Patch 13.9

Overview

Patch 13.9

Rise and shine, it’s patch 13.9!

This week’s patch will be a bit on the lighter side as we prepare for 13.10 which will be our biggest patch since the season started. The star of this patch will be the new ~~minion~~ ~~jungle plant~~ ~~ward~~ Neeko midscope, but we also have a few quality of life buffs and adjustments for a few champions that just aren’t quite hitting the spot we’d like them to.

Don’t forget that MSI kicks off in London TODAY. If you need a quick rundown of all the changes including the new format, make sure to check out our MSI 2023 Primer here!

Official Patch Notes Link

Lilu "Riot Riru" Cabreros

Patch Highlights Champions Items Expanded Emote Wheel ARAM Adjustments MSI Cup Clash Behavioral Systems Bugfixes & QoL Changes Upcoming Skins & Chromas

Patch Highlights[]

Inkshadow Aurelion Sol, Inkshadow Kai'Sa, Inkshadow Master Yi, Inkshadow Udyr, Inkshadow Volibear, Inkshadow Yasuo, Inkshadow Yone, Prestige Inkshadow Yasuo will be available May 3 at 20:00 UTC.

Champions[]

Neeko
Neeko Midscope update, all abilities adjusted.

The intent of Neeko’s midscope is to help her achieve her undelivered fantasy as one of the premier tricksters in League. Neeko's passive as-is has been pretty weak and isn’t used by many players. Her W was a bit more tricky, but still not even that tricky, and that’s the whole point of it!

We're opening up Neeko's passive to be able to turn into anything so that Neeko can truly be a unique trickster. She will be able to turn into anything with a health bar, from a minion, to a monster, to an Illaoi tentacle. She will have quite a few unusual interactions with other champions based on what she's disguised as.

Her W should now be a true trickster's tool as she’ll have complete control over it. You can fire and forget the clone like it was in the past, but also finely control its position (or emotes) to scout or deceive your opponents. We expect there to be a lot more mastery in both her passive and W now that she has more options in how to use them.

The last major change, R, is a substantial change to the reliability of the spell. Traditionally, Neeko’s R was very, very hard to hit against an enemy actively playing around you. Spells in League of Legends should feel like they work for the character casting them, and Neeko's ultimate in many ways felt like it was working more for her enemies than her. This new, increased reliability did make us have to shift a bit of power out of the ult (out of cooldown and damage), but she’ll hit the spell way more often so we needed to curb it a bit.

We also have some adjustments for the jungle to open up Neeko to a role she feels fairly natural in. There is no intent to make the jungle Neeko's primary role, but for a character whose theme and gameplay feel so suited it seemed a shame to not let her try to play there and see how players feel about it.

Like with all midscopes, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Neeko to make sure the changes all land well on live servers and adjust where needed. And one more quick note, given the unique nature of Neeko’s new passive, we expect that there may be a few bugs that pop up when she ships and we’ll iron them out over future patches.

Passive - Inherent Glamour

Neeko Get Sho'Ma!: When Neeko is near a non-epic monster, minion, trap, ward, or plant for two seconds she stores their Sho'Ma. Neeko can click on her bar to become that unit. Click on Neeko's face to return to Neeko. Click on the little “X” to clear out Neeko's current Sho'Ma. Only one unit can be stored at a time.
Neeko Disguise is Durable!: Disguise no longer breaks on taking damage, only when the disguised self would have died or when you are crowd controlled.
REMOVED Neeko for Speedo: Neeko no longer inherits base attack speed/move speed from disguised target if that stat is higher than hers.
Cooldown: 25-10 seconds (based on level) ⇒ 2 seconds

Q - Blooming Burst

Secondary/Tertiary Pop Damage: 40/65/90/115/140 (+20% AP) ⇒ 35/60/85/110/135 (+25% AP)
Area of Effect Size: 225 ⇒ 250 (Note: Max range E snares should always be hittable with Q now)
NEW Jungle Tomato: Q now deals 30/40/50/60/70 bonus damage to monsters
NEW Better Blooms: Casting Q beyond its maximum range will now cast the ability at maximum range instead of having Neeko walk into position to throw it.

