by 100% if current mana % is lower than current health %
NEWNEW CHALICEUNIQUE Passive: Increases to % base mana regen now also increase % base health regen by the same amount
NEWRedemption
Redemption gives one more spell -- bringing both a heal and damage -- available even after death.
Are you an enchanter? Do you love healing and shielding your teammates so they don’t die? Do you hate dying, not because you’re dead, but because you know your carry doesn’t stand a chance without you? No problem! Redemption not only boosts your healing, but also gives you an additional ability that can even be used while dead. With Redemption, you can give your carry a second chance at life, even if yours is already over.
TOTAL COST2100 gold
BUILD PATHForbidden Idol + Crystalline Bracer + 650 gold
HEALTH400
BASE HEALTH REGENERATION+75%
BASE MANA REGENERATION+75%
COOLDOWN REDUCTION+10%
HEAL AND SHIELD POWER+10% (UNIQUE Passive)
SO REDEEMEDUNIQUE Active: Target an area within 550 range. After 2.5 seconds, call down a beam of light to heal allies for 130 (+20 per target’s level) health, burn enemy champions for 10% of their maximum health as true damage, and deal 250 true damage to enemy minions (120 second cooldown). Can be used while dead. (Half effect if the target has been affected by another Redemption recently)
Ardent Censer
Grants less on-hit damage, but now grants an on-hit heal.
Ardent Censer embodies a simple concept—keep your carries alive and make them hit harder—but the on-hit buff was only doing one of those things. By shifting some of the damage to sustain, we’re giving supports the ability to enhance trades and duels by keeping their carries alive, not just giving them more damage.
COMBINE COST700 gold ⇒ 650 gold
TOTAL COST2400 gold ⇒ 2300 gold
HEAL AND SHIELD POWER15% ⇒ 10%
SO ARDENTYour heals and shields on another allied champion grant them15% attack speed and 30 magic damage on-hit ⇒ 20% attack speed, 20 magic damage on-hit, and cause their basic attacks to restore 20 health
Mikael's Crucible
No longer heals, but has no travel time and grants your target slow immunity. Successful cleanses also grant them movement speed.
Using Mikael’s Crucible correctly can be pretty difficult, and often goes unnoticed. We want to make sure Mikael’s Crucible fills the niche of crowd control removal in a more satisfying way. We’re removing the existing travel time to make it more consistent and making sure it’s clear when Mikael’s has been used successfully. That means trimming power from Mikael’s elsewhere, so we’re removing the heal from the active.
TOTAL COST2400 gold ⇒ 2100 gold
COMBINE COST650 gold ⇒ 500 gold
BASE MANA REGENERATION+150% ⇒ +100%
REMOVEDOLD CHALICEUNIQUE Passive: Increases base health regen by 100% if current health% is lower than current mana %. Increases base mana regen by 100% if current mana % is lower than current health %.
NEWNEW CHALICEIncreases to your % base mana regen stat now also increase your % base health regen stat by the same amount
SO... CRUCIBLED?UNIQUE Active: Cleanses all stuns, roots, taunts, fears, silences, and slows on an allied champion and grants them slow immunity for 2 seconds (120 second cooldown). Successfully cleansing an effect using the active will also grant the target 40% movement speed for 2 seconds. Active no longer has a travel time.
Athene's Unholy Grail
It’s just cheaper now.
TOTAL COST2250 gold ⇒ 2100 gold
COMBINE COST450 gold ⇒ 300 gold
REMOVEDOLD CHALICEUNIQUE Passive: Increases base health regen by 100% if current health% is lower than current mana %. Increases base mana regen by 100% if current mana % is lower than current health %.
NEWNEW CHALICEIncreases to your % base mana regen stat now also increase your % base health regen stat by the same amount.
Warden Itemization
NEWKnight's Vow
Wardens have a lot of tools to control teamfights, throwing crowd control left and right. But when it comes to protecting a single target from damage, they often find themselves unable to help out (unless their name is Braum). We want to give those champions the ability to pick one single teammate and work overtime to keep them alive, even when their spells are on cooldown.
