League of Legends Patch 13.17 Preview: All The Changes of the Next Update

League of Legends Patch 13.17 Preview showcases Riot’s new approach to some of the most problematic champions of recent months.

Patch 13.16 has released more than a week ago, and with Riot Games’ update schedule, it’s almost time for the next Patch for League of Legends. One of the developers of the game, Matt Leung-Harrison AKA RiotPhroxzon has finally shared some details about the next update. While we did receive some numbers for the changes, nothing is set in stone until it drops on the live servers (and sometimes, even that is not a life insurance), but it’s a great indication of what to expect next week.

League of Legends Patch 13.17 Preview

Champion Buffs

• Elise:
  • Her Spider form auto Attakc damage and healing has been increased, while her Human form E Stun duration has been buffed as well, CC-ing for 2,4 seconds at level 5.
• Gnar:
  • Gnar’s Mega form Q and W Base damage has been increased, giving an extra punch (or Wallop) for the big boi form of the Missing Link.
• Lux:
  • These changes are aimed at Lux’s midlane performance, as Riot decreased her Mana Regen and her Q’s cooldown, as well as her E’s damage, while they increased her Passive’s damage to make her trade better in the 1v1.
• Orianna:
  • The Clockwork Lady’s Health Growth has been increased by 5, while her W deals more damage per ability level at all ranks.
• Samira:
  • Just a small buff for her, as her Base Health will be 630 instead of 600.
• Twisted Fate:
  • His Q, Wild Card has a greater AP Ration
• Tryndamere:
  • One of the strangest buffs I’ve ever seen, Tryndamere got an extra 50 Attack Range, so now he can smack his opponents from further away (although this makes sense, as his sword is like, really long).

• Vex:
  • Riot is trying to bring Vex back into the meta, as they increased her Q’s damage, decreased her W’s cooldown, and gave her ultimate a QoL change to display all opponents in range of Shadow.
• Zoe:
  • The Aspect of Twilight’s HP regen has been increased, while her E Sleep lasts longer and decreases the targets MR for a flat 30% instead of scaling with ability level.

These buffs seem like a good direction for the game, as they all address champions that are a bit on the weaker site, and have been for quite some time now. The only exception is Gnar, who still sees some competitive play, but usually as a weakside toplaner whose only job is to keep the enemy laner in check.

Champion Nerfs

• Kayn:
  • What seems like a minor nerf could be huge, as Kayn’s W AD Ratio went down from 1.3 to 1.1, which could hurt the champion.
• Kha’Zix:
  • Very similar change to Kayn, his Q AD Ratio went down by .05 from 1.15 to 1.1.
• Kindred:
  • Their E’s slow has been decreased by 20%, while the ability’s missing HP damage has been decreased by 3% as well, making her a bit worse at 1v1’s early on.

• Naafiri:
  • Even though Riot Games hit her with some mild nerfs in 13.16, they are weakening the Hound of a Thousand Bites again, this time changing her extensively:
    • Her Base Health is down,
    • Her Passive’s CD is increased in the early game,
    • Her Packmates now take full damage from enemy Attacks,
    • Her Q2’s Heal, minimum Damage and maximum Damage has all been nerfed, making her much easier to deal with in the laning phase,
    • Her E first and second hit AD ratio has been brought down.
  • While Naafiri received some criticism from the players regarding her easy kit, she has been very strong, and Riot thought it was time to cage the dogs for a while.
• Xerath:
  • Aimed at Xerath Support, his Base Mana Regeneration has been decreased, while his Passive’s cooldown decrease from killing a unit has been increased to make him better in the midlane.
  • His W cooldown has also been increased to make his harass worse in lane.

Champion Adjustments

This is one of the most interesting part of the upcoming Patch. Phroxzon explained that they are trying to move some champions away from their “full-kill builds” such as Aatrox, Hecarim, Vi and Xin Zhao, while also trying to make some champions relevant again with adjustments.

• Aatrox:
  • His W and Passive now deals magic damage to push him away from Lethality.

