Damage Reduction on Enemy Hit-8% multiplicatively, down to 40% (at 11 hits)→ -5%, down to a minimum of 50% (at 14 hits)
Riot
As the marksman meta has evolved around crit, on-hit, and caster builds, Draven has fallen behind. We're buffing his heavy-AD pattern instead of trying to redirect his itemization.
Kai'Sa has struggled to get through lane and find her big Killer Instinct moments, so we're buffing her fallback W pattern early and her later-game backline dive threat.
We feel Vex has had less of an impact in her games than we think she should, so we're giving her a quality of life buff that should make her reset pattern feel smoother so she can have more pop off giga plays.
Zaahen is already seeing more play across audiences, so we're giving him more room to fish for his early trade patterns and engage in mid game skirmishes without raising his scaling ceiling.
Brand continues to dominate bot lane for most players, so we're nerfing his early passive detonation damage while offsetting some of that hit for more skilled players and supports through mana tuning.
Cassiopeia has risen to the top of pro play presence, even before our 26.12 nerfs to her major competition. We would like to preserve some of her unique strengths, like her rewarding laning and slippery speed, but she should have a less gigantic health bar for when opponents actually lock her down!
Sion has been resilient in both solo queue and pro play for a long time, so we're weakening some of his reliable early lane power and resource access without decimating his core tank fantasy.
Since his nerfs earlier this year, Aphelios has fallen in priority and win rate. With some power budget freed up, we're pulling back on some of those earlier nerfs to highlight each gun's unique strengths.
PassiveDamage Per Meep35 (+10 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP)→ 30 (+6 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP)
Patchnotes 1
Passive - Traveler's Call
Damage Per Meep35 (+10 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP)→ 30 (+6 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP)
Riot
Bard has been a tanky roaming meta staple for much of the season, so we're trimming his damage so tank Bard doesn't get to hit nearly as hard without investing in AP.
K'Sante has been a major beneficiary with Doran's Helm entering the mix in Season 2, so we're lightly tapping down his early reliability while still rewarding successful all-ins.
We want to better reward LeBlanc players for landing some of her less guaranteed damage, rather than giving her more gank or lane support, both of which she does really well already.
Olaf used to be a staple in the jungle but has been out of favor for a while now, despite our earlier attempts this season to help him out. We are looking to give him a bit more power to entice him back into the wilderness.
Jungle class diversity has been dominated almost exclusively by fighters for a while now, and we think Poppy is a good pick for a tankier counter option into many of the fighter junglers at the top of the meta. This buff is aimed at her jungle clear and gank windows while minimizing top and support impact.
Another class that's underrepresented in the jungle is assassins. We feel Qiyana is a great choice for a buff as she's recently been on the lower end of balanced in the jungle, so we're giving her a jungle-focused buff to help bring her back without meaningfully juicing mid lane.
Rek'Sai's combination of dueling power and mobility has made her too successful at high ranks, so we're shaving down her early-to-mid burst windows while preserving her unique map movement and longer fight pattern.
Rumble has been an extremely reliable blind-pick top laner for a long time, so we're lowering some of his early staying power and base damage while keeping his scaling pattern intact.
Crit Damage-10% (180% / 27% with IE)→ -15% (170% / 25.5% with IE)
Q - Piercing Darkness
Cooldown RefundOn Hit→ On Attack
Riot
Senna players have moved over to a much stronger Bot lane farming pattern, so we're softening her farming and Shiv synergy while also tuning her DPS around having access to more souls. The Doran's Helm nerf should do the rest of the work necessary to get her to the right power level between roles.