W - Shapesplitter

NEW Neeko Move Neeko: After casting Neeko can reactivate to send the clone to a new location
NEW Neeko Funny!: Clone now plays animations and sounds of Q/E/Dance/Joke/Taunt/Recall/Laugh and survives for their duration
Neeko Jungle!: Empowered Attacks deal 50 bonus damage to monsters
Neeko is Become One: Neeko's clone spawns 100 units in front of her ⇒ Neeko's clone spawns directly on top of her

E - Tangle-Barbs

Magic Damage: 80/115/150/185/220 (+60% AP) ⇒ 70/105/140/175/210 (+65% AP)

R - Pop Blossom

Adjusted Ultimate: After channeling for 1.25 seconds, Neeko jumps into the air, knocking up all nearby enemies for 0.6 seconds. Neeko then crashes to the ground with all knocked up enemies, dealing magic damage to them and stunning them for 0.75 seconds.
Cooldown: 90 seconds ⇒ 120/105/90 seconds
Magic Damage: 200/425/650 (+130% AP) ⇒ 150/350/550 (+100% AP)
REMOVED Neeko Need No Shield!: Neeko no longer gains a shield when channeling her R

Aatrox
Passive damage increased. R movement speed increased.

Aatrox has been struggling to make an impact in top lane. To bring him back in line with the power level of his peers, we’re increasing the scaling damage he gains from his Deathbringer passive and increasing the bonus movement speed he gains from his ultimate, allowing him to better stick to targets.

Passive - Deathbringer Stance

Bonus Physical Damage: 4-10% (based on level) of target's maximum health ⇒ 4-12% (based on level) of target's maximum health

R - World Ender

Bonus Movement Speed: 50/65/80% ⇒ 60/80/100%

		Amumu W damage increased early.
	Amumu is a great introductory jungler who makes clearing camps easy on a mechanical and conceptual level and that's great for him. This ease of execution leads to him naturally having a high win rate in lower-skilled play, where he's recently fallen off a bit. He's also a completely reasonable support pick at all levels of play so we're not trying to give him too much more power in that role.
		W - Despair Flat Magic Damage per Seconds: 12/16/20/24/28 ⇒ 20 at all ranks Percent Health Magic Damage per Second: 1/1.15/1.3/1.45/1.6% ⇒ 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2%

Bel'Veth
Attack damage growth decreased. Q damage to monsters increased.

With these changes we’re trying to give Bel'Veth a much better early clear in the jungle where she has typically been struggling. As a dedicated jungler, Bel'Veth has a surprisingly risky early clear that's abnormal for must junglers. We're giving her a bit more clearing power, but as she's already a relatively balanced character, we’re trimming some scaling damage from her base stats. Since she'll be getting more out her jungle clears, we expect this to be about power neutral but leave Bel'Veth players a bit happier when they're doing normal jungle things.

Base Stats

Attack Damage Growth: 1.7 ⇒ 1.5

Q - Void Surge

Monster Damage Modification: 120% ⇒ 140%

		Jinx Attack damage growth decreased.
	Jinx is one of the stronger ADCs in League and as a result needs a light nerf to put her more on par with other marksmen.
		Base Stats Attack Damage Growth: 3.4 ⇒ 3.15

Kayle
E AP ratio decreased, passive wave damage adjusted. R cast time decreased, AoE radius increased, Invulnerability duration adjusted, damage delay increased, magic damage decreased.

We're adjusting Kayle's ultimate to allow her to attack for longer while invulnerable and increasing the AoE radius so she doesn't have to compromise her positioning as a ranged carry to hit the spell. While the intent is to overall buff Kayle, attacking while invulnerable is quite powerful so we're lowering her sustained damage a bit to compensate.