TOTAL COST2100 gold
BUILD PATHCrystalline Bracer + Cloth Armor + Crystalline Bracer + 500 gold
HEALTH400
ARMOR20
BASE HEALTH REGENERATION+100%
BUDDY SYSTEMUNIQUE Active: Designate an allied champion as your Partner (90 second cooldown)
ON MY WAYUNIQUE Passive: If your Partner is nearby, gain + 15% movement Speed when moving towards them and + 40 additional armor.
I GOTCHU FAMUNIQUE Passive: If your Partner is nearby, heal for 12% of the damage your Partner deals to champions and redirect 12% of the damage your Partner takes from champions to you as true damage (healing and damage redirection are reduced by 50% if you are ranged). (Champions can only be linked by one Knight’s Vow at a time.)
Face of the Mountain
We’re giving this the Heal treatment: it targets the nearest low-health allied champion as well when self-cast. Get in the thick of things and know you can shield your ally while stile bailing yourself out!
NEWDOUBLING SEASONActive now also shields you when cast on an ally, and now also shields the nearest low-health ally when cast on yourself.
Item Efficiency Pass
We’re bringing the costs down or the stats up. Everything must go!
Eye of the Equinox
BASE HEALTH REGENERATION+100%⇒ +200%
Eye of the Oasis
TOTAL COST2200 gold ⇒ 1900 gold
COMBINE COST550 gold ⇒ 250 gold
BASE HEALTH REGENERATION150% ⇒ 100%
Zeke's Harbinger
TOTAL COST2350 gold ⇒ 2250 gold
COMBINE COST480 gold ⇒ 380 gold
Talisman of Ascension
TOTAL COST2500 gold ⇒ 2400 gold
COMBINE COST450 gold ⇒ 350 gold
Frozen Heart
TOTAL COST2800 gold ⇒ 2700 gold
COMBINE COST800 gold ⇒ 700 gold
Champions
Alistar
Gameplay update for Alistar. Passive and E are conceptually swapping places.
Alistar’s been on our radar since our “support supports” work earlier in the season. He’s got powerful initiation and one of the best damage mitigation tools in the game, but also reliable healing opponents can’t really do anything about. It’s unclear how to win in lane against a tank that heals his team: poke damage doesn’t stick, burst damage isn’t enough to bring him down, and you can’t get past him to kill his carry instead. This means we’ve had to water down a lot of Alistar’s tools to keep him fair.
As a result, Alistar’s teamfight gameplay is marked by a lot of downtime. After initiating with W+Q, he doesn’t have much to do beyond pressing R and trying to block skillshots. Damage soaking is an important contribution, but as League’s mad cow, we think Alistar should do more to aggressively disrupt the enemy team once he dives into the fray. He’s losing some reliability in exchange (particularly in terms of his healing), but a greater risk of failure lets us give him greater rewards for success.
NEWPassive - Triumphant Roar
STACKSAlistar gains Triumph stacks when applying hard crowd control to enemy champions and when nearby units die, healing himself and the closest ally when he reaches 7 stacks
HEALTriumphant Roar heals Alistar for 13 (+7 per level) and the nearest allied champion for twice the amount
COOLDOWNAlistar can’t gain Triumph stacks for 3 seconds after Triumphant Roar procs
BYPASSTriumphant Roar instantly procs whenever an epic monster or enemy champion dies
Q - Pulverize
BYENo longer stuns targets for 0.5 seconds after the knock-up ends
NEWE - Trample
TRAMPLINGAlistar tramples the ground for 5 seconds, damaging nearby units every 0.5 seconds
DAMAGING100/125/150/175/200 (+0.4 ability power) over 5 seconds
CHARGINGEvery Trample pulse that hits at least one enemy champion grants Alistar 1 Trample stack, capped at 5
PUNCHINGAt 5 Trample stacks, Alistar's next basic attack against a champion deals 40 (+10 per level) additional magic damage and stuns the target for 1 second
COSTING50/60/70/80/90 mana
COOLDOWN...ING16/15.5/15/14.4/14 seconds
R - Unbreakable Will
IT BROKENo longer grants 60/75/95 attack damage while active
Twitch
Ambush now Camouflages Twitch. W leaves a gas cloud.
