Elise
E - Cocoon
WIDTH:70 ⇒ 55
SPIDER-VISION:Fixed a bug where Cocoon was providing vision longer than the stun duration (now correctly matches it)
E - Rappel
SOME PREAMBLE:Rappel now calculates its range from the center of Elise to the center of the target ⇒ edge of Elise to the edge of the target (this means Rappel gains about +75 range)
RANGE:925 ⇒ 750 (~825 range if using the old targeting calculations)
I, for one, don't exactly agree that Elise needs nerfs. Currently sitting at a 46% solo queue win rate, she seemingly struggles. In the NA LCS, however, she is a different story, enjoying a 57% win rate and a 92% pick/ban rate. Something in her kit obviously boosted her viability in a team environment. The rappel changes will certainly make ganking and escaping more difficult, but I don't see this doing anything else than making her trash tier in solo queue and decent-to-bad in competitive play. Cocoon is an easily dodgable skillshot as it stands, this change was unneeded.
Evelynn
Q - Hate Spike
MAGIC DAMAGE:40/60/80/100/120 ⇒ 30/45/60/75/90
ABILITY POWER RATIO:0.45 ⇒ 0.35/0.4/0.45/0.5/0.55
BONUS ATTACK DAMAGE RATIO:0.5 ⇒ 0.5/0.55/0.6/0.65/0.7
COST:16/22/28/34/40 mana ⇒ 12/18/24/30/36 mana
These changes will encourage Evelynn players to return to the full damage builds of a few months ago. I feel like this is not a good balance change, but a good change lore-wise. Evelynn feels more like a mage than a tank, and these changes will help with that, but they may buff her a bit too much. I felt that, while annoying, she was balanced on the past patches.
Gragas
Q - Barrel Roll
NEWGRAGGY LIGHT:Now does 70% damage to minions
W - Drunken Rage
NEWCOST:Now costs 30 mana at all ranks
COOLDOWN:8/7.5/6/6.5/6 seconds ⇒ 8/7/6/5/4 seconds
DAMAGE REDUCTION:3 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds
SNEAKY DRINKING:Fixed a bug where Drunken Rage could be used twice in a row if Gragas was interrupted as soon as he started drinking
BRAWLING ETIQUETTE:Fixed a bug where Drunken Rage would sometimes not play the proper keg smash animation on attack
E - Body Slam
BUGFIXED BELLY:Fixed a bug where Body Slam would occasionally fail to work when Gragas leveled it first or second
Gragas is absurd right now. Insane health regen from his passive, insane damage for a "tank," great mobility. Adding a mana cost to his passive, while small, will certainly help with punishing his early game wave clear. The Q change feels a bit tacky, though. I would have preferred to see a damage reduction overall, not just to minions. Gragas will stay strong, but he will actually require some skill now.
Hecarim
Passive - Warpath
WARPATHIER:Hecarim gains bonus attack damage equal to 10/12.5/15/17.5/20/22.5/25% ⇒ 15/17.5/20/22.5/25/27.5/30% of his bonus movement speed
Q - Rampage
COST:24/28/32/36/40 mana ⇒ 24/26/28/30/32 mana
Great, simple buffs to help out the horse. He will probably see more play and will feel easier to jungle, without increasing in his win ratio.
Lee Sin
General
BASE HEALTH REGEN:6.95 health per 5 seconds ⇒ 8.95 health per 5 seconds
W - Safeguard
SHIELD DURATION:4 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds
E - Cripple
REMOVEDNEVER SKIP LEG DAY:Cripple no longer reduces enemy attack speed (only reduces movement speed)
Riot has to be extremely careful in balancing Lee Sin. He is one of the faces of the game that many will recognize instantly. Unlike Teemo or Katarina, not seeing him in competitive play would feel really weird. I think these changes successfully give him needed weaknesses. No need for a four-second shield and no need for an attack slow (remember, this will also decrease his health in the jungle!). He will definitely have to gank more and farm less, not that any Lee Sin was spending all his time farming before. On the note of the base health regen increase, this will give him only about 24 extra health per minute. Lee Sin will be slightly more balanced competitively.
Olaf
Q - Undertow
COOLDOWN:8 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds
W - Vicious Strikes
HEALING AMPLIFICATION:+1% healing per 2.5% missing health ⇒ +1% healing per 2% missing health
R - Ragnarok
COOLDOWN:120/100/80 seconds ⇒ 100/90/80 seconds
As stated in the notes, "Olaf hasn't had the best time adapting to the evolving game ... so he's getting a few buffs to keep up."
Kayle
E - Righteous Fury
ABILITY POWER RATIO:0.2 ⇒ 0.25
R - Intervention
COOLDOWN:110/95/80 seconds ⇒ 100/90/80 seconds
"Buffs to Kayle, you say?" It's okay. There wasn't really any problem with her ult, so I don't know about the cooldown reduction there, but AP ratio is not a huge buff. Her 4.11 ratio was 0.4. As one Redditor pointed out, these buffs are likely due to a new Kayle skin coming out in the future.
