Removal of Deathfire Grasp
Deathfire Grasp
Is gone :(
Our initial goal with Deathfire Grasp was to make a "tank-busting" item that could do exactly that: bust down tanks when they're knocking on the front door. After the introduction of Liandry's Torment, however, tank-busting was replaced with tank-burning and, instead, Deathfire Grasp became the item for assassins to stack another nuke spell on top of their already burst-heavy kits. While we like to keep itemization options available for those who want it, the sheer existence of Deathfire Grasp has given us a few headaches in the past and present:
1.) Adding Deathfire Grasp to a bursty kit really amps up that "woah what happened to me" moment when someone nukes you from orbit. In the past, when we see mages pick up a DFG to double-down on their burst, we've had to balance around that champion which, in turn, makes them even more reliant on DFG to blow people up (or they get changed so much they find an alternative playstyle). Vicious cycle.
2.) Deathfire Grasp also adds a lot more reliability to a mage's assassination attempts, which means they need to commit less for them. If, for example, Ahri only needs to use one charge of Spirit Rush to nuke her target (with DFG + Q + W), she frees herself to use her other two charges to get back to safety. If we accept this will always happen with DFG, Ahri ends up without a lot of extra 'power budget' to do other cool mage-y things like sustained damage or kiting.
As we mentioned in the foreword, we're looking into champions who will be heavily impacted, but some of our larger projects (Veigar, Katarina, Mordekaiser) have to wait until 5.3. There were also a few mages we haven't given sorry-we-removed-DFG-changes to, specifically because we examined them and realized they either needed the power reduction that comes with losing DFG or they have access to alternative item paths and won't be as affected.
Final note, we're also going to be looking into itemization opportunities for late-game mages, so stay tuned for that in 5.3!
REMOVED2009-2015Deathfire Grasp has been removed from the game
General
Overlapping Crowd Control Effects (v2.0)
Remember when we said we wouldn't tell you when we were going to turn this on? Turns out we found a few extra bugs (hello Riven) before we could, so we hit the brakes before the deploy. But this time we've got it, so it's back to business as usual.Some time in the next week we'll be turning this feature on so we can effectively track its impact on the game. We just wanted to let you know what the change was. Sorry for the delay!
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRYFixed a long-standing bug where champions affected by overlapping crowd control effects could occasionally use abilities (Flash, Zhonya’s Hourglass, etc) when transitioning between disables. This will be turned on at a later date in the patch.
Attack-Move Commands in Stealth
If you're used to using attack-move to move to places while in stealth, you should probably stop.
IT SHOULD DO WHAT IT SAYSIssuing an attack-move command while in stealth will cause you to move to the area ⇒ attack the nearest target, even if you're stealthed
Champions
Tristana
Tristana has been updated! Check out the article if you want the full story, or just below if you want the specifics.
General
ATTACK SPEED GROWTH STAT2.5 ⇒ 1.5
BASE ARMOR24.04 ⇒ 22
BASE HEALTH552.76 ⇒ 542.76
VISUALSUpdated model, textures and VFX for base and all skins
ICONSNew ability icons
Passive - Draw a Bead
RANGE PER LEVEL9 ⇒ 7
Q - Rapid Fire
UNCHANGEDUnchanged. Just wanted to let you know.
W - Rocket Jump
NEWTALK ABOUT EXPLOSIVE LANDINGRocket Jump gains +20% increased damage for each stack of Explosive Charge on the target (this goes up to +100% for the base charge + 4 stacks)
BASE DAMAGE70/115/160/205/250 magic damage ⇒80/105/130/155/180 magic damage
RATIO0.8 ability power ⇒ 0.5 ability power
NEW E - Explosive Charge
PASSIVEUnchanged. Still has it.
ACTIVE ABILITYTristana throws a grenade charge on a target enemy. After 4 seconds, the charge explodes and deals area-of-effect physical damage.
STACKING CHARGESEvery basic attack against a target with Explosive Charge adds an additional stack that increases Explosive Charge's final explosion damage by +25%, stacking up to 4 times (+100% damage). If the target already has 4 stacks and is attacked, the Explosive Charge will detonate immediately.
