Akali Changes, ARURF Updates and Kayle Rework

League of Legends patch 9.5 drops tomorrow, bringing the long awaited reworks for Kayle and Morgana. The two twisted sisters are joined by changes to the Relic Shield line, buffs to Akali and Neeko and major balancing tweaks for ARURF. It's a patch full of small changes that you might miss if you aren't paying close enough attention. Neeko now roots more champions when she throws her ring of death, which can be a huge problem when you lane against her. Skarner's spires have bigger range, allowing him to catch up to you and have a tasty snack.

Here are the patch for League of Legends 9.5 straight from Riot Games:

Akali

Ring movement speed durations increased. Stealth from turrets adjusted. E damage increased. R cooldown decreased.

When we nerfed Akali in 9.3, we focused in on the parts of her kit that frustrated opponents most and caused issues specific to higher levels of play. This left her in a sad state, but given the depth of 9.3's changes (mechanical changes have more ramifications than nerfing damage numbers), if we had tried to keep Akali's overall strength unchanged, she might have remained dominant—making it hard to tell if our nerfs actually removed the things that made Akali problematic.

Two patches out, we've confirmed that removing Akali's Q heal and W turret stealth went a long way toward making her a healthier champion. We're now buffing her back up to a reasonable level of strength.

Passive - Assassin's Mark

EDGE OF RING MOVEMENT SPEED DURATION :: 1.25 seconds >>> 2 seconds

OUTSIDE OF RING MOVEMENT SPEED DURATION :: 1.25 seconds >>> 2 seconds

W - Twilight Shroud

STEALTH FROM TURRETS :: Akali is now only revealed by turrets within a turret's attack range, rather than its sight range

PEEK-A-BOO :: Akali now only needs to exit and re-enter her shroud once to extend the shroud's duration by the maximum 3 seconds, rather than extending it by 0.5 seconds six times

E - Shuriken Flip

FIRST CAST DAMAGE :: 60/90/120/150/180 >>> 70/105/140/175/210

SECOND CAST DAMAGE :: 60/90/120/150/180 >>> 50/80/110/140/170

R - Perfect Execution

COOLDOWN :: 120/100/80 seconds >>> 100/85/70 seconds

Neeko

E root adjusted.

We're simplifying the conditions of Neeko's root to strengthen her laning phase. She'll be able to fend off more ganks from enemy junglers and contribute more to team fights with roots out the wazoo.

E - Tangle-Barbs

ROOT DURATION :: 0.5 seconds on all enemies except the last champion hit; 0.7/0.9/1.1/1.3/1.5 seconds against the last champion hit, increased to 1.8/2.1/2.4/2.7/3 seconds if Tangle-Barbs hit at least two enemies >>> 0.7/0.9/1.1/1.3/1.5 seconds on the first enemy hit, 1.8/2.1/2.4/2.7/3 seconds on all other enemies hit

BUGFIX :: No longer disarms enemies

Rakan

W damage and dash speed increased.

The nerf to Rakan's Grand Entrance in 9.2 hindered his playmaking ability. We're giving him back some of that speed, so he can go back to helping his lane partner poke their lane opponents or assist the rest of his team in a crazy fight, while still keeping his R-W initiation in check.

W - Grand Entrance

DAMAGE :: 70/115/160/205/250 (+0.7 ability power) >>> 70/120/170/220/270 (+0.7 ability power)

DASH SPEED :: 1400/1445/1480 (based on type of boots) >>> 1500

Skarner

Spire radius increased; Red buff Spire now covers Krugs and Raptors on both sides of the map. Spires removed from minimap.

We're moving Skarner's red buff Spire to be in range of both Krugs and Raptors, which will give him more options in his jungle pathing and help with his jungle clear in all three monster camps. With this Spire now closer to the Krugs and Raptors, it'll also be harder for opponents to steal it from him due to how deep it'll be in the enemy's jungle.

We're also removing the Spires from the minimap, so his counterjungling attempts aren't nearly as obvious to the enemy team.

