Patch 16.9

Ambessa has carried the Medarda legacy a bit too well.

Ambessa has carried the Medarda legacy a bit too well. Her brutality and fantasy has resonated with her mains, but we believe her ult has felt slightly fast to the point that players hit by it often don't have clarity on what happened. We're extending her cast time to open up clearer counterplay, and will be keeping a watchful eye on opportunities for follow-up work.

• 

  R - Public Execution

  Cast Time: 0.55 → 0.70

Briar has one of the steepest mastery curves in League.

Briar has one of the steepest mastery curves in League. However, as time has gone on, more and more players have ended up at the high end of that curve and have been finding a lot of success. So we're looking to nerf a bit of her survivability, but keep her ability to kill a target.

• Base Stats

  Health Growth: 100 → 95

We want to bring back some playstyles that have been lost to the sands of time.

We want to bring back some playstyles that have been lost to the sands of time. First up on that list is AP Ezreal. Bring out your global snipes—there's a lot of good mages out there but none of them are this skillful!

• 

  Q - Mystic Shot

  AP Ratio: 15% AP → 40% AP

• 

  W - Essence Flux

  AP Ratio: 70 - 90% → 90%

• 

  R - Trueshot Barrage

  AP Ratio: 90% → 110%

• 

  R - Trueshot Barrage

  Damage To Minions / Non-Epic Monsters: 175 / 275 / 375 (+50% bonus AD) (+45% AP) → 150 / 225 / 300 (+100% bonus AD) (+110% AP)

Gragas top is most impacted by the removal of Phase Rush, and only time will tell whether Grasp or Comet comes out on top.

Gragas top is most impacted by the removal of Phase Rush, and only time will tell whether Grasp or Comet comes out on top. As we wait to see how his laning shakes out, this change should let Gragas players better frontline for their teams, and have a bigger impact in the late-game where they struggle most.

• 

  W - Drunken Rage

  Damage Reduction: 10 / 12 / 14 / 16 / 18% (+ 4% per 100 AP) → 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+ 4% per 100 AP)

Our second lost playstyle is AD Kennen. In this case, we're adding critical strike synergy to Kennen's W and E. While a more attack speed focused on-hit hybrid build may stand o…

Our second lost playstyle is AD Kennen. In this case, we're adding critical strike synergy to Kennen's W and E. While a more attack speed focused on-hit hybrid build may stand out as a more intuitive choice for an auto-attack focused Kennen, we actually think it would spill over too hard into his standard AP builds and want to avoid adjustments to his typical playstyle just to enable this one.

• 

  W - Electrical Surge

  [NEW] Passive: When ready, now applies the passive effect to the entire attack as an On-Hit, rather than just the first On-Hit trigger

• 

  W - Electrical Surge

  [NEW] Passive Damage: Can now Critically Strike for 140% (+40% of Bonus Critical Strike Damage)

• 

  E - Lightning Rush

  [NEW] Attack Speed Buff: Critical Strikes now extend the duration of Lightning Rush's Attack Speed buff by 1 second, up to the initial duration of 4s. This can happen any number of times.

With Shyvana having been out for a few patches, we've taken stock of where she's landed and identified two areas to address: broadening bruiser item viability and sharpening the distinction between AD and AP builds.

With Shyvana having been out for a few patches, we've taken stock of where she's landed and identified two areas to address: broadening bruiser item viability and sharpening the distinction between AD and AP builds. On the bruiser side, we've reduced the emphasis on pure dps items like Kraken Slayer. Adjustments to her base stats, Q and W create more room for Sheen, ability haste, and health to meaningfully contribute to her kit. For build differentiation, AD Shyvana looks to engage in more sustained combat through auto attacks followed by big Q hits, using her W for sustain and sticking power and E for supplementary chase power. AP Shyvana, by contrast, centers damage around R and E, with W existing as a way to weave in and out of combat.

