Welcome back, folks! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and are ready for more balance and League shenanigans in the big 2-0.
We say hello to the big boss Sett this patch, as well as a huge update to Sylas, League’s other resident bad boy. His changes mainly focus on encouraging his role as a midlaner, while making sure players don’t lose out on that signature bruisery playstyle he’s known for.
Other than that, we have some QoL changes for Vi, Kog’Maw, Kassadin, and Jax, as well as some cautious buffs to champions that have proven to be menaces in pro play in the past. And finally, we’re following up on our big support item changes during 9.23, tailoring them so that their users are encouraged to do more in the early game.
Happy new year!
Take this portal if you’re looking for TFT’s patch notes!
Mid-Patch Updates
1/8/2020 Aphelios Bugfixes, Sylas Balance Changes, Thresh VFX Update
Aphelios
Aphelios’ Infernum basic attacks’ splash damage now properly originates from where the primary target was hit and deals the proper amount of damage depending on his level
Sylas
The nerfs to Sylas are on-target directionally, but we overshot bit in terms of magnitude and are pulling back as a result.
1.1 attack damage (+0.25 ability power)
⇒
1.3 attack damage (+0.25 ability power)
60%
⇒
80%
60/105/150/195/240 (+0.8 ability power)
⇒
60/115/170/225/280 (+0.8 ability power)
14/12.5/11/9.5/8 seconds
⇒
13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds
Thresh VFX
These changes are aimed at improving gameplay readability, bringing up Thresh’s VFXs to modern day standards, and improving his overall thematic feel.
Trails added with new hit effects
Updated souls’ appearance and power-up visuals
Cleared up the hitbox, adjusted the hook’s position, updated the hit and link break effects, and changed the wind-up effect.
Updated the Lantern’s missile, edge, and AoE indicators to be more noticeable and in-theme. The Lantern will now also rotate much more fluidly.
Added a circle indicator to show the actual hitbox
Cleaned up and improved his idle effects overall to match his actual appearance
Generally cleaned up and matched with the base skin changes
More bubbles!
New Championship themed particles and cleaned up
Cleaned up with some thematic improvements
Patch Highlights
Freljord Sylas will be available on January 10, 2020. Sett and Mecha Kingdoms Sett will be available on January 14, 2020. Mecha Kingdoms Garen Prestige Edition, Draven, Garen, Leona, and Jax will be available on January 15, 2020.
Season Start
Ranked 2020 begins on January 10, 4:00 AM! Prepare yourself for another year of competition, salt, joyous victories, and soul-crushing losses.
Champions
Sett
The Boss
Sett comes to reign supreme in 10.1.
High-res versions of Sett’s splash arts are available on League Displays!
Aphelios
Base movement speed and health decreased. Infernum R AoE damage decreased on secondary targets.
Infernum should be Aphelios’ best ultimate option when 3-5 enemies are standing on top of each other, but ‘best’ doesn’t have to mean 1-shotting a whole team. We believe we can trim some damage and still retain its position as the best against stacked enemies, so we’re doing just that.
Base Stats
330
⇒
325
530
⇒
500
R – Moonlight Vigil
100% on secondary targets
⇒
75% on secondary targets
Aurelion Sol
Passive stars base damage decreased.
Aurelion Sol’s wave control and enemy burst potential in the early lane is a bit too high right now. While we’re quelling some of that damage in the early game, we still want to let him reach those high peaks later.
Passive – Center of the Universe
16-120 (levels 1-18)
⇒
12-120 (levels 1-18)
Azir
R base damage and wall duration increased.
With Conqueror nerfed and the fact that he’s had low presence in pro play last year, we are being cautiously optimistic and giving Azir some buffs.
R – Emperor’s Divide
150/250/450
⇒
175/325/475
3 seconds
⇒
5 seconds
Corki
R base damage increased later.
Giving Corki some power in a place that won’t greatly increase his early game waveclear, but will overall strengthen his niche as an ability-based marksman. Being cautious and optimistic with these buffs, like Azir, based on his low presence in pro play.
R – Missile Barrage
90/115/140
⇒
90/125/160
Jax
R now works with Guinsoo’s Rageblade
R – Grandmaster’s Might
Now gains effects from Guinsoo’s Rageblade
Jayce
Cannon Q base damage increased later.
Jayce is not in a good spot all across the board. With Kleptomancy gone, he’s definitely seen better days and could use some help elsewhere. Fortunately, the Lethality buffs from the end of last year is helping a bit already, but we’re also giving him back some of his more electrifying power and accentuating the burst he’s known for.