Passive - Crystal Spires

[REM] INTRUDER ALARM :: Spires no longer appear on the minimap

SPIRE RADIUS :: 1150 >>> 1600

[UPD] PORQUE NO LOS DOS? :: Red buff Spire now in range of both Krugs and Raptors

Vi

Attack speed growth decreased. Passive cooldown increased but W now reduces it. Q ratio decreased, no longer deals reduced passthrough damage. W attack speed increased. E AoE can now crit. R cooldown, damage, knockup/knockback increased; no longer deals reduced passthrough damage.

Vi's been overlooked as a viable jungle pick for quite some time now. To help Vi compete against her peers, we're adjusting her Q and R to do equal damage to everything she hits, powering up her teamfights and speeding up her jungle clear. To balance those changes, she's getting nerfed in some areas, but the overall outcome should be a stronger and more impactful Vi.

Bast Stats:

ATTACK SPEED GROWTH :: 2.5 percent >>> 2 percent

Passive - Blast Shield

COOLDOWN :: 12-8 seconds (levels 1-9) >>> 16-12 seconds (levels 1-9) ( see Denting Blows below )

SHIELD RATIO :: 10 percent max health >>> 15 percent max health

Q - Vault Breaker

[REM] QUARTER POUNDER :: No longer deals 25 percent reduced damage to non-champions

RATIO :: 1.6 bonus attack damage >>> 1.4 bonus attack damage

W - Denting Blows

ATTACK SPEED :: 30/35/40/45/50 percent >>> 30/37.5/45/52.5/60 percent

[NEW] PASSIVE COOLDOWN :: Blast Shield's cooldown is now reduced by 3 seconds whenever Denting Blows procs

E - Excessive Force

CRITICAL CONES :: Damage cone can now critically strike

RATIO :: 1.15 total attack damage, 0.7 ability power >>> 1.1 total attack damage, 0.9 ability power

R - Assault and Battery

COOLDOWN :: 110/85/60 seconds >>> 120/100/80 seconds

DAMAGE :: 150/300/450 (+1.4 bonus attack damage) >>> 150/325/500 (+1.1 bonus attack damage)

[REM] QUARTER POUNDER :: No longer deals 25 percent reduced damage to secondary targets

SECONDARY TARGET KNOCKBACK :: Vi knocks back enemies she passes through by ||| 250 range over 0.25 seconds >>> 350 range over 0.75 seconds

Lucian Audio Updates

Cleaning up some of Lucian's ability audio to make it clearer!

BULLETS :: Clearer hit audio on Base and Striker Lucian basic attacks, passive-empowered attacks, and The Culling

ARDENT BLAZE :: Cast audio is shimmerier, deep tones on travel audio reduced, target hit sound added. Changes apply to all skins except High Noon which already had them implemented (Heartseeker Lucian's on-hit sound is unchanged).

RELENTLESS PURSUIT :: Dash audio brightened on Base and Striker Lucian

Items

Relic Shield Line

Healing decreased.

We're cutting the ability for tank supports to shrug off harass so other types of supports can compete against them, especially at higher levels of play where bot laners place more of a focus on keeping themselves topped off.

RELIC SHIELD HEALING :: 15 (+2 percent target's missing health) >>> 5-30 at 0-100 percent target's missing health

TARGON'S BRACE HEALING :: 40 (+2 percent target's missing health) >>> 10-60 at 0-100 percent target's missing health

REMNANT OF THE ASPECT HEALING :: 50 (+2 percent target's missing health) >>> 15-90 at 0-100 percent target's missing health

Stormrazor

Given that Stormrazor's update shifted it from a rush item to a late pickup, we erred on the side of undershooting its power to make sure it was a clearly less attractive first buy. But now, it's too weak, so we're buffin' it.

ATTACK DAMAGE :: 55 >>> 60

ATTACK SPEED :: 25 percent >>> 30 percent

Runes

Aftershock

Bugfixing Aftershock's resist duration to do what the tooltip says.

