Rakan is getting a massive AP boost in Patch 8.6, according to the current PBE cycle.
Just like Thresh and Blitzcrank, Rakan is a play-maker. That means he’s the type of support who uses his many tools for engaging, disengaging, and locking down enemies to create fights for his team. He isn’t a mage like Zyra or Brand that simply slings damage and a little ranged crowd control. After these buffs, he’ll be a little bit of both.
The buffs are very straightforward. His Gleaming Quill, which he primarily uses to harass lane opponents and trigger heals, is getting a 10 percent buff to its AP scaling, and his Grand Entrance is going up by 20 percent. That means if Rakan has 200 AP, which is easily obtainable through a couple AP items, he’ll deal a total of 60 more damage, which is nothing to scoff at.
Unrelated to his AP buffs, the range of his Battle Dance is being increased by a whopping 100 units. The ability’s bonus range for Xayah is being lowered by 100 to compensate, meaning he’ll be more useful to non-Xayah marksmen, but the duo between the lovebirds will be less important.
This double-damage increase and range boost are a major overall buff. This is odd considering the fact that Rakan seems to be strong enough as it is. In North American solo queue, his winrate is a respectable 50 percent, and his playrate is an above-average seven percent, according to League of Legends stats site Champion.gg.
He’s also one of the most popular play-making supports in pro play. That being said, he’s anything but weak, and these buffs will make him even stronger than he is now.
If these changes do make it through the PBE and into the live game in Patch 8.6 next week, expect Rakan’s priority in both solo queue and professional games to spike even higher than they are now.
