League of Legends’ next big content patch is 8.16, introducing Nexus Blitz. Patch 8.16 is a slightly smaller update, part of Riot’s bi-monthly alternating patch schedule, but there are still plenty of balance changes to contend with. Most of these are based around utility tanks, with changes to Leona, Nautilus, and Tahm Kench, among others. There’s also a brand-new “experimental game mode,” part of a new scheme, separate from the current Rotating Game Modes.
Nexus Blitz is a brand new League of Legends game mode. It’s still early in development, so could be subject to a lot of change, but at the moment it seems that it’s a fast-paced mode that promotes aggressive play around important in-game events (and the rewards they offer).
This patch also contains five brand-new skins. There’s the Cosmic line, with Ashe, Lulu, and Xin Zhao all looking to the heavens, but also a new Mecha skin for Aurelion Sol (that looks a lot like Pokémon’s Rayquaza). Elsewhere, Braum goes bad, with a new Mafia skin. Have a look below for all the information we’ve got, straight from the PBE.
LoL Patch 8.16 Release date and downtime
We don’t know the exact release date for patch 8.16 yet, but the schedule is bi-weekly so expect it on Wednesday, August 15. We’ll update when Riot do, but keep an eye on the server maintenance page for the latest updates.
LOL PATCH 8.16 BALANCE CHANGES
That out of the way, let’s start with the really important bit, shall we? What you need to remember is that stuff on the PBE like this is neither guaranteed to happen, nor to be in the next patch even if it does. This is what the folks over at Riot are thinking about doing. We’ve got the numbers on what’s changing, and a general guideline on which way each champion, item, mastery, summoner spell or rune is moving.
Patch 8.16 Champion Changes
Aatrox – nerfed
- Umbral Dash (E):
- Healing from damage done to non-champions decreased to 15% from 33%
- Charges gained when first learning the ability decreased to 1 from 2
- World Ender (R):
- Cooldown increased to 160/140/120 seconds from 140/130/120 seconds
Amumu – changed
- Tantrum (E):
- Passive physical damage reduction gains additional benfit equal to 3% of Amumu’s bonus armor and MR
Fizz – nerfed
- Seastone Trident (W):
- Bonus magic damage AP ratio decreased to 50% from 60% Bonus on-hit damage AP ratio decreased to 35% from 40%
- Chum the Waters (R):
- Guppy AP ratio decreased to 80% from 90%
- Chomper AP ratio decreased to 100% from 110%
- Gigalodon AP ratio decreased to 120% from 130%
Hecarim – buffed
- Rampage (Q):
- AD ratio increased to 70% from 60%
- Damage increased to 55/95/135/175/215 from 55/90/125/160/195
Leona – changed
- Eclipse (W):
- Cooldown changed to 18/16/14/12/10
seconds from 14 seconds at all ranks.
Nautilus – changed
- Titan’s Wrath (W)
- Shielding changed to 60/70/80/90/100 (+9/10/11/12/13% maxHP) from 65/70/75/80/85 (+9/11/13/15/17% maxHP).
- Duration decreased to 6 seconds from 10 seconds.
- Cooldown decreased to 12 seconds at all ranks from 18 seconds at all ranks.
Orianna – nerfed
- Base MR
- Decreased to 26 from 30
Quinn – nerfed
- AD per level
- Decreased to 2.4 from 3
Rammus – buffed
- Defensive Ball Curl (W):
- Bonus armor increased 60/70/80/90/100% from 50/60/70/80/90%.
- Bonus magic resist increased to 30/35/40/45/50% from 25/30/35/40/45%.
Rakan – nerfed
- Base HP
- Decreased to 480 from 510
- Base armor
- Decreased to 33 from 36
Sion – buffed
- Soul Furnace (W):
- Permanent max HP gain from small enemies increased to 4 from 3.
- Permanent max HP gain from large enemies increased to 15 from 10.
Tahm Kench – changed
- Devour/Regurgitate (W):
- Devour duration changed to 4 seconds at all ranks from 4/4.5/5/5.5/6 seconds.
- Cooldown increased to 28/25/22/19/16 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds.