TALK ABOUT EXPLOSIVE DEJA VUUsing Rocket Jump onto a target with maximum Explosive Charge stacks will detonate the charges immediately
DEMOLITIONIST TRISTANAExplosive Charge is castable on towers and has a larger explosion radius than on a unit
ACTIVE BASE DAMAGE60/70/80/90/100 physical damage
ACTIVE RATIO0.5/0.65/0.8/0.95/1.10 bonus attack damage + 0.5 ability power at all ranks
R - Buster Shot
RATIO1.4 ability power ⇒ 1.0 ability power
Ahri
Ahri gets a huge movement speed bonus when she throws out her Q. Fox-Fire's been tuned up a bit and deals more damage. Charm no longer amps damage on the target but deals slightly more damage and scales better with ability power.
Fantastic Ms. Ahri's success as a support-killing, pick-making assassin has always been tied very closely with Deathfire Grasp. With the item gone, however, it became obvious that Ahri's unique role in the game was losing focus, so we set out with the goal of moving her back to her original vision as an ultra-mobile kite mage. Technical improvements and updates to Fox-Fire and Spirit Rush should make her feel smoother to play, while Orb of Deception's new mobility effect allows her to both outwit opponents in close duels or remain elusive as she repositions in a fight.
General
THIS HELPS MORE THAN YOU THINKAhri's recommended items have been updated
Q - Orb of Deception
NEWAERODYNAMIC TAILSAhri now gains a massive movement speed boost while her orb is traveling that rapidly decays over time
W - Fox-Fire
NEWFANTASTIC FOX-FIREFox-Fire's targeting system has been improved and will now attempt to acquire a new target if the original target is going to die from other Fox-Fires
YOU'RE WELCOME LICH BANE AHRICasting Fox-Fire no longer interferes with Ahri's basic attack animation
BASE DAMAGE PER FOX-FIRE40/65/90/115/140 magic damage ⇒50/80/110/140/170 magic damage
JUST SLIGHTLYSlightly reduced the time between spell cast and the missile firing
DIDN'T HAPPEN ALL THE TIMEFixed a rare bug where Ahri's third Fox-Fire wouldn't deal damage while her passive was active
E - Charm
REMOVEDDON'T HURT THE ONES YOU LOVECharmed targets no longer take +20% damage
DAMAGE60/90/120/150/180 magic damage ⇒ 60/95/130/165/200 magic damage
RATIO0.35 ability power >> 0.5 ability power
R - Spirit Rush
QUIT HEADBUTTING THE WALL AHRISpirit Rush is now more forgiving when dashing through or over terrain
Akali
Crescent Slash no longer procs Q, and R's range has been reduced.
We're going to be blunt: Akali is a prime example of an assassin with low counterplay, largely due to her reliability and target selection. While Akali's ability to blow up highly mobile targets is valuable, it also means that once she gets even slightly ahead, she's got all the tools to smash her way to a victory. With these changes, Akali will have to be a little more clever with her use of Twilight Shroud to proc Mark of the Assassin, opening up more difficult matchups against melee champions that she previously dominated. Or, as Akali would say, "As balance dictates."
Sorry, had to.
E - Crescent Slash
REMOVEDSORRY AKALICrescent Slash no longer detonates Mark of the Assassin
R - Shadow Dance
RANGE800 ⇒ 700
CLARITY!Fixed a bug where Shadow Dance stacks were not visible to other champions
Annie
TIBBERS GETS MOLTEN SHIELD WHEN ANNIE DOES AND RUNS SUPER FAST.
Though Annie is definitely less powerful in a world without Deathfire Grasp, she's still one of the strongest burst-initiators in the game and can still one-shot squishies even with different items. Still, we wanted to give some love to the cutest pyromaniac in League (sorry Brand) and Molten Shield felt like the right place (as it's also her least-interesting ability). Ultimately these changes help push Annie closer to her unique identity as a teddy bear-centric mage (that's a thing).
