League of Legends Patch 9.23: Notes and updates

Put on your reading glasses and get comfortable—League of Legends Patch 9.23 is quite the read.

With changes to Summoner’s Rift, Epic Monsters, Lethality and Support items, experience, and Runes, Patch 9.23 will shift the meta dramatically. Even though Riot is holding off on champion buffs and nerfs for this update, there should be plenty of changes to shift the hierarchy and tier lists around.

Here are the full League of Legends Patch 9.23 notes.

Elemental Rifts

Riot is introducing the new Elemental Rifts mechanic to provide more game-to-game variety. When the second Elemental Drake of the game dies, the map will permanently transform Summoner’s Rift landscape with unique terrains that embody one of the four elements.

Transformation mechanics

• The transformation triggers after the second Elemental Drake dies and the third is announced.
• The Rift Elements is the same as the element of the third drake.
• Once the map transforms, all future Elemental Drake spawns will be of that element only.
• Terrain changes will always occur in the four jungle quadrants, centered around the buff camps, as well as in dragon pit

Infernal, Mountain, Ocean, and Cloud Rifts

Each element will alter the jungle in a different way. The Infernal Rift will burn away brushes and create new pathways while widening the Dragon pit. Mountain Rifts will create tighter spaces to give easy access to AoE combos. Ocean Rifts increase the size and of brushes for extra ambush potential and Cloud Rifts create air currents that grant speed boosts to players nearby.

Side Lane Alcoves

New alcoves have been carved into the outer corners of the top and bot lanes to increase playmaking opportunities.

River Entrance Brush

New brush patches near the blue buff ramps into river add new strategic and tactical options as teams approach and contest objectives.

Elemental Drakes

Dragon Souls

• The first team to slay four Elemental Drakes gains a Dragon Soul matching the Elemental Rift.
• Elder Dragon begins spawning after one team gains a Dragon Soul, meaning only one team can have it.
• Like Elemental Drake buffs, Dragon Souls are permanent and persist through death.
• Infernal Soul: Every three seconds, your next damaging attack or ability on an enemy unit triggers a small explosion.
• Mountain Soul: After not taking damage for five seconds, gain a shield.
• Ocean Soul: Dealing damage to enemies heals you and restores mana.
• Cloud Soul: Passively gain increased movement speed and an additional movement speed buff after casting your ultimate.

Elemental Drake buffs

The Dragon buffs are also being updated to provide less early power, but pack a punch late game. Infernal and Ocean buffs are staying largely the same with minor tweaks. But the Mountain buff will no longer deal bonus true damage to towers and monsters, giving additional armor and magic resist instead. And the Cloud buff will give additional ultimate cooldown reduction, ignoring the CDR cap.

Elemental Drake mechanics

• Drake spawn order is changing from random to the first three drakes are now always three unique elements. All subsequent drakes will be the same element as the third drake.
• Drake spawn window is changing from 5:00 initial, 5:00 respawn until 35:00 to 5:00 initial, 5:00 respawn until one team has slain four drakes.
• Drakes health changing from 35,00 (+240 per level, minimum level six) to 2,650 (+240 per level, minimum level six) before the Rift transforms; 4,350 (+240 per level, minimum level six) for the third drake onward.

Elder Dragon

• Elder Dragon’s buff no longer increases the effects of Elemental Drake buffs by 50 percent.
• Burn damage changed from 45 (+45 per Elemental Drake stack) true damage over three seconds to 90-270 true damage over three seconds (at 25:00-45:00 game time).
• Damaging an enemy at less than 20 percent health causes them to die in an Elder Immolation after 0.5 seconds (no cooldown). You can’t execute enemies through invulnerability effects like Zhonya’s or Kindred R.
• Buff duration changed from150 seconds and lost on death to 180 seconds and lost on death.
• First Elder Dragon spawn changed from 35 minutes with a six-minute respawn to six minutes after one team kills their fourth Elemental Drake with a six-minute respawn.

Baron buff

• Duration decreased from 210 seconds to 180 seconds.

Top lane influence

Rift Herald

• Initial spawn changed from 10 minutes to eight minutes.
• Now will respawn six minutes after the first one is killed.
• Health changed from 10,000 to16,000 (levels six to 12) to 8,250 to 16,500 (levels 6 to 12).
• Attack speed decreased from 0.5 to 0.4.

