9.9 PBE Cycle

Below you will find a comprehensive list of new content, balance changes, and whatever else  is included in the current PBE cycle! Be aware that these changes are extremely tentative, there is a possibility that things you see below will be changed or even reverted prior to the live patch.

( Note: As the cycle continues, some images may be outdated! )

• Champion Skins
• Conqueror Alistar
• Chromas
• Summoner Icons
• Emotes
• Ward Skins
• MSI 2019 Login Theme
• Houses 2019 Login Theme
• VFX Updates for Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn and Jax, plus an SFX Update for Renekton
• Post MSI Game Improvements
• Miscellaneous 
• Balance Changes
• Patch History

Champion Skins

Conqueror Alistar continues testing on the PBE this cycle!

Conqueror Alistar

Here's Riot KiWiKiD with a bugs & feedback thread for Conqueror Alistar:

"Conqueror Alistar is ready for PBE Bugs and Feedback! 

This bad boy has conquered countless battlefields and now has MSI 2018 in his sights! Go forth and dominate with his: 

• New model and textures - Plated armor built to last many battlefields
• New spell VFX - Feel the golden flare of conqueror
• New recall animation - Smashing through to obtain the trophy, classic Alistar. 

Conqueror Alistar is now available on PBE! Give him the battles you want to conquer and report back here with any bugs that occured or feedback that you have. Any questions are of course welcome as well, and I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can. 

Conqueror Alistar is currently set at 975 RP. (subject to change) 

Friendly reminder: Conqueror Alistar will not be released until 9.9, around MSI (Mid-season invitational)!"

Chroma

Golden chroma for each Conqueror/Challenger skin continue testing this cycle! The descriptions note: "Loot exclusive gained during the 2019 MSI Event."

Here's Riot Orphyre with a bugs & feedback thread for the chromas this cycle:

"Hey everyone! 

We’ve got some new Chromas coming up for Conqueror Varus, Challenger Ahri, Conqueror Karma, Challenger Nidalee, and the new Conqueror Alistar! 

Conqueror Varus:

• New textures:
• Conqueror Varus (Golden)

Challenger Ahri:

• New textures:
• Challenger Ahri (Golden)

Conqueror Karma:

• New textures:
• Conqueror Karma (Golden)

Challenger Nidalee:

• New textures:
• Challenger Nidalee (Golden)

Conqueror Alistar:

• New textures:
• Conqueror Alistar (Golden) 

The Chroma sets are now available on PBE! We hope you all will enjoy the new sets; as usual, we’re looking forward to hearing your constructive feedback. I’ll do my best to answer and reply to your questions and feedback! 

Thanks!
Riot Orphyre"

Summoner Icons

Seven new icons are now on the PBE:


Challenger/Conqueror summoner icons are still on the PBE for a release with the Mid Season Trials event:

Emotes

Four new Trials emotes are now on the PBE:


Three Conqueror emotes continue testing on the PBE for a release during the Mid Season Trials event:

Ward Skins

The 2019 Conqueror Ward continues testing on the PBE for a release during the Mid Season Trials event:

2019 Conqueror Ward

VFX Updates for Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn and Jax, plus an SFX Update for Renekton

Here's Sirhaian with details on VFX and SFX updates now testing on the PBE:

"Hello everyone! 

Similar to the previous VFX updates we’ve made in the past (Kennen, Olaf, Wukong, etc), we're working on updates to the Visual Effects (VFX) of more champions whose spell effects are in need of some love. Our aim is to get their FX to current League standards and improve gameplay clarity. In Patch 9.9, we'll be releasing VFX updates for Ashe, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn and Jax, and an SFX update for Renekton. 

We're looking for feedback on those changes, which should be up on the PBE now. Please try them out there —especially if you're a main— and leave us your feedback! 

Ashe 

VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Ashe wasn’t in such a high risk area, so we just brought up the art aesthetic to keep her more in line with our Freljordian champions.

BA - Basic attacks are now frosty with an updated arrow model
Q - Mostly added more glow and frost
W - Cleaned up unnecessary noise and created a sharper projectile
E - She now fires an icy hawk that explodes into snow on impact. Updated model for the hawk!
R - New arrow model and made it feel more threatening and cold. Should now slightly indicate the hitbox more clearly.
P - Frosty and cool 

Please note that all skins will not be touched, except for the ones that use base VFX for their respective recolors on live. 

Blitzcrank 

VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Keep in mind he is also getting a small gameplay update!

BA - New hit effects.
Q - Blitzcrank’s Q has been updated to (finally) show the actual width and distance of the hook. Should now be more consistent with the hitbox. Also cleaned up a bit and added a small cast effect.
W - Cleaned up, with added electricity.
E - Cleaned up, with added electricity on his fists. New uppercut hit effect.
R - Finally shows the actual range! Yes, it’s always been this big. Should also be more satisfying. The R ready indicator (the body electricity) has also been cleaned up.
P - The barrier has been cleaned up a bit. 

