4/12 PBE Patch: Balance Changes, Traditional Sejuani, Remade Freljord Lores

Posted on April 12, 2013 at **6:38 PM** by Unknown

Updated: Just added a complete videos of all 20 minutes of the sweet new Howling Abyss shopkeeper interactions!

The PBE has been updated with more Freljordian goodness!

Continue reading for a glimpse of upcoming balance changes, Sejuani's Traditional skin, lore changes for Ashe, Tryndamere, Gragas, Nunu, and Udyr, New character interactions, new Howling Abyss shopkeeper interactions, and more!

Traditional Sejuani:

Traditional Sejuani

Updated Lore for other Freljord Champions
In addition to the lore changes we saw for Trundle, Sejuani, Anivia, and Voilibear a few PBE patches ago, Ashe, Tryndamere, Gragas, Nunu, and Udyr - the remaining Freljord champions.

Ashe:
With each arrow she fires from her ancientice-enchanted bow, Ashe proves she is a master archer. She chooses each targe tcarefully,waits for the right moment,and then strikes with power and precision. It is with this same vision and focus that she pursues her goal of uniting the tribes of the Freljord and forging them into a mighty nation.

As a child, Ashe was always a dreamer. She marveled at the colossal, abandoned fortresses of her ancestors,and spent hours by the fire listening to tales of the Freljord's fabled champions. Most of all she loved the legend of Avarosan, the renowned Queen of the once magnificent and united Freljord. Though her mother chided her foolishness, Ashe swore one day she would join the scattered and warlike tribes of the tundra.She knew in her heart that if her people would stand together once more,they would reach greatness again.

When Ashe was only fifteen,her mother was killed while commanding the tribe on a brash raid Suddenly thrust into the role of leader, Ashe made the difficult decision to follow her childhood vision instead of seeking the revenge she craved. She spoke passionately against her tribe's demand for retribution,declaring the time had come to put blood feuds aside and broker a lasting peace.Some of her warriors questioned her fitness to rule and soon hatched a treasonous plot to kill the young leader. The assassins struck while Ashe was on a routine hunt,but their plan was interrupted by the warning cry of a great hawk. Ashe looked back to see her tribesmen approaching with swords drawn.

Outnumbered and overwhelmed, Ashe ran for hours. She found herself deep in uncharted territory, her weapon lost in the chase. When she heard another cry from the hawk, Ashe put her faith in the strange creature and followed it to a clearing.There she found the bird perched on a pile of stones - an ancient Freljord burial cairn.With a last glance at her,the hawk screeched and flew away.Approaching the mound, Ashe felt her breath turn to frost and an unnatural cold chill her to the bone. The stone at the top of the cairn was marked wit a single rune: Avarosa.

The assassins burst into the clearing. Ashe lifted the rune stone from the cairn to defend herself,revealing something hidden underneath: an ornate bow carved from ice.She grasped it, crying out in pain as frost formed on her fingers,and tore the bow from its resting place.Cold flowed from the enchanted weapon into Ashe, awakening a tremendous power that had always lived within her. Ashe turned to face the assassins.She drew the bow, and by sheer instinct,willed arrows of pure ice to form from the cold,crisp air.With a single frozen volley,she ended insurrection.Carefully replacing the cairn stone,she gave thanks to Avarosa for hergift,and returned home. Ashe's tribe immediately recognized the legendary weapon in the archer's hand as a blessing from the ancient Freljord queen herself. With Avarosa's bow and her vision of peaceful unification, Ashe's tribe soon swelled,becoming the largest in the Freljord. Now known as the Avarosan, they stand together with the belief that a united Freljord will once again become a great nation.

''One tribe, one people, one Freljord.''
-- Ashe

Gragas:
The only thing more important to Gragas than fighting is drinking.His unquenchable thirst for stronger ale has led him in search of the most potent and unconventional ingredients to toss in his still. Impulsive and unpredictable, this rowdy carouser loves cracking kegs as much as cracking heads.Thanks to his strange brews and temperamental nature, drinking with Gragas is always a risky proposition.

