League of Legends Patch 10.18: Ahri changes, PsyOps skins & more

[jwplayer Y6ftX95x]League Patch 10.18 has arrived as scheduled, with poster girl Ahri receiving a major “overhaul” ahead of Worlds 2020. Champion 151 Samira could also be on her way, alongside the new PsyOps skin collection.

This time around, it looks like more teasers for League’s 151st champion could appear on the live server, and Riot is preparing for the 2020 World Championship balance update next fortnight. Here’s all the details you need to know about League Patch 10.18.

Samira, the Desert Rose

Riot Games appear set to add Samira, the Desert Rose to the League of Legends champion roster in Patch 10.18, although not at the very start. The gun-wielding warrior is LoL’s 151st champion.

“Samira is a gifted, ruthless marksman who charges up her style meter as she hunts for the flashiest kill. Because it’s not about the win — it’s about the thrill,” Riot said of the new champ in a cinematic trailer released on August 30.

Leaks previously claimed Samira has abilities similar to four other champions already in LoL. There were also rumors her “jaw-dropping” kit would take hefty inspiration from Katarina’s ultimate, Irelia’s W, Urgot’s W, and Nunu & Willump’s ult.

• Read more: Everything we know about new League champion Samira

Much of Samira’s ability kit has already been datamined ahead of LoL Patch 10.18 update. Here’s everything we know about the Desert Rose’s powers so far:

Samira abilities

• Passive – Daredevil Impulse: Samira builds a combo by landing attacks or abilities that are different from the previous hit. Each combination increases her Style meter. Her attacks in melee range deal additional magic damage and increase based on the target’s missing health. Samira dashes into range against targets slightly outside her attack range.
• Q – Flair: Samira fires a shot, dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit. If this ability is cast towards an enemy in melee range, Samira will instead slash with her sword, dealing physical damage. Either hit can critically strike for 25 percent bonus damage. If cast during Wild Rush, Samira will strike all enemies in her path upon completion.
• W – Blade Whirl: Samira slashes around her for one second, damaging enemies twice for physical damage each and destroying any enemy missiles that enter the area.
• E – Wild Rush: Samira dashes through an enemy or ally, slashing enemies she passes through and gaining Attack Speed. Killing an enemy champion refreshes this ability’s cool-down.
• R – Inferno Trigger: Samira can only use this ability if her current Style rating is S. Samira unleashes a torrent of shots from her weapons, wildly shooting all enemies surrounding her 10 times over two seconds, each shot dealing physical damage and applying lifesteal. Each shot can also critically strike.

Riot Games

Samira will likely be released in LoL Patch 10.18, and get a PsyOps skin on release.

Ahri gets “gameplay overhaul” in Patch 10.18

The biggest balance plans Riot have locked in for LoL Patch 10.18 is the hefty gameplay overhaul for mid lane mage Ahri. The League of Legends darling has fallen out of favour in recent updates, despite being one of the title’s poster stars.

Mark Yetter confirmed the plan is to “create better gameplay” for the character, via a few buffs that should make her kit a little less clunky to use. Riot also wants to open up her key windows to punish enemies.

Everything from her base health regen (down to 5.5, from 6.5) to her powerful abilities have come under the microscope this patch. The vastayan’s passive, previously called “Essence Theft,” has now been changed to “Vastayan Grace.”

• Read more: New LoL champ Seraphine set to join K/DA after Worlds

The LoL fave also has a new passive effect, like her old Orb of Deception life gain. Her W also has a new decaying movement buff, and deals more damage.

Riot Games

League of Legends darling Ahri is getting a big boost this update.

LoL Patch 10.18 debuts PsyOps skin line

The new LoL patch has also added a brand-new skin line. Surrender@20 has revealed “PsyOps” cosmetics were added to the PBE this week. Master Yi, Ezreal, Shen, Sona, and Vi will all get skins. Ezreal will also get a special Prestige version.

• Read more: K/DA returns with new LoL comeback song “The Baddest”

New League of Legends arrival Samira will also be getting a PsyOps skin as part of her LoL release. Here’s a look at the full skin line teaser, released Sep. 1:

Jarvan IV, Rumble, Miss Fortune, Twitch, and Xin Zhao are also set to be buffed in the next League of Legends update. Heading the other way with a handful of nerfs will be Sett, Ashe, Shen, Galio, and mid lane Kog’Maw.

You can find the full League Patch 10.18 notes below.

