League of Legends’ next big content update is patch 8.18. Well, I say big. In reality, as patches go, this one is pretty small. But never fear, that’s largely down to two efforts from the balance team in particular. The first is that they’ve been working on pre-season for the past week, and are only now moving their focus to the new patch.
The second is that patch 8.18 is, in terms of balance, a very small patch. The next patch, 8.19, is the Worlds patch – the version of the game that this year’s World Championships will take place on. That means that this patch is more preparatory than anything else. Riot is clearly unwilling to make any sweeping changes that could upset the balance of the game heading into its biggest esports event of the year.
There is, however, a brand-new skin line, a legendary skin, and a brand-new PvE game mode to get your hands on. Riot has announced Odyssey, a space-faring new part of the World, and an accompanying mode, Extraction, pitting Jinx, Yasuo, and Malphite (among others) against some terrifying space monsters.
LoL Patch 8.18 Release date and downtime
We don’t know the exact release date for patch 8.18 yet, but the schedule is bi-weekly, so expect it on Wednesday, September 12. We’ll update when Riot do, but keep an eye on the server maintenance page for the latest update.
LoL Patch 8.18 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.
Champion Changes
Aatrox – buffed
- Umbral Dash (E):
- Heal increased to 20/22.5/25/27.5/30% from 20/21.25/22.5/23.75/25%
- World Ender (R):
- AD increased to 20/25/30% from 20/22.5/25%
Akali – nerfed
- Perfect Execution (R):
- Damage decreased to 100/150/200 from 120/180/240.
Braum – nerfed
- Base HP
- Decreased to 540 from 576.16
Gnar – nerfed
- Base Armor
- Decreased to 28 from 32
Lucian – buffed
- Piercing Light (Q):
- AD increased to 60/75/90/105/120% bAD from 60/70/80/90/100% bAD
Renekton – buffed
- Slice and Dice (E):
- Dice Fury Bonus: Armor reduction increased to 25/27.5/30/32.5/35% from 15/20/25/30/35%
- Dice Fury Bonus: Damage increased to 70/115/160/205/250 from 60/105/150/195/240
Ryze – nerfed
- Rune Prison (W):
- Flux bonus root duration decreased to 1.5 seconds from 2 seconds
Sejuani – nerfed
- Permafrost (E):
- Damage decreased to 20/35/50/65/80 from 30/45/60/75/90
- Glacial Prison (R):
- Ice storm slow duration decreased to 1 seconds from 3 seconds
Trundle – nerfed
- Pillar of Ice (E):
- Cooldown increased to 24/22/20/18/16 seconds from 22/20/18/16/14 seconds.
- Slow changed to 15/25/35/45/55% from 30/35/40/45/50%
Vayne – buffed
- Tumble (Q):
- Cooldown decreased to 4/3.5/3/2.5/2 seconds from 6/5/4/3/2 seconds
Viktor – changed
- Glorious Evolution (P):
- Hex Core Mk-1 cost decreased to 1150 gold from 1250 gold.
- Perfect Hex Core cost increased to 850 gold from 750 gold
LoL Patch 8.18 Odyssey
League of Legends Odyssey
Odyssey is a brand-new event coming to League of Legends in patch 8.18. As well as introducing a brand-new skin line, there’ll be a new PvE game mode, Extraction, as Jinx, Malphite, Yasuo, and Sona work against Kayn (who’s getting a new Legendary skin) to save Ziggs.
At the moment, we don’t know how Extraction will play out, but we do know what most of the new skins will look like, thanks to the new Odyssey trailer. Check it out below:
LoL Patch 8.18 Skins
Odyssey Malphite – 1350 RP
Odyssey Sona – 1350 RP
Odyssey Ziggs – 1350 RP
LoL Patch 8.18 Login Screen
Each patch has its own login screen with unique music. They’re always fairly excellent, and 8.18’s is no different – check out the Odyssey-themed login screen below:
There’ll more changes throughout the rest of the 8.18 cycle, so check back for more tweaks over the next week or so. Otherwise, we’ll see you back here for patch 8.19 in a few weeks.