Patches are long at times. Sometimes, we just want to know what’s going on. So down below, I’m going to quickly summarize all that was said in the recent 7.5 League of Legends patch in the least amount of words possible.
Some of the stuff we won’t be discussing in detail is the change to recall animations, as well as alterations to animations and particles.
For those interested in the full patch and every detail, you can check it out here.
Aatrox Update
The long-awaited Aatrox update is here. As it stands, Aatrox is always perched on a fine line between smashing everything and not having any options at all. His abilities cost health, which makes fighting from behind even harder. And since his healing scales with his damage, building tanky not only hurts his kill potential, but also doesn’t make him that much harder to kill (because he sacrifices healing potential in the process). Riot wants to give Aatrox more to do in the games he’s not running away with a lead. That means making it more rewarding for him to invest some gold in durability, as well as making it less punishing for him to use his abilities.
Passive – Blood Well
BLOOD WELL :: Aatrox fills his Blood Well through his abilities. When he reaches 100%, Blood Well begins to drain over 4 seconds, giving him Blood Rush for the Duration.
BLOOD RUSH :: Aatrox gains 25% base attack damage and 20-50% attack speed depending on his level. Upon taking fatal damage, Aatrox will revive and recover 30% of his max health.
REVIVE COOLDOWN :: 180-120 seconds
Q – Dark Flight
- No cost
- BASE DAMAGE :: 10/35/60/95/120
- [NEW] FOR THE BLOOD GOD :: Now fills 20% of Blood Well upon cast
W – Blood Thirst/Blood Price
- HEAL :: 30/45/60/75/90 (+5% missing health)
- No longer triples the healing while below 50% health
Changes to Blood Price:
- No cost
- DAMAGE :: 30/60/90/120/150 (+0.75 bonus attack damage)
- [NEW] FOR THE BLOOD GOD :: Now fills 20% of Blood Well on proc
E – Blades of Torment
- COST :: 30 health
- DAMAGE :: 70/110/150/190/230 (+.7 bonus attack damage)
- SLOW POTENCY :: 30/35/40/45/50%
- SLOW DURATION :: 2 seconds at all ranks
- [NEW] FOR THE BLOOD GOD :: Now fills 20% of Blood Well upon cast
Exhaust Summoner Spell Changes
Exhaust has finally seen changes, and they are big ones. Are assassins bursting your carry at the start of teamfights? Is Kennen ultimate destroying your team? Then Riot has the perfect summoner spell for you: Exhaust.
- [REMOVED] RESISTANCE SHRED :: No longer reduces target’s armor and magic resist by 10
- [REMOVED] ATTACK SPEED REDUCTION :: No longer reduces target’s attack speed by 30%
Champion Updates
Fizz
Hurling slop at the squishy across the screen is still the best way to send them to the deep end, but a stab from Fizz’ trident is now a more painful affair across the (sea)board.
- Q AP Ratio Up (0.55)
- W bleed duration down (3 seconds)
- W mark duration up. (6 seconds)
- R pickup radius at the end of travel distance reduced.
- Whiffed fishes can no longer be picked up.
Kindred
We’ve made a few other changes to smooth Kindred’s jungle mark progression by pushing highly-contested monsters later in Wolf’s mark tiering system and preventing enemies from stalling the Eternal Hunters out by holding marks hostage. We also cleared up a feels-bad scenario where Kindreds who chain-cleared their first seven marks were left without a new Wolf target until 20 minutes, when Baron Nashor finally spawned.
Passive’s jungle mark rules updated to be more favorable for Kindred.
- FIRST TIER :: Rift Scuttler, Crimson Raptor (marks 1, 2, 3) >>> Rift Scuttler (mark 1)
- SECOND TIER :: Crimson Raptor, Gromp, Ancient Krug, Greater Murk Wolf (marks 4, 5) >>> Rift Scuttler, Crimson Raptor, Gromp (marks 2, 3, 4)
- THIRD TIER :: Red Brambleback, Blue Sentinel, Rift Herald, Elemental Drakes (marks 6, 7) >>> Red Brambleback, Blue Sentinel, Ancient Krug, Greater Murk Wolf (marks 5, 6, 7, 8)
- FOURTH TIER :: Baron Nashor, Elder Dragon (marks 8+) >>> Rift Herald, Baron Nashor, Elemental Drakes, Elder Dragon (marks 9+)
LeBlanc
- More damage on minions on Q (80%)
- W damage reduced. (40/55/70/85/100)
- W Mimic Damage Reduced (60/120/180)
Lucian
For the time being, we’re smoothing out the flow of his gameplay, fixing up a few spots where Lucian felt a bit slow to respond.
- Q and W are smoother to cast.
Miss Fortune
By the numbers, Double Up’s early-game damage was bonkers, even before Lethality and Deathfire Touch became the norm. For Miss Fortunes willing to give crit another chance, however, late-game Q’s will reliably knock the teeth out of squishies no matter how she lines up the shot.
