Introduction
Hi everyone! Bit of a late post on the patch notes as a get back into the swing of things, but there are large set of reworks and changes coming along this patch. Notably, Leblanc's got a pretty big overhaul (or revert rather), and Sweeping Lens is now available from level one.
Summary
Buffs: Leblanc, Ahri, Graves, Lissandra, Nautilus, Vi, Red Trinket
Nerfs: Irelia, Azir, Braum, Galio, Janna, Kai'Sa, Ryze, Sion, Tahm Kench, Taliyah, Varus, Xayah
Patch 8.8 Notes
Greetings, Summoners,
Welcome to patch 8.8! As we move towards the middle of the season, the next few months will be jam-packed with a bunch of events (MSI, the launch of Clash, and start of the summer split to name a few). This puts a lot of pressure on specific patches, so "big patch, small patch" is gonna look like "medium patch, medium patch" for a little while.
That being said, there are some pretty big changes this patch! First, we're taking a look at a duo of champions who we've struggled to handle. As we tried to make LeBlanc and Ahri less frustrating to play against, we ended up shifting them too far away from being assassins; instead shaping them into mages that kite opponents with mobility and crowd control. This patch, we're trying to push them back into an assassin playstyle, while keeping some of the fairness gains of their prior updates. We'll have to keep an eye on them in the coming patches, but in general they should excel at bursting priority targets and snowballing that lead into a win.
GLHF, and we'll see you on the Rift!
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman
Paul "Aether" PerscheidPatch Highlights
Champions
LeBlanc
Updated. Just read it!
First things first, this is a partial revert of the changes we made to LeBlanc during the Assassin Update. At the time, we had two goals for the update. For assassins as a whole, we wanted to give champions more time to play against assassins. For LeBlanc specifically, we wanted to reinforce her identity as a combo-based assassin who cared about the order in which she cast her spells. In LeBlanc's case, we feel that we've missed the mark on those goals, and we're turning back the clock on some of her changes.
Those two goals can most be exemplified by two abilities: Passive - Sigil of Malice, and R - Mimic. However, neither of these changes have quite hit the mark, so we'll be reverting them, and making some tweaks to the rest of her kit for balance purposes. More on the changes to each ability below.
UPDATEDPassive - Mirror Image
At the moment, no matter how far ahead she is, LeBlanc needs to stick around for around 2 seconds to have a shot at killing a target. It feels pretty awkward having the right thing to do often be holding off on using your abilities (until your passive has cooked).
WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAINWhen LeBlanc drops below 40% health, she becomes invisible for 1 second and creates a Mirror Image that deals no damage and lasts for up to 8 seconds
BUGFIXFixed a bug where an attack launched by the clone from Passive - Mirror Image could deal damage if the clone died before that basic attack landed. Funny story, we had this bugfix ready to go when we initially reworked LeBlanc, but there was no need to ship it because that ability no longer existed. So now we're finally shipping it!
Q - Sigil of Malice
NAMEShatter Orb ⇒ Sigil of Malice
NEWSIGIL OF MALICEApplies a mark to the target. Damaging the marked target with an ability detonates the mark to deal additional damage.
ORB BASE DAMAGE55/90/125/160/195 (unchanged)
ORB DAMAGE RATIO0.5 ability power ⇒ 0.4 ability power
MARK BASE DAMAGE55/80/105/130/155
MARK DAMAGE RATIO0.4 ability power
COST40/45/50/55/60 mana ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90 mana
W - Distortion
BASE DAMAGE40/55/70/85/100 ⇒ 85/125/165/205/245
DAMAGE RATIO0.2 ability power ⇒ 0.6 ability power
COOLDOWN18/16/14/12/10 seconds ⇒ 14/13/12/11/10 seconds
SPEED1600 ⇒ 1450
REACTIVATION DELAY0.85 seconds from initial cast ⇒ 0.2 seconds from finishing dash
E - Ethereal Chains
LATCH-ON BASE DAMAGE40/60/80/100/120 (unchanged)
LATCH-ON DAMAGE RATIO0.5 ability power ⇒ 0.3 ability power
ROOT BASE DAMAGE40/60/80/100/120 ⇒ 60/90/120/150/180
ROOT DAMAGE RATIO0.5 ability power ⇒ 0.7 ability power
COST40 mana ⇒ 70 mana
TETHER RANGE885 ⇒ 865
UPDATEDR - Mimic
LeBlanc's reworked ult was supposed to give her more interesting combos by allowing her to choose which ability to duplicate. In practice, however, it allows her to go all in and still have Mimicked Distortion to get far, far away if mistakes were made.
