The League of Legends Syndra mid-scope update has hit the PBE, introducing a new passive, changing Dark Spheres ever so slightly, and adding an execute to her ultimate ability. With the mid-lane mage not seeing too much play in Riot’s MOBA as of late, these changes might just be enough to put the Dark Sovereign back into the meta.
The changes to Syndra that are currently live on the PBE are plentiful, and while they don’t change the mage’s overall playstyle, they will affect how players will go about their business in the early game. The new passive ability alone means that pushing to hit combos on your opponent will pay dividends, and enable you to snowball games much easier than before.
Syndra Changes
Transcendent (Passive)
- Syndra collects up to 120 Splinters via damaging enemy champions and gaining levels. Splinters of Wrath enhance Syndra and her abilities
- Syndra restores 20-215 (level 1-18) mana whenever she collects a Splinter from an enemy. She can gain Splinters via:
- Damaging an enemy champion with two abilities within four seconds will grant Splinters (1/2/3 at levels 1, 11, and 18) with an eight-second cooldown per target.
- Leveling up grants Syndra five Splinters of Wrath
- Killing a cannon minion grants one Splinter of Wrath
- At 120 Splinters, Syndra gains 15% total AP
Dark Sphere (Q)
- Cooldown: 4s > 7s
- Mana Cost: 40/50/60/70/80 > 40/45/50/55/60
- Sphere Duration: 6s > 6.5s
- At 40 Splinters of Wrath, Dark Sphere can store two charges
Force of Will (W)
- Sphere Pickup Radius: 400 > 450
- Prevents non-Sphere units from dying for a brief period when picked up
- At 60 Splinters of Wrath, For of Will does an additional 15% (+1.5% per 100 AP) true damage
Scatter the Weak (E)
- Magic Damage: 85-265 (+60% AP) > 75-235 (+55% AP)
- Scatter Angle: 34 degrees > 56 degrees
- Cooldown: 18-14s > 15s
- Stun Duration: 1.5s > 1.25s
- At 80 Splinters of Wrath, Scatter the Weak’s cone is increased from 56 degrees to 84 degrees and also slows enemies by 70% for 1.25s (applied after initial CC)
Unleashed Power (R)
- Grants Dark Sphere an additional 10/20/30 ability haste
- Damage Per Sphere: 90/140/190 (+20% AP) > 90/130/170 (+17% AP)
- At 100 Splinters of Wrath, Unleashed Power executes champions before 15% mac health
While nothing besides Syndra’s passive ability has been fundamentally changed, these tweaks to her kit reward players in different ways than before. Because players will gain Splinters of Wrath by hitting combos on opponents, and those Splinters are directly tied to Syndra’s power, it now pays to be aggressive in lane. It’s almost like Kai’sa’s evolved abilities, only instead of buying items to update your kit, you throw balls at the opposite team.
The damage reduction on Syndra’s ultimate may be disappointing initially, but once you hit 100 Splinters and gain that execute, it could potentially be a lot more powerful than before – especially on tankier targets.
The changes are currently live on the PBE and are subject to change, but the kit seems fairly well put together in its current state – we’ll update this article if anything gets tweaked before the official release. For the latest live additions to the Rift, you should check out the League of Legends 12.18 patch notes. If this Syndra rework has piqued your interest, and you’re looking to start your journey onto the Rift, this guide on how to play League of Legends will give you the head start you need.