Greetings, Summoners.
Welcome to patch 7.3 - the one where we react (mostly) to professional play. That’s not to say that everything below is for the pros, but with major competitive play in full swing across all regions, we’ve had enough time to properly react to many of the trends we’re seeing.
When 2017 kicked off, we hinted at a ‘multi-patch cycle’ to get the state of the game to about the level we wanted. Improving Lethality for physical damage dealers was necessary for their viability long-term, but now that the stat’s feeling good (okay, maybe a little too good), we’re working on pulling some of the main offenders back in line. Not all of our hits in 7.3 are Lethality related - Leblanc and Camille (though certainly lethal) are getting their own tweaks for obvious reasons, with some other high-priority changes thrown in.
Going back to that ‘multi-patch’ cycle (can you tell we like that phrase), 7.4 promises some goodies for botlaners of all stripes and positions, hoping to nail the last few outliers before we look towards some larger impacting changes further down the line. No, this doesn’t mean that every marksman and support item will cost half as much and give twice the stats, but we think there’s enough to make some of the more oppressed champions feel a little happier about their place.
And that’s about it for us! From all of us here, may your escapes from many a Rengar (and voidling swarm) be successful, and we’ll see you back here for 7.4.
GL, HF.
Paul "Aether" Perscheid
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman
Champions
Camille
Q empowered damage down. W slow and E stun decreased. E attack speed only granted if a champion is hit.
If you’ve been following along with Camille’s trips to the patch notes, you may have noticed a theme: Camille does many things too well. When any champion jumps on you, you’ve got a choice: run, or fight back. However, Camille’s lockdown means you don’t get to run until it’s too late, while her high damage makes it difficult to successfully fight back. We’re slicing the Steel Shadow from both ends, improving her opponent’s odds whichever route they choose.
Q - Precision Protocol
W - Tactical Sweep
E - Hookshot
R - The Hextech Ultimatum
Ivern
Daisy no longer regenerates her health and is also less tanky.
Though Daisy’s disruption is certainly invaluable, her rapid regeneration means that if she survives a fight (or if Ivern takes her out of the action) she’ll be healthy to safeguard an objective push soon after. When opponents put the effort into bringing Daisy down, we want them to be rewarded with damage that actually sticks, rather than see any effort short of a kill become literally meaningless. We’re pushing up Daisy’s vulnerability so that ‘barely surviving’ a skirmish doesn’t just win her the next one.
R - Daisy!
Jayce
Hammer Q and R damage down. Hammer E mana cost up.
Jayce’s two forms give him more tools than most champs, and he’s meant to succeed when he uses them all in concert. Right now, however, hammer form is pulling too much weight all on its own. Its raw damage means Jayce tends to win the fights he starts, and its cheap disengage means he can politely decline any fights that find him. Hitting damage offsets last patch’s Lethality buffs by restoring some early-level breathing room for opponents, while upping E’s mana cost means Jayce only has so many “E”-ject buttons before he runs out of resources.
Q - To the Skies!
E - Thundering Blow
R - Mercury Hammer
Kha'Zix
Q ratio down. Evolved Q cooldown refund on Isolated targets down.
While the Assassin update delivered on giving Kha’Zix more flexibility in his evolutions, it’s clear we may have gone too far. Kha’Zix is a champion about burst damage, but Evolved Claws introduces enough sustained damage into his fights that he’s tasting the best of both worlds. Kha’Zix should still be favored in Isolated situations overall, but cutting down Taste Their Fear’s aggressive scaling should give classic duelists (like Elise or Lee Sin) the upper hand when striking first.
Q - Taste Their Fear
LeBlanc
Passive damage reduced at early levels.
If you've played League over the last couple of months, you likely noticed that LeBlanc is pretty strong at the moment. Part of that comes from her passive's scaling in the early game: the Deceiver clears waves and out-lanes opponents with impunity, meaning she comes into her mid-game spike far ahead of the curve. We’re reining in her early-game burst to give opponents a window where they can actually win a fight.
Q - Sigil of Malice
Malzahar
Voidlings are slower if they stray from Malzahar and have a small delay before spawning. W has a cooldown between casts.
Malzahar’s the latest mage to migrate down to bot lane, but that shift in position has been accompanied with a problematic shift in playstyle as well. As it turns out, the needs of controlling a solo lane act as a limiter on the more frustrating parts of Malzahar’s kit. So, when put in an environment where he doesn’t need to manage minions or fight a solo laner, Malz is free to focus on being really annoying instead. (We mean voidlings.)
The first issue is support Malz’s unimpeded use of Voidlings as bodyblockers, shutting down skillshot champs too reliably. The reflex check is exciting in theory, but while mid Malz might give up lane pressure to use W creatively, support Malz doesn’t make the same sacrifice. The second issue is how effectively Voidlings chase melee champs out of lane. Melees can’t fight or run from Voidlings without taking heavy damage; this becomes far more painful in botlane (and toplane, for you theorycrafters) where the trip back to your turret is significantly longer.
