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League of Legends

Major Champion Adjustments and Gameplay Improvements

Patch9.12
Quick Take5 changes

Patch 9.12 brings the long-awaited Mordekaiser rework, major Ryze adjustments, and a host of balance changes to champions, items, and ARAM mode.

  • New: Mordekaiser returns as a full rework with new abilities, model, and lore integration.
  • Nerf: Ryze loses his shield and his W now slows instead of rooting, reducing his pro play dominance.
  • Buff: Sylas gains stored passive charges and increased W heal; Yuumi gets base health increase and adjusted W adaptive force sharing.
  • Updated: Aatrox passive cooldown scales, R only amplifies self-healing; Ashe W cooldown reduced; Caitlyn base AD increased; Irelia E nerfed; Karma Q slow increased, E cost reduced; Lulu E shield increased and VFX updated; Nautilus Q damage decreased early; Zac W damage increased, R knockback reworked; Corrupting Potion damage flattened.
  • Updated: ARAM balance changes and VFX updates for Amumu, Tryndamere, and Ziggs.

Patch Highlights

Balance Framework

Last week, developers introduced the Champion Balance Framework, a source for all players to hold the "balance" team accountable for how we approach buffing/nerfing champions on a patch-to-patch basis. Moving forward, we'll be referencing principles, thresholds, and specific audiences from the post when explaining the changes in the Patch Notes. For more details and information, you can find the full Champion Balance Framework post here.

Champions

Mordekaiser

The Iron Revenant

The unstoppable juggernaut is back from the afterworld and ready to conquer the land of the living in patch 9.12!

Ryze

Q spell ranks decreased, shield removed, damage bonus now dependent on R. W now slows; Spell Flux bonus converts slow to root.

When Ryze is played optimally, he covers his weaknesses incredibly well. At the same time, he benefits highly from a coordinated team. Pro play relishes champions with these characteristics, which is why he's been such a strong pick in the space. We're chipping away at these strengths to quell his presence there, but at the same time, helping out those who are looking to pick him up and aren't as precise in their combos.

With the removal of his shield, he'll have fewer means of survivability against bad match-ups, and by changing his CC to a slow, his gank targets should have better chances of escaping a 2v1 (especially a Flash > Rune Prison combo). As part of the general adjustments we're making to make him more welcoming to less experienced players, we're also opening up the bouncing game a bit more by making Spell Flux always bounce off its primary target, and placing some scaling into a passive on Realm Warp. Then there's a bunch of tuning to account for those changes. It's not what we would typically call a rework, but since it's Ryze, we'll count it. Looking forward to v7 (v8?)!

Base Stats

MANA 400 ⇒ 300 MANA REGEN 6 ⇒ 8

Q – Overload

RANKS 6 ⇒ 5 DAMAGE 60/85/110/135/160/185 ⇒ 80/105/130/155/180 REMOVEDSHIELD No longer grants a shield after consuming 2 Runes UPDATEDSPELL DAMAGE BONUS 40/50/60/70/80% (based on Spell Flux's rank) ⇒ 10/40/70/100% (based on Realm Warp's rank) BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED 25/28/31/34/37/40% ⇒ 20/25/30/35/40%

W – Rune Prison

RATIO 1% bonus mana ⇒ 4% bonus mana COST 50/60/70/80/90 mana ⇒ 40/55/70/85/100 mana BASE CROWD CONTROL Rooted for 0.75 seconds ⇒ Slowed by 35% for 1.5 seconds SPELL FLUX BONUS Increased root duration ⇒ Converts Slow to Root

E – Spell Flux

DAMAGE 70/90/110/130/150 ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140 COST 60/70/80/90/100 mana ⇒ 40/55/70/85/100 mana NEWBOUNCE HOUSE Now always bounces off the primary target REMOVEDPING PONG PAIN Bounces no longer damage enemies REMOVEDFLUX BOMB No longer spreads Flux to nearby enemies on unit kill

R – Realm Warp

RANKS 2 ⇒ 3 NEW WARP DAMAGE Overload damage bonus against targets with Flux increased to 40/70/100% NEWCLOSE ENOUGH Immediately casts at max range when attempting to cast beyond that MINIMUM CAST RANGE 730 ⇒ 1000 MAXIMUM CAST RANGE 1750/3000 ⇒ 3000 COOLDOWN 180 seconds ⇒ 210/180/150 seconds

Sylas

Passive now stores up to 2 charges; base damage increased; AoE damage less effective against minions. Q detonation damage and AoE range decreased on minions. W heal increased. E shield adjusted and cooldown increased later.

