League of Legends patch 10.18 notes – Psyops and Hextech skins, VFX updates

With LoL patch 10.17 skipped over, and Riot now returned from a week away to “to disconnect, recharge, and reboot”, we’re on to the next League of Legends patch cycle: 10.18 A small handful of changes have been hanging around on the MOBA game’s PBE for an extra week following the brief pause in the cycle, but now the regular batch of Champion changes and new skins are starting to arrive. Let’s see what’s in store for LoL patch 10.18.

First up, we’ve got a shiny new set of PsyOps skins on the horizon. The lucky Champs in for the new looks are Ezreal (who also gets a golden-hued Prestige Edition), Shen, Master Yi, Sona, and Vi – but that’s not all. Another of League’s alternate universes makes a comeback this patch, with a Hextech skin for Ziggs. Sweet.

Some of the splash art for these goodies has now hit the PBE, so you can head on down to the Champion Skins section below to take a good look, along with the in-game shots and clips of the skins in-action.

As for Champion balance changes, there appears to be only a small handful up for testing right now for LoL patch 10.18, but we can expect more to arrive over the next fortnight. As for LoL patch 10.17, Riot’s posted a list of changes headed straight to the live game this very day (Wednesday, August 19), which we’ve also included in he notes below to help keep you up-to-date with everything on the way.

Anyway, enough from us. Without further ado, here are the LoL patch 10.18 notes (with a dash of 10.17 thrown in!):

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.18 RELEASE DATE AND DOWNTIME

As reflected in the 2020 League of Legends patch schedule, LoL patch 10.18 is due to go live on Wednesday, September 2, 2020. Maintenance times have now been confirmed, and downtime will begin at 03:00 AM PT for NA servers, 05:00 UK for EUW servers, and 03:00 CET for EUNE servers, and last for approximately three hours.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.18 CHAMPION CHANGES

Champion Changes

Here’s an early changelist for patch 10.18 (via lead gameplay designer Mark Yetter on Twitter):

10.18 Patch Preview with changes:

-Guardian nerf added, this was overly dominant on pretty much every support
-With Sett longer term we want to shift power away from tank into more AD builds. This should help him not to be as flexible in pro while being ok in soloq pic.twitter.com/yt2ixQQKla

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) August 25, 2020

Ahri – changed

Stats:

HP5 decreased to 5.5 from 6.5

Essence Theft (Passive):

Changed! Ahri’s Passive has been renamed to Essence Theft from Vastayan Grace!

New! This ability now does the following: “Innate: Whenever Ahri hits an enemy with one of her abilities, she gains a charge of Essence Theft (max 3 per cast). Upon reaching 9 stacks, Ahri’s next ability will restore [3/5/9/18 at levels 1/6/11/16] (+9% AP) health.”

Removed! Changed from previous: “Innate :: Whenever Ahri lands 2 ability hits against a champion within 1.5 seconds, she gains 20% bonus movement speed for 3 seconds.”

Orb of Deception (Q):

Removed! “Passive: Ahri gains an Essence Theft stack for each enemy hit by her abilities, up to a maximum of 3 per cast, and storing up to 9 at once. While Ahri has 9 stacks of Essence Theft, Orb of Deception consumes the stacks to Heal Ahri for 3/5/9/18 (based on level) (+ 9% AP) for each enemy hit instead of generating more stacks.”

Fox-Fire (W):

New! This ability now grants ” a burst of decaying Movement Speed that lasts for 1.5 seconds”

New! “Minions below 20% health take 200% damage”

Cooldown increased to 10/9/8/7/6 from 9/8/7/6/5

Mana cost increased to 55 from 40

Ashe – nerfed

Stats:

Base AD decreased to 59 from 61

Galio – nerfed

Winds of War (Q):

Windblast damage decreased to 70/105/140/175/210 from 80/115/150/185/220

Jarvan IV – buffed

Dragon Strike (Q):

Damage increased to 90/130/170/210/250 from 80/120/160/200/240

Kayle – nerfed

Radiant Blast (Q):