We're taking steps to reduce the aggravation that Malzahar Voidlings are causing away from their home lane. Malz players who plan ahead will still be able to make some sick space-crab plays, but Void Swarms of opportunity will be easier to deal with.
W - Void Swarm
Rengar
Q dash distance down. Empowered W no longer gives CC immunity after cleansing. R duration down.
Rengar’s ability to get in and out of any skirmish is predicated on precise use of his wide array of tools. However, the stab-tabby’s defensive mechanics provide too much of a safety net, clinching him a clean getaway out of even the sloppiest of engages. Specifically, it’s Empowered Battle Roar’s cleanse and follow-up immunity coupled with the Pridestalker’s high damage that make the counterplay of ‘group up and peel Rengar’ feel unrealistic once he gets rolling. Similarly, Thrill of the Hunt’s duration is long enough that instead of needing to predict a fight (or commit to starting one at all), Rengar can just chill in the shadows, scaring the enemy team into inaction for long stretches until one of them wanders an inch too far. We’re tightening the leash on Knifecat’s ability to dine-and-dash large groups while keeping his efficacy at solo missions largely intact.
Also, using Savagery’s dash (which was just supposed to make up for Q’s cast time) as generic movement speed both contributes to his overall mobility and looks really dumb, so we’re lowering the range to make it distance-neutral. If you’re really attached to spamming buttons to try and look cool, just play Riven.
Q - Savagery
W - Battle Roar
R - Thrill of the Hunt
Tristana
Q lasts longer.
Tristana's lower-than-average base stats means she's almost entirely reliant on her cooldowns to fight in lane (despite being a basic-attack-oriented champion). When her spells are up she's ready to scrap, but she feels particularly weak when they're not. We're increasing the uptime on Tristana’s main steroid, allowing her to keep rapidly firing while Goomba-stomping opponents in extended fights.
Q - Rapid Fire
Vi
Movement speed and base attack speed reduced.
2017’s jungle has proven pretty favorable for Vi, even with one or her stronger keystones being nerfed. As such, we’re taking this opportunity to go under the hood and retune her base stats to be more in line with others in her weight class. For a champion with a two-charge attack reset and two gap-closers, her base movement and attack speeds were a touch out of line. The only thing that should be excessive about Vi is her force.
Base Stats
Vladimir
Basic attacks are stronger and faster. Q deals more baseline damage; Crimson Rush bonus reduced to compensate.
Though Vladimir has a point-and-click button as his main ability, his kit’s got some finnicky timing requirements that actually make him one of League’s most difficult-to-learn champions. The path to mastery should always be rewarding, but Vlad’s a completely different champion depending on which end of the MMR spectrum you’re looking at. That volatility means Vlad settles into “balance” for just one set of players at a time - when he’s fair at lower skill levels he dominates pro play, but if he’s brought in line for League’s higher tiers, the majority of the playerbase has little hope of winning.
These changes are meant to introduce some level of consistency across the various flavors of Vlad. Improving his basic attack helps players who struggle to last-hit without meaningfully buffing veterans who have their farm game on lock. Additionally, shrinking the difference between basic Transfusion and its Crimson Rush version means Vlad players can still do well even if they haven’t mastered their Q timing yet. Narrowing these skill gaps puts us in a better position to balance around a ‘baseline’ Vladimir going forward, rather than having to choose which half of the playerbase gets the short end of the stick.
Base Stats
Q - Transfusion
Zyra
Plants don’t auto-target champions on spawn if a closer enemy target exists. Q costs more mana.
When Zyra does plant things at you, her abilities are only half the story - she's also sprouting a garden of Thornspitters and Vine Lashers. Once you've dodged (...or not) a spellcast, you've got a choice to make: stick around to take her plants out, or back off until they've despawned. That choice is heavily weighted toward running away, thanks to an aggressive AI pattern that told Zyra’s plants to always target nearby champions on-spawn, regardless of whether Zyra landed the ability that spawned ‘em.
While frustrating to deal with for any champ, this makes life downright awful for melee folks who can’t whack Zyra’s weeds without staying in range. Though Zyra's built to thrive against close-range picks like Braum or Leona, her margin for error’s so high that it’s impossible for almost any melee to find an opportunity to cut through. That margin’s what we’re targeting this patch. Zyra will still carry the “anti-melee” crown when she lands her spells, but opponents that bob and weave past Deadly Spines and Grasping Roots will find footing to retaliate.
General
Q - Deadly Spines
Practice Tool
Practice Tool will be rolling out region-by-region on the updated client later during patch 7.3! In the meantime, you can learn more about the Practice Tool here.