MIMICCasts LeBlanc's most recently cast spell upon pressing R
RQ ORB BASE DAMAGE70/140/210
RQ ORB DAMAGE RATIO0.4 ability power
RQ MARK BASE DAMAGE140/280/420
RQ MARK DAMAGE RATIO0.8 ability power
RW BASE DAMAGE150/300/450
RW DAMAGE RATIO0.75 ability power
RE LATCH-ON BASE DAMAGE70/140/210
RE LATCH-ON DAMAGE RATIO0.4 ability power
RE ROOT BASE DAMAGE140/280/420
RE ROOT DAMAGE RATIO0.8 ability power
Ahri
E now amplifies Ahri's subsequent ability damage on the target it strikes. R and E base damage decreased. R damage ratio increased. Q no longer grants movement speed. W prioritizes targets Ahri has recently charmed or basic attacked.
A lot of players enjoy to play Ahri as an aggressive, snowballing assassin who specializes in isolating a target and eliminating them. With her reach and playmaking potential allowing her to surge into other lanes, she wants to rack up kills around the map and lead her team to victory. At the moment, Ahri getting ahead just isn't the terrifying prospect it should be. We're upping her ability to prioritize all of her damage onto one champion so she has a better chance of going from fed to victorious.
In exchange, that's going to mean Ahri has to give up some safety. As it is, the bonus movement speed attached to her Q allows her to toss it out just to avoid ganks. Making that Movement speed buff harder to access—and changing up her sustain model—should make her easier to punish in lane.
UPDATEDPassive - Vastayan Grace
VASTAYAN GRACEIf Ahri earns 2 spell hits against an enemy champion within a 1.5 second period, she gains 20% movement speed for 3 seconds (9 second cooldown)
Q - Orb of Deception
REMOVEDNOT SO FASTNo longer grants movement speed
NEWTHREE THREE HIT COMBOIf Ahri earns 9 spell hits (max 3 per cast), she gains Essence Theft, causing her next Q cast that lands to restore 3/5/9/18 (at levels 1/6/11/16) health for each enemy hit.
W - Fox-Fire
COST50 mana ⇒ 40 mana
NEWFOX'S CUNNINGFox-Fire prioritizes any enemy champion affected by Charm's damage amp and the target Ahri most recently basic-attacked within the past 3 seconds
RANGE VS PRIORITY TARGETS725 (range vs non-priority targets unchanged at 700)
DELAY FOR NON-PRIORITY TARGETING0.25 seconds ⇒ 0.4 seconds (delay vs priority targets unchanged at 0.25 seconds)
E - Charm
BASE DAMAGE60/95/130/165/200 ⇒ 60/90/120/150/180
DAMAGE RATIO0.60 ability power ⇒ 0.40 ability power
NEWHERE IT COMESWhen Charm damages a champion, Ahri's abilities deal 20% more damage to them for 5 seconds
R - Spirit Rush
BASE DAMAGE70/110/150 ⇒ 60/90/120
DAMAGE RATIO0.25 ability power ⇒ 0.35 ability power
Irelia
Base armor increased. Q damage to minions increased. R cooldown increased. R damage (missile and wall) decreased, especially at later ranks.
Irelia's laning phase is pretty weak, but if she makes it to late game she's extremely strong. We're trimming her late-game power by decreasing her ult's base damage, and giving her more consistent lane strength in exchange .
Base Stats
BASE ARMOR31 ⇒ 34
Q - Bladesurge
DAMAGE TO MINIONS60% ⇒ 70%
E - Flawless Duet
BUGFIXNo longer credits Irelia for several minion kills with each cast
R - Vanguard's Edge
COOLDOWN120/105/90 seconds ⇒ 140/120/100 seconds
MISSILE DAMAGE150/275/400 ⇒ 125/225/325
WALL DAMAGE125/200/275 ⇒ 75/125/175
Azir
Soldier damage to non-primary targets decreased at earlier levels.
Azir's high waveclear in the early game gives him too much control over the tempo of a lane.
W - Arise!
DAMAGE TO NONPRIMARY TARGETS40/70/100% (at levels 1/6/11) ⇒25/50/75/100% at (at levels 1/6/11/16)
Braum
Armor growth decreased. W bonus resistances decreased.
He's too tanky! Cannot do shit when he's so tanky.
Base Stats
ARMOR GROWTH4.5 ⇒ 4
W - Stand Behind Me
RESISTANCES GRANTED17.5/20/22.5/25/27.5 ⇒ 10/14/18/22/26
STAND AT ATTENTIONBonus resistances are now applied more responsively
Galio
R cooldown increased.
