League of Legends Patch Notes: 9.7 - Bilgewater is Back
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League of Legends Patch Notes: 9.7 – Bilgewater is Back

This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information

Patch 9.7 was full of changes. Riot buffed champions, released new skins, brought back personalized shops, made changes to ARAM, and some minor changes to the Practice Tool. The patch provided balance to adaptive force runes and buffed other runes. Check out the League of Legends Patch 9.7 changes below:

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The Buffs

The champions who received the biggest buffs were Leona, Dr. Mundo, and Pyke. Leona’s E ability (Zenith Blade) had a decrease in cooldown. This allows Leona to better engage in the late game. Both the Q (Inflected Cleaver) and E (Masochism) for Dr. Mundo received damage increases. These changes should help the champion clear the top lane easier. Finally, Pyke should be better early game. Two abilities received slight tweaks, Q (Bone Skewer) cooldown was decreased and E (Phantom Undertow) had a slight increase in stun duration. The changes will not greatly affect gameplay, but continue to provide balance.

The Nerfs

Kayle, Urgot, and Lissandra all received a nerf in this patch. Kayle’s defenses were slightly reduced and the abilities took a hit. The Q (Radiant Blast), W (Celestial Blessing), and E (Starfire Spellblade) all were nerfed in hopes of balancing the champion late game. In addition, Urgot was reeled back in. After the previous patch, Urgot was too dominant in the top lane. The champions passive ability, as well as, E (Disdain), and R (Fear Beyond Death) were nerfed. This change should provide balance to the ‘Urgod’. Lastly, Lissandra’s lane clear took a hit. Her Q (Ice Shard) had the cooldown time increased significantly. All three of these champions needed to be tweaked slightly. Urgot is no longer instantly banned, while Kayle requires more skill instead of easy scaling.

Runes

Eyeball Collection, Ghost Poro, and Zombie Ward were reworked to provide the same adaptive force bonuses. All three runes have been equaled out. This means less Eyeball Collection runes. The developers are hoping for more variety between the three.

ARAM Changes

Butcher’s Bridge is back! Enjoy the map variant while available. There will be more detail coming from the developers soon.
Here are the changes:
1. Ban champions: After the banning phase, random champions will be assigned.
2. Minions receive a buff after 15 minutes. Minion spawn rates, movement speed, and damage to champions increase.
3. Damage is reduced for champions over 900 units away.
4. A new summoner spell was introduced to replace Barrier. The spell is Backtrack and provides the champion a small blue shield then send the player toward their fountain.
5. Various updates to items, champions, and runes were made to balance the ARAM mode.

Skins/Chromas

Two new skins were introduced, Dunkmaster Ivern and Hextech Jarvan IV.

Dunkmaster Ivern releases live in Patch 9.7 Hextech Jarvan releases live in Patch 9.7

Check out all the latest League of Legends News here!

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