League of Legends Patch 10.18 notes

Champions

Ahri

Base Stats

• Health regen: 6.5 ⇒ 5.5

Passive: Vastayan Grace

• Essence Theft: Ahri gains an Essence Theft stack for each enemy hit by her abilities, up to a maximum of 3 per cast, and storing up to 9 at once. Upon reaching 9 stacks of Essence Theft, Ahri’s next spell consumes the stacks to heal Ahri for 3/5/9/18 (levels 1/6/11/16) (+0.09 ability power) for each enemy hit.
• Vastayan Grace: Ahri no longer gains 20% bonus movement speed for 3 seconds when she lands 2 ability hits against a champion within 1.5 seconds

Q: Orb of Deception

• Essence Theft: Essence Theft is now her Passive

W: Fox-Fire

• Now grants a burst of 40% movement speed decaying over 1.5 seconds at cast
• Now deals 200% damage to minions below 20% health
• Targeting now better prioritizes low health minions that can be killed by Fox-Fire after champions (Charmed champions are still the flames’ first priority)
• Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5 seconds ⇒ 10/9/8/7/6 seconds
• Cost: 40 mana ⇒ 55 mana

Ashe

Base Stats

• Attack damage: 61 ⇒ 59

Q: Ranger’s Focus

• Runaan’s Hurricane’s Wind’s Fury’s damage now properly takes under consideration the future levels of Ranger’s Focus
• Additional Runaan’s Hurricane bolts from Amethyst Ashe’s Q – Ranger’s Focus Runaan’s now properly use the skin’s VFX

Galio

Q: Winds of War

• Base damage: 80/115/150/185/220 ⇒ 70/105/140/175/210

Jarvan IV

Q: Dragon Strike

• Base damage: 80/120/160/200/240 ⇒ 90/130/170/210/250

Kayle

Q: Radiant Blast

• No longer restores 50% of the mana cost for each enemy champion hit

W: Celestial Blessing

• Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 mana ⇒ 90/100/110/120/130 mana

E: Starfire Spellblade

• Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 mana ⇒ No cost
• Missile speed: 2000 ⇒ 5000

Kog’Maw

Base Stats

• Health growth: 90 ⇒ 85
• Armor growth: 3.5 ⇒ 3.25

Miss Fortune

Base Stats

• Attack speed growth: 2.25% ⇒ 3%

W: Strut

• Maximum bonus movement speed: 50/60/70/80/90 ⇒ 55/65/75/85/95

Rumble

Q: Flamespitter

• Total damage: 175/210/245/280/315 ⇒ 180/220/260/300/340

Sett

Passive: Pit Grit

• Right punch bonus damage ratio: 0.15 total attack damage ⇒ 0.5 bonus attack damage

Q: Knuckle Down

• Bonus damage: 10/20/30/40/50 (+1/2/3/4/5% of target’s maximum health) (+0.01 per 100 total attack damage) ⇒ 10/20/30/40/50 (+0.01 of target’s maximum health) (+1/1.5/2/2.5/3% per 100 total attack damage)

Shen

Passive: Ki Barrier

• Shield: 70-121 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 60-111 (levels 1-18)

Shyvana

E: Flame Breath

• Dragon form explosion radius: 220/240/260/280/300 (boundary check) ⇒ 345 (center check) (a center check with a 345 radius is about equal to a 280 radius boundary check for most targets)
• Dragon form visuals and cast indicator now accurately represent the ability’s radius
• Dragon Form Flame Breath no longer casts at maximum range when player attempts to cast near maximum range
• Dragon form ground zone tick rate: 1 second ⇒ 0.5 seconds (same damage per second)
• Dragon form ground zone is now more responsive

Twitch

E: Contaminate

• Bonus damage per stack ratio: 0.2 ability power (maximum 1.2 ability power) ⇒ 0.333 ability power (maximum 2.0 ability power)

R: Spray and Pray

• Bolt damage reduction per enemy hit: -20% from the previous hit (minimum damage cap of 40%) ⇒ -5% per unit hit (minimum damage cap of 70%)

Xin Zhao

W: Wind Becomes Lightning

• Thrust damage: 30/65/100/135/170 (+0.75 attack damage) ⇒ 40/75/110/145/180 (+0.80 attack damage)

Runes

Guardian

• Shield ratio: 0.25 ability power (+0.12 bonus health) ⇒ 0.15 ability power (+0.09 bonus health)

VFX Updates

Malzahar

• Passive: Reduced some of the noise from the shield. Made it a bit brighter to match other spell shields
• Basic attack: New missiles and hit effects
• Q: New quickcast indicator to better represent its actual hitbox. New missile and hit effects
• W: New spawn effects and basic attacks
• E: New debuff effect and a beam effect when the debuff spreads to other enemies
• R: New beam, hit, and AoE effects, including a more thematic pool
• Snow Day Malzahar: New snowball VFX on Q
• Battle Boss Malzahar: Q updated to rotate spaceships to better match hitbox
• Hextech Malzahar: Q updated to show hitbox more clearly
• Worldbreaker Malzahar: Q updated to show hitbox more clearly

Nocturne

• Passive: New effect to clearly show the area of effect. Nocturne’s blades now glow when his passive is ready
• Basic attack: New swipes and target effects
• Q: Updated missile effects and rebalanced darkness trail
• W: More thematic spell shield and new attack speed buff effect
• E: Updated beam and shadow effects to show the timing more clearly
• R: New dash effect when Nocturne casts the ability. Updated trail and impact effects. Enemies affected by the spell get a shadowy screen space effect.
• Frozen Terror Nocturne: All VFX updated with a winter thematic
• Haunting Nocturne: All VFX updated with a spooky thematic
• Eternum Nocturne: All VFX updated with a sci-fi thematic

