Patch 3.5 Notes

Patch 3.5 is imminent and the patch notes are out! In preparation for the patch, NA servers will go down at 2 AM PDT and, unfortunately, the EU servers seem to be getting the update tomorrow.
In addition to Zac, patch 3.5 will contain the Karma relaunch, big Udyr changes, Champion Select AFK Detection, and a slew of other balance changes. *There is no mention of Howling Abyss or Replays so it is safe to assume those will remain on the PBE for further testing*.

Continue reading for a complete set of patch notes.

Here are the fully fledged set of notes, a long with a few developer notes to highlight the reasoning behind changes:

Karma has been relaunched with updates to her model, her kit and her story. If you would like more information, you can read more here.

• Gathering Fire (Passive)
  • Reduce’s Mantra’s cooldown every time Karma damages an enemy with one of her abilities (Half-effect for Karma’s basic-attacks).
• Inner Flame (Q)
  • Fires a blast of energy that explodes upon enemy contact, dealing magic damage and slowing all enemies in the area.
  • Mantra Bonus – Soulflare: Deals additional magic damage and leaves a circle of flame at the impact area (or upon reaching maximum range), heavily slowing all enemies inside the circle. After a brief delay the circle erupts, dealing heavy magic damage to all enemies in the area.

• Focused Resolve (W)
  • Links Karma to target enemy champion, revealing them and dealing magic damage over 2 seconds. If the link is not broken, the enemy is rooted.
  • Mantra Bonus – Renewal: Focused Resolve deals bonus magic damage over time and heals Karma for a percent of her missing health while linked to her target.

• Inspire (E)
  • Target ally gains a shield, granting movement speed for a brief duration and absorbing damage.
  • Mantra Bonus – Defiance: The shield overflows with energy, dealing magic damage to all enemies around the shielded unit. Allied champions near the shielded unit gain half of that amount as a shield and are hasted.

• Mantra (Ultimate)
  • Karma empowers her next ability within 8 seconds for an additional effect.

Akali

Akali’s Twilight Shroud was behaving inconsistently before this patch, so we’ve adjusted it to better match its visual and theme, and to provide greater opportunity for counterplay.

• Twilight Shroud
  • Akali is now immediately stealthed/revealed upon entering/leaving the Shroud zone
  • Akali is now immediately stealthed when casting Twilight Shroud directly on herself
  • Akali is now revealed from stealth upon casting a spell or beginning an attack rather than upon dealing damage
  • Delay on re-stealthing increased by 0.15 seconds

Anivia

• Crystallize
  • Fixed a bug where Crystallize could stop uninterruptible movement abilities such as Malphite's Unstoppable Force

Ashe

• Focus
  • Now displays the Critical Strike chance bonus on the buff bar

Draven

• Spinning Axe
  • Now leads Draven more accurately when he is benefiting from Movement Speed increases
  • Axe drop location will no longer be placed partially inside walls / terrain

Hecarim

The previous version of Spirit of Dread did not offer enough opportunities for tactical decision-making. With higher cooldowns, our goal is to reintroduce strategic choices other than merely activating the ability whenever it is available.

• Spirit of Dread
  • Cooldown increased to 22/21/20/19/18 seconds from 18/17/16/15/14

Master Yi

• Double Strike
  • Double Strike swing time now scales with Master Yi's Attack Speed instead of being fixed at 0.6 seconds
  • Fixed a bug where the second strike of Double Strike could critically hit turrets

Riven

• Wind Slash
  • Fixed a bug where Riven could cast Wind Slash a second time after using Zhonya's Hourglass

Rumble

Rumble’s ultimate was intended to be an area control effect but, with the large upfront damage it deals, it tends to be used more as a long-range nuke instead. With this patch, we’re adjusting The Equalizer to better match its original intent.

• Electro-Harpoon
  • Fixed a bug where the visual effect would disappear before the actual end of the projectile
• The Equalizer
  • No longer deals initial impact damage but the area burn damage now starts immediately instead of after a 0.5 second delay
  • Burn damage per second increased to 130/185/240 (+0.3 Ability Power) from 100/140/180 (+0.2 Ability Power) (total damage dealt across the full duration is unchanged)

Trundle

• Pillar of Filth
  • Fixed a bug where Pillar of Filth could stop uninterruptible movement abilities such as Malphite's Unstoppable Force

Udyr

In this patch, we’ve made some substantial changes to Udyr. Our goals were to make changing stances feel more impactful, transfer power from passive stats to actual noticeable effects and reduce problematic lane issues. For example, Turtle Stance currently allows Udyr to become an immovable object in lane once he gets ahead, and we want to address that.

