LoL patch 9.12: Mordekaiser and Ryze reworks, Yuumi nerf and more – patch notes
The latest League of Legends update, Patch 9.12, introduced reworks for Mordekaiser and Ryze as well as some major balance changes for Sylas and Yuumi.
The newest League of Legends patch went live on June 11, bringing with it some massive champion adjustments.
Headlining the patch is the Mordekaiser Visual and Gameplay Update (VGU), which has seen The Iron Revenant completely reworked and given a new character model and animations to go with it.
Mordekaiser isn’t the only champion getting major changes in Patch 9.12, however. Most notably, Ryze is once again being significantly adjusted, as Riot take their latest attempt at making him viable for lower-ranked players without being extremely powerful in professional play.
This time around, the changes to Ryze see the shield he can get from Overload (Q) removed, as well as changing Rune Prison to a slow rather than a root unless the target is already affected by Spell Flux. Spell Flux is also being changed to simplify how its “bounces” work.
Riot are also taking another pass at balancing two of their newest champions, Sylas and Yuumi. The former is having his AOE wave clear toned down a little, while the heal from his Kingslayer (W) is being buffed slightly.
Pro players frustrated with Yuumi might also be pleased to see that she’s getting nerfed now that players are figuring out how best to use her – and discovering that when used correctly, she’s incredibly powerful.
Some of the emergency buffs she received due to her incredibly low win-rate immediately after her release are being reverted, while Riot are also “nerfing her defenses to open up some weaknesses.”
Notes for League of Legends Patch 9.12:
Champions
Mordekaiser
The Iron Revenant
The unstoppable juggernaut is back from the afterworld and ready to conquer the land of the living in patch 9.12!
High-res versions of Mordekaiser’s updated splash arts are available on League Displays!
Ryze
Q spell ranks decreased, shield removed, damage bonus now dependent on R. W now slows; Spell Flux bonus converts slow to root.
When Ryze is played optimally, he covers his weaknesses incredibly well. At the same time, he benefits highly from a coordinated team. Pro play relishes champions with these characteristics, which is why he’s been such a strong pick in the space. We’re chipping away at these strengths to quell his presence there, but at the same time, helping out those who are looking to pick him up and aren’t as precise in their combos.
With the removal of his shield, he’ll have fewer means of survivability against bad match-ups, and by changing his CC to a slow, his gank targets should have better chances of escaping a 2v1 (especially a Flash > Rune Prison combo). As part of the general adjustments we’re making to make him more welcoming to less experienced players, we’re also opening up the bouncing game a bit more by making Spell Flux always bounce off its primary target, and placing some scaling into a passive on Realm Warp. Then there’s a bunch of tuning to account for those changes. It’s not what we would typically call a rework, but since it’s Ryze, we’ll count it. Looking forward to v7 (v8?)!
Base Stats
MANA 400 ⇒ 300
MANA REGEN 6 ⇒ 8
Q – Overload
RANKS: 6 ⇒ 5
DAMAGE: 60/85/110/135/160/185 ⇒ 80/105/130/155/180
REMOVED: SHIELD – No longer grants a shield after consuming 2 Runes
UPDATED: SPELL DAMAGE BONUS – 40/50/60/70/80% (based on Spell Flux’s rank) ⇒ 10/40/70/100% (based on Realm Warp’s rank)
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED: 25/28/31/34/37/40% ⇒ 20/25/30/35/40%
W – Rune Prison
RATIO: 1% bonus mana ⇒ 4% bonus mana
COST: 50/60/70/80/90 mana ⇒ 40/55/70/85/100 mana
BASE CROWD CONTROL: Rooted for 0.75 seconds ⇒ Slowed by 35% for 1.5 seconds
SPELL FLUX BONUS: Increased root duration ⇒ Converts Slow to Root
E – Spell Flux
DAMAGE: 70/90/110/130/150 ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140
COST: 60/70/80/90/100 mana ⇒ 40/55/70/85/100 mana
NEW: BOUNCE HOUSE – Now always bounces off the primary target
REMOVED: PING PONG PAIN – Bounces no longer damage enemies
REMOVED: FLUX BOMB – No longer spreads Flux to nearby enemies on unit kill
R – Realm Warp
RANKS: 2 ⇒ 3
NEW: WARP DAMAGE – Overload damage bonus against targets with Flux increased to 40/70/100%
NEW: CLOSE ENOUGH – Immediately casts at max range when attempting to cast beyond that
MINIMUM CAST RANGE: 730 ⇒ 1000
MAXIMUM CAST RANGE: 1750/3000 ⇒ 3000
COOLDOWN: 180 seconds ⇒ 210/180/150 seconds
Sylas
Passive now stores up to 2 charges; base damage increased; AoE damage less effective against minions. Q detonation damage and AoE range decreased on minions. W heal increased. E shield adjusted and cooldown increased later.
