Surrender at 20: 8/2 PBE Update: Ascension changes, PBE LCU Alpha update, reverts & balance changes, and more!

[8/3 UPDATE: Draft mode is now available on the PBE LCU Alpha!]

The PBE has been updated! As we continue along the 6.16 PBE cycle, today's post includes a few tweaks to Kled & SKT Kalista, changes for Ascension, a PBE LCU Alpha update, and more!

Continue reading for more information!

(Warning: PBE Content is tentative and subject to change - what you see below may not reflect what eventually gets pushed to live servers at the end of the cycle! Manage your expectations accordingly.)

Continued Kled testing

Our upcoming champion Kled continues PBE testing throughout the 6.16 cycle!

Here's Kled Champion select quote added:

"I find courage unpredictable. It's total insanity you can rely on."

Skin Tweaks

Along with Kled, the six new SKT skins continue testing in the 6.16 PBE cycle.

SKT Kalista's W passive icon is has been changed from using the default icon, now using a yellow one.

Ascension Mode Changes on PBE!

[NOTE: Ascension was activated for testing over weekend!]

Ascension is back up on the PBE for more RGMQ testing, including changes to how the Ascended mechanic works - now drops a relic for folks to pick up!

Here's DefaultChat with more info:

"Hey all!

As part of our ongoing commitment to refreshing the RGM modes, I’m here today to talk to you about Ascension!

The major point we’ve been looking to hit is Ascended Xerath (Hereafter referred to as “Xerath”): As players get more experienced with the mode, we’re seeing that Xerath is taken less and less often, which is minimizing one of the fun points of conflict for the mode (And hurting your ability to be a badass Ascended God :) ). We’re trying something a bit different this time, detailed below.

I would however like to preface this by saying this is something we’re being cautious on: We know there are going to be some negative consequences to these changes, but think the mode should overall be more enjoyable.

Ascension Changes:

Tl;DR:

When you kill Xerath, he now drops a relic which a player can pick up to Ascend.

We’re trying to encourage “Fairer” contests around Xerath, which favor the team that committed to taking him without making it entirely unstealable. We’re doing that both by changing the brush (So the Xerath pit is a tad harder to approach in Fog of War), and the Buff handoff method so that the “Last moment snipe” is insufficient alone.

Xerath Changes:

We’ve reduced the reward for killing Ascended Units (Xerath or Champs) to 3 (From 5)
When you kill Xerath, a relic will begin descending, and a ring will display. After 3 seconds, the relic will spawn.

Once the relic has been spawned, it can be picked up, following the rules below:

IF there are members of Both Teams standing in the ring, nothing will happen.

Otherwise, if the person who killed Xerath is in the ring, he becomes Ascended.

Otherwise, the person closest to the center of the relic becomes Ascended.

The relic will expire 15 seconds after descending if nobody has picked it up. If it does, Xerath will respawn as normal.

Map Change:

To increase map safety, Ascension no longer has a Bush directly below Xerath.

* I’m generally fairly happy with this change in all cases. Unless I’m missing something, would probably keep this in regardless of how the Xerath change feels."

and here's pictures of the relic and the removed brush:

[PBE LCU Alpha] August 2nd Update - Shop Available

The PBE League Client Update Alpha has also been updated and the shop section is now available for testing - although it appears to essentially just be the same set up and assets as our current shop (which had a visual update not that long ago!)

Remember- the PBE LCU Alpha is open to all PBE testers, see [this thread] for more information on how to get started with testing as well as known issues and updates! Sign ups for the LIVE LCU Alpha (not PBE) can be found here. The Live LCU Alpha is usually updated a few weeks after the PBE LCU Alpha, just as the normal live / pbe server relationship.

Balance Changes

* Remember *: The PBE is a testing grounds for new, tentative, and sometimes radical or experimental changes. Be aware that what you see below may be lacking context or other changes that didn't make it in or were implemented in an earlier patch this cycle! These are not official notes.

Champions

Nautilus
[NOTE: Few reverts to earlier changes this cycle - remember that R change to make "line" also stun for 1/1.5/2 seconds still on PBE!]

Staggering Blow (Passive) reverted to .5/.75/1/1.25/1.5 at 1/6/11/16/18 from .75/1/1.25/1.5 at 1/6/11/16
Depth Charge (R)

Cooldown reverted to 140/110/80 from 120/100/80
AP ratio "on line" reverted to 40% AP ffrom 80% AP

Nunu

[NOTE: With today's update, all Nunu PBE changes have been reverted.]

Visionary (Passive) [previous change reverted - no longer starts game with passive charged.]

Absolute Zero (R) [previous change reverted - slow no longer increases to 99% over duration of channel]

Sona

Song of Celerity (E) !

Self movement speed AP ratio lowered to 6% per 100 AP from 8%
Self movement speed lowered to 10/11/12/13/14% from 13/14/15/16/17%

Crescendo (R) basic ability cooldown reduction changed to 10%/25%/40% from 20/30/40%

Viktor

Chaos Storm (R) [few small changes to speed of Viktor's R - confirmed by ricklessabandon.]

Max speed of Chaos Storm lowered to 400 from 450.
Minimum speed of Chaos storm increased to 200 from 170
R starts slowing down from max speed once it gets 300 units away, down from 350.
R reaches minimum speed once it is 900 units away from Viktor, down from 950.

Check out [THIS PAGE] for a comprehensive list of the new content & changes currently on the PBE as a part of this cycle or catch up with the individual update links below !