E - Molten Shield
ARMOR / MAGIC RESISTANCE BONUS20/30/40/50/60 ⇒ 10/20/30/40/50
R - Summon: Tibbers
NEWDON'T RUN FROM BEARSWhen Annie casts Molten Shield, Tibbers gains +300 bonus movement speed, decaying over 0.75 seconds
NEWMOLTEN TIBBERSTibbers now also receives the benefits of Molten Shield when Annie casts it while he's up
DIET TIBBERSTibbers' collision radius has been reduced to let him move past minions easier
Azir
Just a small fix for consistency, but we wanted to really highlight that Q range. Initially it wasn't actually displaying the full range, so we changed it to do so. This way, when we reduce some power y'all really know what we've had to balance with. This bears repeating: that's a hiiiiiiigh range on Q.
Q - Conquering Sands
DO YOU SEE THIS RANGEConquering Sands' targeting indicator has been adjusted to properly display the spell's actual range of 800 ⇒ 875. No functional changes have been made.
SAND FORMATIONWhen there are 3 soldiers already out, Conquering Sands will always move the nearest soldier to where the player clicks
Cassiopeia
Q and E have higher mana costs.
As a lane bully, one wrong move against Cassiopeia can lose you a ton of HP and send you ducking for cover beneath your tower (or just packing your bags and going home). While it's not impossible to fight back, Aspect of the Serpent's healing just reinforces this non-stop lane bully tactic without much in terms of tradeoffs (thanks to Twin Fang's mana recovery). Increasing Cass's mana costs on Q and E should make it more of a calculated decision to harass or sustain, giving savvy opponents more time to formulate a counter-attack (or at least walk back to lane).
Q - Noxious Blast
COST40/45/50/55/60 mana ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80 mana
E - Twin Fang
COST35/45/55/65/75 mana ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90 mana
CLARITY!Twin Fang's tooltip now always displays the amount of mana it will restore
Fizz
Fizz's damage against an opponent tagged with R is increased by +20%. Q's damage has been significantly reduced in base damage and scaling, W no longer applies Grievious Wounds, deals missing health damage on active, and deals less passive damage over time.
When talking about flashy assassins, it's never long before Fizz comes up. Always a crowd-pleaser, this playful trickster can devastate teams lacking lockdown with a few troll-poles and a well-placed shark. These days however, Urchin Strike + Seastone Trident's active end up doing most of the work, often leaving Chum the Waters either irrelevant or overkill. Pulling power from Fizz's basic spells and loading them into his ultimate makes sure skilled Fizz players can still slip in and take out priority targets, but now gives some room to breathe when he doesn't line up his shark-bait just right.
Second thing: back in 5.1 we made a change to Fizz's Urchin Strike where if you flashed before he physically hit with his Q, you could dodge the damage completely. A: our bad for not documenting the change. B: this is definitely a power nerf to Fizz, but it's one we're intentionally committing to, if just to give a slight amount more 'reaction potential' for his fishy victims. Not a whole lot, but it's something. We may examine other champions with abilities like this in the future - for the sake of consistency - but it'll definitely be something we weigh on a case by case basis in relation to their entire kit.
Q - Urchin Strike
DAMAGE10/40/70/100/130 (+0.6 ability power) magic damage ⇒10/25/40/55/70 (+0.3 ability power) magic damage
BUT CAN YOU DODGE A FISH?Fizz no longer deals damage to the target if they move out of range of Urchin Strike before it completes
W - Seastone Trident
REMOVEDSO THEMATICALLY CONFUSEDNo longer applies Grievous Wounds
ACTIVE ON-HIT DAMAGE10/15/20/25/30 (+0.25 ability power) magic damage ⇒ 10/20/30/40/50 (+0.0 ability power) + 4/5/6/7/8% missing health as magic damage
PASSIVE DAMAGE OVER 3 SECONDS30/40/50/60/70 (+0.35 ability power) (+4/5/6/7/8% of target's missing health) over 3 seconds ⇒20/30/40/50/60 (+0.45 ability power) over 3 seconds
R - Chum the Waters
NEWSHARKS MAKE EVERYTHING BETTERFizz's damage against the tagged champion is increased by +20% for 6 seconds. Chum the Waters is not affected by this bonus.