Sylas continues to be a high-tier competitive champion despite struggling in the hands of most players. We’re taking some swings at aspects of his kit that are more powerful in pro, such as the on-demand nature of his shield and his AoE wave clear.
Passive – Petricite Burst
NEW: CHARGES -Now stores up to 2 charges which will be consumed on subsequent basic attacks
BASE DAMAGE: 5-47.5 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 9-60 (levels 1-18)
NEW: MINIONS ARE FRIENDS – Deals 70% less damage to minions
Q – Chain Lash
DETONATION DAMAGE: 45/70/95/120/145 (+0.60 ability power) ⇒40/60/80/100/120 (+0.40 ability power)
DETONATION AOE: 200 range on minions ⇒ 180 range on minions
W – Kingslayer
HEAL: 60/80/100/120/140 (+0.4 ability power) ⇒ 70/90/110/130/150 (+0.50 ability power)
E – Abscond/Abduct
REMOVED: ABSCOND SHIELD – No longer shields himself for 2 seconds on first cast
COOLDOWN: 18/16/14/12/10 seconds ⇒ 18/17/16/15/14 seconds
NEW: ABDUCT SHIELD – Grants a 80/115/150/185/220 (+1.0 ability power) shield on enemy champion or monster hit for 2 seconds
Yuumi
Base health increased. Passive mana refund decreased early; shield decreased. W shared adaptive force adjusted; dash now interruptible by all CC.
Good Yuumis are very frustrating to play against and have virtually no windows of vulnerability—and more players are starting to get good at Yuumi. With this in mind, we’re pulling some of the mid-patch buffs we gave her at release and nerfing her defenses to open up some weaknesses. Also, bugfixes and usability improvements!
Base Stats
HEALTH432.36 ⇒ 480
Passive – Bop N’ Block
MANA REFUND: 40-160 (level 1-18) ⇒ 30-160 (level 1-18)
SHIELD: 80-360 (+0.40 ability power) ⇒ 80-300 (+0.30 ability power)
Q – Prowling Projectile
BUGFIX: Fixed a bug where the missile would not spawn towards the cursor as intended
W – You and Me!
KILL THE CAT: Enemies now gain an assist on Yuumi when damaging the ally Yuumi is attached to
UPDATED: SHARED ADAPTIVE FORCE – 5/9/13/17/21% of her attached ally’s adaptive force ⇒ 5/7/9/11/13 flat adaptive force (+4/7/10/13/16% of her attached ally’s adaptive force)
AND I OOP: Yuumi’s dash can be interrupted by knock-ups and knockbacks⇒ Yuumi’s dash can be interrupted by any immobilizing CC
BUGFIX: Fixed a bug where Yuumi would detach unintentionally when trying to attach to another champion outside of her range
Quality of Life Changes
SPECTATOR MODE: Range rings for Yuumi’s Q, W, and R no longer show on Spectator Mode
SNEAKY SNEAKS: Yuumi now gains the same stealth screen overlay and fade on her model when attached to a champion in stealth
SADAKO’S JEWELRY: The ally that Yuumi’s attached to now has a ring around them that only Yuumi can see
Aatrox
Passive cooldown now scales based on level. R healing bonus now only applies to self-healing.
We’re following-up with the changes we made to Aatrox in 9.9 since right now he heals way too often in lane (via his passive) and heals way too much late-game (from book cats and star goats).