Skins:
Rusty Blitzcrank: Rustier.
Piltover Customs Blitzcrank: Cleaned up and recolored W effects.
iBlitzcrank: Cleaned up his Q and added jetpacks in his W run. Preserved the lens flares in his E.
Riot Blitzcrank: R has a hint of red.
Battle Boss Blitzcrank: Improved R satisfaction and adjusted the R AOE size.
Lancer Rogue Blitzcrank: Cleaned up R noise.
Lancer Paragon Blitzcrank: Cleaned up R noise. 

Caitlyn 

VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Also reinforced her Piltover/Hextech thematic where it made sense, while trying to preserve her iconic feel. Should feel more impactful and on-par with our modern standards.

BA - Cleaned up and removed all the noise. Also new hit impacts.
Q - Cleaned up and removed the noise. Also added a width indicator on both Q1 and Q2 for clarity. New hit impacts.
W - Reduced activation noise. Cleaned up the root effect. Ally traps now glow blue instead of green to match our modern standards.
E - Cleaned up, and now more accurately represent the width of the missile.
R - Reduced the R target effect’s noise and improved timing a bit. Also new cast effect, missile and hit effect.
P - New headshot missile and effects. Should be more readable and satisfying! 

Skins:
Headhunter Caitlyn: Cleaned up the projectiles. Added the width indicator on Q1 and Q2.
Lunar Wraith Caitlyn: Cleaned up the projectiles. Adjusted width of Q missiles to match base. Also cleaned up R charging and hit effects. 

Jax 

VFX update across the board to clean up unnecessary noise and improve gameplay clarity. Made his attacks sharper and more impactful.

BA - Cleaned up and more impactful
Q - Cleaned up and a bit more readable
W - Activation more visible, and added fire to the lamp post. Bigger impact, too.
E - Cleaned up, and now shows the range of the stun!
R - Cleaned up and more visible, with some sand particles!
R P - Third hit now much more clear and satisfying. 

Skins:
Nemesis Jax: New particles over the entire kit, to give it some more uniqueness.
God Staff Jax: Added the stun range indicator on his E to match the changes on base. 

Renekton 

Cleaning up Renekton's Audio to make it more clear! Goal is to EQ original files to clean out unneeded noise. SFX Updates only, as he already received some VFX Updates earlier.

Q - Emphasizing the Blade on the Cast as well as the Hit
W - Cleaning up loops with EQ, adding blade textures to Execute and Super Execute
E - Slice and Dice has applied Tremolo in the cast, more Transient to the Hit
R - Debris in the Loops have more debris texture with EQ as well. The Cast has more texture to represent some faction tonality
P - EQ present on the Cast and cleaner growl. 

Please test those changes on the PBE and let us know if you have any feedback!"

4/17 Update: Riot Sirhaian noted more tweaks for Caitlyn VFX (full thread):

Following player feedback, I've cleaned up and tweaked the basic attack projectiles for base Caitlyn a bit to reduce the fiery/magic feel. Should be on the PBE tomorrow! (Screens are Normal, Crit and Headshot)

Jax VFX Update Spotlight:


Blitzcrank VFX Update spotlight:


Ashe VFX Update spotlight:


Caitlyn VFX Update spotlight:

Post MSI Gameplay Improvements

Here's Riot Scruffy with a post on upcoming gameplay changes in future patches:

"Hey all, Scruffy here giving an early look at some of the gameplay changes we’re planning for patches 9.9 and 9.10. While we still have no plans for a formal midseason patch (big disruptive changes that reshape the way you play League), we'll have a higher than usual amount of changes like the recent Urgot work so these patches will be heftier than what you've seen in the first half of 2019. 

Systems Changes 

• Early Jungle Lane Dependence - This one is here because we think we can target a common jungler pain point without a big amount of change. Philosophically we like for junglers to participate in the wider game and have to take risks to succeed, but we also want to solve a frustration point that early fights are too important and junglers feel overly reliant on laner rotations to succeed. We’re testing changes around scuttle mechanics and possibly other tactics to see if we can create a less pressured level 2 fight-or-lose situation.
• Inspiration overuse as secondary - Inspiration is stifling a lot of other cool secondary rune tree options by bringing too much value. We are exploring both nerfs there and also buffs to the other tree minor runes to make them have more splash appeal.
• Hunter’s Potion - This item is a tempting option that currently is a trap because it’s weak and additionally doesn’t really add a lot of interest beyond a ton of sustain. We’re experimenting with some small reworks to make this usable and fun but if we can’t find any compelling spaces we’ll remove this item altogether.
• Aftershock - Pretty simple goals here to reduce the power of this rune on champs not building tanky while keeping it good on tanks and bruisers. 

Champion Changes 

• Blitzcrank - We'll be shipping the quality of life improvements that you saw on PBE recently: making Blitz's passive shield more consistent, removing the randomness from R's passive, and giving Blitz a bit more payoff for auto attacking
• Tahm Kench - The goal here is to make TK less of an action stopper in very high elo and pro while also making him a playable support pick for the average player. Our current direction makes TK slow when devouring an ally (like when he devours an enemy) to pull a bit of power out of coordinated saves. To compensate we’re buffing his Q slow and making devour -> spit minions cost less so that he can use it more
• Zac - We’re currently testing a mostly reverted version of the Ult with a few improvements to help it have more clear gameplay and understandable impact.
• Aatrox - He still has been too hard to counter at high level and pro play which really hurts his playability for normal players. Our current changes make his ult revive only activate if he gets a takedown while his ult is active to remove his reliable ability to deny his own death. To compensate we’re buffing his baseline stats and exploring some other spicy additions. 