As players have learned how to position themselves preemptively to use Galio's ultimate well, it's become pretty clear that it's available too often.
R - Hero's Entrance
COOLDOWN180/150/120 seconds ⇒ 200/180/160 seconds
Graves
Health growth increased. R cooldown decreased.
For a ranged champion, Graves has to get pretty up close and personal to contribute, and right now his baseline tankiness isn't enough to consistently sustain that.
Base Stats
HEALTH GROWTH84 ⇒ 92
R - Collateral Damage
COOLDOWN120/100/80 ⇒ 110/85/60
Janna
Movement speed decreased. W damage decreased.
Janna's high speed allows her a bit too much control over trades, while the base strength of Zephyr means she's just winning those trades too often
Base Stats
MOVEMENT SPEED320 ⇒ 315
W - Zephyr
BASE DAMAGE60/105/150/195/240 ⇒ 55/100/145/190/235
Kai'sa
Health regen and health regen growth decreased. Q damage ratio decreased.
In her early patches, Kai'Sa was struggling to get through the laning phase, so we boosted her laning phase with some buffs. As players continue to learn how to play her, we're stripping that strength away.
Base stats
BASE HEALTH REGEN6.2 ⇒ 5.5
HEALTH REGEN GROWTH0.75 ⇒ 0.55
Q - Icathian Rain
DAMAGE RATIO0.4 bonus attack damage ⇒ 0.35 bonus attack damage
6 MISSILE DAMAGE RATIO1.0 bonus attack damage ⇒ 0.875 bonus attack damage
12 MISSILE DAMAGE RATIO1.72 bonus attack damage ⇒ 1.505 bonus attack damage
Lissandra
Q mana cost decreased. R cooldown decreased at earlier ranks.
Lissandra has very sharp strengths as an initiator and mid-range damage dealer, and has historically need to be gated by mana and cooldowns to keep her in line. Right now she's struggling, so we're giving her more opportunities to do those things.
Q - Ice Shard
COST85 mana ⇒ 75 mana
R - Frozen Tomb
COOLDOWN130/105/80 seconds ⇒ 120/100/80 seconds
Nautilus
Mana increased. Attack damage increased. Q cooldown decreased at earlier ranks.
Nautilus is struggling a bit, and we want to try to give him strength that will help him find success in all of his historical roles (top, jungle, and support). His identity as a giant anchor-thrower should be pretty relevant in each of those lanes, so that's a good place to start.
Base Stats
BASE MANA334 ⇒ 400
BASE ATTACK DAMAGE57.54 ⇒ 61
Q - Dredge Line
COOLDOWN18/16/14/12/10 seconds ⇒ 14/13/12/11/10 seconds
Ryze
E mana cost increased at early ranks.
Ryze's high waveclear in the early game gives him too much control over the tempo of a lane.
E - Spell Flux
COST40/55/70/85/100 mana ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100 mana
Sion
Q damage ratio decreased at earlier ranks.
Sion doesn't currently sacrifice much damage in order to max E - Roar of the Slayer instead of Q - Decimating Smash. In return he gains strong ranged poke, which is making him a dominant pick not only in top lane, but also mid in some matchups. There are times when it should make sense to max E first (ranged harass, using the slow to make Q easier to hit), but we want to make this less of a clear-cut choice.
Q - Decimating Smash
DAMAGE RATIO0.65 total attack damage ⇒ 0.45/0.5/0.55/0.6/0.65 total attack damage
FULL CHARGE DAMAGE1.95 total attack damage ⇒1.35/1.5/1.65/1.8/1.95 total attack damage
BASE DAMAGE20/40/60/80/100 ⇒ 30/47.5/65/82.5/100
Tahm Kench
E health restore decreased. W no longer grants Tahm Kench movement speed while moving towards enemy champions with a friend in his belly.
Tahm Kench is good at protecting allies by hiding them in his belly, but the high durability his E grants him means opponents don't feel great about the damage they land on him instead of his allies. Dialing that back should help him feel more fair to play against.
There's also something a bit more complicated here, and that's the bonus movement speed Devour gives Tahm Kench when running towards enemy champions. Because "towards" has a lot of leeway, in scattered teamfights "away from the person who is killing me" often means "towards some other opponent", which is allowing Tahm Kench too much escapability for both him and an ally.
