Patch 8.5

Patch 8.5

Greetings, Summoners,

Welcome to patch 8.5, the one that's the "small patch" to 8.4's "big patch". This patch is actually a large download, because we're updating some of our in-game assets. More on that here!

But back to gameplay! This patch we're taking a look at professional outliers, some of whom have been problem children for awhile now (Azir, Galio, Ryze). We're also revisiting Zoe after heavy nerfs last patch, giving her power back in places we think should be healthier in the long run.

Then, we've given a couple of juggernauts (Skarner/Volibear) more utility since preseason, but those changes have left them overly dominant. We're dialing back to a middle ground in between their old state and their current state.

Finally, League of Legends newest marksman, Kai'Sa, is setting foot on the Rift. Bring an umbrella: the forecast calls for Icathian Rain.

GHLF,

Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman
Paul "Aether" Perscheid

Patch Highlights Champions Items Turrets Jungle Objectives Runes Open Parties Loot Changes Bugfixes Upcoming Skins, Chromas, & Emotes

Patch Highlights[]

Youtube link

Mid-Patch Updates[]

3/8 Support Item Update[]

Bandit passive removed. Targon's passive gold increased. Frostfang's Tribute gold increased. Nomad's Medallion gold coin reward increased.

We're still seeing non-supports use gold items to ramp up their gold generation, and the key culprit here is the Bandit passive. We're removing it and adding more gold into the existing sources within each item line. NOTE: we'd considered holding this change for 8.6, but data from the start of 8.5 shows that it's still quite necessary, so we're putting it in now.

All Support Items

BANDIT No longer grants gold when nearby enemy minions are killed by allies or when attacking enemy champions

Targon's Brace and Remnant of the Aspect

PASSIVE GOLD GENERATION : [2] ⇒ 4 gold per 10 seconds

Spellthief's Edge, Frostfang, and Eye of the Watchers

LOCKOUT The penalty for killing a minion or non-epic monster now pauses gold per 10 generation in addition to Tribute stack generation

QUEST COMPLETION Lockout clears upon quest completion, rather than upon upgrading to Remnant of the Watchers

SPELLTHIEF'S EDGE TRIBUTE GOLD : 10 gold (unchanged)

FROSTFANG & EYE OF THE WATCHERS TRIBUTE GOLD : [15] ⇒ 20 gold

Nomad's Medallion and Remnant of the Ascended

GOLD COIN REWARD : [40] ⇒ 45 gold

3/8 Kai'Sa Balance Update[]

Base attack damage increased. Q cooldown and mana cost decreased.

New champions always take some time for players to pick up. However, Kai'Sa is currently leaving the laning phase too far behind, which isn't giving players the opportunity to learn where she shines and how to play around that. For now, we're buffing up her early laning phase and cooldowns to give players better opportunities to master her kit.

Kai'Sa

BASE ATTACK DAMAGE : [62.46] ⇒ 65

Q - Icathian Rain

COOLDOWN :	[10/9/8/7/6]
⇒	8/7.5/7/6.5/6	seconds

COST : [55] ⇒ 45 mana

Champions[]

Kai'Sa

Kai'Sa, Daughter of the Void will be released with patch 8.5! Scope out League's latest predator while you're still alive:

Classic

Bullet Angel

Kai'Sa's splashes will also be available on League Displays!

Azir
Q damage decreased.

Azir has a strong laning phase and a strong late game. Lowering the base damage of Conquering Sands gives enemies more time to deal with the Emperor before his late-game AP scaling kicks in.

Q - Conquering Sands

DAMAGE :	[70/95/120/145/170]
⇒	60/80/100/120/140

Galio
Q cooldown and mana cost increased at later ranks.

Galio's ability to roam with Hero's Entrance is tied to how efficiently he can clear waves with Winds of War. A higher mana cost ties that waveclear (and the ensuing roams) more tightly to blue buff.

Q - Winds of War

COST :	[70/75/80/85/90]
⇒	70/85/100/115/130	mana

COOLDOWN :	[10/9/8/7/6]
⇒	10/9.5/9/8.5/8	seconds

Jhin
Passive bonus attack damage increased. Q damage ratio increased. W can now root off all of Jhin's damage.

Jhin is still a bit behind the curve for marksmen, and needs a bit more damage to scale into the late game.

Passive - Whisper

INNATE BONUS AD :	[2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/16/20/24/28/32/36/40%]
⇒	4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/14/16/20/24/28/32/36/40/44%	total attack damage (at levels 1-18)

Q - Dancing Grenade

RATIO :	[40/45/50/55/60%]
⇒	40/47.5/55/62.5/70%	total attack damage

W - Deadly Flourish

MORE CAPTIVATING Roots the first champion hit if they were recently hit by [Jhin's basic attacks, damage from any allied champion] ⇒ [any damage from Jhin or his allies], or are standing in a Lotus Trap

Nocturne
Passive healing increased. Passive cooldown refresh on champion hit increased. Q missile speed increased.

Nocturne may need some deeper-level changes in the future, but for now, some feel-good buffs should help him out given how weak he is at the moment.

Passive - Umbra Blades

BASE HEALING :	[10/18/26 (at levels 11/7/13)]
⇒	15-40 (at levels 1-18)

COOLDOWN REFRESH : [1] ⇒ 2 seconds per hit on champion

Q - Duskbringer

MISSILE SPEED : [1400] ⇒ 1600

W - Shroud of Darkness

DAARRKNNEESSS : If Shroud of Darkness is active when Nocturne re-casts Paranoia to dash to a target, it'll stay active until Nocturne reaches his target

R - Paranoia

BLACKOUT AND RECAST DURATION : [4] ⇒ 6 seconds

Olaf
E cooldown decreased. E total attack damage ratio increased. R flat bonus attack damage decreased. R bonus attack damage now scales with total attack damage.

Olaf falls pretty flat as matches drag on. We're upping his scaling to help aggro Olaf players keep their blood pumping in later stages of the game.

E - Reckless Swing

COOLDOWN :	[12/11/10/9/8]
⇒	11/10/9/8/7	seconds

RATIO : [0.4] ⇒ 0.5 total attack damage

R - Ragnarok

FLAT BONUS ATTACK DAMAGE :	[40/60/80]
⇒	15/20/25

HIT EM HARDER Olaf now also gains 30% of his total attack damage as bonus attack damage for the duration

Rengar
Ferocity falls off more slowly. Q base damage increased. Q damage ratio decreased at early ranks, increased at later ranks.

Our changes to Rengar last patch were focused on reintroducing Savagery's attack reset paradigm and adjusting some of the interactions between Rengar and his prey during Thrill of the Hunt. With those deeper behavioral changes locked in, we're taking 8.5 to assess some of the power concerns and feels-based oddities that emerged as a result.

Passive - Unseen Predator

FEROCITY FALL-OFF TIMER : [6] ⇒ 8 seconds

LOCKOUT ON FULL FEROCITY Only the spell used to gain full Ferocity is locked out

LOCKOUT DURATION FOR Q AND E : [0.25] ⇒ 0.1 seconds

Q - Savagery

BASE DAMAGE :	[20/50/80/110/140]
⇒	30/60/90/120/150

RATIO : [1.1] ⇒ 1/1.05/1.1/1.15/1.2 total attack damage

BUGFIX : Fixed a bug where Empowered Savagery's attack was slightly faster than regular Savagery

E - Bola Strike

PART OF THE PLAN If Rengar presses Q or W during Bola Strike's cast time, he'll now buffer those spells and cast them when Bola Strike completes

R - Thrill of the Hunt

CAT EYES Rengar's true vision now lingers on his target until the leap completes, rather than when the leap starts

Bugfixes

BUGFIX : Fixed a bug where Tiamat could sometimes cause Rengar's basic attacks to use Savagery's animation

BUGFIX : If Rengar was basic attacking a target before casting a spell, he'll now continue stabbing them when the spell completes rather than forgetting what he was doing and standing around awkwardly

Ryze
E damage increased at early ranks. E spread damage decreased. R cooldown increased.

Compared to other mages with good waveclear, Ryze's method (spread Spell Flux, then pop with Overload) is one of the more difficult to get right. Mistiming Spell Flux against a low-health minion often means you lose out on both the spread and the last hit, making the gap between high- and low-tier Ryzes particularly stark. Given that Ryze has been popping off in pro again (despite questionable performances on live servers), we're making Ryze's waveclear easier to access in the early game while reducing its overall potency. Realm Warp's cooldown is also targeted at pro play, given how much harder it is to coordinate in solo queue.

E - Spell Flux

DAMAGE :	[50/75/100/125/150]
⇒	70/90/110/130/150

SPREAD DAMAGE : [100%] ⇒ 50%

R - Realm Warp

COOLDOWN : [120] ⇒ 180 seconds

		Shyvana Attack damage per level increased.
	Last patch, we toned down Shyvana's scaling attack damage and Twin Bite to compensate for the additional power Press the Attack was bringing. It turns out, those were too much combined, so we're reverting the scaling attack damage changes.
		Base Stats ATTACK DAMAGE GROWTH : [2.8] ⇒ 3.4

		Skarner E stun duration decreased.
	So few people play Skarner that it took a while for us to notice how strong the patch 8.1 changes to Skarner had made him. Now that it's on our radar, we're splitting the difference between Fracture's pre- and post-8.1 stun duration to put him in a less oppressive spot.
		E - Fracture STUN DURATION : [1.5] ⇒ 1.25 seconds

Swain
Q cooldown decreased at early ranks. W radius increased. E radius increased. Champions no longer block Demon Flare missiles.

Still focusing on usability for now, as Swain isn't that far off from being balanced.

Q - Death's Hand

COOLDOWN :	[7.5/6.25/5/3.75/2.5]
⇒	5.5/4.75/4/3.25/2.5	seconds

W - Vision of Empire

RADIUS 265 : 325

W - Nevermove

RADIUS : Increased to match visuals from [70] ⇒ 100

BUGFIX : Fixed a bug where Nevermove was starting its return a frame too slowly

BUGFIX : Fixed a bug where Nevermove would sometimes not root its primary target hit by the return portion

R - Demonic Ascension

OVERWHELMING Demon Flare now passes through champions. Effects like Yasuo's Windwall and Braum's Unbreakable still block the portion of the nova they intercept.

BUGFIX : Fixed a bug where Swain's ultimate cooldown indicator was displaying as always available to his allies

Tristana
Attack range decreased, especially at early ranks. W base damage increased.

Tristana's early game strength allows her to coast too easily into the late game, so we're giving her a notable lane weakness (lower range) while still giving her a success case (all-ins).

Base Stats

ATTACK RANGE :	[550-669]
⇒	525-661	(at levels 1-18)

W - Rocket Jump

BASE DAMAGE :	[60/110/160/210/260]
⇒	85/135/185/235/285

Twitch
E base damage increased.

We went a bit too hard on Twitch last patch and are half-reverting Contaminate's nerf.

E - Contaminate

BASE DAMAGE :	[20/25/30/35/40]
⇒	20/30/40/50/60

		Volibear E knockback duration decreased.
	The changes to Volibear were meant to give him the ability to disrupt mobility, allowing him a better chance to stick to targets who would otherwise dash away. However, the long duration is also just making it too consistent as a primary initiation or disengage tool.
		E - Majestic Roar EXTRA SCARY Slightly increased the speed—but decreased the duration—of the knockback

Zoe
Lots of changes. Primarily, Q does less AoE damage, and instead of applying More Sparkles!, does bonus base damage by level. Basic attack and W ranges increased.

Now that we've taken away Zoe's oppressive strengths, we're looking to put power back in her kit where it's appropriate. We're decoupling Paddle Star from More Sparkles!, but buffing its base damage and ratio and giving it its own per-level scaling. We're also upping Zoe's basic attack range and Spell Thief's damage to incentivize her to stick around after landing Paddle Star. This pushes Zoe to stay in threat range for a bit longer to hit her full damage output, giving opponents more of a chance to fire back in return.

Base Stats

ATTACK RANGE : [525] ⇒ 550

Q - Paddle Star

DAMAGE :	[45/60/75/90/105]
⇒	50/75/100/125/150

MORE DAMAGE Paddle Star's base damage is now increased by 7/8/10/12/14/16/18/20/22/24/26/29/32/35/38/42/46/50 (at levels 1-18)

RATIO : [0.2] ⇒ 0.6 ability power

FEWER SPARKLES No longer deals More Sparkles! damage to the first target hit

EXPLOSION DAMAGE : [100%] ⇒ 80%

W - Spell Thief

ENEMY LOCK-ON RANGE : [525] ⇒ 550 (matching the buff to Zoe's attack range)

DAMAGE :	[70/115/160/205/250]
⇒	75/120/165/210/255

RATIO : [0.6] ⇒ 0.75 ability power

		Sion Bugfixin'.
	Roar of the Slayer
		BOWLING WITH SION : Fixed a bug that made Roar of the Slayer's pass-through damage radius much wider than intended BOWLING WITH SION IN THE JUNGLE : Jungle monsters launched by Roar of the Slayer now properly damage enemy champions

Items[]

		Banner of Command Siege minion bonus damage to turret effects from Banner of Command and Hand of Baron no longer stack.
	We knew going into last patch that we'd need to watch our changes to Hand of Baron closely—particularly when combined with Banner of Command on siege minions. Baroned+Bannered siege minions still deal more damage to turrets than they did in 8.3 (due to the bonus attack damage bugfix), but to a lesser extent than in 8.4.
		DOUBLE-DOUBLES Banner of Command's damage multiplier against turrets no longer stacks with the identical multiplier Hand of Baron grants to siege minions

		Enchantment: Cinderhulk Bonus health multiplier decreased.
	As the meta has grown more favorable to tanks—especially jungle tanks—Cinderhulk has gained in popularity, to the point where non-tanks like Jax are picking it up.
		PERCENT BONUS HEALTH MODIFIER : [20%] ⇒ 15%

Hextech GLP-800
Active damage and slow increased.

We brought the damage on GLP's active down when we updated it last patch since its component Lost Chapter is more appealing to bursty champs than Catalyst of Aeons, and we didn't want to turn GLP into a must-buy. While we did sidestep that risk, GLP is unappealing to everyone right now. We're upping its damage nerfs to make GLP a more enticing option. (...Upon further inspection, said damage nerfs missed the patch 8.4 notes. Sorry about that.)

UNDOCUMENTED 8.4 RATIO NERF : [0.35 power prior to 8.4] ⇒ 0.2 ability power in 8.4, unchanged in 8.5

DAMAGE :	[75-150]
⇒	100-200	(at levels 1-18)

SLOW : [40%] ⇒ 65%

		Warmog's Armor Health threshold for Warmog's Heart increased.
	The ability to poke, trade, and harass champions before forcing a fight is critical to many champions' play patterns, not to mention the whole laning phase. When poke doesn't stick, champions who rely on whittling down opponents are unable to set up favorable fights or even just force the enemy out of lane. On the whole, this discourages them from interacting with the enemy altogether. The Warmog's Heart passive is currently forcing this passivity too early in the game, and specifically at too low of an investment. We want champions to be able to opt into resisting poke patterns, but it should take more of a durability investment than just Warmog's Armor to do so.
		HEALTH THRESHOLD : [2750] ⇒ 3000

Turrets[]

Damage to melee minions increased.

The removal of bonus damage to minions has left some champions struggling to last-hit under tower.

DAMAGE TO MELEE MINIONS : [43%] ⇒ 45% melee minion's maximum health

FREE BUGFIX : The turret item tooltip for damage dealt to minions incorrectly listed 45%. That number is now correct.

Jungle Objectives[]

	Cloud Drake Buff Rather than only granting out-of-combat movement speed, now grants movement speed at all times that increases while out of combat.
	Cloud Drake has always been good for pick-based compositions who want to catch opponents out of position, but not as appealing for other comps. We're shifting the movement speed to have both in and out of combat applications so more teams find it rewarding to take.
		SOMETIMES FAST No longer gives 25 out of combat movement speed per stack ALWAYS FAST Now grants 2% bonus movement speed per stack, tripled while out of combat

Runes[]

	Precision-Domination Stat Bonus Bonus attack damage/ability power increased.
	Domination gives fewer stats than Sorcery because the keystones have more raw power. Somebody taking Domination secondary isn't getting a Domination keystone, so they should get the full stat bonus.
		ABILITY POWER BONUS : [9] ⇒ 10 ability power ATTACK DAMAGE BONUS : [5.4] ⇒ 6 attack damage

		Press the Attack Damage amplification increased at early levels.
	Last patch, we sought to reduce a bit of the power Press the Attack had in the laning phase—particularly in duo lanes where two champions could take advantage of it. We went overboard, so we're returning to a midpoint.
		DAMAGE AMP : [4-12%] ⇒ 8-12% (at levels 1-18)

		Fleet Footwork Ranged penalty on minion heal increased.
	A number of marksmen are using Fleet Footwork like old Warlord's Bloodlust: to coast through the laning phase by using minions as health batteries. The counter to sustain should be an aggressive lane which can overcome it and all-in, but at the moment the main counter to Fleet Footwork is... Fleet Footwork, which means it's too strong. We're weakening that sustain so that opponents have a better shot at getting a meaningful laning advantage through poke and trades.
		RANGED CHAMPION HEALING OFF MINIONS : [60%] ⇒ 30% BUGFIX : Fleet Footwork's total healing listed in the Runes panel now only increases when it actually heals you

		Aftershock Cooldown increased.
	When Aftershock activates, you can't kill its user. Then it explodes, and they damage you. In theory, you should now fight them in their window of weakness, but that window isn't meaningfully long (less than a minion wave!).
		COOLDOWN : [20] ⇒ 35 seconds

		Manaflow Band

		Now has a cooldown indicator!

Open Parties[]

Later this patch, it’s getting easier for friends and friends of friends to hop into your party ahead of game.

Sending a bunch of game invites is a pain in the ass. Open parties now make your game appear on your friends’ um, friends lists. They can see what queue you’re in, your current party size, and join your team with one click. No invite required.

OPEN PARTIES : Are now a thing and will be on by default

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR : Can be turned off on the party screen with one click. The client remembers your setting.

MUTUAL FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS : When your friend joins an open party, their friends can then see the open party

Loot Changes[]

We’ve posted full loot tables on the Player Support site, which we'll keep updated whenever we make changes. Here are a few other changes coming this patch:

NO CHEAP CHAMPS : Now Hextech chests will only drop shards for champions worth 4800BE or more

A LITTLE EXTRA OE : When you get a ward skin shard from a Hextech Chest, it'll now come with 150 bonus OE

BIG DROP, FREE UNLOCK : Ultimate and Mythic skins will now drop as auto-redeeming permanents (no orange essence required to upgrade them). If you already own the skin, you'll be able to disenchant the permanent for orange essence.

CHEAPER MASTERY : Champion mastery 6 cost will be reduced by 800BE to 2450BE. Champion mastery 7 will be reduced by 950BE from 2950BE.

Bugfixes[]

Alistar can now correctly queue up orders other than Pulverize during Headbutt
The Bone Plating rune no longer goes on cooldown without doing anything when Yasuo's Way of the Wanderer activates
Fixed a tooltip bug where selling Spellbinder then undoing the sell would restore the stacks you had before selling, but cause the counter on the buff bar to visually restart
The Madness passive on Haunting Guise and Liandry's Torment no longer modifies true damage, matching rules around other damage-amplifying effects (ex. Vladimir's Hemoplague)
Completing the quest line for Timeworn Targon's Brace and Timeworn Face of the Mountain no longer causes the Spoils of War passive to heal for an incorrect amount
Lux's Light Binding projectile now visually disappears after it hits a second target, since it doesn't actually do anything after that point
Battlecast Cho'Gath's Vorpal Spikes no longer use classic SFX when Cho'Gath has 10+ stacks of Feast
Dark Star Jarvan IV's recall VFX no longer appear underground when he uses Zhonya's Hourglass
Forecast Janna’s “I'm live at the scene and it's just... cats and dogs here” VO line once again plays at the beginning of the match if conditions are met

Upcoming Skins, Chromas, & Emotes[]

The following skins will be released in patch 8.5:

Resistance Illaoi

The following Chromas will be released in patch 8.5:

Resistance Illaoi (Ruby)
Resistance Illaoi (Pearl)
Resistance Illaoi (Catseye)
Resistance Illaoi (Obsidian)
Resistance Illaoi (Aquamarine)
Resistance Illaoi (Tanzanite)
Resistance Illaoi (Rose Quartz)

Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Catseye)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Ruby)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Rose Quartz)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Aquamarine)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Obsidian)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Granite)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Amethyst)
Bullet Angel Kai’Sa (Pearl)

Battlecast Prime Cho’Gath (Ruby)
Battlecast Prime Cho’Gath (Catseye)
Battlecast Prime Cho’Gath (Sapphire)
Battlecast Prime Cho’Gath (Pearl)
Battlecast Prime Cho’Gath (Obsidian)
Battlecast Prime Cho’Gath (Tanzanite)