3/13 PBE Update: More Tentative Balance Changes

The PBE has been updated! As we continue the 8.6 PBE cycle, today's patch includes more tentative balance changes!
Continue reading for more information!

Table of Contents

• Balance Changes
• Context & Notes

Ahri

• [Context - All changes reverted, back to live functionality. Expect changes to come back for more testing in a later cycle!]

Graves

• AD per level increased from 2.41 to 3
• MR per level increased from .5 to 1

Kai'Sa
[Context]

• Attack range increased from 500 to 525
• Icathian Rain (Q)  Range increased from 575 to 600
• Supercharge (E):
• Minimum movement speed increased from 40/45/50/55/60% to 55/60/65/70/75%
• Charge time (based on bonus attack speed) lowered from [1.5s - .75s] to [1.2s - .6s]

Kha'Zix

• Taste Their Fear (Q):
• bAD ratio increased from 120% to 130%
• damage lowered from 65/90/115/140/165 to 50/75/100/125/150

Lucian

• The Culling (R) AD ratio increased from 20% to 25%

Nocturne

• Paranoia (R) :
• bAD increased from 120% to 150%
• Damage increased from 150/250/350 to 150/275/400

Quinn
[These changes were already noted but were never implemented on the PBE!]

• Base AD lowered from 62 to 59
• AD per level increased from 2.4 to 3 
• (AD at 18 increased from 103 to 110)

Rumble
[Context]

• Flamespitter (Q) :
• Total Damage reverted from 150/200/250/300/350 (+110% AP) to 135/180/225/270/315 (+110% AP)
• Damage to minions reverted from 70% to  75%
• The Equalizer (R) Total Damage (over 5s) reverted from700/1000/1300 (+175%AP) to 650/925/1200 (+150%AP)

Shaco
[Context]

• Deceive (Q) (new this PBE cycle) bonus physical damage lowered from 20/30/40/50/60 (80% bAD) to 10/20/30/40/50 (60% bAD)

Context & Notes

1) ricklessabandon noted the Ahri changes we've seen in testing this PBE would not be going to live in 8.6:

[1] final ahri update for the 8.6 cycle: team has decided that now is a good opportunity to put in the time for more meaningful W changes, so we've made the call to withhold the list from 8.6 and increase the scope of the changes 

so, longer wait for hopefully longer lasting changes

[2] will be pulling the current changes out of the pbe for now (so they shouldn't be there in tomorrow's update) 

everything will show up on the pbe again along with the new changes when we're far enough along with work on W — targeting 8.7 but actual release
could be further out

[3] the focus will be on getting W to a good place within her kit — other changes could happen as well to facilitate that, but unsure on which direction we'll focus on so can't commit to specifics quite yet

[4] correct — i pulled everything, including the under-the-hood script changes, so ahri should be identical between 8.5 and 8.6

2) Riot Repertoir q'd into reddit to comment on today's (3/13) Shaco changes to lower the damage & ratio on his Q's new bonus damage:

"Hey all, 

You'll notice on the PBE tomorrow that the Q damage has been adjusted downward slightly yet again: 

10/20/30/40/50 (+80% bonus AD) >>> 10/20/30/40/50 (+60% bonus AD) 

I'm sure that will be disappointing to some, but I didn't want it to seem like a surprise ninja nerf with no explanation. Essentially, based on playtest, conversation, feedback, etc., I was still feeling that the Q buff alongside the Ignite buff coming in was a bit more than needed to account for the Duskblade damage change, especially because the Q and Ignite changes come online earlier in the game and give you more opportunity to earn your success in your games. Sorry that it seems like I keep chipping away at this; I'm sure that's annoying and frustrating to read. I hope y'all can succeed as well or better in 8.6, and if that's not the case, do feel free to let me know what your experience is like on the new patch. 

Cheers"

He also provided context on the Seraph's Embrace changes testing on the PBE at the moment:

"Hello, here's the reasoning and some thoughts. Essentially, we think Seraph's is a little too good. Not way too good, but a little. Hitting the Mana ratio is unlikely to make it a poor choice, but given the amount of Mana the item provides now, as well as its increased ease of access, a small adjustment seemed appropriate. 

With its 8.4 update, Seraph's isn't as low synergy with several champions as it used to be. Most Archangel's build paths used to entail sitting on Tear while building other items. Now that Archangel's is a much better pick up on its own, its pool of viable users opens up a bit, largely because Archangel's stacking requirements aren't so demanding. 

As to the other ones, GLP could probably still use a little more help; had a discussion with Phroxz0n about that today. Luden's I'm on the fence about, but I could see it going either way (leave as is or slight buff)."

3) Here's Riot Jag with a Kai'sa changelist for today's PBE update:

Current Kai'Sa changes we're experimenting with on PBE: 

• -Attack Range up 500->525 
• -Q Range up 575->600 
• -E Cast time down 1.5-0.75->1.2-0.6 
• -E MS up 40-60%->55-75%

4) Riot Repertoir also provided context on the Rumble reverts in today's PBE update:

"We didn't feel like it was quite ready. Rather than go in what we thought was too questionable a state, we're giving it another patch of work."

5) AzuBK provided context on the LeBlanc changes that have been testing this cycle:

• Not planning to increase RW AP ratio - I think there should be a clear damage hierarchy on the ultimate. RW (used offensively) is the least contextual mimic, so giving it a huge AP ratio doesn't make sense.
• Some form of snapback delay will remain, which I've given the reasoning for in the original context post. Speed is up for debate, but it's likely that speed up means lockout slightly up as well (keeping the relative time before snapback similar).
• R cooldown is contentious right now. Likely to try a weaker rank 1 version with a shorter cooldown, or a more dramatic decrease in cooldown from rank 1 to rank 2 (like 80/45/30). Rank 1 is the main problem point in that a short cooldown leaves minimal windows of safety in lane if LeBlanc gets ahead.
• We won't be reverting to old VFX. I hear the requests, but the old VFX don't meet the quality bar for the game. I'm looking at getting the purple VFX for Mimic abilities though, as I think that's a clear clarity and feel win.

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 !

• 3/6 PBE Update: New Ultimate Skin Gun Goddess Miss Fortune, New Emotes, and More
• 3/7 PBE Update: Hextech Alistar, Birdio, Pizza Delivery Sivir, New Ward Skin, & More
• 3/8 PBE Update: Birdio and Renektoy Chroma, New Summoner Icons, & More
• 3/9 PBE Update: GGMF Splash Art Update & More
• 3/12 PBE Update: Tentative Balance Changes