The League of Legends devs have released the 9.17 update patch notes on August 27 that signal nerfs for the games newest champ Qiyana and buffs for reworked Pantheon among other changes.

Players will notice smaller patch changes from Riot Games from now until the end of the Worlds Championships so not as to completely throw off the meta while still fixing obvious problems in the game’s state.

Some of these problems lie in champs not showing “satisfying signs of successful play” while others have been feeling like a “complete wet noodle” through the portions of the laning phase.

A-Sol is going to be a different monster with a great update to his Starsurge.

Aurelion Sol is the Center of the Universe

The Star Forger is going to be getting crucial updates in the 9.17 patch. While his base damage for the Center of the Universe passive is getting a slight nerf, the AP ratio is getting a flat 0.25 change which should help in the early phases of the game.

Another point of emphasis that A-Sol mains will appreciate will be that his Starsurge will now keep up with the champ even if they are outpacing the ability.

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This will finally put an end to bothersome instances where the ability will stop charging and explode just because A-Sol outpaced the Starsurge.

Pantheon gains more power in the jungle

Previously the Riot devs gave Panth’s Aegis Assault a monster damage reduction, but since he’s been showing weaknesses in his jungle role that’s going to change.

Meanwhile his Pantheon’s Q is getting thrust damage. After his major VGU rework, Panth can either thrust or throw his spear depending on the player. But this change should “only help those who are struggling with relearning him.”

Hopefully this will translate to a stronger Pantheon that could be a much more viable jungler than he was before.

Qiyana won’t be as intimidating to duel against in the early phases after the 9.17 patch.

Qiyana is cooling down in lane

While there’s been a lot of mixed feelings toward the Empress of the Elements upon release, it looks like she’s become a favorite among aggressive early laners.

The Rioters have noticed that she might be too much good at trading damage in the early phases of the game. In response to this, her Audacity dash’s damage is getting nerfed so she doesn’t have as deadly of a response to lane duels.

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Similarly, her Ultimate will now have a flat cooldown of 120 seconds in all ranks so that “near constant ults” don’t feel too suffocating in team fights.

It seems like Riot Games is trying to level the battlefield as much as it can with power picks. While some of the champs got healthy enhancements, hopefully it won’t shake up the game too much.

To get a full breakdown of the 9.17 update and its contents, read the full patch notes below.

Champions

Aurelion Sol

Passive damage decreased; AP ratio now flat; stars are no longer disabled by CC. Q cooldown now scales; movement speed increased; star will keep up with Aurelion Sol. W now expands stars and rotates at a decaying speed; cooldown increased; cost no longer increases over time. E passive movement speed removed; range and cooldown altered; speed now scales.

We’re making Aurelion Sol more vulnerable to counterplay in the early game so that we have room to buff his scaling and presence in the late game. His adjusted W should also help make him a more approachable champion to those new to him, with clearer indicators of success and more satisfying in-game payoff.

Passive – Center of the Universe

DAMAGE 20/23/26/29/32/35/40/45/50/55/60/70/80/90/100/110/120/130 ⇒ 16/18/20/22/24/27/30/35/40/45/50/60/70/80/90/100/110/120

RATIO 0.18-0.35 (levels 1-18) ability power ⇒ 0.25 ability power

REMOVED NULLIFYING CC Ability – inhibiting crowd control no longer nullifies Center of the Universe

Q – Starsurge

COOLDOWN 10 seconds ⇒ 11/10/9/8/7 seconds

MOVEMENT SPEED10% ⇒ 20%

NEW – CATCH ME CATCH YOU – If Aurelion Sol is faster than his star, the star will speed up to keep up with him

W – Celestial Expansion

NEW – LET IT RIP – When Aurelion Sol pushes his stars out to the Outer Limit, they gain increased damage and rotate at a high, but decaying speed. After 3 seconds or if Aurelion Sol reactivates it early, the stars will retract and grant Aurelion Sol 40% movement speed, decaying over 1.5 seconds

COOLDOWN – 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds ⇒ 8/6.5/5/3.5/2 second

MANA – 40 mana + 22/24/26/28/30 mana per second it’s activated ⇒ 70/80/90/100/110 mana on cast

E – Comet of Legend

REMOVED – PASSIVE – Aurelion Sol no longer gains bonus movement speed when moving in the same direction for a period of time

RANGE – 3000/4000/5000/6000/7000 ⇒5500/6000/6500/7000/7500

COOLDOWN – 60/55/50/45/40 seconds ⇒80/75/70/65/60 seconds

SPEED – 600 ⇒ 600/650/700/750/800

Galio

Q cooldown decreased. W min and max damage increased.