With the pre-season’s changes to stealth, it was only natural that we involved Twitch. Well-known for his powerful ambushing and late-game scaling, Twitch’s stealth is a uniquely aggressive trait among marksmen who typically favor range and safety. Where Twitch’s pattern breaks down is when he’s able to amass so much damage that popping out by enemies isn’t an actual drawback (since they’ll be dead anyways). Changing Twitch to use camouflage means the dirty rat gets to retain his razor-edge stealth plays, but also gives opponents a chance to catch him before he retreats into the shadows.
UPDATEDQ - Ambush
NEWCAMOUFLAGENow camouflages Twitch instead of making him invisible
STEALTH DURATION4/5/6/7/8 seconds ⇒ 10/11/12/13/14 seconds
OUT OF COMBAT MOVEMENT SPEED20% ⇒ 10%
NEWSNEAKINGTwitch gains 30% movement speed when near an enemy that can’t see him
UPDATEDW - Venom Cask
Twitch hurls a cask that adds a stack of Deadly Venom to all enemies struck, leaving behind a cloud of toxic gas. Enemies that remain in the cloud are slowed and gain Deadly Venom stacks over time.
CLOUD DURATION3 seconds
VENOM STACKS ON HIT2 ⇒ 1
CLOUD VENOM STACKS1 per second
R - Spray and Pray
NEW?RENAMEDRat-Ta-Tat-Tat ⇒ Spray and Pray
Skin splash updates
Twitch's older skin splashes are being updated this patch!
Ivern
Q cooldown decreased. Daisy has more health and is generally smarter.
Ivern’s still new to the Rift, taking his time to get acquainted with the local wildlife (and winning, for that matter). Experienced Iverns are getting a lot of mileage out of the Greenfather, but his first couple of games are posing too steep a challenge. We’re touching up Ivern’s experience by tackling some of his less-smooth interactions (specifically with Rootcaller and Daisy!), while tossing in some power-positive changes for good measure.
Q - Rootcaller
COOLDOWN16/15/14/13/12 seconds ⇒ 14/13/12/11/10 seconds
NEWTREE SINIvern can now reactivate Rootcaller to take the dash portion of the ability in addition to issuing a basic attack
R - Daisy!
HEALTH /SPAN> 1250/2000/3500 ⇒ 1250/2500/3750
PUSHING DAISYDaisy should generally be smarter when it comes to following Ivern’s commands
Kled
Remounts more quickly. W damage down.
Kled is a bloodthirsty little yordle who loves violence. He’s not having any issue starting fights, thanks to Chaaaaaaaarge!!! Once he’s in the thick of things, Kled brings both high damage and the ability to turn a fight around with a timely remount, and we think that’s left him at a pretty good power level. However, we think remounting is what makes Kled’s combat pattern unique, and we’d like it to be more consistently accessible. Kled is at a pretty good power right now, which means his sustained damage needs to dip to compensate.
Passive - Skaarl, the Cowardly Lizard
REMOUNT TIME1 second ⇒ .5 seconds
W - Violent Tendencies
4TH HIT DAMAGE4/5/6/7/8% of target’s maximum health ⇒4/4.5/5/5.5/6% of target’s maximum health
Items
Abyssal Scepter
Flat magic resist reduction replaced with magic damage amplification.
Abyssal Scepter is a must-rush item. When purchased before the opposing team can build magic resist, it provides (sigh) tons of damage. But once the other team builds into defenses, Scepter starts to fall off. This gave it a natural rivalry with Aegis of the Legion’s teamwide aura. Now that Aegis no longer beefs up carry resistances, Abyssal Scepter would run unchecked early and take too long to fall off. We’re pushing it away from that early power spike and making it feel useful at all stages of the game.