LeBlanc
W - Distortion
COST:80/90/100/110/120 mana ⇒ 80/85/90/95/100 mana
Much needed quality of life change. Likely won't do much, but it may her lift her out from having the LOWEST win rate currently.
Lissandra
Q - Ice Shard
COOLDOWN:6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds ⇒ 6/5.25/4.5/3.75/3 seconds
W - Ring of Frost
ABILITY POWER RATIO:0.60 ⇒ 0.40
R - Frozen Tomb
SLOW:20/30/40% ⇒ 30/45/75%
Call me Jon Snow, because I know nothing about Lissandra. I'll just trust Riot on this buff.
Lulu
Q - Glitterlance
REMOVEDMIGHT AS WELL BE A SNARE:Glitterlance's slow decay no longer scales with ability power
W - Whimsy
MOVEMENT SPEED BUFF DURATION:5 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 3/3.5/4/4.5/5 seconds
COST:65/70/75/80/85 mana ⇒ 65 mana at all ranks
These changes only nerf Lulu's utility. I would have preferred to see changes to her absurd waveclear. While her slows and speed-ups were insane, I feel that her lack of tankiness made up for it. People picked Lulu for bullying and utility, and Riot chose to nerf the wrong part of her kit in my opinion.
Lux
Passive - Illumination
DAMAGE:10 + (10 x level) ⇒ 10 + (8 x level) (+ 0.2 ability power)
Lux previously fell off late game. This will help with that problem a bit, giving her more than simple burst. I feel that a problem with her, and other skillshot focused champions is that their skillshots can be dodged with a lot of practice. I expect to see Lux at least once competitively before season five, just for that 'surprise factor'.
Vel'Koz
W - Void Rift
MISSILE WIDTH:65 ⇒ 88
R - Life Form Disintegration Ray
RANGE:1500 ⇒ 1550
Buff to match visuals. Won't help poor midlane Vel'Koz much.
Yasuo
Passive - Way of the Wanderer
SHIELD DURATION:1.5 seconds ⇒ 1 second
Q - Steel Tempest
LESS-QUICK-DRAW:Steel Tempest now scales less effectively with attack speed and has a minimum cast time of 0.13 seconds ⇒ 0.18 seconds. The attack speed needed to reach this minimum is unchanged (at 114%, or 60% from items at level 18).
BUGFIX:Fixed a bug where Steel Tempest's whirlwind was dealing instant damage in the area of a normal Steel Tempest cast as it was traveling out (this is a very minor change)
W - Wind Wall
REMOVEDLOW ON FLOW:Wind Wall no longer passively grants bonus Flow from dashing
Yasuo is very strong in some matchups, and pretty weak in others. The first two changes don't hurt too much and are very justified. I disagree with the "Low on flow" changes. Charging flow with dashing was an interesting mechanic and I don't think its the proper place to hit him.
Ziggs
R - Mega Inferno Bomb
COOLDOWN:120/105/90 seconds ⇒ 120 seconds at all ranks
Simple nerf to Ziggs' overpowered late game waveclear. I feel 110 or 100 might have been a better cooldown, however.
Graves
Q - Buckshot
THIS IS GONNA TICKLE:Hitting a target in the face with Buckshot deals 35%⇒ 40% damage for each additional bullet
R - Collateral Damage
BASE PHYSICAL DAMAGE:250/350/450 ⇒ 250/400/550
A much needed buff for Graves. He is by no means bad, just outclassed by current marksmen in the meta. With certain supports (particularly Nami), these buffs might make him viable in solo queue.
Kog'Maw
General
BASE HEALTH:524 ⇒ 487
HEALTH PER LEVEL:84 ⇒ 87
Q - Caustic Spittle
ARMOR & MAGIC RESISTANCE SHRED:20/22/24/26/28% ⇒12/16/20/24/28%
Kog'Maw traded way too well for a hypercarry at level one and level six. I like all of these changes. They take away early strength without overcompensating and making him overly good lategame.
Lucian
E - Relentless Pursuit
REMOVEDOCCASIONALLY RELENTING:Relentless Pursuit no longer removes slows
COOLDOWN:14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒ 18/17/16/15/14 seconds
The cooldown nerf on E was a no-brainer, but some may disagree with the slow removal... removal. As a Lucian player, I would say that these nerfs are justified. While removing slows may be an interesting mechanic, it doesn't exactly make sense in his kit. It isn't necessary. It would be great if Lucian was helpless without it, but he isn't. It is just a bonus with no trade-offs. Lucian will stay overpowered in solo queue, but will likely be absent from competitive play. He now only goes even in most matchups rather than winning.
Sivir
R - On The Hunt
INITIAL MOVEMENT SPEED:2/3/4 seconds ⇒ 2/4/6 seconds
Meh.
