League of Legends prepares for season 9 with balancing update – 8.24b Patch Notes

A mini pre-season update, 8.24b has been released ahead of season 9 in League of Legends, bringing a handful of balancing changes.

Dubbed as ‘not-technically-a-patch’, 8.24b doesn’t include any new skins or features, rather only “one more round of balance changes to stuff your stockings with.”

The headline changes are to Pyke and Akali, with both receiving more significant changes, but no download will be needed as it is just a hotfix.

The full 9.1 patch notes have already been released, accidentally leaked by Riot on December 14, so players know what to anticipate when it drops in January.

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For now, this mini-update will tide everyone over until the new season, and sort out any issues arising from the 8.24 update.

Check out the full 8.24b patch notes for hero changes below. 

Akali

Akali can be more effectively counterattacked when revealing herself from Shroud. 8.24 shroud duration nerf reverted.

Our goal this patch is to give enemies a real chance of throwing a counterpunch when Akali emerges to strike, rather than waiting Shroud out from a safe distance. They’ll still need quick fingers and a clear plan, but they won’t be left without options. Targeted abilities still complete when Akali re-stealths mid-cast, skillshots are easier to aim, and basic attackers have slightly longer to get a hit off before she becomes unselectable. With the increased danger Akali faces when un-stealthing, we’re reverting 8.24’s Shroud duration nerf since enemies now have better means of fighting back.

W – Twilight Shroud

(NEW) PRESTEALTH: Akali now briefly obscures (opponents can see her outline but not target her) before stealthing or re-stealthing even if enemies don’t have true sight in the area

(NEW) FOLLOWTHROUGH: Targeted abilities and uncancellable basic attacks (ex. Nasus’s Q – Siphoning Strike are no longer canceled when Akali stealths or re-stealths

RE-STEALTH TIMING: 0.9/0.8/0.725/0.625 seconds at levels 1/6/9/12 ⇒ 1/0.9/0.825/0.725/0.625 seconds at 1/8/11/20/30 minutes

REVERTED: 8.24’s nerf has been reverted in favor of the above changes. Duration restored to 4/4.5/5/5.5/6 seconds (max 2 second extension)⇒ 5/5.5/6/6.5/7 seconds (max 3 second extension).

Pyke

Magic resist growth decreased. Q deals less passthrough damage to minions and monsters. R execute threshold decreased late.

League’s assassin support has become a problematic mid laner despite relatively reasonable performances in bot lane. The nerfs below are all tailored to hit mid Pyke hardest, whether by the strengths mid laners need (protection against burst magic damage; waveclear) or by the strengths Pyke has an easier time accruing in mid (level scalings).

Base Stats

MAGIC RESIST GROWTH: 2 ⇒ 1.5

Q – Bone Skewer

MINION & MONSTER DAMAGE: 50% to secondary targets ⇒ 30% to secondary targets (tooltip will be updated in 9.1)

R – Death From Below

Reminder: Enemies above the execute threshold take physical damage equal to the threshold instead.

EXECUTE THRESHOLD, LV 6-9250/290/330/370 (unchanged)

EXECUTE THRESHOLD, LV 10-13410/450/475/500 ⇒ 400/430/450/470

EXECUTE THRESHOLD, LV 14-18525/550/575/590/605 ⇒ 490/510/530/540/550

Simple Buffs

Caitlyn

Q base damage increased; passthrough damage decreased. R range increased.

We’re giving Caitlyn some lane power in Piltover Peacemaker’s first hit and punching up the unique strength Ace in the Hole brings to the Sheriff’s arsenal.

Q – Piltover Peacemaker

BASE DAMAGE: 30/70/110/150/190 ⇒ 50/90/130/170/210

RATIO: 1.3/1.4/1.5/1.6/1.7 total attack damage (unchanged)

PASSTHROUGH DAMAGE: 67% ⇒ 60%

R – Ace in the Hole

RANGE: 2000/2500/3000 ⇒ 3500 at all ranks

Corki

R damage increased.

Upping Corki’s poke damage.

R – Missile Barrage

BASE DAMAGE: 75/100/125 ⇒ 90/115/140

THE BIG ONE BASE DAMAGE: 150/200/250 ⇒ 180/230/280

Singed

Base health increased. Fling damage increased early.

These changes help Singed compete for presence in his early lane.

Base Stats

BASE HEALTH: 580 ⇒ 610

E – Fling

DAMAGE: 4/5/6/7/8% target’s maximum health ⇒ 6/6.5/7/7.5/8% target’s maximum health

Tristana

E damage increased.

Improving Tristana’s ability to blow people up in the mid-game.