REMOVEDMAGIC RESIST REDUCTIONNo longer provides UNIQUE Aura: Reduces the magic resist of nearby enemies by 20
NEWMAGIC DAMAGE AMPLIFICATIONUNIQUE Aura: Nearby enemy champions take 10% more magic damage
Hextech Revolver
On-hit damage reduced.
For an early-game purchase, the damage on Revolver is too damn high.
DAMAGEUNIQUE Passive - Magic Bolt: Damage reduced from 75 - 150⇒ 50 - 125
Hextech Protobelt-01
Damage from multiple bolts down. AP scaling down.
Protobelt should give champions like Kennen the added mobility and initiation power they need to get in the face of their enemies. However, the damage its active deals is currently so high that it’s overshadowing that utility.
DAMAGE PER ADDITIONAL BOLT30% ⇒ 20%
RATIO0.35 ability power ⇒ 0.25 ability power
Masteries
Last pre-season saw a ground-up rebuild of masteries with the goal of making mastery choices more about individual playstyle than numerical buffs. Though we’ve had a few balance challenges over the season, the basic premise has held up over time. We’re filling in the remaining holes in each tree with an eye toward further sharpening this ‘playstyle-first’ vision, and addressing two of the ‘problem children’ remaining in the system.
Side-note: we recently shipped an article sharing most of the information in this section, so if you get deja-vu, you’re not crazy (or psychic).
Ferocity
The Ferocity tree caters to champions who prefer lengthier fights over bursting opponents down. We’re adding a few new ways for these types to customize how their fights play out.
Tier 2
Double Edged Sword
In general, lower mastery tiers are impactful early, but fall off later. This keeps decisionmaking reasonable. As a scaling mastery, Double Edged Sword isn’t a great fit for Tier 2, so we’re moving it higher.
UP WE GOMoved to Tier 4
NEWFresh Blood
Impactful early, falls off late. Yeah.
OUCHYour first basic attack against a champion deals an additional 10 (+1 per level) damage (9 second cooldown)
Tier 4
Tier 4 offers three different flavors of damage scaling, making it a better fit for Double Edged Sword.
Double Edged Sword
Risk-reward incarnate. Remember: (most) dead people deal no damage.
INCREASED DAMAGE DEALT3% ⇒ 5%
INCREASED DAMAGE TAKEN1.5% ⇒ 2.5%
Bounty Hunter
Provides the highest bonus if you can manage to stack it.
DAMAGE PER UNIQUE KILL1% ⇒ 1.5%
MAXIMUM BONUS5% ⇒ 7.5%
NEWBattle Trance
Safe and guaranteed, but takes time to ramp up.
BLINDED BY RAGEGain up to 5% increased damage over 5 seconds when in combat with enemy champions
REMOVEDOppressor
Champions either have perma-crowd control or they don’t. How you play makes little difference when the only question is whether you can activate Oppressor or not, so we’re removing it in favor of more versatile options. See above.
NOT SO OPPRESSIVERemoved
Keystone Tier
Fervor of Battle has been an on-again, off-again balance challenge for us throughout 2016, mostly due to on-hit effects only working when attack speed and basic attacking are prioritized above all else. Many Fervor users might prefer to focus on crit chance for harder-hitting attacks or cooldown reduction for more spellcasting, but can’t because neither approach optimizes on-hit damage. In other words, Fervor doesn’t just support the attack speed playstyle, it suppresses everything else in the ‘sustained physical damage’ space.
We’re switching Fervor’s bonus to raw attack damage, a stat that fits in multiple approaches toward extended fighting. If we’re being direct, this is a power-down for on-hit builds, but ‘power-down’ doesn’t mean ‘unusable’. We want to put all flavors of Fervor users back on an even playing field, not kick the old ones out.
UPDATEDFervor of Battle
STACKINGHitting champions with basic attacks and abilities generates a Fervor stack (2 for melee attacks, 2 second cooldown for abilities). This is unchanged.