Kha'Zix
Not much to see here - discovered a bug with the bug (heh) where the cooldown for Kha'Zix's leap was 2 seconds shorter than intended. That said, this thing's been live for over a year and Kha'Zix is in a decent place, so we're erring on his side. Actual value unaffected.
E - Leap/Evolved Wings
KHA'ZIX FIXFixed a tooltip bug to accurately reflect Leap/Evolved Wings' cooldown of 22/20/18/16/14 ⇒ 20/18/16/14/12 (actual value unchanged)
Nidalee
Nidalee can Hunt (proper noun) neutral monsters. She could always hunt them, but now she can apply her debuff to them. Sorry, we're trying to be clever.
Allowing Nidalee to Hunt neutral monsters not only opens up a viable fallback pattern and alternate gold stream for cats finding themselves behind in a game, but also supports the interesting options she can bring to teams as a jungler. There's a new knife-cat in town. Spear-cat? Spearcat. Stabby spearcat.
General
IT'S COMPLICATEDAttack frame sped up slightly. This doesn't mean Nidalee attacks faster, just that she completes her attacks faster.
Passive - Prowl
NEWLITERAL DEFINITIONNidalee can now also Hunt neutral monsters
Rek'Sai
Q's unburrowed damage is slightly lower, W's burrowed (technically unburrowing, given its use) damage has been reduced.
The league's latest addition is still Rek'ing more than she should in the early-game. Lowering her bases should help keep her from tunneling too hard onto your carries, while increasing the number of knock-ups she gets in a fight allows her to aggressively re-engage against fleeing opponents or defensively peel when on the back foot (Claw? Tendril? Whatever the Xer'Sai have as appendages).
Q - Queen's Wrath
BASE DAMAGE15/30/45/60/75 physical damage ⇒ 15/25/35/45/55 physical damage
W - Unburrow
BASE DAMAGE60/110/160/210/260 physical damage ⇒40/80/120/160/200 physical damage
ENEMY KNOCKUP IMMUNITY10 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds
Sejuani
We don't think anyone picked Sejuani for her top-tier structure destruction capabilities, so we're fixing a bug she had there.
W - Flail of the Northern Winds
WHOOPSFixed a bug where Flail of the Northern Winds was dealing (a lot of) bonus damage to structures. We won't tell you how much. It was a lot.
Syndra
Simple changes here - as a lot of you Syndra mains have noticed, Scattering the Weak felt a little off in 5.1. Attempting to make Syndra's stun match her visuals worked a little too well, leaving the skill underperforming in a lot of cases. We've toned it back to what feels like a 'happy-medium.'
E - Scatter the Weak
FATTENEDScatter the Weak's stun collision has been widened slightly to feel less clunky
Zed
Less attack speed all around.
In the 5.1 notes, we mentioned Zed as a good example of what we refer to as a "Healthy Assassin" - but that doesn't come without its own set of balancing woes. To help bring Zed in line with other champions while preserving his power as a competitive option, we've looked toward his strengths outside of pure assassination - in this case, attacking his ability to split-push by lowering his attack speed.
Zed's pattern of poking from a distance and waiting for the moment to strike is layered with counterplay and complexity. That is, up until his AD items remove the need for his spells, allowing just a few auto-attacks to seal your fate. With a base and scaling attack speed rivaling that of Xin Zhao and Tryndamere, Zed's auto-attacks were as much a menace to champions as they were to towers. He'll still be effective in a side-lane due to his strengths in 1-v-1 duels, but taking power here allows us to keep his damage output focused in landing spells and using combos effectively.
General
BASE ATTACK SPEED0.658 ⇒ 0.644
ATTACK SPEED GROWTH STAT3.1 ⇒ 2.1
Mass Texture Rebalance (Part 6)
We're continuing our comprehensive pass at the game's older character textures. As with previous installments, our goal is to improve parity with newer releases and make sure everybody looks at home on the newly-updated Rift.
