With League of Legends’ communications strategist Hanna Woo announcing that the next update cycle of the game will have its doors open to the public, we were able to see a lot more information about patch 9.13. Designers, QA, engineers, data analysts and playtesters are sharing their thoughts on patch 9.13 on Twitter with the hashtag #lifeofapatch, and we get to see them all on League Nexus’ page called Live Updates on Patch 9.13.
While there are three weeks until patch 9.13 would go live and even patch 9.12 is still being tweaked in PBE, there’s no harm in looking forward to see what champs or items will be nerfed or buffed.
What Champions Are Targeted for 9.13?
Swain’s Changes That Will Hype Any Swain Main
“Going to try to remove soul gate on his ult and turn it into a stacking passive like Veigar/Nasus that increases R2 damage permanently. Also 5 man ult drain?” – RiotKingCobra (Rob Rosa)
KingCobra also added that Swain will have a few changes in 9.13, but adds that there are no promises these changes will carry to the live servers.
However, we might not see him changed at all, considering no designer has been assigned to work on changing Swain and it’s “unlikely something ships in 9.13 (or potentially at all for that matter).”
But then in a recent tweet, KingCobra said he had a talk with Swain’s designer and the changes will be implemented for playtesting, stressing again that there are no “guarantees this ships!”
RiotScruffy (Mark Yetter) also added that the experiments on Swain are to “move the soul game from being a “gate” for each R cast into a permanent collection game that makes R stronger. Also they’re trying a new rankup on R that lets him get 4 drain at 11 and 5 drain targets at 16.”
Pyke – Balancing the Solo Lane Drowned Man
“I took the task of looking at balancing solo lane Pyke for 9.13. Anyone got any ideas?” – RiotRepertoir (David Capurro).
Later he added that balancing might focus on his passive. Here’s how the latest changelist looks like for Pyke:
Ziggs – Preseason Changes
“I’m playing Ziggs in tonight’s playtest. The main focus of the test will be some preseason changes!” RiotKingCobra (Rob Rosa)
There are no other details about Ziggs right now, other than his skillshot are “too hard” against the (brace yourselves, Aphelios confirmed?) “new champ.” (source)
Balancing Items: Catalyst of Aeons, Haunting Guise, Rod of Ages, Liandry’s Torment, and Abyssal Mask
Also from Repertoir, we have a sneak peek at what several items might look like in the future. He’s looking to tweak Catalyst of Aeons, Haunting Guise, Rod of Ages, Liandry’s Torment, and Abyssal Mask. Here’s the changelist and below a context for some of the changes:
- “Eternity effect is simplified, more satisfying intellectually, and most rewarding of natural combat patterns rather than spellcast frequency optimization.”
- “Haunting Guise now builds into another item and it (hopefully) makes sense. We should avoid having mid tier items that only build into one legendary item where possible, as it bloats the shop out in the middle.”
- “I should make the Madness passive on Haunting Guise ramping AP rather than %dmg. %dmg is more risky, and the effect doesn’t need to multiply damage to be satisfying”.
- “RoA provides an avenue for sustained damage mages to get some combat sustain, and its output is deferred to later in the game, where it is less historically concerning/problematic. RoA has more interesting item combo opportunities (Mana build w/ tear vs. Liandry’s combo build)”
Another change that we should see in 9.13 is the healing system – “we should regulate early game systemic healing especially, and Grievous Wounds isn’t in a great spot. Other sources can be tuned healthily at that point.”
That’s about it for now, we’re waiting for more ideas to pile up for 9.13. If you’d rather stay up to date with the current changes in PBE, check out the latest news on patch 9.12 PBE.
Sonia Theo has been writing for more than 15 years, first starting with fantasy stories. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and German, and one in Arts and Design. In the past years, her interests in gaming and tech news grew, so she started writing articles, guides and reviews for players. In her spare time, you’ll see Sonia playing WoW, crafting decorations and jewelry, or walking her dog. For Digital Overload, Sonia Theo will cover all things tech and gaming, delivering fresh updates on your favorite games.