RESIST DURATION :: 3 seconds >>> 2.5 seconds

Conqueror

We hotfixed Conqueror in the middle of the last patch, decreasing the ranged stack duration and the number of adaptive force per stack. But it's still too strong, especially in the mid to late game. With its new stacking model, champions gain stats leading up to the proc and late game scenarios actually trigger it faster than the previous iterations of Conqueror. We're pulling out some of Conqueror's late game strength while retaining the more core true damage and healing conversion.

ADAPTIVE FORCE :: 2-10 per stack (10-50 at max stacks) >>> 2-6 per stack (10-30 at max stacks)

Mid-Patch 9.4 Updates

(Reminder: These have been live for a while already.)

ADAPTIVE FORCE :: 3-15 per stack (max 15-75) >>> 2-10 per stack (max 10-50). This change is overwritten by the line above.

RANGED STACK DURATION :: 3 seconds >>> 2 seconds (melee stack duration still 8 seconds)

Cut Down

Making it more competitive with Coup de Grace and Last Stand .

BONUS DAMAGE :: 4-10 percent >>> 5-12 percent (still vs targets with 10 percent-100 percent more maximum health than you)

Simple Changes

Cho'Gath

E damage increased.

Cho'Gath could use a little bit of help early on. Maxing E will help him trade more meaningfully.

E - Vorpal Spikes

DAMAGE :: 20/30/40/50/60 to 22/34/46/58/70

Dr. Mundo

E magic resist increased.

Buffing the ol' doctor so players who want an anti-magic damage beefcake have an option in the form of a big purple man.

E - Masochism

MAGIC RESIST :: 2 percent per stack, up to 6/12/18/24/30 percent >>> 3 percent per stack, up to 6/15/24/33/42 percent

Gangplank

E bonus damage to champions increased. R damage per wave increased.

Giving Gangplank more pow in his powder so he can fight back against the scallywags of top lane and have more cannons to drop on opponents everywhere else.

E - Powder Keg

BONUS DAMAGE TO CHAMPIONS :: 60/90/120/150/180 >>> 80/105/130/155/180

R - Cannon Barrage

MAGIC DAMAGE PER WAVE :: 35/60/85 (+0.1 ability power) >>> 40/70/100 (+0.1 ability power)

MAX DAMAGE :: 420/720/1020 (+1.2 ability power) >>> 480/840/1200 (+1.2 ability power)

Graves

Base attack damage increased.

9.2's jungle experience changes hit scaling champions like Graves the hardest, and 9.3's Stormrazor change was unfavorable to him as well. Given how effective -3 AD was at reining the Outlaw in toward the end of last season, +3 AD should be enough to get him back in gunning shape.

Base Stats

ATTACK DAMAGE :: 63 >>> 66

Jhin

Q attack damage increased.

We're giving Dancing Grenade a little fortissimo since it's such an integral part of his damage pattern.

Q - Dancing Grenade

RATIO :: 0.4/0.475/0.55/0.625/0.7 total attack damage >>> 0.45/0.525/0.6/0.675/0.75 total attack damage

Nunu & Willump

Health decreased. Q healing decreased.

Taking the pair's durability down a bit via early game base stats and late-game sustain.

Base Stats

HEALTH :: 590 >>> 570

Q - Consume

HEAL :: 75/120/165/210/255 >>> 75/110/145/180/215

Tryndamere

Passive crit chance cap increased late.

Resolving Tryndamere's long-standing crit chance dilemma: Currently, he needs to overcap on crit chance to reach 100 percent, but now, he won't need to overload on more than two items.

Passive - Battle Fury

CRIT CHANCE CAP PER FURY :: Up to 35 percent >>> 35/40/45/50 percent at levels 1/6/11/16

Sylas

W heal increased early, decreased late; heal ratio increased, damage ratio increased.

Hitting Sylas' tank build.

W - Kingslayer

HEAL :: 50/80/110/140/170 (+0.35 ability power) >>> 60/80/100/120/140 (+0.45 ability power)

DAMAGE RATIO :: 0.55 ability power >>> 0.65 ability power

Yorick

Maiden damage and mark proc damage decreased.

Yorick and his lovely Maiden have been attached at the hips since 9.2, and their collective damage is causing trouble for everyone else. We're reining the Maiden in a little so that the pair, when together, are a little weaker.

