Multiple League of Legends champions are in line for buffs, nerfs, or adjustments in the game’s next major update, Patch 9.6.
Riot Games have yet to release the full patch notes for the upcoming major patch. However, Riot’s David ‘Repertoir’ Capurro, Lead Designer on the Summoner’s Rift team, did reveal several of the changes being made across a series of tweets about patch 9.6.
As well as giving a broad look at which champions were up for nerfs and which would be getting buffs in the upcoming patch, he also went into detail on several of the proposed changes.
Repertoir also explained why Riot won’t be adjusting Riven in the immediate future. While many players have complained that she’s currently too powerful, this is apparently a distinctly Western complaint, with North America in particular banning the champion 60% more often than the global average.
Players who are concerned, however, need not worry too much. “If her performance improves a little bit from where it is now, she’s a likely nerf candidate for 9.7,” Repertoir said.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list of changes coming in the upcoming patch, and these updates could still be subject to change, it does offer a good view of what players should expect from Patch 9.6.
Patch 9.6 notes revealed so far:
Current state of 9.6:
Buffs: Ornn, Trundle, Urgot, Xayah, Caitlyn, Gnar, Hecarim, Nautilus, Shen
Nerfs: Rek’Sai, Sylas, Jayce, Morgana, Zoe, Leblanc, Overheal, Dematerializer
Changes: Kayle, Ivern, Ghost Poro, Manamune
Notably doing Tear [of the Goddess] stuff instead of Ezreal.
Nautilus
- Base Armor: 35.5 >>> 39
- Passive per target CD: 9/8/7/6 >>> 6
Gnar
Mega Gnar W – Wallop
- CD: 15/13/11/9/7 >>> 7
Sylas
W – Kingslayer
- Healing multiplier at low health decreased 200% >>> 175%
Shen
Q – Twilight Assault
- On hit damage: 5/10/15/20/25/30 >>> 10/16/22/28/34/40 (This is for each of the 3 attacks.)
Zoe
E – Sleepy Trouble Bubble
- CD: 16/15/14/13/12 >>> 20/18.5/17/15.5/14
- E Slow: 10/20/30/40/50% >>> 10/15/20/25/30%
LeBlanc
Q – Sigil of Malice
- AP ratio: 0.4 >>> 0.3
Morgana
Small nerf overall, just meant to bring down power level a tiny bit.
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Health Regen down a tiny bit, W damage down a tiny bit
Ivern
Some small stuff about his brush passive updating more responsively when he enters brush.
Ornn
His buffs are pretty small. Based on our evaluations, he’s like slightly under par for all player segments.
Jayce
Health and Health Regen nerfs to bring him more in line with ranged champions rather than melee champions (which is what he’s currently closer to).
Hecarim
Hecarim is getting a bugfix that should be a decent size buff at the same time. Currently, his Q is supposed to deal 10% more damage per stack of Q that he has, but that part of the spell just isn’t working. So we’ll be fixing that.
Kayle
Kayle adjustments going to PBE:
SIGNIFICANT feel improvements to attacking with E and W.
W is a stronger reactive defense (instant MS = better dodging)
Default adaptive switching to AD is a buff to lane.
Compensating w/nerfs making lategame more item reliant (less AD+AS/lvl)
Stats
- AD per level 3 >>> 2.5
- AS per level 2 >>> 1.5
- Default adaptive AP >>> AD
- Updated recommended items to reflect power of Guinsoo’s and BoRK
W – Celestial Blessing
- MS %: 26 – 50 (+.1 AP) >>> 26 – 50 (+.08 AP)
- Haste at end of .25s cast >>> Haste at start of .25s cast
- No longer has ~1s cancel-able winddown after cast (could be canceled by spamming RMB on your target)
E – Starfire Spellblade
- Fixed .25s cast time >>> Cast time now scales with AS (like a normal AA reset)
Dematerializer
- Swap it with Flashtraption and reduce its charge count by 1.
Updated Bounty Rules (9.6+)
CS bounties will be roughly 25% smaller and account for support item gold.
- NERFED :: CS bounties reduced by approximately 25% (50 Bounty per 150g >>> 50 Bounty per 200g)
- NEW :: CS bounties decrease when you lose your advantage
- NEW :: Support item gold contributes to bounties
- TEAM AVERAGE :: Now account for the addition of support item gold and divide CS gold by 4.3 rather than 4. (This and the above line won’t have a significant impact on bounty values, but make the system a little more accurate.)
Bounty scoreboard visualization
- BASE VALUE :: Scoreboards and chat no longer include the 300 base kill gold
- FIRST BLOOD :: First blood gold is no longer added to bounty numbers if it hasn’t occurred yet