TEXTURESThe following textures have been updated:
Dr. Mundo
- Base, Corporate, Executioner, Mr. Mundoverse, Mundo Mundo, Toxic
Irelia
- Base, Aviator, Frostblade, Infiltrator, Nightblade
Jarvan IV
- Base, Commando, Darkforge, Dragonslayer
Nunu
- Base, Demolisher, Grungy, Nunu Bot, Sasquatch, Workshop
Swain
- Base, Bilgewater, Northern Front, Tyrant
Vayne
- Base, Aristocrat, Dragonslayer, Heartseeker, Vindicator
Yorick
- Base, Pentakill, Undertaker
Items
Jungle Items
All tier 2 jungle items have been increased by 100 gold, all tier 3 jungle item enchantments have been reduced by 100 gold.
Thus far, jungle items have gotten a little snowbally - particularly for those who can snag a few kills on an early invade to get their upgraded Smite before camps have even spawned.
ALL TIER 2 JUNGLE ITEMS350 gold ⇒ 450 gold
ALL TIER 3 JUNGLE ENCHANTMENTSCosts for all tier 3 jungle enchantments have been reduced by 100 gold
Aether Wisp
100 GOLD CHEAPER. Item builds have been expensified by 100 gold to accomodate. Expensified is now a word.
As a mid-game component pickup, Aether Wisp is doing pretty well but it doesn't feel very good to buy early in lane. A price drop should help out when you gotta move fast.
COST950 gold ⇒ 850 gold
NO STOREWIDE DISCOUNTSThe combine costs of Ardent Censer, Lich Bane, and Twin Shadows have been increased by 100 gold to maintain the same overall cost
Blackfire Torch
Has followed her big brother to the item graveyard.
See our context on Deathfire Grasp for the full rundown!
REMOVED2012-2015Blackfire Torch has been removed from the game
Elixir of Iron
Better nerf...
SORRY IRELIATenacity granted by Elixir of Iron stacks additively ⇒multiplicatively. In other words, it gives far less Tenacity the more you have of the stat.
Giant's Belt
Now builds out of Ruby Crystal! Total cost remains the same.
As many of you pointed out with the patch 4.20 defensive changes, buying a Ruby Crystal versus a Giant's Belt still technically 'locks' you into pursuing either Magic Resistance or Armor, respectively. As we still want to support reactionary purchases with defense, this change goes right along with that!
NEWGROW BIG LITTLE CRYSTALGiant's Belt now builds from Ruby Crystal
COMBINE COST1000 gold ⇒ 600 gold (total cost remains the same)
Hextech Gunblade
More ability power, slightly less attack damage and lifesteal.
After losing out on Deathfire Grasp, some champions might be looking for healthier alternatives (speaking from a holistic game perspective), and Gunblade makes sense for a few of them so... here we are. Yep.
ATTACK DAMAGE45 ⇒ 40
ABILITY POWER65 ⇒ 80
LIFESTEAL12% ⇒ 10%
Rod of Ages
IT'S HAPPENING!
That second change is pretty good for all you tragic misclickers out there.
NEWIT FINALLY HAPPENEDRod of Ages will now show the number of stacks it has on the item icon
FAT FINGERSRod of Ages will no longer lose stacks when you sell the item and then undo the sale
Stealth Ward
FIXED ITFixed a bug where Stealth Wards were staying visible for too long after being placed
Zz'rot Portal
It looks like a lot of changes, but the short of it is that Zz'Rot Portals are now treated as, for all intents and purposes, structures (ie: Towers / Inhibitors). Also Voidspawn now have less magic resistances and deal less damage to structures, but deal more damage to minions in the early game. Also the first and every fourth Voidspawn now get the bonus damage from defensive stats.
As the designer puts it, "Complex items means complex bugs." We've gone in and shuffled around Zz'Rot's coding to cement it as a structure in terms of its interactions with the game (and how it's interacted with). We also made some extra changes to help this thing settle in both its current use and potential counters.
Bugfixes
SAND IMMUNITYAzir soldiers can no longer attack Void Gates
STURDY PORTALSVoid Gates can now be collided against for the purpose of spells (like Poppy's Heroic Charge)
I'M A PORTAL, NOT A GATE, MANTargeted movement spells (like Katarina's Shunpo) no longer work with Zz'Rot Portal
STRUCTURAL IMMUNITYAttack modifiers that don't affect structures, like Corki's Hextech Shrapnel Shells passive, no longer affect Void Gates
Portal Mechanics
LIKE A VOIDSPAWN SPITTING TURRETWhen attacking Void Gates, you gain the ability power to structure bonus damage. That is, if 40% of your AP equals to higher than your basic attack damage, you instead deal damage equal to 40% of your ability power.
