LoL’s last patch, 5.16, made dramatic changes to the likes of Darius, Skarner and other such tanky champs. Its planned 5.18 patch will be the one the World Championships are played on, and will thus bring in a few noticeable changes of its own. Consider 5.17 the Ringo Starr of LoL patches – just quietly getting on with it while everyone talks about those other ones.
Skarner’s movement and attack speed have been dulled due to his overperformance in 5.16. Azir has likewise been slowed, Draven’s had his passive abilities tweaked and, crucially, Master Yi’s dance now scales with his movement speed – these are but a few of 5.17’s tinkerings. Here’s what Riot had to say about the patch:
“Greetings, summoners.
Welcome to Patch 5.17, the one after the Juggernaut one. We considered titling it something else, but with the incredible impact of the last update we thought it made sense to bring it up again.
While definitely strong (hey Skarner), the landscape of 5.16 is far less apocalyptic than its contents may have predicted. All of the new items have found homes among the rank-and-file fighters, people are playing Lucian, and Renekton’s entered a civil union with Titanic Hydra. Things seem pretty OK. As promised, we’ve stuck to the lighter side of things for 5.17 – there are definitely a good number of champion changes, but that’s about all there is. With Worlds just around the corner (5.18, don’t forget!) we’re putting the finishing touches on the game-state so everything’s polished and ready for the big stage. We even have Bard buffs.
That’s about all for us here as we dig a little deeper for the last batch of tuning and tweaking of outliers before hibernating a bit until preseason. For those of you wishing for us to hit the Mark on the various outliers running wild this patch, you won’t have to wait long – They Are Coming.”
Here’s the full patch notes for you to cogitate and digest. Or, why not peruse LoL’s very worst skins instead?