Tristana
W - Rocket Jump
SLOW DURATION:2.5 seconds at all levels ⇒ 1/1.5/2/2.5/3 seconds
E - Explosive Shot
ACTIVE MAGIC DAMAGE:110/150/190/230/270 ⇒ 80/125/170/215/260
Slow duration was never a problem, I don't see why it was hit. The E nerfs are pretty significant. Tristana was great at snowballing of opponents mistakes, now she can likely only go even. While this is pretty sad for Tristana players like me, we must remember the ult range buffs last patch. Just ask RobertxLee, Tristana is the queen of lategame. Still viable.
Varus
Q - Piercing Arrow
NEWCLARITY:Now shows a line indicator in addition to circle indicator while charging
R - Chain of Corruption
COOLDOWN:120/105/90 seconds ⇒ 110/90/70 seconds
Sorry, Varus. This isn't going to help.
Vayne
General
ATTACK SPEED PER LEVEL:3.1 ⇒ 4.0
R - Final Hour
WHOOPS:Fixed a bug where Tumble had an extra +0.1 attack damage ratio while Final Hour was active (now correctly matches Tumble's AD ratios)
COMPENSATION FOR THE ABOVE:Final Hour grants a bonus 25/40/55 ⇒30/50/70 attack damage throughout its duration
According to Riot, the Final Hour damage will be roughly the same. The attack speed is a decent buff, though. I need to experiment with builds and skill order, but Vayne might be great against certain team compositions. She still isn't the best solo queue champion (read: she ain't free win).
Sona
SNUGGLE ZONES:Sona's new particles now indicate the area of effect of her auras
CLARITY:Crescendo's particles have been resized to match its hitbox (area of effect unchanged)
GAMEPLAY:Sona has received a Gameplay Update!
I don't know. Sona will be easier to play against. I expect her to be buffed soon. Still meh.
Braum
Passive - Concussive Blows
BASE MAGIC DAMAGE:38 + (12 x level) ⇒ 32 + (8 x level)
W - Stand Behind Me
COST:30/40/50/60/70 mana ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70 mana
R - Glacial Fissure
FIRST TARGET KNOCKUP DURATION:1.5 seconds ⇒ 1.0/1.25/1.5 seconds
SLOW:60% ⇒ 40/50/60%
SLOW LINGER DURATION:When an enemy leaves Glacial Fissure's field of ice, they'll continue to be slowed for 1.5 seconds ⇒ 0.25 seconds
Taking damage away from his passive pop rather than his Q is a good choice. One takes skill, the other takes auto-attacks. Punishing early W spam will also help keep this behemoth that is banned 78% of the time in check. The ult changes are a little severe. The only big problem with his ult was his point blank ult knockups, the slow duration wasn't the problem.
Janna
Passive - Tailwind
RANGE:800 ⇒ 1000
Q - Howling Gale
NEWHURRAY FOR HURRICANES:Cooldown now begins when the Howling Gale begins casting, rather than when it releases
KNOCKUP DURATION:0.5 - 1 second ⇒ 0.5 - 1.25 seconds
The passive increase is pretty good. She is actually decent right now, but like Graves, Miss Fortune, Alistar, etc, she is outclassed. She will still not be seen competitively.
Nami
General
MOVEMENT SPEED:340 ⇒ 335
W - Ebb and Flow
COOLDOWN:9 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 10 seconds at all ranks
Justified nerfs. Still very underrated in solo queue.
Thresh
W - Dark Passage
NEWNO GROUP FARES:Now only shields the first ally to be near the Lantern. Thresh himself can still always receive the shield.
E - Flay
BUGFIX:Fixed a tooltip bug that listed Flay's slow duration as 1.5 seconds. It's actually 1 second (no actual change).
R - The Box
REMOVEDYOU'RE STUCK IN HERE WITH ME:The Box no longer deals additional damage to opponents when they break extra walls beyond the first. Extra walls still apply half slow duration.
I agree with the W change, disagree with the ult. Riot is struggling to find a weakness for Thresh without making him super squishy or feathery. Flaying someone into two ult walls was so satisfying. He is still top tier.
Honorable Mention
Nomad's is better. Frost Queen's is worse. Banshee's got a slight cooldown nerf. Rylai's got more AP and less health. Very good buff. Deathfire Grasp has a longer cooldown. Only affects a few midlaners. Madred's recieved a nice quality of life buff, you can now see your stacks.
Exhaust now has less damage reduction, but new armor/mr shred. Depends on the matchup whether Exhaust or Ignite is better.
Heal nerfed a little early, a lot late. Maybe could see more cleanses and barriers, I'm not sure.
tl;dr
Late game marksmen now act as late game marksmen. Supports nerfed. Junglers considered op in competitive play nerfed; solo queue now messed up. Nidalee permabanned inc.