Passive – Deathbringer Stance
COOLDOWN: 15 seconds ⇒ 24-12 (level 1-18) seconds
R – World Ender
HEALING BONUS: All incoming healing ⇒ Self-healing only
Ashe
W cooldown decreased.
Ashe could use more power, so we’re specifically buffing the ability that she uses most to keep enemies at bay.
W – Volley
COOLDOWN: 15/12.5/10/7.5/5 seconds ⇒ 14/11.5/9/6.5/4 seconds
Caitlyn
Base attack damage increased.
This is definitely a small buff, but we’re being extra cautious with her since she has a tendency to take over metas.
Base Stats
ATTACK DAMAGE: 58 ⇒ 60
Irelia
E cooldown increased; range decreased
Due to her dominance in pro play, we’re making Irelia pay a higher cost when she fails to stun her enemies with Flawless Duet. The decreased range should also make it riskier for her to go all-in.
E – Flawless Duet
COOLDOWN: 14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒ 18/16.5/15/13.5/12 seconds
RANGE: 850 ⇒ 775
Karma
Q slow increased. E cost decreased; movement speed duration increased to match shield duration.
We’re giving Karma more tools to help her survive, especially when she’s caught out by herself.
Q – Inner Flame
SLOW: 25% ⇒ 35%
E – Inspire
COST: 60/65/70/75/80 mana ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70 mana
MOVEMENT SPEED DURATION: 1.5 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds (now matches shield duration)
Lulu
VFX on all abilities updated. E shield increased; cost decreased later.
Buffs to help out support Lulu and bring her back into consideration. We’ve also updated her VFX to make her magic feel more unique and improve her gameplay clarity.
VFX Updates
BASIC ATTACK: New purple-ier missiles and hit effects
ALL SKINS: Cleaned up to match the new effects on the base skin
DRAGON TRAINER LULU: Pix now shoots out small pink fireballs
E – Help, Pix!
SHIELD: 70/105/140/175/210 ⇒ 80/115/150/185/220
COST: 60/70/80/90/100 mana ⇒ 60/65/70/75/80 mana
VFX: Cleaned up shield (on allies) and improved Pix’s teleport and hit effects (on enemies)
Passive – Pix, Faerie Companion
VFX: Cleaned up Pix’s bolts
Q – Glitterlance
VFX: New purple-ier missiles and hit effects
W – Whimsy
VFX: Cleaned up buff effect (for allies) and missiles/hit effects (on enemies)
R – Wild Growth
VFX: Fairy dust, an entirely new and pretty AoE, and cleaned up enemy hit and slow effects
Master Yi
Fixed a bug on Master Yi’s passive.
Passive – Double Strike
BUGFIX: Fixed a bug where Master Yi’s Double Strike stacks were lasting 3 seconds instead of 4
Nautilus
Q base damage decreased early.
We’re reducing Nautilus’ early all-in damage since he’s currently too strong in higher areas of play.
Q – Dredge Line
BASE DAMAGE: 100/145/190/235/280 ⇒ 80/130/180/230/280
Zac
W base damage increased. R knockback distance and chunk spawn adjusted.
Zac is significantly weaker after his revert in 9.11. We’re following up on his ultimate to be closer to the original version and helping out his early clear speed which has been slow.
W – Unstable Matter
BASE DAMAGE: 15/30/45/60/75 ⇒ 25/40/55/70/85
R – Let’s Bounce!
KNOCKBACK DISTANCE: 400 units away from Zac ⇒ 250 units from where target is hit
CELL DIVISION CHUNK SPAWN: Each enemy champion spawns a chunk the first time they’re hit by a bounce (subsequent bounces on the same enemy won’t spawn additional chunks) ⇒ Each bounce that hits one or more enemy champions spawns a chunk (hitting the same enemy still spawns a chunk)
Items
Corrupting Potion
Bonus magic damage flattened.
Corrupting Potion is a dominant choice in pro and higher skill play. We’re taking it down a notch so other options have an opportunity to shine.
BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: 15-30 (level 1-18) over 3 seconds ⇒ 15 at all levels over 3 seconds