E - Starfire Spellblade

On-Hit AP Ratio: 25% AP ⇒ 20% AP
Passive (Divine Ascent) Wave Damage: 15/20/25/30/35 (based on E rank) ⇒ 20-41 (based on champion level, levels 11-18)

R - Divine Judgment

Cast Time: 1.5 seconds ⇒ 0.5 seconds
Area of Effect Radius: 525 ⇒ 675/675/775

REMOVED Ascending: Kayle no longer lowers her range when casting ult on herself

Invulnerability Duration: 2/2.5/3 ⇒ 2.5
Time Delay until Sword Falls: 1.5 ⇒ 2.5
Magic Damage: 200/350/500 (+100% bonus AD)(+80% AP) ⇒ 200/300/400 (+100% bonus AD)(+70% AP)

		Sion Passive health decay increased.
	Since the durability update and the addition of Heartsteel as a health-stacking item, Sion's passive has begun lasting far longer than it was able to in the past. This was an aspect of Sion's kit that we felt needed to be brought back in line with its intended design.
		Passive - Glory in Death Health Decay: 2-19 (1 health per level) ⇒ 2.3-24.4 (1.3 per level)

		Swain Q damage increased.
	Swain's early laning and damage has been lacking recently, so we’re buffing his Q to accentuate the damage he can reliably dish out, particularly on targets he can get in proximity of.
		Q - Death's Hand Magic Damage: 60/80/100/120/140 (+38% AP) ⇒ 65/85/105/125/145 (+40% AP) Bonus Damage per Bolt: 12/22/32/42/52 (+8% AP) ⇒ 15/25/35/45/55 (+10 % AP) Maximum Magic Damage: 108/168/228/288/348 (+70% AP) ⇒ 125/185/245/305/365 (+80% AP)

		Taliyah R cast lockout conditions adjusted.
	In Taliyah's midscope, we limited her ability to have a guaranteed escape by building some walls around when she could cast her ultimate. Some of this found success, but other cases left Taliyah feeling punished when she couldn't chase after someone she had recently damaged. We're happy in the cases where Taliyah rock surfs into enemies, so we're loosening those restrictions.
		R - Weaver’s Wall Cast Lockout: whenever Taliyah takes or deals damage ⇒ whenever Taliyah takes damage

		Trundle Base attack speed increased, base mana increased.
	Trundle is underperforming in both top lane and jungle, so we’re looking to revert the base attack speed nerf from 12.23, as this took a lot of power away and resulted in a “feels” hit for the troll king. We’re also giving Trundle a base mana buff to let him trade more in top lane.
		Base Stats Base Attack Speed: 0.6 ⇒ 0.67 Base Mana: 281 ⇒ 340

		Volibear W damage and heal increased.
	Volibear is sitting at a below average power level when compared to other top laners. So we’re reverting some of the previous health ratio nerfs in order to help him out in all levels of play while avoiding making his laning more frustrating for opponents.
		W - Frenzied Maul Physical Damage: 5/30/55/80/105 (+100% AD) (+ 5% bonus health) ⇒ 5/30/55/80/105 (+100% AD) (+ 6% bonus health) Heal Ratio Based on Missing Health: 7/8.5/10/11.5/13% ⇒ 8/10/12/14/16%

Items[]

		Lich Bane
	Lich Bane has lost satisfaction over time. The item is still popular with its core userbase but we want those who purchase it to feel better about the purchase and just overall increase its viability as an AP item choice.
		Ability Power: 75 ⇒ 85

Expanded Emote Wheel[]

It's finally happened… Emotes have been updated! They will now feature a new 9 slot wheel for all your favorites. Now you have space for EVEN. MORE. BEES. Reactions like first blood and ace have moved to a new page you can access through the navigation above the wheel. Search has also come to the emote collection, so finding new and old favorites by name is a breeze!

ARAM Adjustments[]

BUFFS

Corki: 95% Damage Taken ⇒ 90% Damage Taken
Ezreal: 95% Damage Dealt ⇒ 100% Damage Dealt
Karma: 100% Damage Dealt ⇒ 105% Damage Dealt
Tristana: 100% Damage Dealt ⇒ 105% Damage Dealt
Zilean: 95% Damage Taken ⇒ 90% Damage Taken

NERFS

Veigar’s Warmog builds make him much too tanky, meaning he needs to be taking a bit more damage to reduce the frustration he brings to the bridge.

