Introduction

In the latest installment of nerfs and buffs, Riot's giving tanks a big boost from a pure baseline perspective. Meanwhile, AP Tryndamere's getting direct nerfs this patch in the form of a cooldown increase on his E.

Lastly, we're seeing some overall nerfs on most of the meta champions this patch, meaning we'll probably start seeing more of a shake up in the pecking order this patch.

Summary

Buffs: Hecarim, Amumu, Leona, Nautilus, Rammus, Sion

Nerfs: Aatrox, Fizz, Orianna, Quinn, Rakan, Taliyah, Tryndamere, Wukong, Zoe

Tweaks: Trundle, Tahm Kench

Patch 8.16 Notes

BY AETHER, GENTLEMAN GUSTAF

Welcome to Patch 8.16, the one where we buff up a few tanks, and some champions who have been terrorizing the Rift get taken down a peg.

First, we've noticed that tanks are struggling on the Rift. We don't want to put power into their itemization, so we're taking this opportunity to add some baseline power into their kits. Then, there's a few outliers who need to be kept in check, like Aatrox, Fizz, and Tryndamere.

Also, we're launching a two patch alpha playtest of Nexus Blitz, a new experimental game mode. It'll launch soon after the patch, so get out there and blitz the enemy Nexus!

GLHF,

Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman

Paul "Aether" Perscheid

Patch Highlights

Nexus Blitz Alpha Test

We'll be kicking off a four-week alpha playtest of Nexus Blitz, a new experimental game mode, soon after the patch. Head to the alpha announcement for all the info!

Champions

Aatrox

E passive healing against non-champions decreased. Charges granted on learning E decreased. R cooldown increased at early ranks.

We've mostly gotten Aatrox's power level to a good place, but we still need to trim a bit of his laning strength to prevent him from being so much of a bully.

E - Umbral Dash

PASSIVE HEALING AGAINST NON-CHAMPIONS33% ⇒ 15%

CHARGES WHEN LEARNED2 ⇒ 1

R - World Ender

COOLDOWN140/130/120 seconds ⇒ 160/140/120 seconds

Fizz

W damage ratio decreased. R damage ratio decreased.

The Fizz buffs last patch overshot a bit, so we're pulling back on some of his newfound damage.

W - Seastone Trident

ACTIVE DAMAGE RATIO0.6 ability power ⇒ 0.5 ability power

ON-HIT DAMAGE RATIO0.4 ability power ⇒ 0.35 ability power

R - Chum the Waters

GUPPY DAMAGE RATIO0.9 ability power ⇒ 0.8 ability power

CHOMPER DAMAGE RATIO1.1 ability power ⇒ 1.0 ability power

GIGALODON DAMAGE RATIO1.3 ability power ⇒ 1.2 ability power

Hecarim

Q base damage increased at later ranks. Q damage ratio increased.

Hecarim is pretty weak currently, but we want to be careful about how we buff him. A bit more extended dps should help him shine in the mid-game without making him into a one-shot monster.

Q - Rampage

BASE DAMAGE55/90/125/160/195 ⇒ 55/95/135/175/215

DAMAGE RATIO0.6 bonus attack damage ⇒ 0.7 bonus attack damage

Orianna

Base magic resist decreased.

Orianna excels at keeping enemies at range with her ball range and the crowd control it brings. We want to make sure that when her opponents do close the gap, they have a better shot at the kill.

Base Stats

MAGIC RESIST30 ⇒ 26

Quinn

Attack damage growth decreased.

The only thing faster than Valor's movement speed is Quinn's burst, and the two combine to give her opponents little time to respond even if they see her coming.

Base Stats

ATTACK DAMAGE GROWTH3 ⇒ 2.4

Rakan

Health and armor decreased.

High mobility and durability has always been a tricky combination in our game, and Rakan has become a dominant pick on the back of his. We're toning down Rakan’s durability in the early game to make him vulnerable in more matchups.

Base Stats

HEALTH510 ⇒ 480

ARMOR36 ⇒ 33

Taliyah

Movement speed decreased. W cooldown increased at early ranks. R wall no longer grants vision.

Taliyah's ability to shove and run around the map is putting too much pressure on other lanes. We're also trimming some hidden power from her ultimate.

Base Stats

MOVEMENT SPEED340 ⇒ 335

W - Seismic Shove

COOLDOWN12 seconds ⇒ 16/15/14/13/12 seconds

R - Weaver's Wall

REMOVEDVISIONWall no longer grants vision

Trundle

Q base damage decreased at later ranks. Q damage ratio increased at later ranks. Q attack damage sap duration decreased.

Trundle's dueling potential is too high, even if he isn't building damage.

Q - Chomp

BASE DAMAGE20/40/60/80/100 ⇒ 20/30/40/50/60

DAMAGE RATIO1.0/1.05/1.1/1.15/1.2 total attack damage ⇒ 1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4 total attack damage

STOLEN ATTACK DAMAGE DURATION8 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds

Tryndamere

E cooldown increased at later ranks.

This buff has made Tryndamere too sticky, so we're reverting it.