• Akshan:
  • His Health and Armour Growth has been increased, while his AD Growth has been decreased in order to make him less one-shotty.
• Blitzcrank:
  • His “jungle changes” have been removed, while his base stats has been adjusted to make him more of a tank. Phrozxon told the community that because of the jungle buffs Blitz got a while back made him hard to balance, they pushed him back to the botlane, where he can get more help in the future.
• Hecarim:
  • His Mana, Mana Growth, Mana Regen and Mana Regen Growth has been increased, while his Q Mana cost has been brought down alongside his W mana cost.
  • His W has a 20% flat Omnivamp and no Scaling to push Hecarim towards a more hybrid or bruiser focused build.
• Quinn:
  • Quinn’s Health Growth has been increased, but her Q and E damage has been decreased later, which tries to shift her from the full assassin playstyle.
• Vi:
  • One of the most problematic champions of the past year, the Piltover Enforcer’s abilities have been changed quite a bit:
    • Her Passive Shield is now 12% of her Max HP instead of 10%,
    • The Passive’s cooldown refund is 4 seconds instead of 3,
    • Her E’s cooldown has been decreased early, but her R damage and scaling have also been nerfed.
  • These changes should push Vi into a tankier build instead of the bruiser/damage build that we saw for many months in the LEC and other big leagues.
• Xin Zhao:
  • Xin Zhao received the same treatment as the other bruisers-turned-assassins, as the balance team changed his Passive’s healing to scale from HP instead of a flat amount + his total AD, meaning that items that grant him HP will be better for him.

System Buffs

• Immortal Shieldbow:
  • The Lifelife Passive shield has been increased for the early game.
• Goredrinker:
  • The Build Path for Goredrinker has been changed, it now requires a Phage instead of a Caulfield’s Warhammer, but it gives 100 extra HP when completed.
• Stridebreaker:
  • The Health it gives has been increased by 75

It’s clear that Riot Games want’s to deal with damage dealers in the toplane, giving some extra tankiness to bruiser items. Changing Warhammer to Phage is a weird decision, as many toplaners are reliant on Ability Haste, which could have a bigger impact on the meta than anticipated.

System Nerfs

• Bloodthirster:
  • The Health Threshold is now 70% instead of 50%
• Evenshroud:
  • The damage amplification has been decreased by 3%, which should steer this item away from midlaners such as Yone.
• Future’s Market Rune:
  • One of the most interesting runes has been nerfed, as the Debt Limit has been decreased early, but the scaling per minute has been increased.
• Statikk Shiv:
  • The enemy champion damage’s AP scaling has been nerfed – maybe it’s the end of Stattik on midlaners?

System Adjustments

• Catchup XP:
  • Jungle catchup XP difference now rounds normally instead of rounding up, which is more of a nerf instead of an adjustment.
• Dragons:
  • Similarly to regular Jungle monsters, Dragons will have a patience bar displayed, and their AI has been improved as well.
• Duskblade of Draktharr:
  • The untargetability stays, but the invulnerability goes, meaning that DoT effects and turret shots that already started their course will still damage assassins.

• Spear of Shojin:
  • The BF Sword in the build path has been replaced with a Pickaxe,
  • The item now gives more HP and less AD, while the AH Passive, Dragonforce has a bigger flat refund but less AD scaling, which is a buff for champions that don’t build as much AD.

Overall, the preview for Patch 13.17 looks like a very interesting one. With Riot addressing bruisers such as Aatrox, Xin Zhao and Vi building Lethality items, they will move them into a much healthier state, as these champions have been either broken or completely unusable for quite some time now. This sentiment is enhanced by the Item nerfs, as some of the champion nerfs, such as Kayn’s as Rhaast might be the way to go now.

League of Legend’s Patch 13.17 is set to launch next Wednesday with the new balance changes and the new Cosmic skins for Bel’Veth, Nautilus, Nunu and Willump, Sion, and the new Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin! Don’t forget to follow ESTNN for the latest new in League of Legends!