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League of Legends patch 9.6 notes – April Fools skins and massive Urgot changes

The latest patch notes point towards some future Teemo changes, and introduce some wonderful April Fools skins

League of Legends

The latest League of Legends patch has arrived on the PBE, which means it’s time for another round of League of Legends patch notes. At the moment, balance changes are fairly light, but there are some adorable pet-themed April Fools skins to check out.

This patch did feature major changes to Teemo, but they’ve now been removed as they’re likely to need multiple balance passes before they go through. There are plenty of changes that will actually launch with this update, however. Urgot is bearing the brunt of those, with changes to much of his kit. Smaller changes can be found across the rest of the roster, with the newly-reworked Kayle and Morgana in line for a couple of tweaks following their new looks.

Elsewhere, patch 9.6 will release just in time for April Fools, which means it’s time for some animal-themed skins. Fizz becomes a spaniel, while Corgi Corki takes to the sky on the back of one of Her Majesty’s finest. If you’re more of a cat person, however, Pretty Kitty Rengar and Meowrick are available too.

League of Legends patch 9.6 release date and downtime

We don’t have an exact League of Legends patch 9.6 release date just yet, but patches tend to be released on a bi-weekly schedule. With that in mind, expect the new update to land on Wednesday, March 20.

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League of Legends Patch 9.6 balance changes

Patch 9.6 Champion Changes

Caitlyn – buffed

Ace in the Hole (R):
Damage increased to 300/525/750 from 250/475/700.

Ezreal – changed

Essence Flux (W):
Detonate now only does 50% damage to towers.

Gnar – buffed

Hyper/Wallop
Cooldown decreased to 7 seconds at all ranks from 15/13/11/9/7 seconds.

Jayce – nerfed

Stats:
Health decreased to 560 from 576.
HP per level decreased to 90 from 95.
HP/5 decreased to 6 from 7.5.
HP/5 per level decreased to 0.6 from 0.8.

Kayle – nerfed

Stats:
AD per level decreased to 2.5 from 3.
Attack speed per level decreased to 1.5 from 2.
Celestial Blessing (W):
Bonus movespeed from AP decreased to 8% per 100 AP from 10% per 100 AP.

LeBlanc – nerfed

Sign of Malice (Q):
AP ratio decreased to 30% from 40%.

Morgana – nerfed

Stats:
HP/5 decreased to 4.5 from 5.5.
Tormented Shadow (W):
AP ratio per second decreased to 14% from 16%.

Nautilus – buffed

Stats:
Base armor increased to 39 from 35.46.
Staggering Blow (P):
Per target cooldown changed to 6 seconds from 9/8/7/6 seconds.

Neeko – hotfixed

Stats:
Attack speed per level decreased to 2.5% from 3.5%.
AD per level decreased to 2 from 3.
Shapesplitter (W):
On-hit damage decreased to 50/70/90/110/130 from 50/80/110/140/170.

Rek’Sai – nerfed

Void Rush (R):
Cooldown increased to 100/90/80 seconds from 100/80/60. Bonus AD ratio decreased to 175% from 200%.

Shen – buffed

Twilight Assault (Q):
On-hit damage increased to 10/16/22/28/24/40 based on level from 5/10/15/20/25/30 based on level.

Sylas – nerfed

Kingslayer (W):
Healing multiplier at low health decreased to 175% from 200%.
Heal AP ratio decreased to 40% from 45%.

Trundle – buffed

Frozen Domain (W):
Bonus attack speed changed to 30/47.5/65/82.5/100 from 20/40/60/80/100%

Urgot – changed

Stats:
Mana increased to 340 from 300 Mana regen growth increased to 0.8 from 0.6.
Echoing Flames (P):
No longer deals reduced damage to enemies hit by it in the last 5 seconds.
Purge (W):
At max rank, Purge now lasts for an infinite duration and has no cooldown.
No longer shields.
Cost decreased to 40/30/20/10/0 from 65.
Cooldown decreased to 8/6/4/2/0 seconds from 12/9/6/3/0 seconds.
On-hit damage reduction decreased to 50% from 66%.
Disdain (E):
Now grants a shield for 60/80/100/120/140 + 200% bAD on cast.
Damage changed to 90/120/150/180/210 + 100% bAD from 60/100/140/180/220 + 50% tAD.
Cooldown changed to 14 seconds at all ranks from 16/15/14/13/12 seconds.
Cost increased to 50/60/70/80/90 from 50 at all ranks.
Fear Beyond Death (R):
Range increased to 2500 from 1600.
Cast time increased to 0.5 seconds from 0.4 seconds.
Damage changed to 125/250/375 + 50% bAD from 50/175/300 + 50% tAD.

Xayah – buffed

Deadly Plumage (W):
Attack speed increased to 40/47.5/55/62.5/70% from 30/35/50/54/50%.

Zoe – nerfed

Sleepy Trouble Bubble (E):
Cooldown increased to 20/18.5/17/15.5/14 seconds from 16/15/14/13/12 seconds.
Slow decreased to 10/15/20/25/30% from 10/20/30/40/50%.

Patch 9.6 Item Changes

Brawler’s Gloves – buffed

Stats:
Critical strike chance is no longer a unique passive.

Patch 9.6 Rune Changes

Minion Dematerializer

Effect:
Amount at start of game decreased to 3 from 6.
Damage bonus increased to 6% from 4%.
Damage bonus on same minion type increased to 3% from 1%.
Starting cooldown decreased to 180 seconds from 240.

Overheal – nerfed

Stats:
Shielf values changed to 20-100% from 40-100%.

Patch 9.6 Bounty Changes

 Patch 9.6 will see changes to the game’s bounty system:
  • CS bounties reduced y approximately 25% (Increased to 50 bounty per 200 gold from 50 bounty per 150 gold).
  • CS bounties now decrease when you lose your advantage.
  • Support item gold now contributes to bounties.
  • Team average calculations will now account for support items and divide gold by 4.3, rather than 4.

You can read Riot Jatt’s longform explanation of the new bounty system here.


Skins

There’s a host of new cosmetics on offer in patch 9.6, which I’m pretty sure are being put in place for April Fools. You can check them out below, but be warned – they’re all extremely good boys.

Corgi Corki – 1350 RP

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Here’s his splash (which he shares with Fuzz Fizz):

Fuzz Fizz – 1350 RP

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You’ve already seen the splash art, but I think it’s worth seeing again:

Fuzz Fizz also comes with a regal Prestige Edition, replacing his ult dog with a majestic pug. Check out the splash below:

Meowrick – 1350 RP

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Here’s his splash, which is shared with Pretty Kitty Rengar (below):

Pretty Kitty Rengar – 1350 RP

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league of legends patch 9.6 login screen

Every League of Legends patch comes with its own custom login screen. They’re always fairly excellent, and patch 9.6’s is no exception. This time around, it’s based on the April Fools skins.

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That’s everything we’ve got for you in League of Legends patch 9.6. Remember that everything in here is only on the PBE, and is therefore subject to change, and that you can keep up to date with the game’s current build with the League of Legends patch 9.5 notes. We’ll see you again for the League of Legends patch 9.7 notes very soon.