Q – Double Up
- BOUNCE BASE DAMAGE :: 20/35/50/65/80
- BOUNCE TOTAL AD RATIO :: 85%
- BOUNCE AP RATIO :: 35%
- [REMOVED] MINI CRIT :: Bounces no longer deals 50% increased damage when the first hit kills a target
- [NEW] REAL CRIT :: Bounces can now critically strike, and always critically strike when the first hit kills a target. Damage is affected by crit multipliers (ex. Infinity Edge).
Rengar
Taking more damage in the jungle will force Rengar players to decide if they really want to gank that lane, or if they should go back to base after their first clear.
- Base armor down (22)
- W monster damage conversion to grey health down (75% taken)
Ryze
- W duration reduced (0.75 seconds)
- E cooldown now scales down with ability level (3.25/3/2.75/2.5/2.25 seconds)
Varus
While it’s clear that Piercing Arrow needs to be brought in line, we don’t want Varus to disappear entirely. The changes below are lessened when Varus uses Q as a mid-combat Blight detonator, rather than a fog-of-war snip.
- Q deals less damage when fully charged and has a longer base cooldown (20/18/16/14/12 seconds)
- The cooldown is partially refunded if Q detonates Blight on a champion. (4 seconds)
- 100 – 165% total attack damage, scaling with charge duration >>> 100 – 150% total attack damage, scaling with charge duration
Item Changes
Blade of the Ruined King
- ATTACK DAMAGE UP :: 40
- ATTACK SPEED DOWN :: 25%
- LIFE STEAL UP :: 15%
- [REMOVED] ACTIVE HEAL :: Damage dealt by the active is no longer converted to a heal
Edge of Night
- Shield duration decreased (5 seconds).
Masteries Changes
Stoneborn Pact (Formerly Bond of Stone)
Bond of Stone feels pretty underwhelming at the moment. It’s not weak per se, but its strength is pretty invisible. Keystone Masteries are supposed to impact your playstyle, and to do that, they need more clear success – and failure – cases. The new Stoneborn Pact still delivers on the promise of “make allies harder to kill,” but in a way that offers more for players to actually do.
- Allies heal when attacking enemies you’ve marked with movement-impairing effects will (gain 5% max health).
- Our movement impairing effects effects mark enemy champions with an earthen rune that heals other allied champions who basic-attack them for five (+2.5% of your maximum health) over two seconds. The mark lasts four seconds.
- If an enemy is marked by multiple Stoneborn Pacts, allies heal from the strongest mark that’s not their own.
Deathfire Touch
Deathfire Touch is meant for marksmen who lean heavily on their abilities to deal damage (Jhin, Varus, Miss Fortune). That said… they’re still marksmen. Basic attacking may not be as important to them as others, but when basic attacks aren’t even needed as filler between cooldowns, DFT is doing far too much work.
- Bonus attack damage ratio reduced (45%).
Warlord’s Bloodlust
This patch, we’re shifting direction on Warlord’s, enhancing its lifesteal when used the way marksmen already fight: kiting and repositioning. With less flat lifesteal, this will also temper marksmen’s ability to use minions as health batteries in lane.
- Is now an Energized effect.
- Energized attacks gain lifesteal and grant movement speed.
Bugfixes
Notable fixes
- Animated profile backgrounds are back (disabled on Low-Spec mode).
- We’ve fixed the black screen bug that some players have been experiencing when transitioning to champ select.
- The client will now warn you if your game settings need to be reset to default value (ie: The game was unable to retrieve your settings from the server).
Bugfixes
- Fixed Spirit Guard Udyr’s VO interactions with other champions.
- DJ Sona no longer stops moving when switching tracks… Can’t stop the beat.
- Fixed tutorial bugs regarding weird stuff happening when leveling up skills at the wrong time.
- Fixed a bug where using Chilling or Challenging Smite would cause Kled’s R – Chaaaaaaaarge!!! to rerout and extend the range of his charge.
- Fixed a bug where if Master Yi’s Passive – Double Strike killed a champion, the second hit could hit nearby invisible champions.
- Fixed a bug where Sivir’s Q – Boomerang Blade disappeared into the ground if thrown at a higher-elevation location.
- Fizz and Katarina’s intermediate bots now have Keystone Masteries.
- Fixed a bug where casting Sion’s Q – Decimating Smash could remove Spell Shield effects from enemies behind him.
- Fixed a bug where Yorick’s R – Maiden of the Mist consumed Pantheon’s Passive – Aegis Protection as intended, but dealt damage anyway.
- Fixed a bug where casting Jhin’s Q – Dancing Grenade from fog of war / brush would not reveal Jhin to enemy champions.
Upcoming Skins
Dragon Sorceress Zyra – 1350RP
Dragonslayer Xin Zhao – 1350RP
Upcoming Chromas
Dragonslayer Xin Zhao
290 RP each (discounted in bundles)
Dragonslayer Pantheon
290 RP each (discounted in bundles)
Adam Newell is a journalist for @GAMURScom and can be contacted in ways displayed below. If you have any tips or want anything covered, be sure to let us know:
Email: adam.newell10@outlook.com
Twitter: @MonkeyKingHero
Image and Info Credit: Riot Games, Moobeat
