We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

League of Legends patch 10.4 notes – Blood Moon skins and loads of balance changes

League of Legends patch 10.4 also brings a bunch of Champion and Rune balance changes

Congratulations, LoL fans, on surviving the long, cold month of January and making it to the next stage of League of Legends season 10. Following the extensive batch of changes that LoL patch 10.3 has now brought to the live game, we’ve got another sizeable round of tweaks and tinkerings on the PBE to share with you – it’s time for League of Legends patch 10.4!

While the last update introduced some super sweet Heartseeker skins for Yuumi and Jinx – just perfect ahead of Valentine’s Day – it looks like patch 10.4 is taking a slightly different direction with a return of the Blood Moon line. Three Champs get Blood Moon skins this update: Katarina, Master Yi, and Tryndamere. You can get a good look at these further down.

That’s not all, however – Riot’s got a whole bunch of balance changes in the works this cycle. Recently, senior LoL Champion designer August Browning indicated top lane Soraka would be nerfed “pretty hard”, and it looks like this is already on the way, with a load of changes to her abilities this patch. But she’s not the only one – top lane Sona’s getting nerfed too, judging by the changes Riot’s made on the PBE so far.

There are also some Item and Rune changes to check out which, including pretty significant adjustments to Stopwatch and Perfect Timing. Read on to see what’s in store for League of Legends patch 10.4 below.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.4 RELEASE DATE AND DOWNTIME

As reflected in the 2020 League of Legends patch schedule, League of Legends patch 10.4 will go live on Thursday, February 20. Maintenance usually starts around 03:00 PT for NA servers, 05:00 GMT for EUW servers, and 3:00 CET for EUNE servers and lasts for about 3 hours, but this isn’t confirmed just yet – be sure to keep checking back for exact server downtimes.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.4 BALANCE CHANGES

Aphelios Change

New features

New!
Aphelios now displays the weapons he currently has equipped as icons next to his above-head health bar.
The Champ’s indicators for sentry range now appear red for enemies when it’s not active

Champion Changes

Akali – buffed (changes already hotfixed to live)

Shuriken Flip (E):
Damage increased to 50/85/120/155/190 from 40/70/100/130/160.
Perfect Execution (R):
R1 damage increased to 125/225/325 from 85/150/215 Cooldown decreased to 120/90/60 seconds from 160/130/100 seconds.

Amumu – buffed

Curse of the Sad Mummy (R):
Cooldown decreased to 130/115/100 from 150/130/110
New! Stop in the Name of Love now stops enemies in the middle of their dashes
Bandage Toss (Q):
Dash speed now increased to 1800 from 1350

Aphelios – nerfed

Stats:
Calibrum – Aphelios’ attack timer no longer resets just after he’s consumed a mark (though his attack timer still resets for the mark attack)
Turret attacks have been decreased to 3 from 4
Ranged attack damage on turrets increased to 3 from 2
AOE spells’ damage to turrets increased to 4 from 2
Moonlight Vigil (R):
Range of this ability decreased to 1300 from 1600

Aurelion Sol – nerfed

Celestial Expansion (W):
Active ability (stars) damage increase now decreased to 40% from 50%

Caitlyn – buffed

Stats:
Bonus attack speed increased to 20% from 10% at level 1

Darius – buffed

Hemorrhage (Passive):
New! This ability now notes “Darius’ bleed deals 120% damage to monsters.”
Decimate (Q):
New! This ability now heals on hits against large monsters.