R - Eulogy of the Isles

MAIDEN DAMAGE :: 10/20/40 (+0.5 Yorick's total attack damage) >>> 0/10/40 (+0.5 Yorick's total attack damage)

MARK DAMAGE :: 5/7.5/10 percent target's maximum health >>> 3/6/9 percent target's maximum health

Rek'Sai

Fixed a bug where R could deal damage twice.

Conqueror plus the changes we made to Rek'Sai last patch are bringing her up to scary levels. We're going to see how this patch's Conqueror nerfs land before directly looking into nerfing Rek'Sai. As a reminder, read below for the hotfix that went live in 9.4.

Mid-Patch 9.4 update

Reminder: This change has been live for a while already.

BUGFIX :: Fixed a bug where R - Void Rush could deal damage twice if Rek'Sai's target Flashed away the instant Void Rush's damage was dealt

ARURF

Surprise—we're extending ARURF by another two patches! Since we've got another month of ultra rapid firing in store, we've also got a ton more balance changes for 9.5. If you're a member of the Golden Spatula club, you'll hang onto your benefits for the full extended duration.

Let's start with the buffs:

Aatrox

BUFF :: +15 percent damage buff increased to +20 percent

Akali

BUFF :: +15 percent damage, -10 percent damage taken

Alistar

BUFF :: +5 percent damage, -10 percent damage taken

Anivia

BUFF :: +15 percent damage

Aurelion Sol

BUFF :: +5 percent damage buff increased to +10 percent

Bard

BUFF :: +15 percent damage buff increased to +20 percent

Braum

BUFF :: -5 percent damage taken buff increased to -10 percent

Darius

BUFF :: +5 percent damage buff increased to +10 percent

Elise

BUFF :: +10 percent damage, -10 percent damage taken

Evelynn

BUFF :: +10 percent damage buff increased to +20 percent

Gangplank

BUFF :: +10 percent damage buff increased to +15 percent

Gnar

BUFF :: +5 percent damage buff increased to +10 percent

Ivern

BUFF :: +10 percent damage, -15 percent damage taken

Jhin

BUFF :: +20 percent damage

Katarina

BUFF :: +15 percent damage, -10 percent damage taken

Quinn

BUFF :: +15 percent damage

Sion

BUFF :: +10 percent damage

Sona

BUFF :: -5 percent damage nerf removed

Tahm Kench

BUFF :: -20 percent damage taken buff increased to -25 percent

Taliyah

BUFF :: +15 percent damage

Thresh

BUFF :: +5 percent damage buff increased to +10 percent, -5 percent damage taken buff increased to -10 percent

Udyr

BUFF :: +10 percent damage, -15 percent damage taken

Urgot

BUFF :: +5 percent damage buff increased to +15 percent

Yasuo

BUFF :: +10 percent damage buff increased to +15 percent, -5 percent damage taken buff increased to -10 percent

Zac

BUFF :: -10 percent damage taken buff increased to -15 percent

Zilean

BUFF :: +10 percent damage buff increased to +20 percent

Zoe

BUFF :: +10 percent damage

And of course some nerfs:

Ahri

NERF :: -5 percent damage nerf increased to -8 percent

Fizz

NERF :: -5 percent damage

Garen

NERF :: -5 percent damage nerf increased to -10 percent

Heimerdinger

NERF :: -5 percent damage

Jayce

NERF :: -5 percent damage

Nocturne

NERF :: -5 percent damage

Sivir

NERF :: -5 percent damage nerf increased to -8 percent

Syndra

NERF :: -5 percent damage

Vladimir

NERF :: -8 percent damage

First Elder Dragon

NERF :: Burn decreased from 141 over 3 seconds to 90 over 3 seconds

Second Elder Dragon

NERF :: Burn decreased from 255 over 3 seconds to 210 over 3 seconds

Third Elder Dragon

NERF :: Burn decreased from 315 over 3 seconds to 270 over 3 seconds

How do you feel about League of Legend s patch 9.5? Tell us in the comments.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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