Removed! This ability no longer refunds mana on Champion hit

Celestial Blessing (W):

Mana cost increased to 90/100/110/120/130 from 70/80/90/100/110

Starfire Spellblade (E):

Cooldown changed to 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 from 8

Mana cost decreased to No Cost from 50/55/60/65/70

Auto attack projectile speed increased to 5000 from 2000

Kog’Maw – nerfed

Stats:

Armour per level decreased to 3.25 from 3.5

HP per level decreased to 85 from 90

Lux – changed

Prismatic Barrier (W):

Mana cost changed to a flat 60 from 60/65/70/75/80

Miss Fortune – buffed

Stats:

Attack speed per level increased to 3 from 2.25

Strut (W):

Maximum movement speed increased to 55/65/75/85/95 from 50/60/70/80/90

Rumble – buffed

Flamespitter (Q):

Total damage dealt increased to 180/220/260/300/340 from 175/210/245/280/315

Sett – buffed

Pit Grit (Passive):

Bonus damage of Sett’s second/follow-up attack increased to 5-90 (+50% bAD) from 5-90 (+15% tAD)

Knuckle Down (Q):

Damage changed to [10/20/30/40/50 (1% max HP +1/1.5/2/2.5/3% per 100 tAD)] from [10/20/30/40/50 (+1/2/3/4/5% max HP) (+1% per 100 tAD)]

Shen – nerfed

Ki Barrier (Passive):

Ability’s shield value decreased to 60-111 from 70-121

Sona – nerfed

Stats:

Base HP decreased to 480 from 482.36 Base mana decreased to 340 from 340.6

Twitch – changed

Contaminate (E):

Per stack AP ratio increased to 33.3% from 20%

Spray and Pray (R):

Damage from piercing bolts changed to [-10% less damage to subsequent targets, down to a minimum of 60% damage] from [-20% less damage to subsequent targets, down to minimum of 40% damage]

Xin Zhao – buffed

Wind Becomes Lightning (W):

Thrust damage increased to 40/75/110/145/180 from 30/65/100/135/170 Thrust AD ratio increased to 80% from 75%

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.17 CHANGES

Here’s the list of changes headed straight to the live game on August 19 for the skipped-over LoL patch 10.17 (via lead gameplay designer Mark Yetter on Twitter):

Better late than never, 10.17 Patch Preview. A bit smaller than a normal patch with the Riot summer break last week.

These changes should be going out some time Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/iDLklb4m2i

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) August 17, 2020

Rune Changes

Guardian (Resolve Keystone) – nerfed

Effects:

Shield value decreased to [90-250 (+15% AP)(+9% bonus HP)] from [90-250 (+25% bonus HP) to 90-250]

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.18 NEW SKINS

Champion Skins

Here’s a brand-new trailer showcasing the upcoming PsyOps skin line!

PsyOps Ezreal – 1350 RP

“A young hotshot and the newest recruit in the elite PsyOps unit, Ezreal’s raw psychic ability is only matched by his severely over-inflated ego. He has successfully annoyed the rest of his team to the point they just direct him towards hard targets and half-hope he winds up dead.”

Here’s the PSYOPS EZREAL splash art:

Riot says on Reddit: “PsyOps Ezreal is hitting the Rift with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

PsyOps Ezreal is set to be 1350 RP.”

PsyOps Ezreal Prestige Edition – 2000 Event Tokens

“Ezreal’s mastery of psychic military combat has driven him to new heights, attracting the attention of his handlers in High Command. He’s calmed down a bit, earning some respect from his squad mates… but not enough. He’s never calmed down enough.”

Here’s the PSYOPS EZREAL PRESTIGE EDITION splash art:

PsyOps Master Yi – 1350 RP

“A legendary psychic swordsman and elite leader of the PsyOps unit. Yi is calm, professional, and always gets the job done, making him a terrifying bogeyman among rogue militaries, and a target for those harbouring resentment towards the global war machine.”