Diana – buffed

Moonsilver Blade (Passive):
New! This ability now deals 150% to all monsters

Garen – buffed

Decisive Strike (Q):
Bonus physical damage increased to [30/60/90/120/150 (+ 50% AD)] from [30/60/90/120/150 (+ 40% AD)]
Courage (W):
New! When at max resistance from enemy kills, this ability now increases bonus armor and magic resistance by 10%
Shield amount changed to 70/95/120/145/170 (+20% bonus Health)] from [10% maximum health]
Judgment (E):
New! This ability now does 150% damage to monsters

Gnar – buffed

Stats:
Mega Gnar movespeed increased to 335 from 325
Hyper (Mini W):
Maximum damage against monsters increased to 300 at all ranks from 100/150/200/250/300
Rage Gene (Passive):
Bonus movement speed decreased to 0-20 at levels 1-18 in mini Gnar form from 10-30
Gnar! (Mega R):
Attack damage ratio increased to 50% bAD from 20% bAD
AP ratio increased to 100% from 50%

Jayce – buffed

Stats:
Mana increased to 375 from 357.2
Mana per level increased to 45 from 37
To the Skies (Hammer Q):
Damage increased to 55/95/135/175/215/255 from 45/80/115/150/185/220

Lux – buffed

Light Binding (Q):
Damage increased to 80/125/170/215/260 from 70/115/160/205/250
Cooldown decreased to 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 from 13/12/11/10/9
AP ratio decreased to 60% from 70%
Final Spark (R):
New! Lux can Flash while casting R

Mordekaiser – buffed

Darkness Rise (Passive):
Maximum damage against monsters increased to 25-120 from 15-100

Rammus – buffed

Stats:
Attack speed increased to .656 from .625
Attack speed increased to .656 from .625

Sett – buffed

Stats:
Base HP regeneration increased to 9.25 from 8

Singed – nerfed

Stats:
Health decreased to 580 from 610 Armor decreased to 34 from 37

Sona – nerfed

Hymn of Valor (Q):
Mana cost increased to 75/80/85/90/95 from 50/55/60/65/70
New! This ability now says: “Granting an ally this aura effect will refund Sona 30 mana once per cast”
Aria of Perseverance (W):
Mana cost increased to 105/110/115/120/125 from 80/85/90/95/100
Tagging an ally for the first time with her aura grants Sona 30 mana
Song of Celerity (E):
Mana cost increased to 90 from 65
New! This ability now says: “Granting an ally this aura effect will refund Sona 30 mana once per cast”

Soraka – changed

Stats:
Base HP increased to 535 from 529.04
HP per level decreased to 74 from 78
Mana increased to 375 from 350.8
Mana per level decreased to 40 from 60
Base AD decreased to 50 from 50.04
Starcall (Q):
Self-heal decreased to [40/50/60/70/80 (+30% AP)] from [60/80/100/120/140 (+50% AP)]
Self-heal duration decreased to 2.5 seconds from 5 seconds
Movement speed decreased to 10/12.5/15/17.5/20% from 15/20/25/30/35%
Mana cost increased to 60/65/70/75/80 from 40/45/50/55/60
Astral Infusion (W):
Healing increased to 80/115/150/185/220 from 80/110/140/170/200
Rejuvenation healing increased to 40/50/60/70/80 from 30/40/50/60/70
Maximum health cost to Soraka while impacted by Rejuvenation changed to “if cast while affected with Rejuvenation, the max health cost will be reduced by 40/55/70/85/100%” from “if cast while affected with Rejuvenation, Soraka will incur no Max Health cost”.

Sylas – buffed

Chain Lash (Q):
Damage increased to 40/60/80/100/120 from 40/55/70/85/100

Talon – buffed

Blade’s End (Passive):
New! This ability now says: “Talon’s Bleed deals 120% damage to monsters.”

Udyr – buffed

Monkey’s Agility (Passive):
For each Cloud Drake buff, Udyr gets 5% off his global cooldown

Yuumi – changed

Prowling Projectile (Q – changes already hotfixed to live)
Base damage increased to 40/70/100/130/160/190 from 40/65/90/115/140/165
Empowered damage increased to 45/85/125/165/205/245 from 45/80/115/150/185/220
Zoomies (E):
Healing changed to 70/105/140/175/210 from 70/100/130/160/190

Zed – changed

Stats:
Monsters are now affected by energy restore
Contempt for the Weak (Passive):
New! This ability now does 100% extra damage to monsters.
There is a cap of [200/350/500 at 1/7/17] damage against monsters.

