League of Legends Patch 10.17 notes: Sona & Yone nerfs, Xayah buffs

The League of Legends 10.17 patch is here, and we now have a complete look at all balance changes Riot has in store for champions like Yone, Qiyana, Sona, Caitlyn and more.

This time around it’s “a bit of a smaller patch,” in part due to Riot’s annual summer holiday the League developers take every year ahead of the Worlds crunch. Here’s every detail on the balance-focused League of Legends Patch 10.17 update.

Some popular off-meta strats are going to get tuned down in the latest update as Riot are fixing the balance of power where they think it’s gotten out of hand. Similarly, the studio is hoping a slight buff to Aatrox will help the once-great champion regain some glory.

Caitlyn, Hecarim buffs from Patch 10.16 reversed

Two of the major changes coming in League Patch 10.17 are to Caitlyn and Hecarim, both of whom only recently buffs. This time around they’re getting knocked back down a peg, due to the fact Riot “made a little mistake” with their numbers.

“When we overshoot a buff in a patch we always first think about reverting that buff partially, like Cait and Hecarim this patch,” Mark Yetter explained on Twitter. “When we sometimes go with a different nerf, it’s because we think the buffs are worth keeping.”

Caitlyn is having her movement speed reduced in the upcoming Wednesday update. Hecarim is also having movement speed reduced, though his is through the boost Devastating Charge (E) doles out upon activation.

Bot lane duo Lux and Sona both nerfed

Sona weaseled her way into the meta as a carry again over the last few patches. Alongside Lux in bot lane, the two mages have formed a formidable duo. However, Riot are culling their power, individually and collectively, in Patch 10.17.

“Going into the patch we thought that Sona Lux was only OP as a combo ⁠— which they are, very,” Yetter admitted. “Digging in to the data it turned out that they had both become OP as solo picks with optimized builds in the current meta so we went with individual nerfs instead of their interactions”

Sona is having some of her offensive power stripped from her Q and E, while Lux’s shield will now block less damage.

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These small changes should look at reducing both Sona’s carry potential — stopping other Sona carry lanes popping up — as well as stunt Lux’s power alongside traditional carries, while also nerfing the oppressive combo.

Qiyana “may miss Worlds” after nerfs

The last of the big changes are targeting Qiyana. The attack damage mid laner boasts one of the highest win rates in League at high Diamond ranks. She is so powerful that she “crossed the thresholds for nerfs,” Yetter revealed.

“It’s unfortunate, because I’d love to see her at Worlds, but I think she may miss being at that tournament,” the League dev continued. “We have to stick to our frameworks with the goal of keeping every level of play as balanced as we can.”

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The Qiyana nerfs will mainly be focused around her Audacity (E) and Terrashape (W). Her W will now have 10% on-hit AD ratio, down from 20% and her E base damage has been dropped slightly, from 60-200 to 60-180.

Outside of the headlining changes, Aatrox, Gragas, Kai’Sa, Varus, and Xayah are getting buffed in Patch 10.17. Conversely, Evelynn and newly-released champ Yone will get a few tweaks the other way in this week’s update.

Here’s the full League Patch 10.17 notes courtesy of Riot Games, which should be going live in the game in just a few hours from publishing.

League of Legends Patch 10.17 patch notes

Champions

Aatrox

• R – World Ender
  • Bonus Damage Ratio: 0.2/0.25/0.3 attack damage ⇒ 0.2/0.3/0.4 attack damage

Caitlyn

• Base Stats
  • Movement speed: 330 ⇒ 325.

Evelynn

• Q – Hate Spike
  • Dart Base Damage: 30/35/40/45/50 ⇒ 25/30/35/40/45
  • Spike Base Damage: 30/35/40/45/50 ⇒ 25/30/35/40/45

Gragas

• Base Stats
  • Armor: 35 → 38.

Hecarim

• E – Devastating Charge
  • Bonus Movement Speed: 25-100% (over the first 3 seconds, with fourth second at maximum value) ⇒ 25-85% (over the first 3 seconds, with fourth second at maximum value)

Kai’Sa

• Base Stats
  • Attack Damage Growth: 1.7 ⇒ 2.0
• E – Supercharge
  • Bonus Attack Speed: 40/45/50/55/60% ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80%

Lux

• W – Prismatic Barrier
  • Shield: 50/75/100/125/150 (+0.3 ability power) ⇒ 45/65/85/105/125 (+0.35 ability power)
  • Cost: 60 mana ⇒ 60/65/70/75/80 mana
  • Triple Shield Bug fix: Fixed a bug that caused Prismatic Barrier’s effect to apply three times at the edge of its cast

Qiyana

• W – Terrashape
  • Bonus Damage Ratio: 0.2 attack damage ⇒ 0.1 attack damage
• E – Audacity
  • Base Damage: 60/95/130/165/200 ⇒ 60/90/120/140/180

Sona

• Base Stats
  • Health 482.36 ⇒ 480
  • Mana 340.6 ⇒ 340
• Q – Hymn of Valor
  • Damage Ratio: 0.5 ability power ⇒ 0.4 ability power
• W – Aria of Perseverance
  • Heal Ratio: 0.25 ability power ⇒ 0.2 ability power
• E – Song of Celerity
  • Self Bonus Movement Speed: 20% (+0.03 per 100 ability power) ⇒ 20% (+0.02 per 100 ability power)
  • Aura Bonus Movement Speed: 10/11/12/13/14% (+0.03 per 100 ability power) ⇒ 10/11/12/13/14% (+0.02 per 100 ability power)

Varus

• Base stats
  • Attack Speed Growth: 3% ⇒ 4%

Xayah

• Base stats
  • Attack Damage Growth: 2.9 ⇒ 3.5

Yone

• Q – Mortal Steel
  • Base Damage: 20/45/70/95/120 ⇒ 20/40/60/80/100
• R – Fate Sealed
  • Life Steal Bugfix: No longer applies life steal at 100% effectiveness