Gragas has an eternal love of good drink, but his massive constitution prevented him from reaching a divine state of intoxication. One night,when he had drained all the kegs and was left wanting, Gragas was struck by a thought rather than the usual barstool: why couldn't he brew himself something that would finally get him truly drunk? It was then that he vowed to create the ultimate ale.

Gragas' quest eventually brought him to the Freljord, where the promise of acquiring thepurest arctic water for his recipe led him into uncharted glacial wastes.While lost in an unyielding blizzard, Gragas stumbled upon a great howling abyss. There he found it: a flawless shard of ice unlike anything he had ever seen. Not only did this unmelting shard imbue his lager with incredible properties,but it also had a handy side effect - it kept the mixture chilled at the perfect serving temperature.

Under the spell of his new concoction, Gragas headed for civilization,eager to share the fermented fruits of his labor.As fate would have it,the first gathering to catch Gragas'bleary eyes would shape the future of the Freljord. He blundered into a deteriorating negotiation between two tribes discussing an alliance with Ashe. Though Ashe welcomed a break in the tension, the other warriors bristled at the intrusion and hurled insults at the drunken oaf. True to his nature, Gragas replied with a diplomatic headbutt, setting off a brawl matched only in the legends of the Freljord.

When the fallen from that great melee finally awoke, Ashe proposed a friendly drink as an alternative to fighting.With their tempers doused in suds,the two tribes, formerly on the brink of war, bonded over a common love of Gragas' brew. Although strife was averted and Gragas hailed a hero, he still had not achieved his dream of drunken blissfulness. So once more, he set off to wander the tundra in search of ingredients for Runeterra's perfect pint.

''Now this'll put hair on your chest!''
-- Gragas

Nunu:
Sometimes bonds of friendship becomes stronger than even bonds of blood. When those bonds link a fearless boy to a fearsome Yeti, the bond becomes a force to be reckoned with. Given the responsibility of taming a terrifying beast, Nunu forged a friendship where others would have forged chains. Now Nunu and his burly pal Willump are an inseparable pair who combine youthful exuberance and brute strength with the mythical powers of the Yeti to overcome obstacles insurmountable to any ordinary duo.

Nunu had only the vaguest memories of his parents or the time before he was part of the reclusive Frostguard tribe. Never welcome among his caretakers, Nunu's wanderlust and compassion often put him at odds with the tribe's elders and the boy frequently dreamed of places far beyond the shadow of the Frostguard citadel.Sometimes he would do more than just dream, much to the frustration of his minders. This was never more apparent than when Nunu was apprenticed to the tribe's beast master and charged with the care of the creatures under his yoke.

The Frostguard held a menagerie of the Freljord's wildlife at their beck and call,but unique among their collection was the Yeti:an uncommon creature with mystical qualities and raw physical strength. The beastmaster taught Nunu that it was only a lean diet of plants and regular whippings that kept the vicious beast tame, but the more time Nunu spent caring for the creature, the more he learned that the Yeti was no feral monster.

As he saw his new friend Willump growing weaker and sicker, Nunu began to sneak the Yeti scraps of meat, hoping to restore his health. Day by day,Willump grew stronger and not the slightest bit savage contrary to the beastmaster's claims. Nunu had hopes of convincing him that the Yeti possessed no danger, but it wasn't meant to be.The next time Nunu came to deliver Willump a meal, he found the Yeti's cage shattered,with only a crude drawing inside signaling the Yeti's farewell. Without hesitation, Nunu rushed into the wilderness in search of his friend.

When Nunu finally caught up to Willump, he found the Yeti cornered by the beastmaster alongside a group of Frostguard warriors. Afraid that the men would hurt his friend, Nunu threw himself between the Yeti and the beastmasters lash,but the brutal man would not stay his hand. As the furious beastmaster raised his whip once more, the Yeti swelled up with uncharacteristic fury. Even after so much mistreatment, it wasn't concern for himself but for the boy who'd shown him kindness that finally pushed Willump too far. The Yeti raged and left the man bloodied in the snow.

