Riot has released the League of Legends patch 12.17 notes and the changes have been pushed through to the client. The penultimate update before Worlds, it’s the last chance for the MOBA to make any significant changes before the biggest event of the year. Large-scope updates to both Maokai and Hecarim should see an uptick in their playtime – but is it enough to see them in the finals?
Champion Buffs
Miss Fortune
- Double Up (Q): Damage 20/40/60/80/100 (+100% AD)(+35% AP) > 20/45/70/95/120 (+100% AD)(+35% AP)
- Double Up (Q): Cast Time 0.25s > Matches Basic Attack Time
- Make It Rain (E): Cooldown 18/16/14/12/10 >18/17/16/15/14
- Make It Rain (E): Full Damage 80/115/150/185/220 (+80% AP) > 70/100/130/160/190 (+100% AP)
- Make It Rain (E): Slow 40/45/50/55/60% > 50% (+4% per 100 AP)
Attempting to drive MF players away from that Eclipse build we’ve witnessed so often, this buff should see the Queen of Bilgewater sitting firmly in the bot lane aiming to hit that 100% crit chance as soon as possible. A full-AP support build could also still be viable with these chances, as the Make it Rain slow now scales with your ability power.
Twisted Fate
- Wild Cards (Q): AP Ratio 70% > 80%
- Pick a Card (W): Mana 40-100 > 30-70
Lowering the mana cost of Pick a Card means more stuns in lane before having to back, and with the increased AP ratio it also means more late-game damage. Could see TF feature more prominently in mid after this patch.
Kassadin
- Null Sphere (Q): Cooldown 11-9s > 10-8s
- Null Sphere (Q): Mana cost 70-90 > 60-80
Lowering the cooldown and cost of Null Sphere will help with Kassadin’s early game quite significantly – we all know how scary he can be with a few items; this change will see him reach that power spike quicker.
Rell
- Ferromancy (W): Dismount Movement Speed 250 > 280
- Attract and Repel (E): Cooldown 18-11s > 13s
Regulating the cooldown of Attract and Repel will see a slight buff to the early laning-phase. Purchased items will negate some of the increase in CD later on, so it shouldn’t be too noticeable.
Graves
- Collateral Damage (R): Damage 250-550 > 275-575
- End of the Line (Q): Cooldown 12-8s > 13-7s
Graves is going to be a little tankier earlier, with a slight reduction in damage. He might not be able to wear you down as quickly, but he’ll stick around long enough to get the job done if you aren’t careful.
Nocturne
- Attack Speed Ratio: 0.668 > 0.721
- Umbra Blades (Passive): Cooldown 14s > 13s
Increased attack speed over time and a lower cooldown on Nocturne’s empowered auto will translate into more damage in prolonged fights – if you survive long enough, that is.
Ezreal
- Arcane Shift (E): Cooldown 28-16s > 26-14s
Ezreal is already a safe laner with his Arcane Shift; it’s like having an extra flash that comes up every few seconds. Lowering the cooldown of this mobility should delight Ez players while annoying nearly everyone else.
Camille
- Adaptive Defenses (Passive): Health Shield 17% > 20%
- Hookshot / Wall Dive (E): Bonus AD Ratio 75% > 90%
A chunkier shield and increased AD scaling is a scary prospect for anyone going up against Camille in the top lane. She’ll eventually be able to deal excessive amounts of damage while taking less in the process.
Sett
- Haymaker (W): AD Ratio 20% per 100 bonus AD > 25% per 100 bonus AD
- Facebreaker (E): Slow 50% > 70%
Sett can be an absolute menace if given a slight lead, and with his scaling ability getting a buff that is an even scarier prospect. The increased slow on his Facebreaker could also mean certain death if you’re caught.
Champion Nerfs
Nami
- Electrocute: (E) Only counts as one damage instance
Do you hear that? It’s the cries of joy from anyone who’s ever gone against Nami – Lucian. No longer will your health bar be decimated out of nowhere.
Taric
- Base MR: 32 > 28
- Dazzle (E): Cooldown 15-11s > 16-12s
Taric won’t be able to throw his stun out as often, and with the slight reduction in MR, he shouldn’t be able to tank less magic damage in team fights. MR reduction in the bottom lane doesn’t signal the end of the world, but unless itemised correctly, Taric players could feel the pinch going into the mid-game.
Azir
- Arise! (W): AP Ratio 60% > 55%
- Arise! (W): Cooldown 8-6s > 9-6s
- Shifting Sands (E): Cooldown 19-15s > 22-16s
A substantial increase to the cooldown on Azir’s dash ability, Shifting Sands, means that if used irresponsibly in lane, you’ll be more open to ganking opportunities. The early cooldowns for both his W and E being increased means that it’ll be that much more difficult to snowball early.
Ahri
- Charm (E): Duration 1.4-2s > 1.2-2s
Another early-game nerf, with Ahri’s charm holding opponents in her grasp for less time. You won’t get punished quite as much for getting caught with her E, but still, y’know, try to dodge it.
Sylas
- Base HP: 595 > 575
- Chain Lash (Q): Cooldown 10/9/8/7/6s > 11/10/9/8/7s
Sylas heals so much from his kit that you would be forgiven for thinking he has infinite health. This isn’t always the case. With less base HP, bursting him down early should be a little easier. The increase in cooldown to his main source of poke damage should also make laning a more palatable experience.
Trundle
- Frozen Domain (W): Cooldown 15-11s > 18-14s
The image of a Trundle bombing it towards you, surrounded by ice, should be ever so slightly less likely with this nerf. The cooldown increase of his Frozen Domain means players will have to be more selective on when they activate the important buff.