W - Devour
REMOVEDNO MORE FAST FOODTahm Kench no longer gains movement speed while moving towards enemy champions with a friend in his belly
E - Thick Skin
% GREY HEALTH RESTORED OVER TIME25/30/35/40/45% ⇒15/20/25/30/35%
Taliyah
Base health decreased. Q Cooldown increased at earlier ranks.
Taliyah has become a prized pick, thanks to her ability to shove and roam. We're pulling back some of her waveclear, but also decreasing her tankiness so that assassins can be a more consistent counterpick against her.
Base Stats
HEALTH532 ⇒ 502
Q - Threaded Volley
COOLDOWN9/7.5/6/5.5/3 seconds ⇒ 11/9/7/5/3 seconds
Varus
W on-hit damage decreased. W now has an active which empowers Varus' next Q to deal bonus damage.
Piercing Arrow is Varus' most iconic spell, but it's pretty underwhelming in many of his current builds. We're not looking to change the way he builds, but we do want to create more incentives for him to care about charging his Q, even when he's building on-hit. Given that he was pretty balanced before, adding a whole new active requires us to trim some power elsewhere.
Passive - Living Vengeance
BONUS ATTACK SPEED ON CHAMPION KILL50% ⇒ 30%
BONUS ATTACK SPEED ON MINION KILL25% ⇒ 15%
W - Blighted Quiver
ON-HIT DAMAGE10/14/18/22/26 ⇒ 5/9/13/17/21
NEWACTIVEVarus' next Q - Piercing Arrow deals additional damage equal to 6/7/8/9/10% of the target's missing HP. Damage is increased by up to 50% (to 9/10.5/12/13.5/15%) based on charge time.
Vi
Base armor decreased. Armor growth increased. Health regen and health regen growth increased. Passive and Q cooldowns decreased at early levels. E mana cost decreased.
We're looking to buff Vi, but also think it would be cool if she could sneak back into top lane (fun fact, Vi was designed as a top laner before becoming a jungler). By bringing some of her cooldowns and costs down and upping her health regen, we're aiming to give her more strength in solo lanes as well as in the jungle.
Base Stats
BASE ARMOR35 ⇒ 30
ARMOR GROWTH3.5 ⇒ 4
BASE HEALTH REGEN9 ⇒ 10
HEALTH REGEN GROWTH0.9 ⇒ 1
Passive - Blast Shield
COOLDOWN16-8 seconds (at levels 1-9) ⇒ 12-8 seconds (at levels 1-9)
Q - Vault Breaker
COOLDOWN16/14/12/10/8 seconds ⇒ 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
E - Excessive Force
COST40/45/50/55/60 mana ⇒ 26/32/38/44/50 mana
Xayah
Base health regen decreased. Base attack damage decreased.
Xayah is currently able to coast through hard matchups and get to her strong mid and late game too easily.
Base Stats
BASE HEALTH REGEN6 ⇒ 5
Passive - Clean Cuts
PASS THROUGH DAMAGE50% ⇒ 30/40/50% (at levels 1/7/13)
Rek'Sai
Bugfixin'
Passive - Fury of the Xer'Sai
UPDATEDHANGRYRek'Sai's fury no longer decays from being out of combat while she is consuming it for burrowed regeneration
UPDATEDTIMELYRek'Sai's out of combat fury decay now begins precisely at 8 seconds (as opposed to 8-9 seconds)
E - NevermoveItems
Archangel's Staff
Mana-to-ability-power conversion decreased.
Archangel's Staff is spiking too early, so we're decreasing some of its ability scaling before it upgrades to Seraph's Embrace.
MANA TO ABILITY POWER CONVERSION3% ⇒ 1% (unchanged on Seraph's Embrace)
Runes
Lethal Tempo
Attack speed bonus increased.
Lethal Tempo still isn't doing well on most champions, so we're increasing the strength of the effect.
ATTACK SPEED30-80% (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 40-110% (at levels 1-18)
Dark Harvest
BUGFIXFixed a bug where a VFX box appeared when a soul was dropped on the ground
BUGFIXFixed a bug where, if multiple players took Dark Harvest, only one of them could see the soul glow on units that will drop Dark Harvest Souls
BUGFIXOn ARAM, tooltip now properly indicates that champion souls are worth less soul essence
Trinkets
Sweeping Lens removed. Oracle Alteration now available at level 1. Swapping trinkets now retains the same percentage cooldown as the previous one.
The decision-making surrounding trinket swaps is currently a bit more complicated than it needs to be. By making swaps more consistent and decreasing the number of potential swaps, we're hoping to make the gains from those swaps more clear.