- Cost decreased to 60 from 90.
- New: Triggers half its normal cooldown on enemy cast.
Taliyah – nerfed
- Base movespeed
- Decreased to 335 from 340
- Seismic Shove (W):
- Cooldown increased to 16/15/14/13/12 seconds from 12 seconds at all ranks.
- Weaver’s Wall (R):
- No longer grants vision
Trundle – changed
- Chomp (Q):
- Damage decreased to 20/30/40/50/60 from 20/40/60/80/100
- AD ratio increased to 100/110/120/130/40% from 100/105/110/115/120%
- Bonus AD duration decreased to 5 seconds from 8 seconds
Tryndamere – buffed
- Spinning Slash (E):
- Cooldown decreased to 13/12/11/10/9
seconds from 13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds
Wukong – nerfed
- Crushing Blow (Q):
- Damage decreased to 10/40/70/100/130 from 30/60/90/120/150
- AD ratio decreased to 0/10/20/30/40% from 10/20/30/40/50%
Zoe – nerfed
- More Sparkles! (P):
- AP ratio decreased to 20% from 32.5%
- Damage decreased to 10-124 from 12-135
- Spell Thief (W):
- AP ratio decreased to 40% from 55%
Patch 8.16 Rune Changes
Electrocute – changed
- Damage
- Decreased 30-180 (+40%bAD)(+25%AP) from 50-220 (+50%bAD)(+30%AP)
- Cooldown
- Decreased to 25-20 seconds from 50-25 seconds
Cheap Shot – nerfed
- Damage
- Decreased to 8-40 from 15-40
Sudden Impact – nerfed
- Lethality bonus
- Decreased to 7 from 10
- Magic penetration bonus
- Decreased to 6 from 8
Celerity – nerfed
- Bonus movespeed
- Bonus movespeed converted to AD decreased to 6% from 9.6%
- Bonus movespeed converted to AP decreased to 10% from 16%
Scorch – changed
- Damage
- Decreased to 10-30 from 20-60
- Cooldown
- Decreased to 10 seconds form 20 seconds
Summon Aery
- Damage
- Decreased to 10-40 from 15-40
- Shield
- Increased to 35-80 from 30-80
League of Legends Nexus Blitz
Patch 8.16 introduces Nexus Blitz, a new “experimental” game mode, which has been added to the game with patch 8.16 but is in a very ‘early access’ state. It should be around for a while if people enjoy it, but will be subject to “aggressive patching” as Riot attempt to iron out its kinks.
Nexus Blitz is played on a new map, and will require teams to take two junglers to secure objectives. The game mode also features events – “map-wide murder-encouraging objectives that bestow glorious rewards on the victors.” It’s still not quite clear what this actually means, but it seems like Riot has a lot of ideas to try out.
There are a whole bunch of changes, with a new jungle, altered items, and gold sharing to contend with, and frankly it’s all subject to an awful lot of change. Expect to see Nexus Blitz pop up in future patch posts as Riot settle on a more cohesive theme.
Patch 8.16 Skins
Second most important: cosmetics. Lovely, gorgeous cosmetics. Bit more of a visual medium this, so we’ve grabbed the best videos of each skin, as well as a lovely pic or two. Some are relatively simple changes, while others are total reworks of every part of the champion outside the gameplay numbers – new VO, new animations, new particles and the rest. It’s generally defined by how much they cost, so we’ve detailed that as well.
Mecha Aurelion Sol – 1350 RP
Here’s his splash:
Mafia Braum – 1350 RP
Here’s his splash:
Cosmic Queen Ashe – 1350 RP
Here’s her splash:
Cosmic Enchantress Lulu – 1350
Here’s her splash:
Cosmic Defender Xin Zhao
Here’s his splash:
LoL Patch 8.16 Login Screen
Each patch has its own login screen with unique music. They’re always fairly excellent, though 8.16’s hasn’t appeared yet – expect it in the next week or so. It will likely be based around the new cosmic skins, or Nexus Blitz.
That’s all the major changes in League of Legends patch 8.16 covered, but we’ll see you again for patch 8.17 in a few weeks.