Galio’s been underperforming for the last few patches so we’re helping him out to keep him competitive against other choices.

Base Stats

Rounding out an unnecessarily gross number

MANA REGEN – 9.335 ⇒ 9.5

Q – Winds of War

COOLDOWN – 14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds

W – Shield of Durand

MINIMUM DAMAGE – 10/20/30/40/50 ⇒20/35/50/65/80

MAXIMUM DAMAGE – 30/60/90/120/150 ⇒60/105/150/195/240

Kalista

Base attack damage, mana, and mana growth increased.

Buffing Kalista in this specific way so she can succeed more in the hands of an average player and generally in a wider range of games.

Base Stats

ATTACK DAMAGE – 67 ⇒ 69

MANA – 231.8 ⇒ 250

MANA GROWTH – 35 ⇒ 45

Kayle

Passive bonuses adjusted for all four forms. Q now refunds mana; cast delay, missile speed, and range decreased; cast time updated; enemy shred decreased, but duration increased. E bonus damage decreased later, ratio increased; on-hit ratio updated. R cost now scales; radius increased.

We’re shifting power into Kayle’s early game at the cost of some of her late-game carry potential. Kayle should still be a weaker champion early who ascends into a god, but she (and her opponents) should now have more influence on whether or not she gets there.

Passive – Divine Ascent

FORM LEVEL ORDER – Kayle ascends to her || Aflame form at level 6 and Arisen form at level 11 ⇒ Arisen form at level 6 and Aflame form at level 11

ZEALOUS BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED – 15% when Exalted and moving toward enemies ⇒ 8% when Exalted in all directions

ZEALOUS STACK SOURCES – Basic attacks against non-structures ⇒ All basic attacks

ARISEN ATTACK RANGE – 550 ⇒ 525

REMOVED ARISEN ATTACK SPEED PER STACK – Kayle’s bonus attack speed from her Zealous form no longer increases to 10% bonus attack speed per stack when Kayle is in her Arisen form

REMOVED TRANSCENDENT FIRE WAVE TRUE DAMAGE – Fire waves no longer deal true damage

NEW TRANSCENDENT ATTACK RANGE – When Kayle is in her Transcendent form, she gains an additional 50 range for a total of 575 attack range on basic attacks

Q – Radiant Blast

NEW MANA REFUND – Now refunds 50% of the ability’s mana for each champion hit with it

CAST DELAY – 0.5 seconds ⇒ 0.25 seconds

CAST TIME – Attack speed timer ⇒ 0.25 seconds

MISSILE SPEED – 2000 ⇒ 1600

RANGE – 950 ⇒ 900

RESISTANCES REDUCTION – 20% of the target’s armor and magic resistance for 3 seconds ⇒ 15% of the target’s armor and magic resistance for 4 seconds

BUG FIX – Fixed a bug where Radiant Blast wouldn’t pierce as far if it hit its target at point-blank range

E – Starfire Spellblade

BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE – 8/10/12/14/16% (+1% per 100 ability power) of the target’s missing health ⇒8/9/10/11/12% (+1% per 50 ability power) of the target’s missing health

ON-HIT RATIO – 0.1 total attack damage and 0.2 ability power ⇒ 0.1 bonus attack damage and 0.25 ability power

R – Divine Judgment

COST – 100 mana ⇒ 100/50/0 mana

AOE RADIUS – 475 ⇒ 500

Leona

Q cooldown decreased.

We’re letting Leona really lock into the engaging supports that she fares well against to keep her a good counter against those specific match-ups.