REMOVED Sweeping Lens
SOLD OUTSweeping Lens is no longer available in the store
Oracle Alteration
LEVEL REQUIREMENT9 ⇒ 1
Trinket Swap Rules
SAME COOLDOWNSwapping from one trinket to another now retains the same percentage cooldown as the previous one, rather than resetting to a 120 second cooldown
Homestart
Homestart buff is granted by fountain until slightly later in the game. Homestart now begins to fall off at outer turrets, not the river.
Homestart gives too significant of a defender's advantage to champions who never cross into the river. Defensively, champions can run out to the brush near the river, retain the movement speed buff, and easily run away from any invaders - who lost their movement speed bonus once they set foot in the river. We're changing the movement speed buff to fall off a bit closer to your side of the map to make early aggression slightly more likely to succeed.
FOUNTAIN GRANTS HOMESTART BUFF UNTIL35 seconds into the game ⇒ 55 seconds into the game
REMOVEDCOLD FEETHomestart buff no longer falls off instantly after crossing the river line
NO PLACE LIKE HOME :Homestart buff rapidly decays over 0.75 seconds after crossing the outer turret line
Bugfixes
- Fixed another way where Warwick's Q could double-cast. We're pretty sure it's the last one.
- Cannon minion gold value now correctly scales past 87 gold
- Clones can now correctly be feared by Volibear's Majestic Roar
- Fixed a bug where Tiamat counted towards procs for Electrocute or Phase Rush.
- Snow Fawn Poppy's recall and spell SFX have been restored and no longer use base SFX
- Seams have been minimized on Pool Party Graves and all of his chromas when on lower graphics settings
- Seams have been minimized on Renektoy chromas when on lower graphics settings
- Seams have been minimized on Arcade Miss Fortune chromas when on lower graphics settings
- Texture compression is now more consistent across Darius' chroma pack
- Sandstorm Ekko's hourglass and Chrono Blade are now better attached to his model during all of his animations
- The orb during Reaper Soraka's Recall has been restored
- Santa Draven's Q - Spinning Axe landing location's particles are no longer overlapped by on-ground area of effect abilities' particles
- Pool Party Lulu's Pix attack projectiles are no longer missing their trail particles
- Nightbringer Yasuo's and PROJECT: Yasuo's Q - Steel Tempest ground particle no longer clips into the ground on elevation change
- Iron Solari Leona's R - Solar Flare decal will no longer be improperly rotated on lower graphics settings
- Q - Light Binding for Elementalist Lux no longer fade out prematurely when compared to other Lux skins
- Dreadnova Darius' idle VFX have been restored
- Particles during Woad King Darius and Dunkmaster Darius' critical attacks are no longer misplaced
- Unique particles have been restored for Cosmic Reaver Kassadin's Auto Attack on-hits and W - Nether Blade
- Unique particles have been restored for all of Conqueror Karma's spells
- Blood Moon Twisted Fate's Recall animation no longer has missing pixels
- The catling that Meowkai holds in his hand has been found and safely returned to him!
- Snow Day Graves' eyes now properly follow his head's movement during all animations
- Nami's laugh VFX once again play properly when emote is used
- Leprechaun Veigar's W - Dark Matter VFX once again have rainbows!
- Star Guardian Soraka's homeguard VFX once again properly overlay the champion's model
- Freljord Taliyah once again has basic attack on-hit VFX when hitting structures and jungle monsters
- SKT T1 Ryze's crowd cheers have been restored in his Recall animation
- Shiny VFX are no longer missing on Ashen Lord Aurelion Sol's sunglasses during his joke animation
- Secret Agent Xin Zhao's recall SFX have been restored
- SKT T1 Ekko is no longer missing VFX during his joke, taunt, dance, and death
- Steel Legion Garen's Villain Mark is now at the same height when comparing it to enemy and ally perspectives
- Battle Boss Malzahar’s recall VFX have been restored
- Lancer Paragon Blitzcrank / Lancer Rogue Blitzcrank’s Recall is no longer missing lightning effects VFX
- Astronautilus’ helmet VFX no longer linger after W - Titan’s Wrath has expired
Upcoming Skins & Chromas
The following skins will be released in patch 8.8:
The following chromas will be released in patch 8.8:
Badlands Baron Rumble (Ruby)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Meteorite)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Turquoise)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Pearl)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Rose Quartz)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Obsidian)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Catseye)
Badlands Baron Rumble (Emerald)
Hextech Crafting
Fixed a bug that was causing gemstones to drop 5% more often than intended.
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