Q – Shock Blast
55/105/155/205/255/305
⇒
55/110/165/220/275/330
Kalista
Base health and armor growth increased.
Kalista is still pretty weak after the buffs in 9.22, so this time we’re buffing her survivability in the mid-late game in order to help her get damage out in skirmishes and teamfights. Being cautious and optimistic with these buffs, like Azir, based on her low presence in pro play.
Base Stats
89
⇒
100
3.5
⇒
4
Kassadin
Movement speed decreased. R mana penalty duration now displays on icon.
Kassadin is doing a little too well in mid-tier levels of play. We’re nerfing his roaming and escape potential to target the players that go unpunished in lane and have the ability to be all over the place.
Base Stats
340
⇒
335
R – Riftwalk
Kassadin’s mana debuff duration now displays on R’s border
Kog’Maw
R mana penalty duration now displays on icon.
R – Living Artillery
Kog’Maw’s mana debuff duration now displays on R’s border
Mordekaiser
Passive duration decreased; movement speed now flat.
For a juggernaut, Mordekaiser is too hard to get away from and kite. That coupled with his synergy with Rylai’s makes it difficult to escape from him.
Passive – Darkness Rise
5 seconds
⇒
4 seconds
3/6/9% (levels 1/6/11)
⇒
3% (levels 1-18)
Nami
E now also empowers the target’s abilities.
Most enchanters are almost entirely designed to support their marksman and Nami’s no exception. But we see the opportunity to broaden her utility a bit so that she can benefit both basic attacking marksmen and ability-based champions.
E – Tidecaller’s Blessing
Empowers the target’s next 3 basic attacks
⇒
Empowers the target’s next 3 basic attacks and abilities (AoE spells empowered by Tidecaller’s Blessing deal 33-66% less damage to non-champions)
Sejuani
Base health growth increased. Frost Armor resistances ratio increased. E base damage increased later.
We’re happy with Sejuani’s identity as a scaling tank, so we’re doubling down on it and buffing her scaling capabilities, while leaving her early game vulnerabilities intact.
Base Stats
95
⇒
100
Passive – Fury of the North
10 (+0.35 bonus armor) bonus armor and 10 (+0.35 bonus magic resistance) bonus magic resistance
⇒
10 (+0.5 bonus armor) bonus armor and 10 (+0.5 bonus magic resistance) bonus magic resistance
E – Permafrost
40/80/120/160/200
⇒
40/90/140/190/240
Shyvana
Gains resistances when slaying Elder Dragon. Fury gains increased in lieu of ultimate CDR when slaying Cloud Drakes. E marked target damage ratio and monster damage cap increased.
For a dragon-killing dragon girl, Shyvana’s been losing out on some of the new Rise of the Elements dragon interactions. We’re fixing that and also giving her some small buffs to her sustained damage.
Passive – Fury of the Dragonborn
Shyvana now gains 5 permanent bonus armor and bonus magic resistance for every elemental drake and Elder Dragon her team slays
Cloud Drake now increases Shyvana’s Fury gains by 10/20/30/40% (because her ultimate does not have a cooldown)
E – Flame Breath
3.25% of target’s maximum health
⇒
3.75% of target’s maximum health
100
⇒
150
Sylas
Less base stats early, more later. Passive now gives attack speed. W cooldown decreased. E AP ratio increased. W, E1, and R basic attack reset removed.
Sylas has been difficult to stabilize for all brackets of players and has an extremely long record of changes since his release. Due to that, we promised that we’d do some bigger work on him outside of number tweaks that would help bring the gap between all levels of Sylas players closer.
First, we’re changing his early lane to be more in line with someone like Ekko and Fizz, champions that have less control in the early laning phase, but get stronger with levels. Secondly, we’re balancing him as a midlaner and prioritizing changes that encourage him to be used there instead of other lanes. And finally, by removing his E>Q combo and slowing down his basic attack pattern, we’re making a good faith effort to retain his auto-weaving bruiser playstyle while also making measures against the speed in which he bursts down his enemies.
We’ll be looking closely at him in the coming months to see how these changes have landed!