Akali: 110% Damage Dealt ⇒ 105% Damage Dealt
Ornn: 105% Damage Taken ⇒ 110% Damage Taken
Qiyana: 115% Damage Dealt ⇒ 110% Damage Dealt
Veigar: 105% Damage Taken ⇒ 110% Damage Taken, 95% Damage Dealt ⇒ 90% Damage Dealt

MSI Cup Clash[]

MSI 2023 is here, and so are the MSI-themed Clash tournaments! These will be 8-team bracket tournaments. The first weekend will be May 6th and 7th. Team formation for the first weekend will be open starting on May 3rd. The second weekend will be May 13th and 14th. Team formation for the second weekend will be open starting on May 8th.

As part of MSI Clash, players who purchase a Premium Ticket during Clash would be eligible to the following rewards: (NOTE: JP region is excluded from this reward due to legal restrictions.)

Players who place 1st through 5th in the tournament will receive a random legacy Conqueror Skin Permanent
Players who place 6th-8th will receive a legacy Conqueror Skin Shard

Behavioral Systems[]

We're adding the ability to report players in the game in order to provide you with more opportunities to help us identify and take action on folks displaying toxic or disruptive behavior. These reports will also give us more information about exactly when during the course of the game the disruption occurred, which will help improve our systems going forward. We hope you never need to use this but it's there if you do.

In-Game Reporting

Player Reports: You can now create and update reports during the course of the match. You can also update your report in the post-game screen if you have a change of heart or notice something new.

Mute Updates

We've consolidated your mute options into a new panel that can be accessed through the scoreboard just below the report button.

Mute All and Self Mute

We've added mute-all and self-mute controls, now located next to your own champion portrait and summoner spells.

Bugfixes & QoL Changes[]

BUGFIXES

Fixed a bug where Neeko’s jungle companion would not become hidden when she transformed into an allied champion.
Fixed a bug where Rift Herald’s fighting sound effects could be heard through the Fog of War.
Fixed a bug causing several of Kayle’s sound effects and animations to not play.
Fixed a bug that caused some of Kai’Sa’s voice lines to not play correctly.
Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Aether Wisp to no longer give 5% move speed upon death.
Fixed a bug that allowed Samira’s passive to knock up Epic monsters.
Fixed a bug that caused Zac’s E to distort the character model of an enemy Zac on the opponent’s team is used nearby.
Fixed a bug where Neeko’s W would not copy certain debuff effects.
Fixed a bug where Malzahar’s E would sometimes not spread even if it had killed a minion.
Fixed a rare bug where jungle monsters would sometimes regain a small amount of patience.
Fixed a bug where small jungle monsters would instantly reset if their parent monster had died.
Fixed a bug where Vladmir’s Q would sometimes be able to damage targets through untargetability.
Fixed a bug where swapping from Yellow to Red trinket would allow you to stack up to 3 Yellow trinkets.
Fixed a bug where the stealth sound effects would not play when becoming invisible or stealthed.
Fixed a bug where Lee Sin’s W would sometimes not be able to be cast on himself while quick cast was turned on.
Fixed a bug where Rift Herald would cancel its reset if it was preparing a charge attack.
Fixed a bug where jungle monsters would become stuck if they were affected by crowd control after losing their patience.
Fixed a bug that caused Warwick’s Q to heal more than intended when paired with a Recurve Bow.
Fixed a bug where Blitzcrank’s E would apply Glacial Augment for longer than intended.
Fixed a bug that allowed Samira’s R animation to be canceled unintentionally.
Fixed a bug where Jarvan IV’s ability activation voice line would play during the recast which is a bit too dramatic for lowering his walls.
Fixed a bug that was causing the on-screen keyboard to function incorrectly by not including all inputs into game chat.

SKIN BUGFIXES

Fixed a bug where Chosen Master Yi’s lightsaber would disappear after casting Wuju Style (E) and dying/respawning prior to the ability’s cooldown ending.
Fixed a bug where Chosen Master Yi’s sword VFX would disappear during Highlander (R).
Fixed a bug where Arcade and Bullet Angel Kai’Sa’s Killer Instinct (R) indicator was rendering under impassable terrain.
Fixed a bug where a Bullet Angel Kai’Sa booster element was clipping through her booster when slowed.
Fixed a bug where the on-hand VFX of Mecha and Storm Dragon Aurelion Sol did not disappear when casting Falling Skies / The Skies Descend (R).
Fixed a bug present on all Volibear skins where certain Recall (B) VFX were persisting when the animation was interrupted.