Summoned Rift Herald

• Eye of the Herald pick-up window decreased from 40 to 20 seconds.
• Eye of the Herald channel decreased from four to one second.
• Summoned Rift Herald’s health will be decreased, and it will deal more damage to itself when headbutting.
• Health changed from 4,000 to 6,400 (levels six to 12) to 3,180 to 6,360 (levels six to 12).

Minion experience

Solo XP

• Melee minions experience increased from 58.8 to 60.45.
• Caster minions experience increased from 29.44 to 29.76.
• Cannon minions experience increased from 92 to 93.

Shared XP

• Melee minions experience decreased from 76.8 to 75.4 divided evenly among nearby players.
• Caster minions experience decreased from 38.4 to 37.12 divided evenly among nearby players.
• Cannon minions experience decreased from 120 to 116 divided evenly among nearby players.

Turret Plating

• Tower resistances increased from 25 to 35 armor and magic resist per third, fourth, and fifth attacker when a plate is destroyed.

Doran’s Shield

• Passive change from giving up to 30 health over 10 seconds when damaged by an enemy champion to up to 40 health over eight seconds when damaged by an enemy champion, based on missing health. The item is 66 percent effective for ranged users or when triggered by AoE, DoT, or proc effects.

Jungle pacing

Jungle item XP

• Jungle items no longer grant additional XP on monster kill if you’re behind in levels (epic monsters still innately have catch-up XP, though).

Camp timers

• Small camp respawn changed from 150 to 120 seconds.
• Buff camp respawn icons now change from gray to yellow at 15 seconds, down from 20 seconds.

Krugs

• Base experience changed from 247 (217 on first clear) to 160 (Ancient Krug’s first clear penalty removed).
• Base gold decreased from 125 to 120.

Murkwolves

• Base experience changed from 115 to 95.
• Base gold changed from 84 to 70.

Gromp

• Base health changed from 1,800 to 2,100.
• Base experience changed from 115 to 135. 
• Base gold changed from 86 to 105.

Raptors

• Base experience changed from 115 to 95.
• Base gold changed from 112 to 85.

Lethality items

Duskblade of Draktharr

Youmuu’s Ghostblade

Edge of Night

Sanguine Blade

Umbral Glaive

Serrated Dirk

Support items

Spellthief’s Edge Line

Spectral Sickle Line

Relic Shield Line

Steel Shoulderguards Line

Shurelya’s Reverie

Energized and crit items

Energized

• Damage from Energized effects now stacks, rather than choosing the highest-damage source.
• Energized charges from moving increased by 20 percent, charges from attacking reduced by 50 percent.
• Energized effects now always work on turrets.

Stormrazor

Rapid Firecannon

Statikk Shiv

Kircheis Shard

Cloak of Agility

Zeal

Removed items

Runes

Kleptomancy Removed

Prototype: Omnistone

Conqueror

Aftershock

Presence of Mind

Nimbus Cloak

Bug fixes

• The camera no longer becomes locked if, while dead, you use the minimap to move the camera around, then after respawning press the spacebar to center it on yourself.
• The mute icon has been fixed.
• If Poppy stuns an enemy with E – Heroic Charge and that enemy is then stunned by another effect during Heroic Charge’s stun, the second stun is no longer removed when Heroic Charge’s stun expires.
• Darius’ W – Crippling Strike attack no longer hits through Teemo’s Q – Blinding Dart when it critically strikes.
• If Garen’s Q – Decisive Strike attack is canceled due to losing vision of his target, he’s no longer locked out of casting E – Judgment until Q’s empowered attack window ends
• Spoils of War can now properly be proc’d even if the only nearby ally is untargetable or in stasis.
• Malphite’s W – Thunderclap empowered attack window no longer lasts indefinitely if the first basic attack that would proc it is canceled.
• Diana now properly gains a stack of Conqueror from the basic attack issued automatically after dashing to a target with R – Lunar Rush.
• Shyvana’s Dragon Form Q – Twin Bite now properly grants multiple stacks of Conqueror.
• Evelynn’s Passive – Demon Shade tooltip no longer displays zeros for every number.

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