Terrified by Willump's fury, the remaining Frostguard warriors fled.Nunu realized there was no going back. He yelled at Willump to run before the men returned to kill him, but the Yeti refused to leave the young boy. Faced with the choice of abandoning his sole friend or living his own life of captivity with the Frostguard, Nunu chose the only path that made sense. Leaping onto the back of the mighty Yeti, Nunu joined Willump in his great escape. The pair took their first steps into the wide world from which they had been kept for so long.

''Willump and I have a whole world to explore. Don't get in our way!''
-- Nunu

Tryndamere:
Fueled by his unbridled fury and rage, Tryndamere cuts his way through the tundra,mastering the art of battle by challenging the Freljord's greatest warriors. The wrathful barbarian seeks revenge on the one who decimated his clan and strikes down all those who stand between him and his final retribution.

Struggling to survive in the harsh, frostbitten Freljord,the young Tryndamere and his people warred with other tribes over the scarce resources of the land.One such battle changed his life forever.Raiders ambushed Tryndamere's clan in the dead of night, andt hough his warriors were able to push the first wave of attackers back, they weren't prepared for the dark figure that next stepped forth. He wielded a cruel, living sword, and inspired an unhinged bloodlust in the invaders with his unearthly magic. Tryndamere's tribe was overrun within moments. With no hope of defeating the enigmatic being, Tryndamere threw himself at certain death.The dark figure swatted him aside, mortally wounding the young barbarian.

Tryndamere saw death and destruction engulf his home as his life slipped away. No one was left standing - only the screams of the dying remained. Unable to surrender to death, Tryndamere gave in fully to his wrath. His blood boiled and his anger consumed him, banishing his mortality. He staggered to his feet - barely able to take hold of his sword- steeling himself for the decisive confrontation with the shadowy being. But the dark figure did not even lift his blade, and instead gave Tryndamere a knowing smile as he withdrew into the shadows. That was the last time the barbarian ever saw his nemesis.

A man robbed of his home and his people, Tryndamere wandered across the Freljord for years, vowing to forge himself into a brutal instrument of revenge. He visited all the tribes in the frozen wastes, besting each of their warriors until there were none left to challenge. In doing so, he mastered the barbarian ways of war and harnessed his anger as a force to be reckoned with. With sword in hand and rage in his heart,he is no won an undying quest for vengeance against the one who destroyed the life he once knew.

''Rage is my weapon.''
-- Tryndamere

Udyr:
Udyr is more than a man; he is a vessel for the untamed power of four primal animal spirits.When tapping into the spirits' bestial natures, Udyr can harness their unique strengths: the tiger grants him speed and ferocity, the turtle resilience, the bear might,and the phoenix its eternal flame. With their combined power, Udyr can turn back all those who would attempt to harm the natural order.

In the Freljord,there is a unique caste that lives outside the society of those savage lands. They are the custodians of the natural world: the Spirit Walkers. Once in a generation,a child is born under a blood red moon, a child that is said to live between two worlds: that of spirit and that of man. This child is brought to the Spirit Walker to continue the shamanic line. Udyr was such a child, and knew the howl of the tundra wolves even before he learned the language of his ancestors. Through the Spirit Walker, Udyr would one day learn the meaning of the spirits' calls and tend to the balance of nature.The Spirit Walker often told Udyr he would be tested more than those who had come before him, for the spirits of the Freljord were growing ever more restless, though the reason remained clouded.

The answer arrived in the dead of winter, as Udyr and the Spirit Walker were descended upon by a fearsome figure known only through frightened whispers: the Ice Witch. Knowing the boy would fall easy prey to her vile magic,the Spirit Walker shielded the child from her assault at the cost of his own life. A pointless sacrifice, or so the Ice Witch thought as she closed upon her next helpless victim.Wracked by grief, Udyr howled with fury, and he felt the Freljord itself howl with him. In that moment, the child embraced the spirits' primal nature and became a beast himself. Coursing with their untamed power Udyr's angry roar shook the mountain tops and brought down a torrential avalanche.When Udyr finally clawed out of the frost, the Ice Witch was nowhere to be found.