Item Changes

Bami’s Cinder – changed

Unique Passive – Immolate:
Unique Passive – Immolate effect now reads: “Burns nearby enemies for [6 to 23] magic damage per second. Once every 10 seconds, your next immobilizing spell deals [6 to 23] (+2% Your Bonus HP) bonus magic damage and releases a fire nova that also deals that bonus damage around you. Immolate’s damage is increased by 100% to minions and monsters.”

Cinderhulk – changed

Unique Passive – Immolate:
Unique Passive – Immolate effect now reads: “While in combat, burns nearby enemies for [12 to 29] magic damage a second. Once every 10 seconds, your next immobilizing spell deals [12 to 29] (+4% Your Bonus HP) bonus magic damage and releases a fire nova that also deals that bonus damage around you. Immolate’s damage is increased by 300% damage to minions and monsters.”

Forgefire Cape – changed

Unique Passive – Immolate:
Unique Passive – Immolate effect now reads: “Burns nearby enemies for [26 to 43] magic damage per second. Once every 10 seconds, your next immobilizing spell deals [26 to 43] (+5% Your Bonus HP) bonus magic damage and releases a fire nova that also deals that bonus damage around you. Immolate’s damage is increased by 50% to minions and monsters.”

Gargoyle Stoneplate – changed

Cost:
Combine cost decreased to 330 from 380

Guardian Angel – changed

Cost:
Combine cost decreased to 50 from 100

Stopwatch – nerfed

Cost:
Increased to 650 from 600

Sunfire Cape – changed

Unique Passive – Immolate:
Unique Passive – Immolate effect now reads: “Burns nearby enemies for [26 to 43] magic damage per second. Once every 10 seconds, your next immobilizing spell deals [26 to 43] (+5% Your Bonus HP) bonus magic damage and releases a fire nova that also deals that bonus damage around you. Immolate’s damage is increased by 50% to minions and monsters.”

Zhonya’s Hourglass

Cost:
Combine cost decreased to 250 from 300

Rune Changes

Perfect Timing – changed

Effects:
Timer of stopwatch increased to 14 minutes from 10 minutes
New! This Rune now now reduces the timer by 120 seconds for every takedown you get
This Rune no longer reduces Zhonya’s Hourglass, Guardian Angel, and Gargoyle Stoneplate’s cooldown 15%

Phase Rush – buffed

Effects:
Amount of time given to carry out 3 attacks or spells increased to 4 seconds from 3 seconds
This ability now increases movement speed to 30-50% for melee Champions

Hail of Blades – changed

Effects:
Time elapse between hits allowed increased to 3 seconds from 2 seconds
Cooldown changed to [8 seconds out of combat with Champions] from [4 seconds out of combat]

Prototype: Omnistone (Inspiration Keystone):

Effects:
Now says: “Omnistone’s first roll can’t be PTA or Conqueror”

Champion Skins

Blood Moon Katarina – 1350 RP
Note! This has been updated since the first PBE version! Riot says Katarina now has a facial scar and VFX tweaks, and her red warpaint has been removed from the base skin. Check out her new in-game appearance and splash art below:
YouTube Thumbnail

Here’s the splash:

Blood Moon Master Yi – 1350 RP
YouTube Thumbnail
 Here’s the splash:
Blood Moon Tryndamere – 1350 RP

Here’s the splash:


LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 10.4 LOGIN SCREEN

Every League of Legends patch has its own login screen. They’re usually great, and patch 10.4’s is sure to be no exception. It’s not clear yet what its theme might be, but with some new and spooky Blood Moon skins on the way, perhaps we could see these take centre stage – or it could be a Valentine’s Day-themed screen featuring those Heartseeker skins. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.


That’s all we’ve got for League of Legends patch 10.4. You can stay up to date with the current version of the game via the LoL patch 10.3 notes and our LoL tier list of the current best League of Legends champions. Be sure to check back for the LoLpatch 10.5 notes in the very near future, too.