Wukong
- Base Attack Speed: 0.711 > 0.68
- Base Movement Speed: 345 > 340
Wukong will attack less frequently and be ever so slightly slower with 12.17. Still scary, though. Especially when there are two of them.
Sivir
- AD Growth: 3 > 2.8
- Ricochet (W): AD Ratio 30-50% > 25-45%
Sivir is an absolute farming machine, devastating waves of minions like they are nothing. This patch will affect that slightly, but I imagine with a few items under her belt, she’ll be just fine. The AD scaling will really hurt Sivir players in team fights – those ricochets were essentially free damage on a group of enemies and now they’ll scale less with items.
Renekton
- Cull the Meek (Q): Damage 65/100/135/170/205 (+80% Bonus AD) > 60/90/120/150/180 (+100% Bonus AD)
- Cull the Meek (Q): Furious Damage 100-300 (+120% bonus AD) > 90-260 (+140% bonus AD)
This change seems like an attempt to shift some of Renekton’s power to slightly later in a match. The lizard is known for being an early-game bully but tends to fall off massively the longer a match goes on. The increase in AD scaling should see Renekton benefit a lot more from items, so in theory, could be more relevant in late-game situations.
Champion Adjustments
Maokai
- Sap Magic (Passive): Getting hit by large jungle monsters now reduces cooldown – 1.5s per attack received
- Sap Magic (Passive): Heal 5-45 (+4.5-11% Max Health) (Levels 1-15) > 4-34 (4.8-14% Max Health) (Levels 1-17)
- Bramble Smash (Q): Damage 70/110/150/190/230 (+40% AP) > 65/110/155/200/245 (+40% AP)
- Bramble Smash (Q): Percent Max Health Damage 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3%
- Bramble Smash (Q): Bonus Damage to Monsters 40/60/80/100/120
- Sapling Toss (E): Removed Percent Max Health Damage
- Sapling Toss (E): Damage 20-120 > 55-155 (+42.5% AP) (+6% total HP)
- Sapling Toss (E): Brush Damage 40-240 > 75-310 (+85% AP) (+12% total HP) – Empowered brush damage does not affect minions
- Sapling Toss (E): Mana Cost 60/70/80/90/100 > 45/55/65/75/85
- Sapling Toss (E): Slow Amount 35% > 45%
- Sapling Toss (E): Empowered bush slow 35% > 45% (+2% per 100 AP) ( 6% per 1000 bonus HP)
- Nature’s Grasp (R): Initial Speed 50 > 100
- Nature’s Grasp (R): Max Speed 650 > 750
- Nature’s Grasp (R): Acceleration 250 > 300
- Nature’s Grasp (R): Champion Move Speed On Hit 40-60% decaying over 2s
A not-so-mini rework for Maokai. The main points here are that the Saplings no longer have empowered max health damage when thrown in the brush. Instead, that max health damage is transferred to Maokai’s Q ability. The change should see players relying less on setting traps with the Saplings and more on straight-up fighting. The increase in speed of Nature’s Grasp also changes it from something that was almost useless to what is now basically a Nami ult that’s twice as broad. It’s a fun change that will hopefully see the tree fellow see more playtime.
Hecarim
- Base Armour: 35 > 32
- HP Growth: 104 > 99
- Rampage (Q): Damage 60/90/120/150/180 (+90% bonus AD) > 60/85/110/135/160 (+95% bonus AD)
- Rampage (Q): Damage Per Stack 2% (+3 per 100 bonus AD) > 4% (+6% per bonus 100 AD)
- Rampage (Q): Cooldown Per Stack 1s > 0.75s
- Rampage (Q):Max Number of Stacks 2 > 3
- Rampage (Q) Stack Falloff: All at duration end > one stack per second at duration end
- Rampage (Q): Mana Cost 28/31/34/37/40 > 30
- Spirit of Dread (W): Hecarim now gains 15/20/25/30/35 Armour and Magic Resist while Spirit of Dread is active
- Spirit of Dread (W): Cooldown 14s > 16/15.5/15/14.5/14s
- Devastating Charge (E): Min Damage 30/45/60/75/90 (+55% bonus AD) > 30/45/60/75/90 (+50% bonus AD)
- Devastating Charge (E): Max Damage 60/90/120/150/180 (+110% bonus AD) > 60/90/120/150/180 (+100% bonus AD)
- Devastating Charge (E): Minimum Knockback 250 >150
- Devastating Charge (E): Maximum Knockback 450 > 350
- Devastating Charge (E): Cooldown 20/19/18/17/16 > 18 at all ranks
- Onslaught of Shadows (R): Fear Duration 0.75-2s based on distance traveled > 0.75-1.5s based on distance traveled
Attempting to steer Hecarim away from a tank/assassin and more into a bruiser, Riot has taken away some of the horse’s burst and made changes that rewards prolonged fighting. You’ll want to keep your Q stacks up now; although an extra stack has been added, the damage has decreased with each one. Think less ‘dive in and out’ and more ‘dive in and stick around long enough so everyone dies.’
System Buffs
Seeker’s Armguard
- AP: 20 > 30
System Nerfs
Stopwatch
- Cost: 650g > 750g
System Adjustments
Zhonya’s Hourglass
- Cost: 2600 > 3000
- AP: 65 > 80
- Ability Haste: 10 > 15
Guardian Angel
- Cost: 2800 > 3000
- AD: 40 > 45
Phew! That’s it as far as patch 12.17 goes. This is the last chance that Riot has to make large-scale changes before Worlds, as 12.18 is the patch the competitors will be playing on. To see just exactly how the developers decide on buffs and nerfs, give League of Legends Zeri nerfs a read, it’s not as black and white as you might think. If you’re eyeing Maokai up as your new main, and don’t yet have a skin for the tree-thing, why not check out how much you’ve spent in League of Legends to see if your budget will stretch to fit one.