Skin Names in Scoreboard
Excuse me, 0/13 Yasuo! What skin are you wearing this game?
League Client Update
We're continuing to focus on the updated client's performance and stability, but that's not stopping us from shipping some good new stuff! Read on for more info.
For questions about the ongoing client update open beta, check out open beta FAQ. You can also find solutions to most common issues in the known issues section of our support site.
New features
A buff to the end-game screen, flappy-ass lobby banners, and news out the wazoo.
We've pre-loaded the vast majority of the files required to upgrade to the updated client, even for players who haven't opted into the beta. If you want to upgrade now (maybe to try out that sweet Practice Tool), the download should be under 500 MB. If you’ve opted into the open beta previously, you’ve already downloaded these files, so you’re good to go.
Notable fixes
- Fixed a bug preventing champ select chat from automatically scrolling down as new messages arrived
- Fixed a bug where pasting a really long URL into chat extended the chat window over the friends list
- Fixed a bug causing the main window to highlight in the task bar instead of the chat window when you received a message in pop out chat
- We made some various changes to the chat message window to make it easier to read, including adding a gradient behind active messages and adding summoner icons beside your friends' names.
- Last patch we began allowing your conversation with your friends to follow you from the lobby into champ select (and back out if someone dodged). This message history is visible only to your party (not to new players that join in champ select). This isn't a bug—we just don't want you to lose track of your conversation.
Queue Health Update
Solo/Duo Queue
Ranked Flex
Rotating Game Modes
The Hunt of the Blood Moon looms into rotation from 2/10/17 - 2/14/17 and 2/17/17 - 2/21/17. Sacrifice Spirits, Demon Heralds, and enemy champions to gain points and the Demon Brand buff, which turns you invisible to hunt down your enemies.
Only 20 of the most vicious champions are available for the Hunt (10 of which will be lurking in the Free to Play rotation). Look out for more information as the blood moon approaches. Happy hunting.
Bugfixes
- Warwick no longer displaces enemy champions and epic monsters with Q - Jaws of the Beast
- Fixed a bug where, if Quinn canceled a basic attack against a target marked by Passive - Harrier and quickly attacked again afterward, Harrier didn’t deal bonus physical damage
- Fixed a bug where the active of Mikael’s Crucible’s was instantly cleansing incoming CC during the slow immunity
- Selling or Undoing the purchase of Duskblade of Drakthaar now correctly removes the Nightstalker passive
- Fixed a bug where entering stealth with Q - Ambush was causing Twitch to stop attacking when Taunted
- Gnar no longer instantly kills champions when E - Hopping from one corner of Camille’s R - The Hextech Ultimatum to another
- Minion spawns can no longer be blocked with Zz’Rot Portal
- Fixed a bug where Gangplank could critically strike structures directly after cancelling an attack on an E - Powder Keg
- Kled’s W - Violent Tendencies no longer activates when used on plants or when Kled cancels his basic attack
- Challenging Smite no longer incorrectly states that it grants vision of stealthed champions
- Clones now copy the ‘linked’ indicator VFX of Zeke’s Harbinger
- Red Brambleback no longer hits the air instead of the ground during his two-handed strike
- Fixed a bug where Azir’s E - Shifting Sands was missing on-hit particles upon killing an enemy unit
- Azir now correctly has a shadow during his death animation
- Fixed a bug where gunshot audio of various champion attacks wasn’t playing in Spectator or Replays
- Made the Mark of the Elder Dragon buff visuals more consistent on lower graphical settings
- Krug splitting audio is no longer audible through Fog of War
- Gangplank’s Q - Parrley visual effects no longer stick around for too long
- Fixed a bug on most of Kennen’s skins where the on-hit particles for his basic attack were not properly appearing
- Kha’Zix’s dance VO now loops more consistently
- Deep Sea Nami’s head fin no longer bends into her shoulder
- Made Warring Kingdom Xin Zhao’s Q - Three Talon Strike more color-blind friendly
- Fixed a bug where Elementalist Lux’sE - Lucent Singularity had no particles for its inner orb
- Removed a frame of Battle Boss Blitzcrank’s idle animation from the end of his recall animation
- Fixed a bug where Boom Boom Blitzcrank’s golden buckle was stretching severely during his death and R - Static Field animations
- Fixed a few bugs where some skins were stealing visual and audio effects from other skins of the same champion when both were in the same match together
- Champions affected by Star Guardian Lulu’s W - Whimsy now correctly display their champion name as “Blob” in the chat
- Arcade Sona’s W - Aria of Perseverance shield particles now correctly disappear when the shield is broken
- Fixed a bug where Pulsefire Ezreal’s flying animation stopped, but the audio didn’t
- SSW Talon’s W - Rake blades no longer look like Talon’s normal blades on the return trip for everyone else but him
Upcoming Skins
The following skins will be released during patch 7.3:
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