Voidspawn
ARMOR60 ⇒ 115
MAGIC RESISTANCE40 ⇒ 20
BASE HEALTH50 ⇒ 40
HEALTH PER LEVEL20 ⇒ 15
BASE DAMAGE TO MINIONS20 ⇒ 30
DAMAGE PER LEVEL TO MINIONS3 ⇒ 2
DAMAGE PER LEVEL TO STRUCTURES20 ⇒ 10
VOIDSPAWN BONUSVoidspawn gain bonus damage from 50% ⇒ 100% of the summoning champion's armor and magic resistances
VOIDSPAWN PARTY!The above Voidspawn bonus is applied to every Voidspawn after the fourth ⇒ the first and every fourth Voidspawn
Dragon
Dragon's attack range and attack speed has been increased (overall damage should remain the same).
We're just making some small adjustments to Dragon to reduce exploits and improve his feel.
ATTACK RANGE350 ⇒ 500
ATTACK SPEEDIncreased (base damage has been reduced so that overall damage-per-second remains the same)
Ranked Team Decay
We're increasing the window of time that Challenger and Master Tier teams can wait to play before they begin decaying: they now share the same 28-day activity requirement as Platinum and Diamond teams (Gold, Silver and Bronze teams never decay). While a stricter requirement makes sense for solo players who set their own schedules, ranked teams are far more susceptible to conflicts. To be clear, we still want teams to stay active in order to maintain their positions; we just don't want the requirement to be so strict that it discourages them from trying to reach the top of competitive team play.
CHALLENGER/MASTER TEAM DECAYTeams decay after 10 days ⇒ 28 days of inactivity
CHALLENGER/MASTER SOLO DECAYPlayers decay after 10 days of inactivity (unchanged)
Featured Game Modes
Nemesis Draft
Assets for our next Featured Game Mode, Nemesis Draft, are included in 5.2 but we won't be launching it this patch! Hold tight!
In-Game Audio Settings
Prior to this patch a few of our audio sliders were maxed out by default, so the only way to "raise" them was to lower everything else and then increase your computer's volume. With 5.2 we're adding functionality to increase these settings properly - the old 100 is now 75 (so default settings won't sound any different) and the new 100 is louder. For the sake of consistency we've pared a bit off the max of our remaining settings which were set to 50 by default, similarly giving them a numerical default of 75 with no difference to actual volume. Master Volume is the only setting which remains completely unchanged at its historic default of 100.
As part of this change we'll be wiping all custom audio settings with patch 5.2. Make sure to fiddle with them when you log back in!
THESE SLID UPDefault audio volumes for Music, Announcer and Voice are unchanged, but reassigned to 50 ⇒ 75. This means max volume at 100 has decreased.
THESE SLID DOWNDefault audio volumes for Sound FX, Ambience and Pings are unchanged, but reassigned to 100 ⇒ 75. This means max volume at 100 has increased.
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO RE-SLIDEAll audio settings will be reset to default when patch 5.2 is released. Remember to readjust your settings!
STOP SAYING SLIDETo summarize, default audio settings in patch 5.2 will sound the same as the default settings in earlier patches, but should be more intuitive to adjust. Max levels have changed.
Bugfixes
- (Coming a bit after the initial patch) Fixed a bug where your last-used skin for a champion would appear to be selected, but not actually applied in-game
- Fixed a bug where you couldn't see other players' trinkets if you targeted them by left-clicking
- Fixed a bug where Phantom Dancer's minion pass-through buff was working inconsistently
- Tenacity has been restored as a searchable category in the item shop
- Fixed particle visibility issues for various abilities on Very Low settings
- Fixed a clipping issue with Annie's base splash art
- Restored Infernal Alistar's custom fire effects on Q - Pulverize
Upcoming Skins
The following skins will be released at various times during patch 5.2:
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