Passive – Petricite Burst

NEW CHARGES Now stores up to 2 charges which will be consumed on subsequent basic attacks BASE DAMAGE 5-47.5 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 9-60 (levels 1-18) NEW MINIONS ARE FRIENDS Deals 70% less damage to minions

Q – Chain Lash

DETONATION DAMAGE 45/70/95/120/145 (+0.60 ability power) ⇒40/60/80/100/120 (+0.40 ability power) DETONATION AOE 200 range on minions ⇒ 180 range on minions

W – Kingslayer

HEAL 60/80/100/120/140 (+0.4 ability power) ⇒ 70/90/110/130/150 (+0.50 ability power)

E – Abscond/Abduct

REMOVEDAB SCOND SHIELD No longer shields himself for 2 seconds on first cast COOLDOWN 18/16/14/12/10 seconds ⇒ 18/17/16/15/14 seconds NEW ABDUCT SHIELD Grants a 80/115/150/185/220 (+1.0 ability power) shield on enemy champion or monster hit for 2 seconds

Yuumi

Base health increased. Passive mana refund decreased early; shield decreased. W shared adaptive force adjusted; dash now interruptible by all CC.

Base Stats

HEALTH 432.36 ⇒ 480

Passive – Bop N' Block

MANA REFUND 40-160 (level 1-18) ⇒ 30-160 (level 1-18) SHIELD 80-360 (+0.40 ability power) ⇒ 80-300 (+0.30 ability power)

Q – Prowling Projectile

BUG FIX Fixed a bug where the missile would not spawn towards the cursor as intended

W – You and Me!

KILL THE CAT Enemies now gain an assist on Yuumi when damaging the ally Yuumi is attached to UPDATED SHARED ADAPTIVE FORCE 5/9/13/17/21% of her attached ally's adaptive force ⇒ 5/7/9/11/13 flat adaptive force (+4/7/10/13/16% of her attached ally's adaptive force) AND I OOP Yuumi's dash can be interrupted by knock-ups and knockbacks⇒ Yuumi's dash can be interrupted by any immobilizing CC BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Yuumi would detach unintentionally when trying to attach to another champion outside of her range

Quality of Life Changes

SPECTATOR MODE Range rings for Yuumi's Q, W, and R no longer show on Spectator Mode SNEAKY SNEAKS Yuumi now gains the same stealth screen overlay and fade on her model when attached to a champion in stealth SADAKO'S JEWELRY The ally that Yuumi's attached to now has a ring around them that only Yuumi can see

Simple Champion Changes

Aatrox

Passive cooldown now scales based on level. R healing bonus now only applies to self-healing.

Passive – Deathbringer Stance

COOLDOWN 15 seconds ⇒ 24-12 (level 1-18) seconds

R – World Ender

HEALING BONUS All incoming healing ⇒ Self-healing only

Ashe

W cooldown decreased.

W – Volley

COOLDOWN 15/12.5/10/7.5/5 seconds ⇒ 14/11.5/9/6.5/4 seconds

Caitlyn

Base attack damage increased.

Base Stats

ATTACK DAMAGE 58 ⇒ 60

Irelia

E cooldown increased; range decreased

E – Flawless Duet

COOLDOWN 14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒ 18/16.5/15/13.5/12 seconds RANGE 850 ⇒ 775

Karma

Q slow increased. E cost decreased; movement speed duration increased to match shield duration.

Q – Inner Flame

SLOW 25% ⇒ 35%

E – Inspire

COST 60/65/70/75/80 mana ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70 mana MOVEMENT SPEED DURATION 1.5 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds (now matches shield duration)

Lulu

VFX on all abilities updated. E shield increased; cost decreased later.

VFX Updates

BASIC ATTACK New purple-ier missiles and hit effects ALL SKINS Cleaned up to match the new effects on the base skin DRAGON TRAINER LULU Pix now shoots out small pink fireballs

E – Help, Pix!

SHIELD 70/105/140/175/210 ⇒ 80/115/150/185/220 COST 60/70/80/90/100 mana ⇒ 60/65/70/75/80 mana VFX Cleaned up shield (on allies) and improved Pix's teleport and hit effects (on enemies)

Passive – Pix, Faerie Companion

VFX Cleaned up Pix's bolts

Q – Glitterlance

VFX New purple-ier missiles and hit effects

W – Whimsy

VFX Cleaned up buff effect (for allies) and missiles/hit effects (on enemies)

R – Wild Growth

VFX Fairy dust, an entirely new and pretty AoE, and cleaned up enemy hit and slow effects

Master Yi

Fixed a bug on Master Yi's passive.

Passive – Double Strike

BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Master Yi's Double Strike stacks were lasting 3 seconds instead of 4

Nautilus

Q base damage decreased early.

Q – Dredge Line

BASE DAMAGE 100/145/190/235/280 ⇒ 80/130/180/230/280

Zac

W base damage increased. R knockback distance and chunk spawn adjusted.

W – Unstable Matter

BASE DAMAGE 15/30/45/60/75 ⇒ 25/40/55/70/85

R – Let's Bounce!

KNOCKBACK DISTANCE 400 units away from Zac ⇒ 250 units from where target is hit CELL DIVISION CHUNK SPAWN Each enemy champion spawns a chunk the first time they're hit by a bounce (subsequent bounces on the same enemy won't spawn additional chunks) ⇒ Each bounce that hits one or more enemy champions spawns a chunk (hitting the same enemy still spawns a chunk)

Items

Corrupting Potion

Bonus magic damage flattened.

BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE 15-30 (level 1-18) over 3 seconds ⇒ 15 at all levels over 3 seconds

ARAM Balance Changes

END OF GAME MASTERY GRADE Modified calculations to be more accurate for ARAM

9.12 Nerfs

FIORA+8% damage dealt & -8% damage taken ⇒ No changes compared to other modes JHIN-5% damage dealt ⇒ -8% damage dealt KASSADIN+10% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ⇒ -5% damage taken KATARINA+8% damage dealt & -8% damage taken ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken LUX-10% damage dealt & +8% damage taken ⇒ -10% damage dealt & +10% damage taken NIDALEE+15% damage dealt ⇒ +12% damage dealt QUINN+10% damage dealt & -10% damage taken ⇒ +8% damage dealt & -8% damage taken REK'SAI+18% damage dealt & -10% damage taken ⇒ +12% damage dealt & -10% damage taken SEJUANI-10% damage taken ⇒ -8% damage taken SONA-10% damage dealt & -15% healing done & -15% shielding done & +12% damage taken ⇒ -15% damage dealt & -18% healing done & -18% shielding done & +15% damage taken TAHM KENCH+8% damage dealt & -8% damage taken ⇒ -5% damage taken TALON+10% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ⇒ -5% damage taken TRUNDLENormal ⇒ +5% damage taken MORDEKAISER+5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ⇒ No changes compared to other modes

9.12 Buffs

CORKI Normal ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ELISE+5% damage dealt ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken FIZZ+5% damage dealt ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken GALIO+5% damage taken ⇒ No changes compared to other modes ILLAOI+5% damage taken ⇒ No changes compared to other modes JARVAN IV Normal ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken KARTHUS-8% damage dealt ⇒ -6% damage dealt KLEDNormal ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken NOCTURNE+5% damage dealt & -10% damage taken ⇒ +10% damage dealt & -12% damage taken RIVEN+5% damage dealt ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken SWAIN-6% damage dealt & +6% damage taken ⇒ -5% damage dealt YORICK-5% damage dealt & +8% damage taken ⇒ -5% damage dealt & +5% damage taken

VFX Updates

Amumu

BASIC ATTACK New hit effects PASSIVE – CURSED TOUCH Cleaned up existing effects Q – BANDAGE TOSS Added a subtle effect to show the width of his missile and brightened the tip of it W – DESPAIR Now displays a reflection and has a better representation of the hitbox. New, more condensed impact effect. E – TANTRUM New AoE, now with sand, and a better representation of the hitbox R – CURSE OF THE SAD MUMMYMore sand and actual Shuriman runes ALL SKINS Cleaned up to match the new effects on the base skin SAD ROBOT AMUMU New, robot-y effects across all his abilities

Tryndamere

BASIC ATTACKNew hit effects and adjusted weapon trails PASSIVE – BATTLE FURYNew rage indicator effect Q – BLOODLUSTMore visible heal effect with reduced noise W – MOCKING SHOUTAdded a cast effect that shows range E – SPINNING SLASHNew effect that shows the actual width of the AoE R – UNDYING RAGENew activation and buff effects ALL SKINSCleaned up to match the new effects on the base skin DEMONBLADE TRYNDAMERENew FI-YAHHHHHHHHHHHH-ERY effects

Ziggs

BASIC ATTACKNew sparky missiles and hit effects PASSIVE – SHORT FUSEEmpowered hits are more explode-y; missiles are more sparky Q – BOUNCING BOMBMore sparks, new missile, and the explosion now leaves a crater that shows the size of the AoE W – SATCHEL CHARGENew explosion that leaves behind a crater; new upward movement to reinforce the knock-up feel; new hit effects; adjusted AoE indicators to match hitbox E – HEXPLOSIVE MINEFIELDSubtle trail on the missiles and range indicator on the mines. Also leave small craters on impact. And of course, more sparks! R – MEGA INFERNO BOMBMUSHROOM CLOUD AND MORE SPARKS! New cast, indicators, missile, AoE, and hit effects. MAD SCIENTIST ZIGGSNow with more bubbles and green goo POOL PARTY ZIGGSCleaned up the noise on his abilities and adjusted to better match the rest of the skin line SNOW DAY ZIGGSCleaned up the noise on his abilities and added some warmth to his missiles and explosions ARCANIST ZIGGSAdded the crater in his ultimate and updated the indicator to match the base skin's ODYSSEY ZIGGSAdded the crater in his ultimate

Bugfixes

  • Warwick's Q – Jaws of the Beast tooltip now lists the correct AP ratio
  • Split rewards now display on Ranked Armor on the Loading Screen
  • The "End-of-Vote" flash on the Surrender box no longer re-appears when the timer expires for those who have already voted
  • The Surrender box can now be properly be moved around
  • Headhunter Nidalee's Q – Javelin Toss's javelins have been adjusted for colorblind players to better see them
  • Jhin's Q – Dancing Grenade now properly bounces to other targets even after its damage is consumed by Sivir's E – Spell Shield

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