• Base Stats

  Attack Speed: 0.625 → 0.638

• Base Stats

  Attack Speed Ratio: 0.69 → 0.638

• Base Stats

  Attack Damage Growth: 3 → 4

• 

  Q - Emberstrike

  Passive: 1% (+ 1.1% per 100 bonus AD) (+ 1.1% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health → 1% (+ 1.1% per 100 bonus AD)

• 

  Q - Emberstrike

  Hit Reduction: 1 second → 0.5 seconds

• 

  Q - Emberstrike

  Area Physical Damage: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 (+ 110% AD) (+ 25% AP) → 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 (+ 110% AD) (+ 30% AP)

• 

  Q - Emberstrike

  Cooldown ticks in the background if you do not finish the sequence. Cooldown starts ticking at the last activated input in that sequence.

• 

  W - Inferno Aegis

  Cooldown: 14 / 13.5 / 13 / 12.5 / 12 → 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9

• 

  W - Inferno Aegis

  Shield: 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 (+ 5% max health) → 75 / 95 / 115 / 135 / 155 (+12% bonus health)

• 

  W - Inferno Aegis

  Damage: 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+ 40% bonus AD) (+ 20% AP) → 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+ 65% AP)

• 

  W - Inferno Aegis

  Dragon Form Heal: 75 – 214.71 (based on level) (+ 10% bonus AD) (+ 5% AP), increased by 0% – 100% (based on her missing health) for a maximum heal of 150 – 429.41 (based on level) (+ 20% bonus AD) (+ 10% AP) → 60 - 100 + 4-8% missing health (based on level)

• 

  W - Inferno Aegis

  W move speed separate from shield

• 

  E - Molten Burst

  Cooldown: 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10 → 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8

• 

  E - Molten Burst

  Magic Damage: 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 (+ 35% bonus AD) (+ 70% AP) → 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 (+ 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80% AP) + 5% Target Max Health

• 

  E - Molten Burst

  Subsequent Explosion Damage Against Same Target: 50% → 40%

• 

  E - Molten Burst

  Slow: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% → 30%

Last patch's adjustment last patch ended up a very slight nerf (less than .5%) for both top and support.

Last patch's adjustment last patch ended up a very slight nerf (less than .5%) for both top and support. So we're making some support-focused improvements to compensate.

• 

  E - Thick Skin

  Grey Health to HP conversion: 45 - 100% (Level 1 - 18) → 60 - 100% (Level 1 - 18)

• 

  R - Devour

  Move Speed On Ally Devour: 40% for 3 seconds → 60% for 3 seconds

Taliyah is in the same spot as Gragas (RIP Phase Rush), except she was also taken down a notch from the pro mid meta in her last nerf.

Taliyah is in the same spot as Gragas (RIP Phase Rush), except she was also taken down a notch from the pro mid meta in her last nerf. We don't expect her to be able to utilize the changes as well as a lot of her competition, so we're walking back our last hit to her, while also making sure she doesn't approach sub-2:30 clears.

• 

  Q - Threaded Volley

  Base Damage: 50 / 67.5 / 85 / 102.5 / 120 → 55 / 72.5 / 90 / 107.5 / 125

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  Q - Threaded Volley

  Bonus Monster Damage: 23 / 28 / 33 / 38 / 43 → 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40

Our third lost playstyle—On-hit-focused Teemo builds have slowly fallen out of vogue as he's been tuned around Malignance and Liandries.

Our third lost playstyle—On-hit-focused Teemo builds have slowly fallen out of vogue as he's been tuned around Malignance and Liandries. We are adding bonus AD ratios to Teemo's E to open up itemization options for auto-attack builds featuring hybrid items like rageblade and the reworked Statikk Shiv.

• 

  E - Toxic Shot

  [NEW] Initial Damage Bonus AD Ratio: 10% Bonus AD

• 

  E - Toxic Shot

  [NEW] DoT Damage Bonus AD Ratio: 30% Bonus AD over 4 seconds

Currently, we feel that Udyr's AD Q builds are extremely one note—which makes sense when you look at their scaling.

