LOL Update 12.9 Patch Notes, Release Date & More

OLAF

Mid-scope update, all abilities adjusted.

Despite Olaf’s popularity in Pro, he’s been one of the least mained champions in League for a while now. The flexibility ofRagnarokas an engage or escape and his fast clear speeds make him the ultimate example of a champ that walks the fine line between OP in Pro and “…meh” in all other levels of play.

With this mid-scope update, we’re aiming to shift some of his power away from his clear speed and into tools that will help players feel stronger and in more control of Olaf’s survivability as he rides the edge of disaster at low health. These changes should not only help better define Olaf’s identity as a Berserker, but also allow him to take a new place as a viable top laner.

BASE STATS

PASSIVE – BERSERKER RAGE

Q – UNDERTOW

W – TOUGH IT OUT

R – RAGNAROK

AHRI

E cooldown increased. R cooldown increased at all ranks.

Ahri’s been getting a lot of play time since her update. She’s incredibly consistent at making picks and assassinating carries, all while remaining relatively safe andjustout of reach. We’re lowering the uptime on her CC and dashes to add more thrill to the chase.

E – CHARM

R – SPIRIT RUSH

BRAUM

Passive cooldown decreased late. E damage reduction increased.

Everyone’s favorite Poro Protector has been feeling a little left out in the cold recently. We’re hoping to bring a smile back to his glorious mustache (and his poros’ faces) by beefing up his protective power.

PASSIVE – CONCUSSIVE BLOWS

E – UNBREAKABLE

HECARIM

Q AD scaling increased. W cooldown decreased.

Hecarim is hecc’in weak after the last set of nerfs targeted at his tank build. We’re helping him get his hooves back in the game (while being careful to avoid reintroducing his one-shot E build) by buffing his item scaling and increasing the horsepower behind his key survivability skill to more evenly distribute his power across his kit. These should help Hecarim find a morestableplace in today’s meta without turning him into a pseudo-assassin race horse.

Q – RAMPAGE

W – SPIRIT OF DREAD

MASTER YI

R bonus attack speed reduced.

The Wuju Bladesman has gotten a little too fast at killing his enemies, especially in late game. We’re reducing his DPS scaling to slow him down and give his foes a chance to keep up.

R – HIGHLANDER

NIDALEE

Base health reduced.

Nidalee’s been catching prey left and right with her recently increased spell output, especially at higher levels of play. We’re bringing down her early dueling power so she doesn’t get such an easy Nida…lead.

BASE STATS

PYKE

Passive grey health conversion increased. Q mana cost increased, mana refund increased, now refunds mana upon hitting an enemy champion. R cooldown decreased, “Your Cut” opportunities reduced.

Pyke’s been a littleboneskewed toward mid ever since his changes long ago in Season 9, so we’re reverting them to bring the Bloodwater Ripper back to bot lane. We’re also adjusting some other parts of his kit to further tune him toward the unconventional support he is. Kills (and bags) secured.

PASSIVE – GIFT OF THE DROWNED ONES

Q – BONE SKEWER

R – DEATH FROM BELOW

RENATA GLASC

Base armor decreased. Passive damage decreased.

Renata Glasc is on her way to monopolizing bot lane at all levels of play, and business isreallystarting to boom in Elite. She’s been getting a bit too much valuepropout of her passive, whereas her return on investment for damage-oriented support items has been relatively low. These small adjustments toward AP item scaling should help balance and diversify her build portfolio.

BASE STATS

PASSIVE – LEVERAGE

RENEKTON

Health and AD growth increased. W base damage increased, cooldown increased early and decreased late. R base damage increased.

Renekton has largely disappeared from Pro after the fighter item changes in 12.3. We’re looking to add some scaling back so he feels a bit better as the game progresses. We’re also reducing the gap between his W and E second max builds since that choice leads to some serious win rate losses in Average play. You heard it here first, crocs are back in fashion.

BASE STATS

W – RUTHLESS PREDATOR

R – DOMINUS

RENGAR

W damage against monsters decreased.

Rengar’s changes in 12.7 helped this kitty adapt a little too well to the outdoors to the point where he’s now the top cat in the jungle. We’re reverting a buff to his clear (and that buff only) to otherwise leave him as is.

W – BATTLE ROAR

BUGFIXES

• Fixed a bug where Rengar’s empowered abilities andW – Battle Roar’s heal would sometimes play through the Fog of War

SHYVANA

W damage tick rate decreased.

We’re introducing some small quality of life changes and a batch of bugfixes to help fan Shyvana’s flames.

W – BURNOUT

BUGFIXES

• Fixed a bug where Shyvana’sQ – Twin Bitewould not attack player-created targets (like Teemo’s Mushrooms or Illaoi’s Tentacles) twice
• Fixed a bug where Shyvana’sQ – Twin Bite’s second attack would not deal damage if the enemy was running away from her
• Fixed a bug where Shyvana’sW – BurnoutVFX were not correctly displaying when inside of Mordekaiser’sR – Death Realm

SION

Undead Sion’s Passive damage against structures reduced.

Sion’s been a bittooglorious in death. Although “inting Sion” had a good run, we believe it isn’t a sustainable direction for him or League in the long term. Taking down towers by split pushing should certainly be doable even while behind, but when the strat requires repeatedly dying, it’s not very fun for all parties involved. We’re nerfing undead Sion’s split pushing power in order to restore some balance to his circle of life.

PASSIVE – GLORY IN DEATH

THRESH

Passive AP and Bonus Armor per Soul increased. W shield strength scaling with Souls increased.

What is the value of a soul?(Currently, not very much… )Thresh has fallen off quite a bit, particularly in Average and Skilled play, so we’re increasing his scaling power by making it more worthwhile to collect the essence of the dead. Gotta catch ’em all.

PASSIVE – DAMNATION

W – DARK PASSAGE

VARUS

Passive attack speed gained on minion and champion kills increased. W magic damage on-hit increased.

Varus has been relatively weak since his Lethality nerfs last season. We’re buffing his on-hit builds back up to make his vengeance viable again.

PASSIVE – LIVING VENGEANCE

W – BLIGHTED QUIVER

HULLBREAKER

Hullbreaker is an important tool for empowering split pushing, but when rushed as a first item, itsbounty-fulbonus resists can invalidate laning and lead to unpleasant experiences. We still think it’s a valuable addition to the game since, unlike past split push items like Zz’Rot, Hullbreaker requires champions to stay in the lane they’re split pushing. So we’re nerfing its early game potency.