MAXIMUM STACKS8 ⇒ 10
STACK DURATION6 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
NEWATTACK DAMAGEStacks now grant 1-6 attack damage
REMOVEDON-HIT DAMAGEBasic attacks no longer deals 1-14 bonus physical damage per stack against champions
Cunning
Cunning’s in a reasonably stable place, offering choices for champs who favor burst or utility—in some cases both, such as Stormraider’s Surge. We’re filling the last gap in the tree.
Tier 4
NEWGreenfather's Gift
Extra oomph for champions who duck in and out of brush between combat.
BLOOM!Stepping into brush causes your next damaging attack or ability to deal 3% of your target's current health as bonus magic damage (9s Cooldown)
Tier 5
Precision
We chatted about this earlier. Go read the lethality stuff.
NEWLETHALITY1.7 lethality per point (8.5 lethality at 5 points)
REMOVEDFLAT ARMOR PENETRATIONNo longer grants 0.6 (+0.06 per level) flat armor penetration per point (3 (+0.3 per level) flat armor penetration at 5 points)
Resolve
The Resolve tree provides some solid options to make champions tankier, but ironically falls a bit flat in supporting the tank playstyle. We’re adding choices that reward tanks for actively doing their job rather than just making them passively beefier.
Tier 2
NEWSiegemaster
Siegemaster helps you survive poke and live through dive attempts while sitting under tower.
EVEN MORE PROTECTEDGain 8 armor and magic resist when near an allied turret
Tier 4
NEWFearless
Extra mitigation at the start of a fight.
BY A SPLITGain 10% bonus armor and magic resist (+2 flat armor and magic resist per level) when damaged by an enemy champion for 2 seconds (9 second cooldown)
Keystone Tier
REMOVEDStrength of the Ages
Strength of the Ages is the only keystone that’s become almost mandatory for an entire position, regardless of playstyle: the jungle. Health is useful for every class, so it stands to reason that champs who wouldn’t otherwise take Strength would still pick it in the jungle, where it stacks fastest. The problem: most junglers now end up with 300 extra health, plus other survivability bonuses from the Resolve tree. This works for tanks, but when damage threats find success with defensive setups, opponents have no means of fighting back. We’re retiring Strength of the Ages so junglers gravitate toward keystones that enhance playstyle, not their position—ensuring that damage dealers play like damage dealers, and tanks play like tanks.
Note: We know that Strength of the Ages was a genuine fit for some junglers. Removing it will be a hit to these core users, but with other pre-season changes in the mix, we don’t think anyone will be left without a keystone for their playstyle. Once the dust has settled, we’ll see if anyone’s fallen far enough to warrant follow-up.
LOST TO THE AGESRemoved
NEWCourage of the Colossus
Giving initiators a survivability tool in the moment they need it most: diving into the enemy team.
ARGUSGain a shield for 7% (+7% for each additional nearby enemy champion) of your maximum health for 4 seconds after hitting an enemy champion with hard crowd control (30 second cooldown)
GO HARDStun, root, suppression, taunt, charm, fear, terrify, knockup, and knockback count as hard crowd control
League Client Update
The changelog now lives in the patch notes. Open beta is coming for all regions during this patch!
Once the beta begins, the download will appear for everyone launching the game, and if you don't feel like upgrading right away, you'll still have the option to upgrade through your launcher at any point during the beta. For testing purposes, open beta will hit OCE slightly earlier during patch 6.22 than other regions.
We’ll be working out a few kinks and adding the remainder of the client’s missing features (like spectator mode) over the next few patches—it’s a beta, after all! To those of you who want to jump in right away: if you run into anything funky, be sure to hit us with that sweet, sweet feedback.
Check out the open beta FAQ for more details.
New features
Below are the major updates for the League client update this patch. Bear in mind that this is not a complete list of everything that was added or changed.
NEWREPLAYSWe're testing replays on NA and OCE during patch 6.22. Replays will be available only on the updated client. If you’re in the League client update alpha, please give replays a test-run before we release it worldwide.