Currently, we feel that Udyr's AD Q builds are extremely one note—which makes sense when you look at their scaling. We want to broaden his AD Q bruiser builds by shifting some of his AD ratios out of his Q and into W and E so the stance swapper has more than one stance.

• 

  Q - Wildling Claw

  Bonus Damage on First 2 Attacks: 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8% (+4% per 100 bonus AD) of the target's Max Health → 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8% (+3.5% per 100 bonus AD) of the target's Max Health

• 

  Q - Wildling Claw

  Bonus Damage On-Hit for 4 seconds: 5 / 13 / 21 / 29 / 37 / 45 (+25% bonus AD) → 6 / 12 / 18 / 24 / 30 / 36 (+20% bonus AD) (+1 - 2% bonus HP)

• 

  Q - Wildling Claw

  Awakened Bonus Damage on First 2 Attacks: An additional 2 - 4% (based on level) (+3% per 100 bonus AD) of the target's Max Health → An additional 2 - 4% (based on level) (+1.5% per 100 bonus AD) (+1% per 1000 bonus HP of the target's Max Health)

• 

  Q - Wildling Claw

  Awakened Chain Lightning Damage Per Bounce: 1.5 - 3% (based on level) (+.8% per 100 AP) → 1.5 - 3% (based on level) (+.6% per 100 AP)

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  W - Iron Mantle

  [NEW] Shield AD Ratio: 50% bonus AD

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  W - Iron Mantle

  [NEW] Awakened Shield AD Ratio: 100% bonus AD

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  W - Iron Mantle

  [NEW] Awakened Heal AD Ratio: 50% bonus AD

• 

  E - Blazing Stampede

  [NEW] Move Speed AD Ratio: 5% move speed per 100 bonus AD

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  E - Blazing Stampede

  [NEW] Awakened Move Speed AD Ratio: 10% move speed per 100 bonus AD

Our favorite wolf-boy Warwick has been struggling to find his place over game time.

Our favorite wolf-boy Warwick has been struggling to find his place over game time. We are looking to soften the blow of his transition into the late game by bringing up some of his scaling.

• 

  P - Eternal Hunger

  On-hit Damage: 6 / 16 / 26 / 36 / 46 → 6 / 18.25 / 30.5 / 42.75 / 55

Our fourth lost playstyle is centered around Xin Zhao—particularly attack speed and AP Xin Zhao.

Our fourth lost playstyle is centered around Xin Zhao—particularly attack speed and AP Xin Zhao. Over the years Xin has moved off of auto attack builds solidly into bruiser AD-caster builds buying items like Sundered Sky or Black Cleaver. We think more attack speed-centric Xin Zhao builds offered an enjoyable melee fighter experience, and we want to bring it back. Whether it's full AP builds revolving around drain tanking, heavy attack speed on-hit carry builds, or just some minor pivots into Stridebreaker, Titanic Hydra, and Triforce, we want to see a bit more build options.

• 

  P - Determination

  Healing: 3 / 4 / 5% Max HP (+65% AP) (levels 1 / 6 / 11) → 3 / 4 / 5% Max HP (+50 / 65 / 90% AP) (levels 1 / 6 / 11)

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  W - Wind Becomes Lightning

  Slow On Thrust: 50% for 1.5 seconds → 50% for 1.5 (+.5 per 100 AP) seconds

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  E - Audacious Charge

  Magic Damage: 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+60% AP) → 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+120% AP)

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  E - Audacious Charge

  Attack Speed Buff: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80% for 5 seconds → 38 / 46 / 54 / 62 / 70% (+1% per 5% permanent AS) (+10% per 100 AP) for 5 seconds

Zeri's changes have pushed her over time to become more of a bursty assassin than the fantasy that initially called to many of her players.

Zeri's changes have pushed her over time to become more of a bursty assassin than the fantasy that initially called to many of her players. By moving power from her burst and late-game DPS towards her mobility and early laning, these changes should allow Zeri to shine once again as the zappy, speedy legend she is (while still doing ADC damage!)