Viktor

• Basic attack: New missile and hit effects
• Q: Updated beam effect and rebalanced shield effect
• W: Updated gravity zone effect
• E: Updated effects to clearly show the area hit
• R: New initial cast effect
• Creator Viktor: All VFX updated in Battlecast thematic
• Deathsworn Viktor: Size of E adjusted to match base

Tryndamere

• R: Tryndamere’s body will flash white for an instant at the end of his ultimate to show when the buff expires

Ignite

• Reduced overall noise while increasing clarity and timing

Bugfixes and QOL Changes

• There are new tooltips in the Clash hub that explains how players can form or find a team, as well as give suggestions when a player first visits the page
• BETA: Rather than creating your own team, visiting the Clash hub and setting yourself as a Free Agent allows other teams that are looking for players to add you to their rosters. Set your position preferences and get in on the action.
• Tryndamere’s E – Spinning Slash can no longer hit the same target multiple times
• Bouncing Noxious Traps as Teemo no longer stops his basic attacks
• When Riven casts Q – Broken Wings or E – Valor from Fog of War while hovering her cursor over an enemy champion or minion, she and the small area around her will no longer by revealed by the enemy team
• Fiora’s W – Riposte can no longer trigger her enemy’s Vitals through a Spell Shield
• Hitting an enemy champion with Kha’Zix’s W – Evolved Void Spike no longer reveals a large area around him
• Garen’s W – Courage no longer increases his base armor and magic resist
• Anivia’s W – Crystallize no longer applies the Aspect of the Dragon debuff on enemy champions
• Champions with the Aspect of the Dragon will no longer be burned while invulnerable
• When Nami kills the Rift Scuttler using an E – Tidecaller’s Blessing-empowered basic attack, the Speed Shrine is no longer treated as Nami’s ability, stopping allied champions from receiving buffs like Summon Aery by walking through it
• Pyke can now properly cast Q – Bone Skewer when he has the minimum required mana
• Using Graves’ E – Quickdraw after a basic attack now properly triggers Sheen
• Liandry’s Torment now properly applies its UNIQUE passive, Torment, on Baron Nashor regardless of distance
• If Zed dies during his Dance animation, his clone will no longer stay on the map and grant vision until Zed respawns
• Youmuu’s Ghostblade’s out-of-combat movement speed effect goes on cooldown when affected by CC effects
• Fixed a bug where the Rift Herald would sometimes do no damage to a turret
• Bami’s Cinder passive damage properly increases with Kled’s bonus health
• Lux’s W – Prismatic Barrier now properly applies the shield at max two times
• Caitlyn is no longer able to trigger the Aspect of the Dragon’s execute on multiple targets
• Caitlyn is no longer able to trigger Summon Aery multiple times at once
• Casting R – The Show Stopper as Sett on Yone during the very end of R – Fate Sealed no longer suppresses Yone as he blinks to another enemy champion
• Beekeeper Singed’s Q – Poison Trail VFX is now distinguishable in colorblind mode
• The “Show More Info” level-up grid view is now available on all champions. The grid now also highlights your current level’s values.
• Colors have changed across the board on all tooltips. The aim is for them to be easier to read and get to important information faster.
• Many champions now have magic damage/physical damage/true damage highlighted to their own specific color (this is not on all champions yet, but will slowly release over time)
• Aether Wing Kayle and Pentakill Kayle’s Q – Radiant Blast’s VFX no longer renders over impassable terrain
• Base Anivia’s (also applies to Team Spirit, Bird of Prey, Noxus Hunter, Hextech, and Prehistoric Anivia) R storm SFX loop now plays correctly in Fog of War
• Hextech Anivia’s armor material has been changed to the correct type, and will make metal sounds when she is hit by enemy champions
• Multiple sounds for Black Frost Anivia have been restored, including the death SFX that plays when Anivia is killed while in egg form, the SFX for the E empowered hit, the SFX that play when the R has reached its max size, and the SFX for when the R is deactivated
• Festival Queen Anivia’s max R size SFX and the R deactivation SFX have been restored
• Papercraft Anivia’s armor material has been changed to the correct type, and will now make wood sounds when she is hit by enemy champions
• Mecha Kha’Zix’s Passive hit, Isolated Q & Non-Isolated Q, W missile hits, W heal, E ground hit, and R cast SFX/skin-specific VO have been restored
• Kha’Zix’s Guardian of the Sands, Death Blossom, and Dark Star skins’ W heal SFX have been restored
• Super Galaxy Nidalee’s Pounce reset SFX restored
• Fixed a bug on Lissandra’s Q where the second/unique hit SFX was not working
• Additional Runaan’s Hurricane bolts from Amethyst Ashe’s Q – Ranger’s Focus Runaan’s now properly use the skin’s VFX