CUSTOM GAMESCustom games are now available in the updated client, however you cannot yet view the list of all public custom games. That will come in a future patch. (Known issue: custom game spectators will remain stuck in champion select if the spectator option is set to "Lobby only.")
TREELINE CO-OPCo-op vs AI is now available for Twisted Treeline. (Known issue: there’s no options for difficulty—it defaults to beginner.)
BATTLE TRAINING Battle Training is now available
ACCOUNT CHANGESSummoner name changes and account transfers now work in the updated client
Finally, as a small thank you for the hard work of alpha testers, we created an exclusive summoner icon for everyone who participated in the alpha. Your feedback was invaluable for the client team. If you log in to the alpha before November 15th, you'll get it!
Scoreboard Ordering
We reorder the scoreboard so you don’t have to.
For real this time. This’ll be activated some time during the patch once pre-season is fully shipped and out in the world.
WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGYGames drafted in New Champ Select will automatically order the scoreboard by role (top, jungle, mid, marksman, support).
Ranked
End of Season 2016
The 2016 ranked season has ended, and rewards will be distributed over the next few weeks! Head to the End of Season FAQ for a refresher on end of season rewards.
Players who finished the season in Gold tier or higher in any ranked queue will receive the Victorious Maokai skin!
Finally, to those who achieved Challenger: be sure to verify your email address! We’re currently vetting account eligibility, and will be sending instructions for ordering your physical rewards in the next few weeks.
2017 Ranked Updates
Testing for this season’s ranked queue changes will begin soon. In-depth explanations of those changes can be found here!
Starting next patch, the patch notes will include updates on the health of each ranked queue. (“Health” here refers to stuff like queue times and match quality.) Our goal is to keep you in the loop so that if we need to make queue adjustments, they won’t come as a surprise.
Bugfixes
We always fix more bugs than we list in the patch notes, but that's especially true this time around. Fun fact: this set of notes is 14 thousand words long.
- Gangplank's Q - Parrley! crits no longer travel faster than normal casts, fixing a bug that prevented him from chaining extra barrels during the travel time.
- Lucian's W - Ardent Blaze no longer auto-fires in the same direction as Passive - Lightslinger's second shot if cast between Lightslinger's shots
- Fixed a bug that allowed Thresh to cast W - Dark Passage globally under specific circumstances. No lantern was created, but Thresh gained vision of the target area.
- Illaoi's tentacles now normally swing at champions under the effects of Taric's R - Cosmic Radiance or Kindred's R - Lamb's Respite
- Jinx can no longer queue up Q - Switcheroo! during the cast time of R - Super Mega Death Rocket! This addresses a bug that sometimes caused the rocket to appear further ahead to enemies than it was.
- Master Yi's Q - Alpha Strike now properly charges Statikk Shiv's passive
- PROJECT: Fiora's Passive - Duelist's Dance Vitals indicators no longer visually disappear before the effect expires
- PROJECT: Yasuo's basic attack animations have been adjusted to visually slash the target at the same time damage is applied, rather than slightly after
- Blackfrost Anivia's W - Crystallize visuals have been widened to match her other skins (actual hitbox was never broken!)
- When cast on a turret, Star Guardian Janna's E - Eye of the Storm visuals now properly disappear if the shield is broken
- Ivern can no longer be flagged as AFK if he farms the jungle for too long without interacting with anyone else
- Wooglet's Witchcap's tooltip now properly indicates its active has a 120-second cooldown
- Lowered the volume of Creator Viktor's R - Chaos Storm churning
- Lulu's running animation has been restored on all skins
- Winter Wonder Lulu'x Pix attack VFX have been re-snow-ified
- Cassiopeia now properly plays VO lines when placing wards
- Star Guardian Jinx's corpse no longer gets stuck in a "T-pose" if she dued while casting Q - Switcheroo!
- Brolaf no longer plays two VO lines at once when activating R - Ragnarok
- Snow Day Gnar's E - Hop bouncing audio has been fixed when Gnar stomps on friendly targets
Upcoming Skins & Chromas
These skins will be released during patch 6.22:
These chromas will be released during patch 6.22:
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