• 

  P - Living Battery

  Right Click Range: 500 → 550

• 

  P - Living Battery

  Execute threshold: 60 / 82.5 / 105 / 127.5 / 150 (+ 18% AP) → 70 / 92.5 / 115 / 137.5 / 160 (+ 20% AP)

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  Q - Burst Fire

  Damage: 15 / 17 / 19 / 21 / 23 (+ 104 / 108 / 112 / 116 / 120% AD) → 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 (+ 102 / 104 / 106 / 108 / 110% AD)

• 

  Q - Burst Fire

  Excess AS to AD conversion: 70% → 50%

• 

  Q - Burst Fire

  Now forced quick cast

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  W - Ultrashock Laser

  Wall Crit Multiplier: 175% → 150%

• 

  W - Ultrashock Laser

  AP Ratio: 25% → 50%

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  E - Spark Surge

  Bonus Magic Damage: 17 / 19 / 21 / 23 / 25 (+ 10% bonus AD) (+ 20% AP) → 22 / 24 / 26 / 28 / 30 (+ 20% AP)

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  E - Spark Surge

  Cooldown: 22 / 21 / 20 / 19 / 18 → 24 / 22.5 / 21 / 19.5 / 18

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  E - Spark Surge

  Cooldown Refresh: Applies on attacks and abilities vs champions → Applies on attacks vs everything

• 

  R - Lightning Crash

  Burst AD ratio: 100% → 60%

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  R - Lightning Crash

  MS per stack: 1% → 1.5%

• 

  R - Lightning Crash

  Stack duration: 1.5 → 2.5

Looking to move some of Zoe's power out laning phase stat checking, and into more skillful outplay around her Bubble.

• 

  W - Spell Thief

  Damage Per Bolt: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+ 15% AP) → 15 / 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 (+ 10% AP)

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  W - Spell Thief

  Total Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+ 45% AP) → 45 / 75 / 105 / 135 / 165 (+ 30% AP)

• 

  E - Sleepy Trouble Bubble

  Cooldown: 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 → 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14

• 

  E - Sleepy Trouble Bubble

  Refunds 16 / 19.5 / 23 / 26.5 / 30% of cooldown when hitting an enemy champion

Last year, we adjusted Axiom Arc to have a higher base refund on its ultimate effect with less scaling.

Last year, we adjusted Axiom Arc to have a higher base refund on its ultimate effect with less scaling. We think this was a mistake, as offering an item early in the game that reduces ultimate cooldowns to this degree on high burst lethality champions can lead to very narrow windows of opportunity for opponents to act.

One of the standout items for the season so far, we continue to feel it overlaps with Lichbane a bit too much.

One of the standout items for the season so far, we continue to feel it overlaps with Lichbane a bit too much. We want to encourage Dusk and Dawn users to stick around for multiple triggers, and empower them to do just that.

Melee AD Fighters face major trade offs when considering this item against building other more durability focused items.

Melee AD Fighters face major trade offs when considering this item against building other more durability focused items. We do want them to consider Endless Hunger however, for those pop off games when they get to play greedy, so we're giving it a minor buff for melee champs.

Hubris cost buffs put it in line with a lot of other 1st slot lethality items, but in its current state feels like it's crowding out other options by providing both scaling and immediate power.

Hubris cost buffs put it in line with a lot of other 1st slot lethality items, but in its current state feels like it's crowding out other options by providing both scaling and immediate power. These changes should differentiate Hubris more from immediate powerspikes like Youmuu's, while making it even stronger than before if you get rolling.

In the past, Staff's unique effect granted ability haste, and then we changed that to move speed, and then we removed the move speed.

In the past, Staff's unique effect granted ability haste, and then we changed that to move speed, and then we removed the move speed. We are re-adding the ability haste, as we believe only granting ability power has made the item too narrow and granting move speed made it too generic.

We're looking to give more starting item options to auto attack-focused champions.

We're looking to give more starting item options to auto attack-focused champions. Doran's Bow offers a high risk, high reward fantasy that will reward those who are able to sneak in extra autos and come out on top even without the additional health.