E - Spinning Slash

COOLDOWN13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds ⇒ 13/12/11/10/9 seconds

Wukong

Q base damage decreased. Q damage ratio decreased.

Wukong's burst damage is too high for a champion who has both a dash and invisibility to reduce the amount of time opponents have to respond.

Q - Crushing Blow

BASE DAMAGE30/60/90/120/150 ⇒ 10/40/70/100/130

DAMAGE RATIO1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5 total attack damage ⇒ 1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4 total attack damage

Zoe

Passive damage decreased at all ranks. W damage ratio decreased.

Zoe should do less damage when she doesn't land her skillshots.

Passive - More Sparkles!

BASE DAMAGE LEVELS 1-612/15/20/25/30/35 ⇒ 10/12/16/20/24/28

BASE DAMAGE LEVELS 7-1048/53/67/73 ⇒ 34/40/46/52

BASE DAMAGE LEVELS 11-1479/86/93/100 ⇒ 60/68/76/84

BASE DAMAGE LEVELS 15-18109/117/126/135 ⇒ 94/104/114/124

DAMAGE RATIO0.325 ability power ⇒ 0.2 ability power

W - Spell Thief

DAMAGE RATIO0.55 ability power ⇒ 0.4 ability power

Tanks

Tanks haven't been feeling so hot in recent patches, so we're taking this opportunity to put more durability into their kits.

Amumu

E passive now scales with bonus armor and magic resist.

E - Tantrum

NEWBONUS DAMAGE REDUCTION3% bonus armor + 3% magic resist

BASE DAMAGE REDUCTION2/4/6/8/10 (unchanged)

Leona

W cooldown decreased at later ranks.

W - Eclipse

COOLDOWN14 seconds ⇒ 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

Nautilus

W base shield decreased slightly early, increased at later ranks. W maximum health scaling decreased at later ranks. W duration and cooldown decreased.

W - Titan's Wrath

BASE SHIELD65/70/75/80/85 ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100

SHIELD SCALING9/11/13/15/17% maximum health ⇒ 9/10/11/12/13% maximum health

DURATION10 seconds ⇒ 6 seconds

COOLDOWN18 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds

Rammus

W bonus resists increased.

W - Defensive Ball Curl

BONUS ARMOR50/60/70/80/90% ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100%

BONUS MAGIC RESIST25/30/35/40/45% ⇒ 30/35/40/45/50%

Sion

W health gain increased.

W - Soul Furnace

MAXIMUM HEALTH GAIN FROM ENEMIES3 ⇒ 4

MAXIMUM HEALTH GAIN FROM LARGE ENEMIES10 ⇒ 15

Tahm Kench

Q slow duration and cooldown decreased. W duration decreased at later ranks. W cooldown significantly increased. W mana cost decreased. W cooldown now halved on enemy Devour.

Q - Tongue Lash

SLOW DURATION2 seconds ⇒ 1.5 seconds

COOLDOWN6 seconds ⇒ 5 seconds

W - Devour/Regurgitate

DEVOUR DURATION4/4.5/5/5.5/6 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds

ENEMY CHAMPION DURATIONHalf ally duration (unchanged)

COOLDOWN14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒ 28/25/22/19/16 seconds

NEWYUMMYCooldown is halved on enemy cast

COST90 mana ⇒ 60 mana

Runes

Burst Runes

The high burst damage present in the rune systems has overall warped lethality and game pacing, so we're pulling damage out of the worst offenders.

Summon Aery

Base damage decreased at early levels. Base shielding increased at early levels.

BASE DAMAGE15-40 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 10-40 (at levels 1-18)

BASE SHIELDING30-80 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 35-80 (at levels 1-18)

Electrocute

Base damage decreased. Damage ratio decreased.

BASE DAMAGE50-220 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 30-180 (at levels 1-18)

DAMAGE RATIO (AD)0.5 bonus attack damage ⇒ 0.4 bonus attack damage

DAMAGE RATIO (AP)0.3 ability power ⇒ 0.25 ability power

COOLDOWN50-25 seconds (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 25-20 seconds (at levels 1-18)

Celerity

Movement speed conversion into adaptive stat decreased.

ATTACK DAMAGE9.6% bonus movement speed ⇒ 6% bonus movement speed

ABILITY POWER16% bonus movement speed ⇒ 10% bonus movement speed

Cheap Shot

Base damage decreased at early levels.

BASE DAMAGE15-40 ⇒ 8-40

Sudden Impact

Lethality and magic penetration decreased.

LETHALITY10 ⇒ 7

MAGIC PENETRATION8 ⇒ 6

Scorch

Base damage decreased. Cooldown decreased.

BASE DAMAGE20-60 ⇒ 10-30

COOLDOWN20 seconds ⇒ 10 seconds

Summoner Spells

Heal

Cooldown decreased.

In patch 8.6, Heal was crowding out other options in mid lane, so we lengthened its cooldown. This pushed both marksmen and mid laners onto teleport (which has had a much more notable impact on the meta), so we're reverting the Heal nerf.

COOLDOWN270 seconds ⇒ 240 seconds