• Mana cost of all stances decreased to 47/44/41/38/35 from 55/50/45/40/35
• Monkey's Agility
  • Now grants 5 Movement Speed per stack instead of 4% bonus Armor and Magic Resistance
• Turtle Stance
  • No longer returns mana when dealing damage
  • Shield increased to 60/100/140/180/220 from 60/95/130/165/200
  • Udyr can now critically strike in Turtle Stance
• Bear Stance
  • Udyr now ignores unit collision while the movement speed bonus is active
  • Udyr now performs a slight dash toward his target on stunning attacks while the movement speed is active
  • Bear stance attacks can no longer be self-interrupted mid-attack
  • Movement speed increased to 15/20/25/30/35% from 15/18/21/24/27%
  • Movement speed duration reduced to 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3 seconds from 2/2.5/3/3.5/4
• Phoenix Stance
  • First attack after activating Phoenix Stance now immediately procs the fire cone in addition to every 3rd attack
  • No longer grants bonus Ability Power and Attack Damage when activated
  • Ability Power ratio on the fire cone increased to 0.45 from 0.15
  • Updated the fire cone's spell effect to be more visible

Warwick

• Hunter's Call
  • Now displays range indicator on mouseover
• Blood Scent
  • Now displays range indicator on minimap on mouseover

Zed

• Living Shadow
  • Fixed a bug where Living Shadow would sometimes cast in a random direction

Items

• Nashor's Tooth
  • Combine cost increased to 430 gold from 200 (total cost increased to 2500 gold from 2270)
• Spirit of the Elder Lizard
  • UNIQUE Passive damage reduced to 6-40 over 3 seconds from 14-50
• Maw of Malmortius
  • Fixed a bug where the Lifeline shield was lasting for 3 seconds instead of 5

• Champion Select AFK Detection
  • When any player in a match-made game fails to select a champion before their timer expires, the game is terminated.
  • A player who fails to select a champion is given a queue dodge penalty. The dodge penalty functions exactly the same as if the player closed their PVP.net client.
  • Solo players who succeed in selecting a champion are returned to the front of the matchmaking queue.
  • Arranged teams whose members all succeed in selecting a champion are returned to the front of the matchmaking queue.
  • Arranged teams with one or more members who fail to select a champion are returned to the arranged team lobby.
  • Draft mode is handled on a pick-by-pick basis. If a player fails to pick a champion during their turn, the game is terminated immediately. Players later in the draft order, who did not have an opportunity to pick a champion, are given the benefit of the doubt and not assigned a dodge penalty.
  • This feature currently only applies to match made games. Custom games still assign a random champion if one is not selected.

General

• Turrets

  In Season 3, we made a few changes that made turrets feel less like a safe haven for defenders – especially in the early parts of the game. Specifically, with turrets attacking minions in a set order and some champions itemizing for health earlier on, it’s become easier for teams to push aggressively and even dive turrets with low risk. These changes should give defending players more of a fighting chance when under their own turret.

  • Turrets now deal 105% damage to champions for the first attack, increased from 94.5%
  • Turrets now deal 25% additional damage for consecutive attacks on the same champion (max 225%), increased from 20% (max 210%)
• Siege Minions
  • Siege Minions now take 70% damage from Turrets, increased from 50% damage
  • Siege Minions now deal 150% damage to Turrets, reduced from 200% damage
• Super Minions
  • Super Minions now take 70% damage from Turrets, increased from 50% damage
• Teleport

  We are fixing a bug with Teleport where its visual effect would disappear if cast on an expiring temporary unit. Teleport should always be visible to opponents who have vision of the area, much like how casting it on a non-revealed ward still displays a visual effect.

  • Fixed a bug where Teleport's "incoming" visual effect on the target unit would disappear if cast on an expiring temporary unit, such as Jarvan's Standard or Thresh's Lantern

• Fixed a bug where new players could not be invited to Matchmaking lobbies after teammates miss a ready check
• Smart casting with charge-up abilities should be more responsive now

With every patch, we strive to improve the look of the game in varying degrees. We recommend that you have the latest available video card drivers installed."