Q – Shield of Daybreak

COOLDOWN – 6 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds

Lucian

Base AD increased.

Giving Lucian a bit more power in the early laning phase to punish champs who have been able to run around freely without fear.

Base Stats

ATTACK DAMAGE – 61 ⇒ 64

Neeko

Neeko can now deactivate her passive without taking damage or casting another ability.

Giving Neeko a QoL change so she can return to her own form without having to expend a resource or take damage.

Passive – Inherent Glamour

NEW I’M BEAUTIFUL – When disguised, Neeko can select herself to deactivate her disguise, putting it on a 2 second cooldown

Pantheon

Q Thrusts now grant execute damage. E monster damage reduction removed.

Even after the removal and decrease of the monster damage reduction on his Q and E, respectively, jungle Pantheon is just not as strong as his other roles. We’re following up by entirely removing the monster damage penalty on his E, since it appears we were being too cautious regarding his jungle prowess. This and the change to his Q Thrust shouldn’t swing his balance too much, and only help those who are struggling with relearning him.

Q – Comet Spear

NEW THRUST DAMAGE – Thrusting Pantheon’s spear (releasing the ability within 0.35 seconds) now also increases the physical damage on targets below 25% of their maximum health (matching a fully hurled spear’s bonus damage)

E – Aegis Assault

REMOVED MONSTER DAMAGE REDUCTION – No longer reduces damage against non-epic monsters

Qiyana

E base damage decreased. R cooldown flattened.

Qiyana’s early trade damage makes her stronger than she should be in lane. That coupled with her near constant ults later is a bit too overbearing throughout the whole game.

E – Audacity

BASE DAMAGE – 70/105/140/175/210 ⇒60/95/130/165/200

R – Supreme Display of Talent

COOLDOWN – 120/100/80 seconds ⇒ 120 seconds at all ranks

Ryze

Base magic resist increased.

Now that Ryze has proven he can be useful without Overloading his enemies in competitive play, we think it’s safe to give him a smidge more survivability.

Base Stats

MAGIC RESIST – 30 ⇒ 34

Zyra

R cost flattened; cooldown decreased.

We’re giving Zyra more opportunities to burst down her enemies.

R – Stranglethorns

COST – 100/120/140 mana ⇒ 100 mana at all ranks

COOLDOWN – 130/120/110 seconds ⇒ 110/100/90 seconds

Free-to-Play Champion Rotation

In 2017, players asked us to expand the weekly free champion rotation beyond just 10 champions. As a result, we updated our model to include 10% of the total number of available champions to the rotation and increased the number to 14. With Qiyana, we’re officially at 145 champions! As promised, we’re officially increasing the number of champions to 15 in the next free-to-play rotation on the first week of September 2019.

Bugfixes

• Soraka now properly heals herself with R – Wish for more when she is under 40% of her maximum health.
• Certain champions’ movement abilities are now properly disabled when they’re Grounded (Zac’s E – Elastic Slingshot, Malphite’s R – Unstoppable Force, Camille’s E – Hookshot, Graves’ R – Collateral Damage, Thresh’s W – Dark Passage, and Fiddlestick’s R – Crowstorm)
• Rek’Sai no longer gains a short “Can’t Be Displaced” buff if her target dies as she starts R – Void Rush
• Cleanse now properly clears the stun from Viktor’s AUGMENT:IMPLOSION W – Gravity Field
• Lee Sin’s Q – Resonating Strike‘s dash speed is now at its proper speed (not as slow as it was in 9.16)
• If Sylas dies immediately after casting Pantheon’s R – Grand Starfall via R – Hijack, he will no longer be locked out of using items and basic abilities
• Sivir’s W – Ricochet now properly bounces when recast when she reaches 45% CDR by holding Spear of Shojin or Cosmic Insight
• Statikk Shiv will no longer hit nearby targets outside of Mordekaiser’s R – Realm of Death when the holder attacks him within it
• When Tahm Kench dies while using W – Devour on another unit, that unit’s HP can now properly go below 1 HP