E – Explosive Charge

BASE DAMAGE: 60/70/80/90/100 ⇒ 70/80/90/100/110RATIO0.5/0.65/0.8/0.95/1.1 bonus attack damage ⇒ 0.5/0.7/0.9/1.1/1.3 bonus attack damage

MAXIMUM DAMAGE: 132/154/176/198/220 (+1.1/1.43/1.76/2.09/2.42 bonus attack damage) ⇒ 154/176/198/220/242 (+1.1/1.54/1.98/2.42/2.86 bonus attack damage)

Varus

W-empowered Q damage increased late. R damage increased early.

Upping Varus’ strength as he hits his early- and mid-game spikes.

W – Blighted Quiver

UNCHARGED ACTIVE DAMAGE: 6/7/8/9/10% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13) ⇒ 6/8/10/12/14% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13)

FULLY CHARGED ACTIVE DAMAGE: 9/10.5/12/13.5/15% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13) ⇒ 9/12/15/18/21% target’s missing health (levels 1/4/7/10/13)

R – Chain of Corruption

DAMAGE: 100/175/250 (+1.0 ability power) ⇒ 150/200/250 (+1.0 ability power)

Warwick

Base AD increased.

Giving Warwick a bit more bite.

Base Stats

BASE ATTACK DAMAGE: 63 ⇒ 65

Forbidden Idol Line

Forbidden Idol cooldown reduction increased. Heal and shield power increased on its upgrades.

Earlier in the season, enchanters were outperforming their mage and tank support counterparts so we nerfed the Idol line and the duration of individual shield abilities. Since then, the tables have turned and enchanters are the ones struggling to make an impact even in a damage-heavy meta where their talents could be put to good use. We’re reverting near-half of our earlier pass by restoring the majority of the Idol line’s strength, with the shield duration nerfs ensuring larger shields are still fairer to play against.

Forbidden Idol

COOLDOWN REDUCTION: 5% ⇒ 10%

Ardent Censer

HEAL AND SHIELD POWER: 8% ⇒ 10%

Mikael’s Crucible

HEAL AND SHIELD POWER: 15% ⇒ 20%

Redemption

HEAL AND SHIELD POWER: 8% ⇒ 10%

Known Bug – In-game tooltips won’t reflect the change but it’s just the tooltips! Rest assured, your heals and shields will be larger!

Simple Nerfs

Alistar

Trample damage decreased early.

Reducing Alistar’s early lane pressure so one good trade doesn’t auto-win him the rest of lane phase.

E – Trample

BASE DAMAGE: 100/125/150/175/200 over 5 seconds ⇒ 80/110/140/170/200 over 5 seconds

EMPOWERED ATTACK BONUS DAMAGE: 55-310 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 35-290 (levels 1-18)

Cassiopeia

Q damage decreased late; cost increased late.

We’re bringing Noxious Blast’s high-rank power down, based on Q-max’s emergence as a dominant strategy.

Q – Noxious Blast

COST: 50/55/60/65/70 mana ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90 mana

BASE DAMAGE: 75/125/175/225/275 ⇒ 75/120/165/210/255

Kassadin

Health regen reduced.

Tying Kassadin’s early-game survivability more tightly to his Q shield.

Base stats

BASE HEALTH REGEN: 8 ⇒ 6

Neeko

Q damage decreased.

Neeko’s strength has moved toward healthy levels as players grow accustomed to the mind games her passive and W create. A small reduction to her early-game pushing and lane control is about all she needs right now; we’ll continue monitoring how she settles in over the holidays.

Q – Blooming Burst

INITIAL BASE DAMAGE: 80/125/170/215/260 ⇒ 70/115/160/205/250

BASE BOUNCE DAMAGE: 40/60/80/100/120 ⇒ 35/55/75/95/115

Tiamat

Cost increased.

We’re increasing the investment required to grab Tiamat’s dueling and waveclear benefits for champions who plan to sit on it rather than quickly upgrading to a Hydra.

COST: 1200 gold ⇒ 1325 gold

UPGRADES: Ravenous Hydra and Titanic Hydra cost 125 less gold to upgrade; total costs unchanged

Zeke’s Convergence

Ally basic attack burn reduced.

We’re bringing down Zeke’s’ offensive capabilities so other tank support items can be considered.

CONDUIT: Your linked ally’s basic attacks burn enemies for 50% ⇒ 30% bonus magic damage over 2 seconds

Outer Turrets

Turret plating’s done its job of extending lane phase for cases where teams burn down turrets as quickly as possible. In less violent lanes, though, outer turrets fall too easily once plating falls off. They’ll now keep the baseline resistances they have at game start, with plating falloff only removing the extra resistances granted by broken plates.

ARMOR AND MAGIC RESIST AFTER PLATING FALLOFF: 0 ⇒ 40