Here’s the PSYOPS MASTER YI splash art:

Riot says on Reddit: “PsyOps Master Yi is hitting the Rift with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

Notes:

• If R is active, hood comes on and Mask stays on.
• If Recalling, Mask gets puts away. Mask will come back on during Recall Winddown.
• These are not toggles/will not be toggles.

PsyOps Master Yi is set to be 1350 RP.”

PsyOps Shen – 1350 RP

“A psychic soldier and field lieutenant within PsyOps, Shen’s power is connected to a phantom child that follows him wherever he goes — granting him insight into the middens between the living and the dead. Where the boy came from only High Command knows, and they aren’t talking.”

Here’s the PSYOPS SHEN splash art:

Riot says on Reddit: “PsyOps Shen is shielding an ally on the Rift with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

PsyOps Shen is set to be 1350 RP.”

PsyOps Sona – Legendary – 1820 RP 

“An immensely powerful psychic, Sona has spent the past several years locked in darkness, subjected to harrowing experiments to further the Black Rose Group’s aims of manufacturing the perfect human bioweapon. Freeing herself during the assault on the BRG’s research facility, she discovers her power has grown to near-omnipotence, making her less a human than a psychic god.”

Here’s the PSYOPS SONA splash art:

Riot says on Reddit: “PsyOps Sona is levitating her way onto the Rift, featuring:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New animations and recall!
• New VO!
• Transforms into unbound form after unlocking her R!

PsyOps Sona is set to be 1820 RP.”

PsyOps Vi – 1350 RP

“A hand-to-hand combat specialist trained in psychically enhancing her blows with her mind, Vi takes care of “hard targets” for the rest of the PsyOps crew… generally by rushing ahead and punching them apart. She will fight anything and everything, including the old bipedal winter mechs from the Arctic Ops event 40 years prior.”

Here’s the PSYOPS VI splash art:

Riot says on Reddit: “PsyOps Vi is hitting the Rift… hard, featuring:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

PsyOps Vi is set to be 1350 RP and is available to play on PBE!”

Hextech Ziggs – Ten Gemstones

“Famed inventor of Tocker, Ziggs is a savant to some, to others a maniac. All can agree that no matter the consequences, Ziggs seems to enjoy his experiments… especially the subsequent explosions. What is perhaps most miraculous of all is how he and Tocker have survived so many blasts over the years.”

Here’s the HEXTECH ZIGGS splash art:

Riot says on Reddit: “Hextech Ziggs is bringing the bang to the Rift featuring:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

Hextech Ziggs is set to be 1350 RP and is available to play on PBE!”

VFX updates

Nocturne, Viktor, Malzahar and Ignite – Visual Effects Updates from r/LeaguePBE

Miscellaneous

This should be on PBE soon for all champions. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/OuV2hJo7xr

— Reina Sweet (@ReinaSweet) August 18, 2020

Upcoming Tooltip Changes from r/LeaguePBE

We have some light mechanics upgrades coming to PBE for Ahri and Kayle. Aiming to get these into the 10.18 patch.

Both should amount to very small buffs, but focused on creating better gameplay primarily.

Details in thread (1/3)

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) August 19, 2020

Ahri Goals:
-More flexibility and control of her movement speed to open up new small combos and outplays
-More incentive and heal reward for trading with champions

(2/3) pic.twitter.com/3F7dYTPrnc

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) August 19, 2020

Kayle Goals:
-More active laning where trading with the enemy laner is a more available option over pure passive play

(3/3) pic.twitter.com/UE8VE4h3qJ

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) August 19, 2020

Those are all the notes for LoL patch 10.18 for now, but keep heading back to check them out as there’s sure to be lots more to eyeball and delve into ahead of the patch’s arrival very soon.

Also be sure to go catch up on the LoL patch 10.16 notes – it’s a big update, and there’s plenty on the way, so you’ll want to make sure you’re in the know. Plus, we have a LoL tier list which has all you need to know about the best League of Legends Champions to play in each role as of the latest patch.

Additional reporting by Iain Harris.