As usual, these are all work in progress so we may change or even not ship some of these ideas if they don’t come together well. Thanks for playing with us and I’m looking forward to your feedback and ideas. 

Scruffy"

Miscellaneous 

• Trials event loot assets:
• MSI 2019 Orb
• Trials Token
• Golden Chroma for Challenger Nidalee + Icon
• Golden Chroma for Conqueror Karma + Icon 
• Conqueror Alistar Icon + Border
• Golden Chroma for Challenger Ahri + Icon
• 100 Prestige Points + Icon
• Golden Chroma for Conqueror Varus + Icon
• Golden Chroma for Conqueror Alistar + Icon
• Challenger Nidalee Icon + Border
• Challenger Ahri Icon + Border
• 2019 Conqueror Ward
• Worthy Adversary Emote
• Wonderful... Emote
• Impressive! Emote

• Special loading screens for Challenger Ahri and Challenger Nidalee, available during Mid Season Trials event:

Aatrox
[Changelist]

• HP5 lowered from 8 to 3
• Deathbringer Stance (Passive)
• [Removed] Reduces healing and shielding on champions
• [New] Heals Aatrox for the bonus damage dealt
• Bonus damage lowered from [8-16%] to [5-10%]
• Cooldown lowered from 25 to 15
• Cooldown reducing effect changed from [2 seconds per spellcast + 2 for hitting champions with sweetspots] to [2 seconds per damaging attack or spell on enemy champions and large monsters + 2 on sweetspot hit]
• Maximum bonus damage against monsters lowered from 400 to 100
• Attack frame adjusted to more closely match other basic attacks

• The Darkin Blade (Q)
• Cooldown start time changed from [on Q1 cast] to [on most recent Q cast]
• Damage increased from 10/25/40/55/70 to 10/30/50/70/90
• Cooldown lowered from 16/15/14/13/12 to 14/12/10/8/6

• Infernal Chains (W)
• Slow changed from 15/20/25/30/35% to 25%
• Cooldown increased from 18/17/16/15/14 to 26/23/20/17/14

• Umbral Dash (E)
• [Removed] Grants attack damage for 1.5 seconds
• Passive healing source changed from [physical champion damage] to [non-periodic champion damage of any type]

• World Ender (R)
• [Removed] Revive as a baseline World Ender effect
• [Removed] Bonus movement speed on cast and while out of combat with champions
• [Removed] Allied minion fear
• [Removed] Triggering a Revive no longer clears short buffs on Aatrox (ex. Conqueror stacks)
• [New] Aatrox gains 60/80/100% Movement Speed decaying over World Ender's duration
• [New] Aatrox receives 40/55/70% increased healing during World Ender
• [New] On takedown, extend World Ender by 5 seconds, refresh the Movement Speed, and Revive upon taking lethal damage
• Cooldown start time changed from [After R ends] to [On Cast]
• Cooldown lowered from 160/140/120 to 140/120/100
• Cast time lowered from .5s to .25s
• Revive self slow increased from 25% to 99%
• Revive heal changed from [10-50% Max HP] to [30% max HP]

Akali

• Twilight Shroud (W) 
• extended duration lowered from 8/8.5/9/9.5/10 to 7/7.5/8/8.5/9
• cooldown increased from 21/19/17/15/13 to 25/22/19/16/13

Blitzcrank
[Context / Changelist - back for more testing, expected release in 9.9!]

• Mana Barrier (Passive)
• Shield Strength changed from [50% of current mana] to [30% of Max Mana]

• Static Field (R)
• [New Passive] "Lightning charges Blitzcrank's attacks, dealing an extra 50/100/150 (+30% AP) magic damage. This stack up to 2 times."

Darius

• Decimate (Q)
• Blade damage increased from 40/70/100/130/160 to 50/80/110/140/170
• Heal increased from 12/24/36% missing health to 15/30/45% missing health
• (based on # of enemy champs hit by blade, capping at 3)

Hecarim

• Devastating Charge (E) 
• Min damage lowered from 45/80/115/150/185 to 45/75/105/135/165
• Max damage lowered from 90/160/230/300/370 to 90/150/210/270/330

Jarvan IV

• Base HP lowered from 571.2 to 570
• Mana lowered from 302.2 to 300
• Mana regen lowered from 1.3512 to 1.3
• Golden Aegis (W) bonus shield changed from [+2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3% of J4's Max health per nearby enemy champion)] to [1.5% of J4's Max health per nearby enemy champion]

• Demacian Standard (E) cooldown increased from 11 to 12

Kennen

• Lightning Rush (E) no longer grants armor and magic resist.

• Slicing Maelstrom (R) now grants 20/40/60 armor and magic resist