Ahead of patch 9.9 hitting League of Legends live servers on Thursday, Riot Games released their patch notes. They include various balance, rune, and item changes as well as a few VFX and SFX updates. Furthermore, Rift Scuttler will be receiving some changes involving his initial spawn time, moving it to later in the game. Conqueror Alistar and Conqueror Chromas will also be released in this patch.
Changes to champions
To begin with, Aatrox, Tahm Kench, and Blitzcrank will be seeing the biggest changes in the upcoming League of Legends patch. Many other champions will receive smaller stat changes.
Aatrox
Riot removed the healing and shielding reduction on champions that Aatrox had on his passive. Instead, they have added healing he receives based on bonus physical damage dealt. Numbers on his Q and W are also being tuned, with cooldown resets seeing the biggest change. His Q’s cooldown will now reset only after the third cast of his Q or after the Q cast window expires. The overall cooldown on his Q will have its cooldown reduced and its damage increased. For the W, the slow will stay 25 percent at all ranks. This is a buff at lower ranks, but a nerf at higher ranks as it used to go up to as much as 35 percent. Umbral Dash, Aatrox’s E, is also having its attack damage increase on cast removed.
Another big change for Aatrox will be the changes to his R. Killing him with his ultimate active will no longer revive Aatrox over 3.25 seconds. Instead, takedowns will extend his World Ender duration by 5 seconds and enable him to revive upon taking lethal damage while it’s active. He will also no longer fear nearby allied minions on R cast, and reviving him will no longer clear temporary buffs. Riot is further adding a hefty percentage of increased healing during World Ender.
Tahm Kench
We have already talked about the Tahm Kench changes in a previous article, so check that out if you want a more detailed explanation. Put simply, his passive bonus damage is now equal at all ranks. The range and slow on his Q are getting increased. His W now slows him the same way when devouring allies as it does with enemies. Thick Skin, his E, is also having its heal and shield increased while casting it won’t require any mana. Finally, his ultimate’s range is getting decreased while they are increasing the cooldown.
Blitzcrank
Blitz is, along with VFX updates, receiving changes to his Mana Barrier and ultimate. The Mana Barrier will now, instead of being based on his current mana, be based on his maximum mana. Static Field, his ultimate, will now enable Blitz to mark targets for his ult’s passive. The lightning will no longer strike random targets but will instead strike those marked after a slight delay. Blitzcrank can mark the targets by basic attacking them while his ultimate is off cooldown.
Item changes
There are only two item changes in this patch. Manamune is having its damage increased, while Hunter’s Potion won’t be making a comeback in the next patch. The team is removing it due to being underpowered and rarely picked, thus making it unnecessary in the current jungle.
Rune changes
Aftershock will be getting the biggest change, with its resistances no longer scaling with level. They will now scale with other bonus resistances. Additionally, its damage will also no longer scale with AD or AP. Minor tuning is occurring with many other runes as well.
For the full list of changes, check out Riot’s League of Legends patch notes.
Published: May 1, 2019 11:45 am