Base Stats
585
⇒
525
95
⇒
115
32
⇒
27
3
⇒
4
39
⇒
32
1.25
⇒
1.75
Passive – Petricite Burst
1.1 total attack damage (+0.2 ability power)
⇒
1.1 total attack damage (+0.25 ability power)
400 range
⇒
300 range
Now grants Sylas 60% attack speed when available
2 stacks
⇒
3 stacks
Now executes secondary target minions below 25 health
Q – Chain Lash
9/8/7/6/5 seconds
⇒
10/9/8/7/6 seconds
45/70/95/120/145 (+0.6 ability power)
⇒
40/55/70/85/100 (+0.4 ability power)
45/70/95/120/145 (+0.6 ability power)
⇒
60/105/150/195/240 (+0.8 ability power)
45%
⇒
60%
No longer slows enemies hit for 2 seconds
Can no longer be cast during E – Abduct
W – Kingslayer
Casting Kingslayer no longer resets Sylas’ basic attack
65/100/135/170/205 (+0.65 ability power)
⇒
65/100/135/170/205 (+0.85 ability power)
14/13.5/13/12.5/12 seconds
⇒
14/12.5/11/9.5/8 seconds
No longer deals 50% increased damage to targets below 40% health
Heals for 75% more if Sylas is below 40%
⇒
Heals more based on Sylas’ health, up to 100% more at 40% health
40 mana
⇒
70/80/90/100/110 mana
E – Abscond/Abduct
Casting Abscond no longer resets Sylas’ basic attack
70/85/100/115/130 (+0.2 ability power)
⇒
80/130/180/230/280 (+1.0 ability power)
No longer gains a magic damage shield for 2 seconds
14 seconds
⇒
14/13/12/11/10 seconds
0.2 seconds when moving if Abduct hits
⇒
0.05 seconds when moving after Abduct
R – Hijack
Casting Hijack no longer resets Sylas’ basic attack
Varus
Q cooldown and Blight cooldown refund decreased.
Varus’ role as a poke marksman has been quite weak since his last set of major changes in 2018. For an ability-based marksman, that playstyle should be one of, if not, his strongest, so we’re specifically focusing on strengthening it.
Q – Piercing Arrow
20/18/16/14/12 seconds
⇒
18/16/14/12/10 seconds
4 seconds
⇒
3 seconds
Vi
R now Unstoppable for its whole duration.
Giving Vi a QoL change to her ultimate, making it work more consistently against knock-ups and knockbacks and letting her stick to her target throughout the ability’s duration.
R – Assault and Battery
Vi remains Unstoppable for the duration of her uppercut
Zyra
Empowered E slow decreased.
Zyra never had a reason to spawn multiple Vine Lashers since having one was the same as having two. But now that we made the Lashers’ slow stackable, Zyra can plan her actions around the plants and actually think about which one she wants.
E – Grasping Roots
30%, not stacking
⇒
25%, stacking up to two times, but only once per plant
Support Items
We’re following up on our big support item changes during 9.23, tailoring them so that their users are encouraged to do more in the early game in exchange for some combat stats. Tanky champions will be slightly more resilient and ability-casting champions will have more mana for abilities.
Relic Shield
25%
Targon’s Buckler
50% Base Health Regeneration
Bulwark of the Mountain
100%
40
⇒
25
Steel Shoulderguards
25%
Runesteel Spaulders
50%
Pauldrons of Whiterock
100%
24
⇒
15
Spectral Sickle
25%
Harrowing Crescent
50%
Black Mist Scythe
100%
35
⇒
25
150
⇒
100
Spellthief’s Edge
25%
Frostfang
50%
Shard of True Ice
100%
150
⇒
100
60
⇒
45
Runes
Conqueror
Now shows the total healing in its tooltip.
Now shows the total healing gained in the tooltip, including when hovering over the rune on the scoreboard
Prototype: Omnistone
Cooldown decreased.
Omnistone continues to significantly underperform, so we’re giving it a buff so it has enough power to compete with the other choices.
7-3 seconds for melee champions, 11-7 seconds for ranged champions
⇒
5-3 seconds for melee champions, 9-7 for ranged champions
Bugfixes
- Warwick’s
Q – Jaws of the Beast no longer depletes mana or goes on cooldown if the target dies during its cast. - Ardent Censer’s bonus attack speed Unique passive no longer activates on a champion that’s shielding themselves
- Missile-type abilities in that wouldn’t normally be in your vision will no longer give you an early warning in Fog of War
Upcoming Skins & Chromas
The following skins will be released this patch. Grab the League Displays app for full-res splash art!
The following chromas will be released this patch:
