League 6.9 Patch Notes

Patch 6.9 notes
BY SCARIZARD, AETHER, & GENTLEMAN GUSTAF
Got patching problems? Check the Boards for tips and solutions!
Greetings, summoners.

Welcome to patch 6.9, the one where it's Midseason. You may notice the sweet new layout (if you're reading this in the patcher, we recommend heading to the web) - that's because this ain't your ordinary run-of-the-mill patch!

Midseason is a time for us to reflect on what parts of Preseason worked and what didn't, and take large strides to keep League fresh. We identified two areas of improvement for Midseason: adding cohesion to the mage class, and shaking up the strategy surrounding objectives. Let's dive in.

While thematically strong (who doesn't like casting spells?), mages have historically lacked a cohesive identity beyond 'damage that's magic.' Some are long-ranged, some are short-ranged, some are Fiddlesticks, you get the idea. A lack of clear expectations combined with the sheer size of the class means there's a lot of redundancy across the mage roster. In the end, this puts mages in a spot where the answer to 'who should I play?' is always 'whoever's numerically strongest'.

That's a lot of rhetoric in one paragraph, but you get the idea. Like marksmen and juggernauts before them, mages are getting a class-wide update, drawing out their individual strengths and cranking them up to 11. If your favorite spellslinger didn't get directly changed, never fear - mage items have also been recalibrated to enable more diverse playstyles. Time will tell how impactful the changes are, but one thing's for sure: it's a good patch for folks that love ability power.

Circling back, let's talk objectives. Current balance between mapwide objectives is pretty off-kilter, with turrets taking the lion's share of strategic value. Our goal with Midseason isn't just to spiffy up the jungle bosses and buffs, but to make contesting them a viable option when weighed against sieging or defending a turret. By diversifying the rewards on the map, we create an environment where teams constantly re-evaluate the importance of objectives as the game progresses. Between controlling, contesting, and trading, there's a lot to take (and a lot to take in), but adaptation is key to coming out on top.

And that's all we have for today! Be sure to to check out the whole thing (it's a doozy) and we'll see you on the other side, Proto-Belting forward recklessly and drinking in the chaos. It's times like these where experimentation is best rewarded - just remember to credit us if Jungle Syndra really takes off.

Good luck, have fun.

MAJOR MAGE UPDATES
Vladimir, Malzahar, Cassiopeia, Zyra, Brand, Vel'koz
Click the mages to learn about their updates!

MINOR MAGE UPDATES

Click the mages to learn about their updates!
Anivia, Annie, Fiddlesticks, Kennen, Swain, Syndra, Veigar, Viktor, Xerath, Ziggs


Tear of the Goddess
Refunds a portion of mana spent.

Tear of the Goddess creates an odd conflict: it’s the mage item which gives the most raw mana (attractive to champions with high mana costs), but it has to be stacked up by constantly casting spells (something champions with high mana costs can’t afford to do). As such, it tends to be picked up by champions who can spam spells, making them effectively manaless as it stacks.We’re changing Tear’s pure regen to a mana refund, opening it up to high-mana cost champions, not just a select few spammers.
REMOVEDMANA REGENERATION 25% ⇒ 0%
NEWAWE UNIQUE Passive - Refunds 15% of mana spent

Catalyst of Aeons
Damage taken is converted to mana. Mana spent is converted to health.

For some mages, the world is their 1v1. The current mana items don’t feel great for them, given how many options are aimed at passively surviving the laning phase. We’re making Catalyst the item for constant mage brawlers who want to shoot first, shoot later, and then shoot some more, allowing them to make full use of their skirmishing tendencies.
NAME Catalyst the Protector ⇒ Catalyst of Aeons
COST 1200 ⇒ 1100
ETERNITY UNIQUE Passive - 15% of damage taken from champions is gained as mana. Spending mana restores 20% of mana spent as health, up to 15 per cast (toggle spells heal for up to 15 per second).

Chalice of Harmony
Restores health or mana, whichever is at a lower percent.

Chalice is the go-to pick for champions who can easily clear waves, leading to a non-interactive lane phase as they spam their skills to keep the minions fighting at a safe distance. The new Chalice is still oriented at lane sustain, but in a way that encourages taking the occasional risk. If your health dips, Chalice will switch to healing you back up, ensuring you’ve got access to whichever regen effect you need most to dig your heels in for the long haul.

As a quick point of differentiation: while the new Catalyst rewards champions while they fight, Chalice lets them stay in lane after trades, making it ideal for champions who fall on the more ‘opportunistic’ side of the spectrum.
COST 1000 gold ⇒ 900 gold
REMOVEDMANA FONT No longer restores 2% of missing mana every 5 seconds.
NEWHARMONY Grants 100% base health regen per 5 seconds if your current health percentage is lower than your current mana percentage. Grants 100% base mana regen per 5 seconds if your current mana percentage is lower than your current health percentage.
NEW
Lost Chapter
Restores mana on level up.

With Morellonomicon emerging as the go-to kill pressure item (spoilers!), Forbidden Idol’s safe regen no longer belongs its build path. We’re pulling Lost Chapter out of the Black Market as a component item for champions like LeBlanc who are in lane to net early kills, offering timed bursts of massive sustain to set up a full spell rotation or two.
TOTAL COST 900 gold
BUILD PATH Amplifying Tome + Sapphire Crystal + 115 gold
ABILITY POWER 25
MANA 300
MANA INFUSION UNIQUE Passive - Restores 20% of your maximum mana over 3 seconds upon leveling up

Fiendish Codex
Cost and ability power increased.

When we looked at Fiendish Codex’s upgrades, we noticed one pattern: ridiculous combine costs. With more power in Fiendish Codex, players won’t have to sit on mid-tier components for so long.
TOTAL COST 800 gold ⇒ 900 gold
COMBINE COST 365 gold ⇒ 465 gold
ABILITY POWER 25 ⇒ 30
REMOVED
Will of the Ancients
With the removal of Spell Vamp from items, Will of the Ancients is sailing into the sunset.
REMOVEDANCIENT Removed from the shop

Rod of Ages
Less expensive. Ability power and mana reduced.

Rod of Ages has always offered the promise of a delayed but significant stat payout. These days, however, the identity of ‘big stat stick’ has lost meaning as items have evolved to serve more unique strategic purposes. The new Rod of Ages takes cues from Catalyst of Aeons: ride the efficiency of an early stat payoff (and a head start on your second item) to secure dominance over your enemies before they’ve built into more specialized item choices.
TOTAL COST 3000 gold ⇒ 2600 gold
BUILD PATH Catalyst of Aeons + Blasting Wand + 450 gold
ABILITY POWER 80 ⇒ 60
MANA 400 ⇒ 300
MANA PER STACK 40 ⇒ 10
ETERNITY UNIQUE Passive - 15% of damage taken from champions is gained as mana. Spending mana restores 25% of mana spent as health, up to 25 per cast (toggle spells heal for up to 25 per second).

Morellonomicon
Gives mana instead of mana regeneration. Now restores mana on kill or assist.

For the duration of their existences, Morellonomicon and Athene’s Unholy Grail have had significant overlap, sharing three stats, two component items, and the same distinction of offensive mage items with best-in-slot mana regen. While they go about defining ‘offense’ in different ways - Morellonomicon makes it easier to secure kills while Athene’s gives you the mana to go for more kills - these two items just aren’t meaningfully different from one another.

Since we’re creating a split between mana and mana regen items, we’re taking the opportunity to split Morellonomicon and Athene’s as well. Morellonomicon is fully embracing its identity as an aggressive mage item, going so far as to absorb the old ‘mana resets’ passive of its former sibling Athene’s on top of its hallmark Grievous Wounds.
TOTAL COST 2400 gold ⇒ 2900 gold
BUILD PATH Lost Chapter + Fiendish Codex + Amplifying Tome + 665 gold
ABILITY POWER 80 ⇒ 100
NEWMANA 400
REMOVEDMANA REGENERATION 100% ⇒ 0%
NEWGOT THE RESET Kills and assists restore 20% of your maximum mana
CAN’T STACK ME 20% cooldown reduction is now Unique
GRIEVOUS WOUNDS THRESHOLD Inflicted on enemies below 40% health ⇒ 35% health
GRIEVOUS WOUNDS DURATION5 seconds ⇒ 8 seconds

Athene's Unholy Grail
Heals allies based on damage recently dealt. No longer restores mana on kill or assist.

Athene’s Unholy Grail has taken on a new role as a team sustain item for aggressive supports (and off-supports) like Lulu, Morgana, and Karma. These enchantresses naturally alternate between directly engaging in combat and protecting their team; Athene’s rewards them for striking an optimal balance by granting them a bit of persistent sustain that most lack.
TOTAL COST 2700 gold ⇒ 2250 gold
BUILD PATH Chalice of Harmony + Fiendish Codex + 450 gold
ABILITY POWER 60 ⇒ 40
MANA REGENERATION 100% ⇒ 75%
REMOVEDNO MORE RESETS No longer restores 20% of your maximum mana on kill or assist
NEWACHING BLOOD UNIQUE Passive - 20% of pre-mitigation damage you deal to champions is gained as Blood Charges, up to a cap of 100-250 (at levels 1-18). Healing or shielding an ally consumes your current Blood Charges to heal that ally.
NEWHARMONY Grants 100% base health regen per 5 seconds if your current health percentage is lower than your current mana percentage. Grants 100% base mana regen per 5 seconds if your current mana percentage is lower than your current health percentage.

Mikael’s Crucible
Mana regen up.

With mana regen’s new niche as the stat for supportive items, we’re cranking it up on Mikael’s.
BASE MANA REGEN 100% ⇒ 150%
REMOVEDMANA FONT No longer restores 2% of missing mana every 5 seconds.
NEWHARMONY Grants 100% base health regen per 5 seconds if your current health percentage is lower than your current mana percentage. Grants 100% base mana regen per 5 seconds if your current mana percentage is lower than your current health percentage.
Tear of the Goddess upgrades
Carryover from the changes to Tear.
Archangel's Staff
Also affects Seraph’s Embrace.

REMOVEDMANA REGENERATION No longer grants mana regeneration
NEWAWE UNIQUE Passive - Now also refunds 25% of mana spent in addition to granting ability power based on maximum mana
Manamune
Also affects Muramana.

REMOVEDMANA REGENERATION No longer grants mana regeneration
NEWAWE UNIQUE Passive - Now also refunds 15% of mana spent in addition to granting attack damage based on maximum mana

Abyssal Scepter
Aura now scales with level and no longer affects minions. Now grants cooldown reduction.

In a mage-vs-mage matchup, the winner often comes down to who finishes Abyssal Scepter first. Its 30 ability power bump on completion synergizes with its magic resist reduction aura to create a huge combat advantage upon completion. If that weren’t enough, the aura also makes it much easier to push minion waves into the enemy turret, denying opponents the gold necessary to finish their own Scepter. We’re repositioning Abyssal Scepter to play up its defensive aspects, while tuning its aura to be less oppressive in lane but more relevant in the late game.
TOTAL COST 2350 gold ⇒ 2750 gold
BUILD PATH Fiendish Codex + Negatron Cloak + Amplifying Tome + 695 gold
ABILITY POWER 70 ⇒ 60
MAGIC RESIST 50 ⇒ 60
NEWCOOLDOWN REDUCTION 10%
MAGIC RESIST REDUCTION AURA 20 ⇒ 10-25 (at levels 1-18)
REMOVEDMINION HATE Aura no longer applies to minions

Zhonya's Hourglass
Less expensive, build path smoothed out. Ability power reduced and cooldown increased. Now grants cooldown reduction.

Zhonya’s Hourglass struggles to maintain two very expensive characteristics: it’s a top-tier ability power item that also boasts one of the strongest actives in the game. Historically, this duality has forced us to lock Zhonya’s behind a steep price tag or awkward build path - usually both. There are other items which offer tons of ability power, but no other item shares Zhonya’s’ active, so we’re going all-in on its identity as a defensive utility item. That decision has allowed us to drop the price of Zhonya’s to the lowest it’s ever been in League history, making it more readily available in times its stasis effect is truly needed.
TOTAL COST 3500 gold ⇒ 2900 gold
BUILD PATH Seeker’s Armguard + Fiendish Codex + 800 gold
ABILITY POWER 100 ⇒ 70
NEWCOOLDOWN REDUCTION 10%
STASIS COOLDOWN 90 seconds ⇒ 120 seconds
HEXTECH ITEMS

Hextech Revolver
No longer gives spell vamp. Now adds bonus damage to basic attacks.

Heading into our upgraded Hextech weaponry prompts an important question: why is all the spell vamp gone?

Let’s start by comparing it to lifesteal. Thematically, lifesteal gives the feeling that you’re fighting back against death, creating tense 1 on 1 duels with uncertain outcomes. Mechanically, lifesteal says ‘I may have a small health bar but you’ve got to focus me down or I’ll regenerate to full.’ Spell vamp, while sounding similar, doesn’t quite hit the same bar. Unlike basic attacks, no two abilities are the same, which makes the stat wildly variable in value.

This means that it’s functionally impossible to make spell vamp work the way you’d expect, and it instead operates on myriad edge-cases to avoid feeling abusive and unintuitive. Cut to today’s world where it’s only used on Vladimir (whose balance is kept lock-step with the stat), it’s easy to see why it had to go.

So why buy into Hextech? Revolver (and its upgrades) are all about benefitting the mid-range mages that have to scrap to survive. Like Catalyst for sustain or Tear for becoming a late-game monster, Revolver represents a commitment to securing advantages through combat. While everyone’s waiting to power-up, Hextech provides the power spike you need to get the snowball rolling.
TOTAL COST 1200 gold ⇒ 1050 gold
COMBINE COST 340 ⇒ 180
REMOVEDSPELL VAMP No longer grants Spell Vamp
NEWMAGIC BOLT UNIQUE Passive - Damaging an enemy champion with a basic attack shocks them for 75-150 (at levels 1-18) bonus magic damage. (40 second cooldown, shared with other Hextech items.)
NEW
Hextech GLP-800
Activate to spray enemies with icy bolts and slow them.

While back-line artillery or shield-heavy utility mages can load up on ability power in whatever combination to get by (thanks to range or mitigation), mages that get up close and personal are forced to buy whatever will give them the stats to survive combat. Following in Revolver’s footsteps, Hextech remedies this situation by saying ‘If you have to be in the middle of a fight, you should have the extra firepower to customize how your encounters play out’.

Enter the GLP-800. Targeted at CC-heavy mages that like to skirmish, GLP provides an extra spell cooldown and source of damage that allows you more in-fight flexibility. Need to peel an ally from a pesky diver? GLP’s got that. Worried you can’t land your combo? GLP can let you hit-confirm your CC and lock opponents down for good. You can even waveclear with it in a pinch! Whatever your particular in-fight need is, the GLP-800’s got your back to enable the beefier mages out there with the tools to get the job done.
TOTAL COST 3000 gold
BUILD PATH Hextech Revolver + Catalyst of Aeons + 850 gold
ABILITY POWER 80
HEALTH 300
MANA 400
ETERNITY UNIQUE Passive - 15% of damage taken from champions is gained as Mana. Spending mana restores 25% of mana spent as Health, up to 25 health per cast (Toggle spells heal for up to 25 per second).
FROST BOLT UNIQUE Active - Fires a spray of icy bolts that explode, dealing 100-200 magic damage (at levels 1-18). Enemies hit are slowed by 65%, decaying over 0.5 seconds. (40 second cooldown, shared with other Hextech items.)
FROST BOLT RATIO 0.35 ability power
NEW
Hextech Protobelt-01
Activate to dash forward and let loose a volley of fiery bolts.

Where the GLP-800 is all about controlling distance via CC, the Hextech Protobelt’s all about picking the right moment for a daring maneuver. Whether you’re extending the effective range of a Flash Tibbers stun or dodging a crucial skillshot, Protobelt improves playmaking potential for those quick-witted enough to use its active. It’s not all sunshine and dash-extensions however; Hextech’s actives all share a cooldown, and Protobelt’s the least efficient in a six-item build. This means you’ll need to make every Fire Bolt count, and hopefully close out the game before it becomes obsolete.
TOTAL COST 2500 gold
BUILD PATH Hextech Revolver + Kindlegem + 650 gold
ABILITY POWER 60
HEALTH 300
COOLDOWN REDUCTION 10%
FIRE BOLT UNIQUE Active - Dash forward and unleash a nova of fire bolts that deal 75-150 magic damage (at levels 1-18). Enemies hit by multiple fire bolts take 20% damage from additional bolts. (40 second cooldown, shared with other Hextech items.)
FIRE BOLT RATIO 0.35 ability power

Hextech Gunblade
Deals more damage and slows instantly.

We’ll square with you - Gunblade hasn’t changed much. Its ‘Omni-Vamp’ passive sidesteps a lot of spell-vamp’s issues, proving effective on a wide range of mixed-damage champions. Instead of rocking the boat, we tied it to a lightning mechanic (and made the active match) so it plays nice with the other Hextech upgrades. If you’re looking for pure, hybrid offense - look no further.
TOTAL COST 3400 (unchanged)
NEWLIGHTNING BOLT UNIQUE Active - Instantly deals 250 magic damage to target champion and slows them for 40% for 2 seconds. (40 second cooldown, shared with other Hextech items.)
LIGHTNING BOLT RATIO 0.3 ability power
JUNGLE BOSSES
Elemental Dragons
Dragon has now been replaced by four Elemental Drakes. Slaying each provides your team with a powerful permanent bonus that stacks on multiple kills of the same type.

Ever since launch, Dragon’s been an iconic objective to control in League. Whether it gives buffs or gold (or that time it spawned before minions did), Dragon’s purpose is to give people something to take risks and make decisions around. Fast forward to today, and while Dragon’s certainly very cool, it has its share of problems.

First, the static value of Dragon’s stacks allows you to answer the question of ‘Which stacks do I want and when?’ long before you ever have to make the decision to fight for them. This devalues individual Dragon spawns - why rush the 1st stack now when you can just get it later? Furthermore, denying at least one stack virtually removes the threat of Aspect of the Dragon's game-ending power, making it more of a pipe dream than a path to victory.

Our goal is to raise the cap on strategic mastery when it comes to playing around Dragon. With the advent of the Elementals, your ability to adapt on the fly becomes much more important. Questions change from a pre-solved ‘How much do we care about 1st stack, 2nd stack, etc?' to a situational ‘How much do we care about each element right now?’ Trading and denying become much more important (and realistic) possibilities as well - making sure the split-push team from hell doesn’t get access to the Mountain Drake’s turret-taking buff, while the Cloud Drake’s movement speed buff could be what you need to out-rotate them. Navigating these situations will take time to get used to, but pushes the dragon conversation to one of constantly shifting values instead of how much a certain stack is worth.
DESCENT OF THE DRAGONS For the first 35 minutes of the game, one of four elemental dragons will spawn every six minutes
FOUR’S A CROWD Only three elements will appear per match!
A CHALLENGER APPROACHES The minimap will indicate the elemental type of the next dragon spawn
DRAGON RUNES Glowing runes inside the Dragon Pit will also indicate which dragon is spawning next (these runes are visible through Fog of War)
Click a drake to learn more about its buff!

Mountain Drake
Increases turret and epic monster damage. Augments your ability to take objectives.

EARTHEN ARMS Slaying the Mountain Drake permanently grants 10/20/30% bonus true damage to Epic Monsters and Turrets.
Elder Dragon
Grants a powerful burn-over-time on spells and attacks. Increases the strength of your Elemental Drake buffs.

Previously, Aspect of the Dragon was a powerful closing tool - assuming the game ever hit a point where you could get it. Part of the promise of Elemental Dragons is that no matter which spawn in what order, controlling them is always valuable for you in the long run. Elder Dragon lets us kill two birds with one buff - cashing in on your hard-earned stacks and ensuring that both teams can leverage its strength (or steal it) to close out a game in style.
DRAGON TYRANT After 35 minutes, Elemental Dragons will no longer spawn. In their place, the Elder Dragon will spawn every 10 minutes.
CRUEL ULTIMATUM For the next 120 seconds, basic attacks and spells burn the target for 45 (+45 per stack of Elemental Drake buff) damage over 3 seconds
ELDER MASTERY For the next 120 secconds, increases the strength of Elemental Dragon buffs by 50%
Rift Herald
Now only spawns once. Rift Herald’s buff lasts an incredibly long time, persists through death, and provides amazing dueling power.

Now that Rift Herald’s been out for nearly half a year, it’s time to reevaluate our goals. Originally added to introduce a new dynamic between both halves of the Rift, Herald hasn’t quite made the splash we hoped for. Instead of driving action to the top side of the map, the Doom's Eve buff comes with too many conditions to be universally appreciated. Do I take this before or after taking a turret? Do I take it instead of a turret? When you trade lane pressure to take something that gives lane pressure, things get pretty muddy.

That brings us to today. When optimized, junglers solo Rift Herald with very little help or notice from their team and power farm camps until it’s time to group. This wouldn’t matter much, except that no one seems to care about taking it. ‘Are they bot? Eh, we’ll take a Herald I guess.’ Even after RH falls, there's no clear game impact - someone’s just ambiguously stronger for a short period of time. With Midseason incoming and an objective falling short of strategic significance, we went back to the drawing board.

With 6.9, we’re eliminating the confusion and refocusing Rift Herald to be an objective you really don’t want to give away for free. Enabling snowballing and split-pushers alike, Herald is a one-time event that puts the team it falls to firmly in the driver’s seat for the early stages of the game.
Rift Herald
SPAWN TIME 4:00 ⇒ 6:00
RESPAWN Removed
BASE HEALTH 5000 ⇒ 8000
BASE ARMOR 40 ⇒ 60
BASE MAGIC RESISTANCE 20 ⇒ 50
BASE ATTACK DAMAGE 95 ⇒ 105
BACKSTAB DAMAGE 15% maximum health ⇒ 12% maximum health
UPDATEDGlimpse of the Void
NAME Doom’s Eve ⇒ Glimpse of the Void
DURATION 2:00 ⇒ 20:00
NEWCORRUPTED BLOOD Glimpse of the Void is not lost on death or obtaining Hand of Baron
CORRUPTION While no allied champions are near you, you gain 5% damage reduction against champions and continuously build charges of Corruption. At 100 charges, your next basic attack discharges all stacks of Corruption, dealing 15-270 magic damage (at levels 1-18, damage halved for ranged champions).
Baron Nashor
Duration up.

Nothing too fancy, just amping Baron’s buff duration to ensure it’s worth consideration when trading end-game objectives (like maybe an all-powerful Elder Dragon).
Hand of Baron
DURATION 3:00 ⇒ 3:30
Red & Blue Buffs
Red and blue buffs scale better, but expire faster.

Similar to our goals for the epic monster changes, we want red and blue buffs to be worth contesting. Ol’ Sentinel and Brambleback already had clear reasons to be taken, so we’re compressing their buff durations to accentuate the strengths they offer and scale them better into the late game.
Buff durations
DIMINISHING RETURNS Red and blue buffs last 120 seconds the first time a buff camp is cleared, and 90 seconds on subsequent clears
Red buff
DAMAGE OVER TIME 4 x level at 1.5 and 3 seconds ⇒ 2 + (2 x level) at 1.5 and 3 seconds
NEWBURN ON HIT Now applies a free tick of damage on application or reapplication in addition to applying or extending the damage over time effect.
SLOW 10/15/20% at levels 1/6/11 ⇒ 10/15/25% at levels 1/6/11
HEALTH REGENERATION 1% maximum health per 5 seconds at all times ⇒ 1/3/9% maximum health per 5 seconds at levels 1/6/11 when not in combat with champions, turrets, or epic monsters
Blue buff
ABILITY POWER 2-36 ability power (at levels 1-18) ⇒ +15% bonus ability power
MANA REGENERATION 5 + 0.5% maximum mana per second ⇒ 5 + 1% maximum mana per second
Jungle Timers
Camps with timers indicate to both teams when they're close to respawning, via timers and the minimap.

We want to facilitate more engaging objective play. A big part of accomplishing that is making them more worth contesting, but we also want them to be more contestable, especially in games that are at a standstill. Clearly communicating respawn timers will facilitate more buff steal plays and objective fights, particularly in mid-late game.
HEADS UP Jungle timers for all buff camp and epic monster respawns are now automatically granted to both teams at 60 seconds before spawn (vision of the takedown still grants the full timer)
NEWINCOMING A respawn icon appears at the camp’s location on the minimap at 60 seconds before spawn, brightening at 20 seconds
TURRETS
Turret Stats
Turrets are more durable, outer & inner turrets are more threatening, mages and assassins are better able to damage turrets.

As players have gotten better at diving turrets, the structures have ceased to be defensible locations where teams can make a stand. We want to tone back on the perception of turrets as eventual sources of gold and instead let players feel good about defending the outermost reaches of their base (especially early game). Aggressive dives to punish laner mistakes should still be a part of the game, but we're balancing out the risk/reward distribution.

On the other hand, we want more champions than just marksmen to interact with the turret killing game. We’re rebudgeting turret defenses so that other champions will feel better about their ability to play demolitionist.
Outer & inner turret damage
HEATING UP Turret damage increases by 37.5% for the second and third shots against champions, then 25% for the following two against a single champion (resets on target change) ⇒ 40% for the first three shots
STAY HOT “Heating up” damage no longer partially resets when turrets switch targets
MAX DAMAGE 225% over four shots ⇒ 220% over three shots
Defensive stats
BASE HEALTH 4000 ⇒ 3300
BASE ARMOR 0 ⇒ 40
BASE MAGIC RESISTANCE 0 ⇒ 40
NEWTURRET PENETRATION Turrets are now subject to armor and magic penetration effects
Fortification
Outer turret early-game defensive buff now applies to non-champion sources as well.

FORTIFIED Blocks 30 damage from champion basic attacks ⇒ 35% damage reduction from all sources
Reinforced armor
Turret backdoor bonus now grants damage reduction instead of resistances.

REMOVEDBONUS ARMOR AND MAGIC RESISTANCE No longer grants 200 armor and magic resistance
NEWDAMAGE REDUCTION Physical and magic damage is now reduced by 66.66%
Ability power damage vs. turrets
REMINDER When your ability power is more than double your bonus attack damage, your basic attacks against turrets scale with 50% ability power instead of 100% bonus attack damage
NEWHYBRID DAMAGE Basic attack scaling off of ability power now deals magic damage to turrets (base damage still physical)
Turret Rewards
Team gold rewards reduced.

The previous section covered our general thoughts on turrets, so we'll keep this short. Team gold rewards for outer and inner turret kills are too high compared to the payoff for anything else teams can invest in during the early game. While we've got changes to make the "anything else" more attractive (see: everything in the Jungle Bosses category), we want to make it clear that turrets are just one piece of the overall objective puzzle.
Outer turret rewards
LOCAL GOLD 220 ⇒ 300
GLOBAL GOLD 125 per teammate ⇒ 100 per teammate
MAXIMUM TEAM GOLD 845 ⇒ 800
Inner turret rewards
LOCAL GOLD 250 ⇒ 175
GLOBAL GOLD 150 per teammate ⇒ 125 per teammate
MAXIMUM TEAM GOLD 1000 ⇒ 800
REMOVEDGLOBAL EXPERIENCE No longer grants 50 global experience
Inhibitor turret rewards
LOCAL GOLD 0 ⇒ 50
GLOBAL GOLD 150 per teammate (unchanged)
MAXIMUM TEAM GOLD 750 ⇒ 800
GAME PACING
Jungle Experience
Monsters grant more experience to junglers but less to non-junglers.

The tactic of a solo player abandoning lane to farm monster camps with their jungler (we call it 'buddy jungling') evolved in response to the 2v1 lane swap. Rather than sit under tower, zoned out of experience, top laners ditch their lanes for safer prospects. Buddy jungling is enabled by the 'comeback' mechanic, which increases monster experience for lower-level champions. Though the jungler and top laner are both constantly underleveled due to splitting camps, comeback experience softens the punishment by adding net experience versus a solo clear.

The casualty of this technique is the early game itself: buddy jungling puts eight of the ten players on the Rift into a pure PvE situation. That leads to an incredibly stale opening phase of the match and eliminates the lane dynamics many of League’s early-game champs (Renekton!) rely on to make their impact.

We're putting a damper on buddy jungling by removing the experience efficiency granted to the buddy. That’s not to say it isn’t still situationally viable - having two people in the jungle can offer strategic value - we’re just ensuring it’s a careful decision rather than default behavior.
ONLY FOR THE WORTHY Non-epic jungle monsters now only grant experience to their killers
REMOVEDCATCH-UP Jungle monster experience rewards no longer increase when you’re lower level than the slain monster
NEWFARM RAZORBEAKS All Jungle items now grant 30 bonus experience on monster kill for each level higher the monster is than you
TIER 1 JUNGLE ITEMS Hunter’s Machete and Hunter’s Talisman grant 15 ⇒ 50 bonus experience on large monster kill
TIER 2 JUNGLE ITEMS Stalker’s Blade, Skirmisher’s Sabre, and Tracker’s Knife grant 30 ⇒ 50 bonus experience on large monster kill
HUNTING GROUND Based on the above changes, total jungle experience rewards have been adjusted. Overall, junglers now get slightly more experience per clear while non-junglers get slightly less.
Death Timers
Death timers reduced between 20-35 minutes.

We last checked in on death timers back in 6.7, shortening them in the 30-55 minute time frame. Results look positive, so we’re making another small nudge.
CAN I LIVE? Death timers slightly reduced around the 20-35 minute window
Homeguard
Homeguard duration and speed reduced, particularly early on.

Back in preseason we baked Homeguard into the standard Summoner’s Rift experience for two purposes: to create better boot enchantment diversity and to counter-balance increases to death timers. More on boot enchantments later in these patch notes, but let’s talk about Homeguard’s coexistence with death timers.

Time spent dead creates a window of safety for teams to act, knowing that dead enemies are gray-screened in the fountain. On revival, Homeguard catapults champions out of base and into position to counter enemy sieges or rotations. Aside from just getting somewhere faster, the haste adds flexibility: if the enemy team appears bot as you’re heading top, Homeguard allows you to adjust before too much damage is done.

That flexibility creates a stalling effect as death timers tick down: “Can we take this turret before the enemy zooms in and dives our backline?” That unease shortens the window of safety to act, magnifying the effect of actual death timer reductions: 2 seconds off a 30 second death timer is actually 2 seconds off a ~25 second window. This is particularly true at earlier stages of the game, thanks to Homeguard’s static effects.

So, after leaving things untouched back in 6.7, we’re now toning Homeguard’s haste down to account for both rounds of death timer reductions and scaling it with game time to ensure its impact doesn’t choke out early aggression.
HASTE DURATION 8 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds
HASTE AMOUNT 175% ⇒ 75% at 20 minutes, scaling up to 150% at 40 minutes

Azir
R no longer pins targets to walls

The flashy playmaking nature of Azir's ult befits his status as ruler of an empire, but Emperor's Divide becomes oppressive when it pins enemies against terrain for 5+ seconds. We're removing the abuse case to keep Azir honest.
R - Emperor's Divide
LET ME OUT Emperor's Divide is less likely to pin enemies to terrain, instead pushing them over narrow walls or dropping them behind the phalanx if the wall is too thick

Illaoi
Vessel debuff greatly shortened, but spawns tentacles faster.

Despite being Illaoi’s most interesting ability, Test of Spirit mostly ends up testing the patience of those involved. Being tested forces a tough choice onto Illaoi’s opponents, telling them fight or suffer the consequences. This choice is usually a trap - fighting Illaoi in close quarters is a death sentence given her massive area damage. Escaping the zone means slogging through waves of tentacles, which isn’t much better most of the time.

On Illaoi’s side, turning someone into a vessel is really only a consideration for the laning phase. Once you’re testing spirits in teamfights, the minute-long debuff rarely matters. We want all participants of the Test to feel like they’re getting a fair shake, so we’re shifting around some mechanics to compress what it means to be a vessel. Illaoi gets to pressure opponents in a way that’s meaningful in teamfights (her forte), but her victims don’t have to deal with her lectures for an eternity.
Passive - Prophet of an Elder God
SEEK THE TRUTH Tentacles no longer appear in Fog of War (Tentacles stay revealed once you’ve seen them for the first time)
E - Test of Spirit
REMOVEDTENTAKILLS Vessels can no longer clear their debuff by killing Tentacles
REMOVEDTENTACLE ETIQUETTE Tentacles are no longer prevented from spawning if the Vessel is recalling
VESSEL DEBUFF DURATION 60 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds
VESSEL TENTACLE COOLDOWN Tentacles spawn near Vessels once every 10 seconds ⇒ once every 5/4/3 seconds (at levels 1/7/13)
VESSEL TENTACLE DENSITY Tentacles spawned by a Vessel spawn 1000 units apart ⇒ 700 units apart

Kindred
Q cooldown up while in Wolf’s Frenzy. W lasts longer and deals bonus damage to monsters.

Let’s call a wolf a wolf - Kindred’s early game is out of line. We want Kindred to be able to pressure the map (especially through expert control of their Marks), but invading top-tier duelists with impunity is pushing it. We’re adjusting their clearing ability to stay roughly the same, but Kindred will need to pick their battles a little more carefully if they want to start scaling out of control.
Q - Dance of Arrows
COOLDOWN WHILE IN WOLF’S FRENZY 2 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 4/3.5/3/2.5/2 seconds
W - Wolf's Frenzy
DURATION 8 seconds ⇒ 8.5 seconds
LESS VIGOR Hunter’s Vigor gains less charge from movement
NEWMORE HUNTING Hunter’s Vigor charges when Lamb basic attacks
NEWWOLF BONUS Wolf deals 50% bonus damage to monsters

Mordekaiser
Elder Dragon ghost is stronger than Dragon ghosts.

As one would expect.
R - Children of the Grave
SOUL MANIPULATION Elder Dragon’s ghost is larger and has 50% more health than normal Dragon ghosts!

Nidalee
Takedown’s execute now scales with ult rank.

While we’re on the subject, you can’t mention powerful early game junglers without mentioning the Bestial Huntress herself. Another outlier, we’re taking a crack at Nidalee’s early kill pressure while ensuring she has the bite she needs for her risky late-game assassination plays.
Q - Takedown
EXECUTE BONUS DAMAGE 1.5% per 1% of the target’s missing health ⇒ 1/1.25/1.5/1.75% per 1% of the target’s missing health (based on rank of R - Aspect of the Cougar)

Rengar
E no longer flies in random directions.

These are mostly bugfixes, with the exception of Bola Strike. Previously, Bola Strike would always try to fire at the location Rengar targeted once its cast delay completed. When targeting distant points, Rengar's movement (ex. a jump strike out of ult) during Bola Strike's short cast time wouldn't change much. When targeting a nearby spot, however, Rengar could suddenly end up in front of the target location he had previously been behind. Bola Strike would then fire in the complete opposite direction it was cast. We're changing Bola Strike's targeting system to fix that unreliability.
Passive - Unseen Predator
THUNDER CAT Rengar's jump strikes now proc Energized effects (Statikk Shiv, etc.)
Q - Savagery
SHARP CLAWS Fixed a bug where Savagery consumed Spellblade or Dead Man's Plate effects without dealing damage
E - Bola Strike
TARGETING Bola Strike fires toward the spot Rengar targeted ⇒ in the direction Rengar cast it
CAST TIME Mostly 0.25 seconds but sometimes 0.125 seconds ⇒ 0.25 seconds
TANGLED UP Fixed a bug where reaching max Ferocity at the same time as casting Bola Strike (ex. during Thrill of the Hunt) could put Empowered Bola on cooldown or immediately consume Rengar's Ferocity stacks
R - Thrill of the Hunt
NOT THRILLED Fixed a bug where Rengar sometimes only gained 4 Ferocity after exiting Thrill of the Hunt

Soraka
Q slow and movement speed down. No longer refreshes Windspeaker’s.

Soraka’s changes are all about injecting more risk when she wades into the fray to provide assistance. For a champion that already pumps out amazing heals, the strength of Soraka’s kiting doubles up on denying any sort of aggression that comes her way. By cutting down on Starcall’s over-the-top protective tools, Soraka becomes less of a one-stop-shop for protection without losing the healing potential she’s picked for.

Lastly, a quick note on Rejuvenation’s on interaction with Windspeaker’s Blessing. Windspeaker’s was made in a world without any healing over time effects - and as such, wasn’t really balanced around high uptimes. Enter Soraka’s Rejuvenation mechanic back in 6.5 and now she’s tossing around 6-8 second armor and magic resist buffs off of a single spellcast. It’s possible that we revisit this mechanic and work on clearly defined rules about how HoT’s (and other heals) should interact with Windspeakers, but for now we’re not comfortable with the amount of strength it’s adding to a single champion.
Q - Starcall
SLOW AMOUNT 30/35/40/45/50% ⇒ 30% at all ranks
REJUVENATION MOVEMENT SPEED 15% ⇒ 10%
REMOVEDSTARCALLER’S BLESSING Rejuvenation no longer refreshes Windspeaker’s Blessing

Taric
Base mana up, mana growth down. W range down. E is shorter and narrower.

An old champion with a new coat of gems, Taric’s tearing up the battlefield while keeping his teammates spotless. A protector in the truest sense, the issue of Taric’s current power level isn’t how well he saves his allies - but rather the considerable range at which he’s able to influence the fight. This doesn’t come up much in lane (as Taric’s usually next to his bastion-buddy), but once ganks and teamfights start entering the picture things get messy. We’re trimming Taric’s excess power and focusing him around being the dependable shield you carry with you to a fight, committing him to stick close to his team if he wants to have the same impact.
General
BASE MANA 250 ⇒ 300
MANA GROWTH STAT 75 ⇒ 60
W - Bastion
MAXIMUM CAST RANGE 1100 ⇒ 800
MAXIMUM LEASH RANGE 1600 ⇒ 1300
E - Dazzle
LENGTH 650 ⇒ 575
WIDTH 150 ⇒ 140

Teemo
More traps.

Alright. We know people are going to come into this section thinking ‘Why buff Teemo?’, but let’s be honest with ourselves. While Teemo’s always been a serviceable laner, the Swift Scout has been on the weaker side of the spectrum for a long while. The root causes are many, but we’re targeting two: Teemo’s awkward mana usage, and his inability to set up the mushroom fields he’s known for.

Getting into specifics, Teemo players find themselves opting into sometimes ranking up W - Move Quick not because it’s particularly good, but so the costs of his other spells don’t go through the roof. Similarly, a Teemo that’s behind is pressured against laying traps due to their high cost and cooldown, making them lackluster when the enemy team’s already gaining control of the map. Releasing the mana pressures across Teemo’s kit allows him to spend more time thinking critically about when and where to use his abilities.
Passive - Camouflage
SHH Entering stealth won’t interrupt autoattacks in wind-up
Q - Blinding Dart
COST 70/80/90/100/110 mana ⇒ 70/75/80/85/90 mana
R - Noxious Trap
COST 75/100/125 mana ⇒ 75 mana at all ranks
AMMO RECHARGE TIME 34/28/22 seconds ⇒ 30/25/20 seconds

Zac
Revives faster at higher levels.

Most tanks have been excited to jump into the fray in 2016, but Zac’s been unexpectedly absent. Zac’s already best-in-class when it comes to getting into sticky situations, but Cell Divison shifts dramatically from an early-game boon to a limp extended late-game death. Considering long-range initiation is kind of Zac’s thing, the fact that he tends to land in risky situations shouldn’t feel as punishing as it does later on. We’re tweaking the Secret Weapon’s specs to help him maneuver the backlines and to give him a fighting chance of bouncing back into action (should his team provide the necessary assistance).
General
NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST Updated recommended items
BASE MOVEMENT SPEED 335 ⇒ 340
Passive - Cell Division
REVIVE TIMER Blobs reform after 8 seconds ⇒ 8/7/6/5/4 seconds (at levels 1/5/9/13/17)
Splash Updates
A few more longterm splash replacements!

Traditional Trundle

UFO Corki

Glacial Olaf

PAX Sivir

Lil' Slugger Trundle

Junkyard Trundle

Traditional Trundle

UFO Corki
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ITEMS
REMOVED
Boot Enchantments
With Homeguard no longer being tied to the enchantment system, almost all of the remaining options are very broad bonuses to movement. As seen earlier this season, bonus movement speed is a dangerous thing to stack, with boot enchants being a major contributor. When considering how warping Alacrity’s been toward introducing movement speed into the item system (and how potentially warping Captain or Fervor can be), we’re pulling the system to put a tighter leash on the ways champions can gain extra speed.

It’s possible that we’ll revisit the concept of boot enchants in the future, but only after we find ways for it help dodge mobility creep - not enforce it.
REMOVEDDISENCHANTED Boot enchantments have been removed from the shop
REMOVED
Enchantment: Devourer
Goodbye, Ghost Dog.

For years we’ve tried to provide junglers an item that helps them burn through the jungle, but despite multiple seasons of iteration we’ve failed to find an incarnation of ‘stacking jungle rewards’ that wasn’t problematic. While Devourer is an incremental improvement over past incarnations (shout-outs to those who remember Feral Flare’s insane healing and vision control), the primary problem with ‘farming junglers’ is that you don’t see them for half the game. Junglers are an integral part of how teams in League operate, and incentivizing them to AFK for the 15 minutes is too high a cost to be healthy long-term. We still want to support junglers that like high attack speed and on-hit builds, but this isn’t the way to do it.
REMOVEDFINALLY SATED Enchantment: Devourer has been removed from the shop
NEW?
Enchantment: Bloodrazor
Everything old is new again.

Bloodrazor’s back from its years of traveling the world to be the jungle item we deserve. Attack speed junglers break down into different audiences, and Bloodrazor caters to both. Tankier on-hit champions (like Shyvana and Warwick) will find it an appropriate centerpiece to their natural synergies, while Kindred and Master Yi can pair it with Blade of the Ruined King and armor penetration for scaling builds.

The removal of Devourer and the inclusion of Bloodrazor means that junglers will feel better about jumping directly into battle after finishing their item rather than waiting for it to power up. There will always be junglers who prioritize farming, and there will always be junglers that will rarely gank your lane - the key is that these decisions will be up to the player and their champion’s kits, not forced by the items they buy into.
TOTAL COST 2625 gold
BUILD PATH Tier 2 Jungle Item + Recurve Bow + 625 gold
ATTACK SPEED 40%
BLOODRAZOR UNIQUE Passive - Basic attacks deal 3% of the target’s maximum health as bonus physical damage (maximum 75 damage vs minions and monsters)

Guinsoo's Rageblade
Upgraded to an end-game item. Now has Sated Devourer’s Phantom Hit passive.

We couldn’t have a section with Devourer without addressing Guinsoo’s Rageblade as well. Rageblade’s a controversial item on live, but we’re convinced it feels far more overbearing than it actually is. Its power blooms specifically in the hands of basic-attack focused champions looking to snowball a lead, versus being generically too powerful. Even when it’s played on other champions (shout-outs to Tristana), it’s to fill a specific early-game niche.

That said, a large part of Guinsoo’s balance depends on it being kept behind a few really unsatisfying barriers. For instance, it has the worst build path in the game - creating a low point of power as you struggle to accumulate its exorbitant combine cost. On the flip side, finishing Rageblade spikes you far harder than most items at that price point, creating a race to keep Rageblade users down before they can become relevant. When the correct play against Rageblade is ‘snowball incredibly hard or lose,’ we can do better.

Our solution is to upgrade Guinsoo’s into a top-tier endgame item for the champions who value hybrid stats and on-hit builds. This allows for a more steady progression of power, as well as allowing us to put the much-coveted ‘Phantom Hit’ passive within arm’s reach of non-junglers. We’ll let you think of some of the more powerful combos (Aatrox?), but rewarding champions with access to top-shelf on-hit insanity once they’ve committed to combat feels like an appropriate gate for skirmishers and divers alike.
NEWSTILL RAGING Icon has been updated!
TOTAL COST 2800 gold ⇒ 3600 gold
BUILD PATH Blasting Wand + Pickaxe + Recurve Bow + 875 gold
ATTACK DAMAGE 35
ABILITY POWER 50
NEWON-HIT Deals 15 magic damage on-hit
GET MAD Basic attacks grant +8% attack speed, +3 attack damage, and +4 ability power for 5 second (this effect stacks, granting Guinsoo’s Rage at max stacks)
MAXIMUM STACKS 8 ⇒ 6
REMOVEDMELEE PRIVILEGE No longer gives two stacks for melee champions
REMOVEDKEEP IT TOGETHER No longer deals AoE damage on-hit during Guinsoo’s Rage
[NEW?] PHANTOM HIT During Guinsoo’s Rage, every other basic attack will trigger on-hit effects an additional time

The Black Cleaver
Cost reduced. -5 AD.

For those keeping up with recent top lane trends, builds have skewed toward the tankier end for the majority of 2016. Black Cleaver is a natural ‘release valve’ to help counter these champions, providing necessary shred and sticking power to run down even the beefiest defenders. When we noticed that its primary users (Renekton, Gnar, Riven to name a few) weren’t in the best spot performance wise, it made sense to bring the item that binds them together down to the price-points of other important powerspikes.
TOTAL COST 3500 gold ⇒ 3100 gold
COMBINE COST 1150 gold ⇒ 750 gold
ATTACK DAMAGE 55 ⇒ 50

Spectre's Cowl
Costs more. More health, less magic resist.

After reshaping and reinforcing the equipment mages have at their disposal, it stands to reason that we’d bolster the options to defend against them as well. Maw and Abyssal Scepter are solid purchases for the damage-minded, but the marquee tank options of the magic resist family need some work.

All of that begins with Spectre’s Cowl. Funnily enough, Cowl actually has the opposite problem of its upgrades - it’s too efficient for its cost, to the point that tanks are often happy leaving it un-upgraded far into the game. We want them to feel good about sitting on Cowl in lane, but tinkering with its efficiency should pressure tanks into spending more gold to get their desired magical defenses.
TOTAL COST 1100 gold ⇒ 1200 gold
HEALTH 200 ⇒ 250
MAGIC RESIST 35 ⇒ 30

Banshee's Veil
Health and cost down. Recipe changed.

Banshee’s Veil offers an entirely unique effect in the item lineup, but its similar price-point and statline to Spirit Visage do more harm than good for BV’s chances of actually being purchased. Normally too expensive compared to its cousin, we’re shrinking Veil to be the earlier buy that guards against a burst mage gone wild, with an accordingly slimmer stat line. This makes it less effective in a full item build if you’re aiming for pure defense, but more accessible for those in need of a spell shield on a budget.
TOTAL COST 2900 gold ⇒ 2450 gold
BUILD PATH Spectre’s Cowl + Negatron Cloak + 530 gold
HEALTH 500 ⇒ 300

Spirit Visage
Combine cost and magic resist down. Regen and healing up.

On the other side of the Spectre’s Cowl, Spirit Visage is a popular pick-up that’s purchased for its pure protective stats. To differentiate it from Veil’s more immediate benefits, we’re pushing Spirit Visage to more comfortably fit within final builds by emphasizing its synergies with other tank items (like Warmog’s).
TOTAL COST 2800 gold (unchanged)
COMBINE COST 900 gold ⇒ 800 gold
MAGIC RESIST 70 ⇒ 55
HEALTH REGEN 150% ⇒ 200%
PASSIVE HEALING INCREASE 20% ⇒ 25%

Guardian Angel
Cost and magic resist reduced.

Despite our changes in 6.5, Guardian Angel’s still not pulling its weight as a reactionary defensive buy. Putting it on sale at the cost of a bit of mitigation helps cement GA as the go-to item when looking for life insurance against physical divers and assassins.
TOTAL COST 2700 gold ⇒ 2400 gold
COMBINE COST 1180 gold ⇒ 880 gold
MAGIC RESIST 60 ⇒ 45
Quicksilver Sash & Mercurial Scimitar
Active now only removes crowd control debuffs.

The QSS and Mercurial Scimitar active has two uses: cleansing crowd control (Amumu ult) and purging combat debuffs (Zed ult). These cases differ in that crowd control is setup, while combat debuffs are the payoffs to such setup. When you cleanse CC, the enemy needs to lock you down again to aggress on you, but that tends to be a pretty reasonable ask. By contrast, cleansing a combat debuff wipes the applicator's primary means of fighting you. So, those champs are pressured to snowball before their effects become meaningless, while their opponents are forced into buying QSS even if it's incredibly inefficient to do so. This leads to destructive effects on game balance which we've left unanswered for too long. With the understanding that there may be outliers we need to address, we're unshackling combat debuff champs from their quicksilver collars.
ACTIVE EFFECT The actives of Quicksilver Sash and Mercurial Scimitar now only remove crowd control debuffs
Hexdrinker, Maw of Malmortius & Sterak’s Gage
Sterak’s Gage and Maw of Malmortius shields no longer stack. Sterak’s Fury and Lifegrip now both proc when Lifeline is triggered.

Maw and Sterak’s have complementary defensive triggers: Maw cares about how low you are while Sterak’s cares about how fast you’re dropping. This presents an interesting choice in lane: which item is best for the situation you’re in? Unfortunately, that choice becomes meaningless as the game progresses and beefy champs stack both items to cover all their bases. We’re tying the shields of Maw and Sterak’s together to ensure that picking one is a choice, not just the earlier of two purchases.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY Sterak’s Gage’s shield is now classified as a Lifeline effect along with the shields from Hexdrinker and Maw of Malmortius
ONE LIFE ONE LINE When a Lifeline effect triggers, all Lifeline items are put on the cooldown of the triggered item. Only the triggered effect’s shield is granted.
DOUBLE DUTY Sterak’s Fury and Maw’s Lifegrip are now both granted on either Lifeline trigger

Bami's Cinder
Health down.

Compared to Giant’s Belt, Bami’s Cinder provides everything you want and more out of a defensive component. Given that it’s already got the offensive edge, we’re pulling back on Cinder’s efficiency so it’s not always a no-brainer.
HEALTH 300 ⇒ 280

Sunfire Cape
Cost up.

Similar to Bami’s Cinder, Sunfire’s efficient stats and hybrid offense/defense means it’s just the best early buy in most cases. Nudging it back to the price point of the other big Health/Armor makes it easier to pick the one for the right situation, not just whichever’s the cheapest.
TOTAL COST 2700 gold ⇒ 2900 gold
COMBINE COST 800 gold ⇒ 1000 gold

Enchantment: Cinderhulk
Aura scales better with levels.

For an item meant to help tanks scale into the lategame, Cinderhulk’s been all but forgotten next to the shiny base damage of Runic Echoes. With Cinderhulk’s intended role as an investment toward a tank’s endgame statline, it didn’t make much sense for it to end up weaker than Sunfire Cape’s aura (considering they don’t stack). We’re fixing things to break even with old Cinderhulk at level 6, around when most junglers are completing it anyways.
IMMOLATE DAMAGE 15 + 0.6 per level ⇒ 7 + 2 per level

Vision Ward
Less health, but regenerates health while out of combat.

Yes, this is technically a Jhin buff.

With their rise in popularity (ever since Stealth Wards sold out), the prevalence of Vision Wards has highlighted how cumbersome it is to clear them out. In keeping with the themes of Midseason, we’re easing the burden of cutting down successive pinks while making them more valuable to defend. Vision Wards have always been a mini-objective, so now we’re formalizing it.
BASE HEALTH 5 ⇒ 4
NEWREWARDING Now regenerates 1 health every 3 seconds after 5 seconds out of combat.

Farsight Alteration
Cooldown up.

When it comes to diversity of Trinkets, Farsight’s been on top of the vision-throne for long while. Come mid-game, stacking Farsight trinkets changes the vision game drastically - rendering certain strategies revolving around making picks or ambushing virtually obsolete. We’re happy that Farsight’s more flexible in a wider number of vision-control strategies, we’re just adjusting so it’s not also crowding out the space entirely.
COOLDOWN 90-60 seconds (at levels 9-18) ⇒ 148-99 seconds (at levels 9-18)

Righteous Glory
No longer speeds up allies. Active speed amount and duration increased.

In its current incarnation, Righteous Glory presents us with a few balancing troubles. When it’s too strong, it replaces traditional initiation and warps the environment to be ‘who are the best carriers of Righteous Glory and why aren’t you playing them?’ We’re removing that consideration altogether and really pushing its synergies with individual champions. It’ll be easier than ever for Righteous Glory users to run down fleeing targets, but they'll need more clever coordination than just ‘run as 5 in a straight line’ to start off a chaotic brawl.
COST 2600 gold ⇒ 2500 gold
NEWETERNITY UNIQUE Passive - 15% of damage taken from champions is gained as Mana. Spending mana restores 25% of mana spent as Health, up to 25 health per cast (Toggle spells heal for up to 25 per second).
REMOVEDASSEMBLE Active no longer speeds up allies
ACTIVE MOVEMENT SPEED 60% ⇒ 75%
ACTIVE HASTE DURATION 3 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
ACTIVE SLOW 80% ⇒ 75%
ACTIVE SLOW DURATION 1 second ⇒ 2 seconds

Warmog's Armor
Health slightly reduced, now grants cooldown reduction.

Despite its game-changing out-of-combat regeneration, Warmog’s Armor struggles to find a spot in builds for tanks and juggernauts alike. It’s not that the item’s subpar, but it simply doesn’t fit what most champions in these classes really need out of a gold investment. Tossing in a Kindlegem should help Warmog’s feel comparable to say, Spirit Visage when planning out your needs in a 6-item build.
TOTAL COST 2850 gold (unchanged)
BUILD PATH Giant's Belt + Kindlegem + Crystalline Bracer + 400 gold
HEALTH 850 ⇒ 800
NEWCOOLDOWN REDUCTION +10%
Relic Shield Line
Less healing.

While not specifically tied to any of our other systems changes, botlane’s feeling a little high on resources these days. The botlane meta’s always lived between the extremes of being an all-in lane with low tolerance for mistakes and a sustaining paradise where poke and attrition mean very little. The pendulum’s a little too far on the ‘poke matters less’ part of that spectrum, so we’re toning back sustain from some of the more common purchases.
Relic Shield
CHARGE COOLDOWN 60 seconds ⇒ 40 seconds
HEALING PER CHARGE 40 health ⇒ 20 health
Targon's Brace
HEALING PER CHARGE 50 health ⇒ 40 health
Spellthief's Edge Line
Less mana regeneration.

Regeneration overall is a bit too free, so we’re taking some of botlane’s mana as well.
Frostfang
MANA REGENERATION 100% ⇒ 75%
Frost Queen's Claim
MANA REGENERATION 100% ⇒ 75%

Arcane Sweeper
It’s a creepy eyeball. Was this ever really hextech to begin with?
NAME Hextech Sweeper ⇒ Arcane Sweeper
GRIEVOUS WOUNDS
Reverted to affect all healing, not just self-healing.

Sometimes, changes don’t really work out. This is one of those times. Grievous wounds working off of self-healing created a sense of hopelessness when facing stronger healers and general confusion about what applying it would functionally do. We’re reverting it to make sense with the expectation of what a healing debuff should do.
GENERALLY GRIEVOUS Reduces self healing by 40% ⇒ all healing received by 40%
SKIN CLARITY UPDATES
Like our recent work on Underworld Twisted Fate, we're revisiting eight skins whose VFX were pretty far below clarity standards. (Fun fact: all eight skins were disabled in competitive play.) Skins should be fun, alternative fantasies, not competitive advantages, so we're bringing their visual effects up to par.
Ravenborn LeBlanc’s launch pads for W - Distortion are brighter and slightly larger
Cosmic Reaver Kassadin’s Q - Null Sphere projectile is larger. Added a ring element for E- Force Pulse’s ready state.
Headhunter Caitlyn’s Passive - Headshot now has glow particles on her hands when ready (in addition to the ones on her gun)
Lunar Revel Caitlyn’s basic attack is now less noisy and aligns more with her base
Blood Moon Elise’s E - Cocoon looks more like a cocoon, as opposed to Ahri's Charm. W - Skittering Frenzy has been cleaned up and now leaves the screen faster and is less noisy.
Firecracker Jinx’s Q- Fishbones explosions have been cleaned up and have less smoke effects
Forecast Janna’s Q - Howling Gale has been lightened for better visibility
Dark Valkyrie Diana’s Q - Crescent Strike particle has been modified to make the brights brighter and darks darker
BUGFIXES
Fixed a bug where Karthus's abilities sometimes failed to apply the slow from Rylai's Crystal Scepter during Passive - Death Defied. (We jumped the gun on listing this last patch - sorry!)
While in Passive - Death Defied, Karthus no longer creates extraneous visual effects when casting Q - Lay Waste out of range
Quinn no longer fails to proc Passive - Harrier when attacking a marked target immediately after canceling an attack
Oracle Alteration now indicates its sweep range when hovered
Fixed a bug that prevented players from joining premade lobbies while waiting out queue dodge penalties
Fixed a Clubs tag display issue with tags that started with a "-"
Fixed a bug where some players couldn't see their own Clubs tag in New Champ Select lobbies
Ward placement VO lines no longer play globally for allies on some champions and skins
Snow Day Singed's recall audio is no longer global
Battlecast Alpha Skarner no longer occasionally plays base Skarner's VO
Gravelord Azir no longer sometimes plays base Azir's VO on top of his own lines
Blackfrost Anivia's Passive - Rebirth channeling audio has been restored
UPCOMING SKINS
The following skins will be released during patch 6.9:


Iron Inquisitor Kayle
Cursed Revenant Nocturne
Black Scourge Singed