We wanted to give more starting item options to champions who want to stack resistances.

We wanted to give more starting item options to champions who want to stack resistances. When it comes to the fantasy of being unkillable, current items assume a losing position. Though champions who want resistances tend to start on the back foot, we want to reward players who take advantage of the opportunity to come out even or ahead in laning phase with an item that pays off in valuable stats throughout the rest of the game.

In addition to new starting items, we're adding new boots to the game that provide omnivamp.

In addition to new starting items, we're adding new boots to the game that provide omnivamp. We've felt that many fighters and casters are limited in their boot selection, with only Ionian Boots as a real offensive option, and when they do pick something else, it's purely defensive, which isn't exactly exciting. These boots should fit a nice middle ground of aggressive and defensive, offering sustain through combat.

We feel that Opportunity has always overlapped a bit too much with Youmuu's, even after we tried to push them apart a year and half ago, and in its current iteration sits in bet…

We feel that Opportunity has always overlapped a bit too much with Youmuu's, even after we tried to push them apart a year and half ago, and in its current iteration sits in between Youmuus for mobility and Voltaic for upfront trade power.

Similar to the reason we removed Opportunity, Trailblazer is sitting between two other tanky mobility options (Bandlepipes and Deadman's Plate).

Similar to the reason we removed Opportunity, Trailblazer is sitting between two other tanky mobility options (Bandlepipes and Deadman's Plate). In this case, we feel not only is its output overlapping with similar effects in the space, it also had the highest complexity unique effect—asking allies to pay attention to a wispy trail which simply seemed over in terms of visual noise.

We've been unhappy with Shiv sitting as a pure waveclear first item purchase for a while now.

We've been unhappy with Shiv sitting as a pure waveclear first item purchase for a while now. With so much power in deleting the wave, it removes a lot of the space for back and forth lane trading. So instead, we're taking this opportunity to move it into a scaling purchase for on-hit builds, a build path that has been missing some itemization since we opened up the 7th item slot for bot laners. This new version of Shiv allows on-hit builds to apply their effects to multiple enemies at once, creating cool combos and helping them scale into teamfighting.

Voltaic Cyclosword brings some cool Energized options to AD casters, but we think we can make it even broader by allowing it to open up the strict auto-attack gate that stops many melees from being good with it.

Voltaic Cyclosword brings some cool Energized options to AD casters, but we think we can make it even broader by allowing it to open up the strict auto-attack gate that stops many melees from being good with it. We also don't love the slow effect, as it tended to trivialize a lot of the combat once players did manage to get into melee. With Opportunity removed, Voltaic should also be able to stand as the premier "upfront burst" item for AD casters.

Previously, Comet was given a cooldown refund mechanic for damage over time and sustained damage casters.

Previously, Comet was given a cooldown refund mechanic for damage over time and sustained damage casters. Now that Deathfire Touch exists, Comet no longer needs it, and can now better serve its original intended audience of control mages and artillery mages with a damage-per-distance mechanic that should be exciting for those subclasses to play with.

Hail of Blades has become an extremely niche keystone that gives an eye popping amount of attack speed and basically nothing else.

Hail of Blades has become an extremely niche keystone that gives an eye popping amount of attack speed and basically nothing else. In other words, these blades are too sharp! We're shifting some of the attack speed power budget into a new bonus damage effect so we can tune it more comfortably for a broader variety of champions.

• Events

  Release (Patch 26.9): To start things off we won't be having an event to give players a chance to learn all of the new guests of honor, augments, and systems we're adding in Season 2.

• Events

  3x6 (Patch 26.10): Exactly what it sounds like, three players on each team with a total of six teams. In a game with 170+ champions built with Summoner's Rift in mind, there are quite a few that have fallen by the wayside when forced into 2v2 gladiatorial combat. Our goal with introducing 3x6 is to bring even more champion diversity into the Arena by allowing for a wider variety of team comps.