For years, the tribes of the north learned to avoid the wild man and his domain. Then one day, Udyr caught the scent of a fearless trespasser. Determined to chase the intruder from his territory, he attacked the stranger only to be deflected with ease. The wild man launched himself at the man again and again, but each time he was effortlessly cast aside. Exhausted and defeated, Udyr felt his animosity ebb and croaked a clumsy ''who'' to the stranger. Lee Sin had come seeking the Spirit Walker's guidance and instead found a man who had also lost his way. The blind monk promised he would right Udyr's path and guided him to a monastery, said to be protected by four eternal spirits of great power and wisdom. There, Udyr would find harmony.

Harnessing the discipline of the monks, Udyr communed with the spirits of the monastery's temple and learned to truly embrace his life as the next Spirit Walker. He also understood the true threat that the Ice Witch posed to the Freljord for the first time: she was the herald of a greater darkness that would soon envelop the land. Armed with the potent spirits of the temple, Udyr returned to the place of his birth,seeking to end the blight of the Ice Witch and free the Freljord from her corruption.

''Through me,nature's will is done.''
-- Udyr

Upcoming Champion Interactions

Also in this patch were files for several new champion interactions. These are not implemented yet but should be in a future patch.

Ashe has been given special taunts for Lissandra and Sejuani
Lissandra has special taunts for Ashe, Brand and Sejuani

New Howling Abyss Shop Keeper Dialogues
The two Howling Abyss shop keepers ( the viking and the hermit ) have a ton of new character interactions and dialogues! They talk when you are near them, when you open the shop, when you have a lot of gold, and more.

Here is an in game preview of the a handful, but not all, of the dialogues.

They also say specific things to certain champions.

Viking has special lines for: Anivia, Ashe, Brand, Brolaf, Gragas, Lissandra, Nami, Nunu, Olaf, Sejuani,Trundle, Tryndamere, Udyr, Volibear, Yordle and additional lines when you have a lot of gold.

The hermit says stuff for: Ashe, Blitz, Cait, Ezreal, Heimer, Jayce, Lissandra, Orianna, Sejuani, Vi and Zilean and again when you are rich.

Here is a video featuring all 20 minutes of new shopkeeper dialogue. It should be noted that the video is all the sound files played over b roll of Trundle dancing his trolly heart out. Since it was done this way, you are also able to enjoy the champion specific interactions even though they aren't "hooked up yet".

Balance Changes:

Lulu

Glitterlance mana cost increased to 60/65/70/75/80 from 40/50/60/70/80 mana.

Malzahar

Call of the Void mana cost decreased to 80/85/90/95/100 from 80/90/100/110/120 mana.
Null Zone mana cost decreased to 90/95/100/105/110 from 90/100/110/120/130 mana.

Quinn & Valor

Heightened Senses will now also grant an increased 20/30/40/50/60% Movement Speed upon attacking a vulnerable target as Quinn and 40/50/60/70/80 % Movement Speed as Valor.
Vault will now also briefly stun the target upon leaping to him.

Sejuani

Glacial Prison slow triggered by the shattered bola upon reaching its max range has been increased to 1.5/1.8/2 Seconds from 1 second.

Trundle

Frozen Domain duration increased to 8 seconds from 6 seconds, also it's mana cost was increased to 60 Mana from 50 Mana and it's cooldown was increased from 16/15/14/13/12 to 15 Seconds at all ranks.

Item Changes:

Boots of Swiftness Recipe Cost decreased to 550g from 650g.
Ionian Boots of Lucidity Recipe Cost decreased to 650g from 700g.
Runaan's Hurricane Recipe Cost decreased to 700g from 1000g.
Tiamat Recipe Cost decreased to 265g from 665g
Tiamat Granted AD decreased to 40 from 50AD.

Need a refresher on the latest PBE content? Here are links to the other PBE patches this cycle!

4/12 PBE Patch: Balance Changes, Traditional Sejuani, Remade Freljord Lores

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