• Events

  Bravery (Patch 26.13): When you load in to champ select you'll notice a significantly smaller number of options. You'll have the good ‘ol random champion button which we hope you'll pick, but if true random isn't your cup of tea we've still got a few crowd favorites for you to pick from. Bravery is primarily to give many players a version of Arena they've been asking for, but we also wanted to find a way to support players that want to overcome any obstacles the Arena throws at them with their adaptability and ability to flex into many different champions.

• Events

  Swift Arena (Patch 26.14): With this event we'll be going back to our roots of two teams of four for those looking to get the full Arena experience without the full Arena time commitment. Additionally, for those of you able to remember your opponents playstyles and weaknesses this should give you the edge as you'll be fighting the same teams more consistently.

• Augment Systems

  Get Excited

• Augment Systems

  Adamant

• Augment Systems

  Upgrade Collector

• Augment Systems

  Upgrade Hubris

• Augment Systems

  Wind Beneath Blade

• Augment Systems

  Protein Shake

• Augment Systems

  Weil of Warding

• Augment Systems

  Ominous Pact

• Augment Systems

  Critical Rhythm

• Augment Systems

  Escape Plan

• Augment Systems

  Glass Cannon

• Augment Systems

  Final Form

• Augment Systems

  Quest: Void Immolation

• Augment Systems

  Pinball Snowball

• Augment Systems

  Infinite Recursion

• Augment Systems

  Donation

• Augment Systems

  Shrink Engine

• Augment Systems

  Growth Spurt

• Augment Systems

  Stuck In Here With Me

• Augment Systems

  Poro King

• Augment Systems

  Speed Demon

• Augment Systems

  Twin Fire

• Augment Systems

  Hextech Soul

• Augment Systems

  Crack Open That Egg

• Augment Systems

  ???

• Augment Systems

  Critical Missile

• Augment Systems

  Weighted Popoffs

• Augment Systems

  Little Devil

• Augment Systems

  Zealot

• Augment Systems

  Purist Caster

• Augment Systems

  Double Tap

• Augment Systems

  Juiced

• New Augments

  Doomsayer: Health per stack doubled, stack rate reduced by half.

• New Augments

  Tank it or Leave it: Now scales with crit damage.

• New Augments

  Critical Healing: Now scales with crit damage.

• New Augments

  Calculated Risk: Now gives a Prismatic if this is your first or second augment, otherwise it will give a Gold augment.

• New Augments

  Self Destruct: Changed to Auto cast every 25 seconds instead of just exploding once.

• New Augments

  Unshackled: On takedown reduce Hijack's lockout and cooldown by 20%.

• New Augments

  Snowball Fight: Removed

• New Augments

  Juice Press: Removed

• New Augments

  Slow and Steady: Now locks your Attack Speed at 0.65 and only grants AS if you would go above the cap.

• New Augments

  Spellwake: Explosion delay now scales inversely with distance, so long range hits will have a much lower delay, while point blank hits are increased slightly.

• Game Pacing

  Augment Selection Duration: 37 seconds → 42 seconds

• Game Pacing

  Item Choice Round Duration: 42 seconds → 47 seconds

Damage over time and sustained damage casters don't have a keystone made specifically for them.

Damage over time and sustained damage casters don't have a keystone made specifically for them. This gap has previously been partially covered by other keystones like Comet and Aery, but we're re-adding Deathfire Touch from the old keystone mastery system to ensure that these champions are fully supported by the runes system, and making adjustments to other keystones to compensate.

Since Stormraider's Surge asks the user to commit to dealing a lot of damage and generally ends up having its input scale well over game time, it is able to support much of the…

Since Stormraider's Surge asks the user to commit to dealing a lot of damage and generally ends up having its input scale well over game time, it is able to support much of the same pattern as Phase Rush in a healthier and more exciting way for the intended users.

Phase Rush has historically been a problematic rune for enabling some champions to subvert intended early lane gameplay.

Phase Rush has historically been a problematic rune for enabling some champions to subvert intended early lane gameplay. But we know that we need a mobility-based rune, so fear not...