Darius Patch Notes and Champion Spotlight

The delay is over and the patch is on its way! Check out this thread for latest details regarding it's deployment, but in the mean time check out the Darius, The Hand of Noxus, champion spotlight and browse the newest set of patch notes, both listed below for your convince.

New Skins in the Store

• Lord Darius
• Blackthorn Morgana
• Tyrant Swain

PvP.net v1.60

• Normal Draft Mode
  • Normal draft has changed so that premade groups are not prioritized over solo players
    • Solo players have a 20% chance of being the team captain with banning powers and first pick, regardless of the premade status of the rest of the team
    • If a solo player is not team captain, the player will be given a random slot in the pick order
    • If players group up before a game, their host absorbs all of their chances, i.e. the host of a 4-man premade has an 80% chance to be captain
• Ranked Solo/Duo Queue
  • The Free to Play rotation has been removed from Ranked Solo/Duo Queue
  • Unlocked Champions that appear on the Free to Play rotation will still be playable
• You may now rename your buddy groups by double-clicking the name of the group
• Fixed a bug where some buddies would appear to be level 0 with no information
• Fixed a bug where the sound at the end of Champion select would play too loudly
• Fixed a bug where swap offers in Champion select would persist into your next game

League of Legends v1.0.0.140
Darius, the Hand of Noxus

• Hemorrhage (Passive) - Darius aims his attacks strategically, causing his target to bleed. This effect stacks up to five times.
• Decimate - Darius swings his axe in a wide circle. Enemies struck by the blade take more damage than those struck by the shaft.
• Crippling Strike - Darius's next attack severs a crucial artery. As the target bleeds out, their movement and attack speeds are slowed. Crippling Strike's cooldown is lower the more bloodied the target.
• Apprehend - Darius hones his axe, granting him passive armor penetration. When activated, Darius sweeps up his enemies with his axe's hook and pulls them to him.
• Noxian Guillotine (Ultimate) - Darius leaps to an enemy Champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing true damage. This damage increases for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target. If Noxian Guillotine is a killing blow, its cooldown is refreshed.

Ashe

• Ashe's art update
  • New model for Classic Ashe
  • Updated and improved models for Woad Ashe, Shewood Ashe, Frelijord Ashe and Queen Ashe
  • All new animations and updated VFX for base and skins
  • Updated splash art
• Hawkshot now displays total gold retrieved by the skill in the tooltip
• Adjusted Frost Shot's projectile speed to match the basic attack projectile speed
• Fixed a bug where Frost Shot's attack frame was slower than the basic attack

Caitlyn

• Fixed a bug where Caitlyn would appear to attack during Ace in the Hole

Cho'Gath

• Rupture
  • Added red/green rings to indicate which targets will be affected
  • Launch delay reduced to 0.65 seconds from 0.7 seconds

Dr. Mundo

• Sadism now returns 40/50/60% of Mundo's health instead of 40/55/70%

Fiddlesticks

• Dark Wind now deals 50% increased damage to minions and monsters

Fizz

• Fixed a bug where Playful / Trickster would prevent Fizz from casting spells for longer than intended

Gangplank

• Parrrley now displays total gold earned by the skill in the tooltip

Hecarim

• Rampage damage to minions and monsters increased to 66% from 50%
• Devastating Charge now requires less distance traveled to get the full effect

Lulu

• Glitterlance
  • Damage adjusted to 80/125/170/215/260 from 80/130/180/230/280
  • Ability power ratio reduced to 0.5 from 0.6

Malphite

• Health per level increased to 90 from 82
• Increased Malphite's travel speed during Unstoppable Force

Morgana

• Soul Siphon Spell Vamp reduced to 10/15/20% from 10/20/30%

Nautilus

• Fixed a bug where Riptide would continue to deal full damage on subsequent hits to slow immune targets

Renekton

• Cull the Meek's fury-enhanced swipe trail is now properly red

Twisted Fate

• Loaded Dice will now show total gold earned by the skill on a per-unit basis on the buff tooltip

Xin Zhao

• Fixed a bug where Three Talon Strike did not take Critical Damage modifiers into account

Items

• New item: Athene's Unholy Grail
  • 80 Ability Power
  • 36 Magic Resist
  • 15 mana regeneration per 5 seconds
  • 15% cooldown reduction
  • Unique Passive: Restores 12% of your max mana on kill/assist and increases your mana regeneration by 1% per 1% mana missing
• Phantom Dancer movement speed reduced to 12% from 15%
• Zeal movement speed reduced to 6% from 8%

Summoner's Rift Graphics Updated:

• New textures across the entirety of Summoner’s Rift
• Changes to the color palette to differentiate the upper and lower jungles from one another
• A new shopkeeper has arrived to service all your Champion’s item purchases
• New animations on many monsters including the Ancient Golem, the Lizard Elder, and Baron Nashor
• HUD now displays the number of creeps you have killed
• Minimap has improved so that map icons and player icons display more clearly
• Significantly improved game performance on low end machines and at lower quality settings
• Improved the visual quality of the in-game HUD

Co-op vs. AI

• Bots will no longer kill themselves by chasing enemies onto the summoning platform
• Fixed a bug where Shen Bot did not learn all of his abilities
• Fixed a bug where Ashe Bot would occasionally get stuck toggling Frost Shot repeatedly
• Fixed a bug where Bots would use Cleanse on knockup, and knockback abilities

Spectator Mode

• Spectators can now view the spectator UI and use Timeshift controls after the game has ended
• Spectator Mode will now run at full speed when alt tabbed in windowed or borderless mode
• The mouse cursor will now hide in spectator mode after a period of inactivity
• The spectator HUD will now remember chat visibility settings between games
• Significantly reduced CPU usage of the Featured Games module
• Improved the algorithm for selecting Featured Games to include more Normal and Ranked Team games with extremely skilled players
• Fixed a bug that caused Featured Games to occasionally show completed games
• Fixed a bug where fast forwarding up to live could break spectator mode
• Fixed a bug that could cause Directed Camera to miss kills in some situations

General

• Towers will now alert you with a tone and a particle when you are being targeted
• Added a confirmation dialog for the quit button in champion select for Custom Games
• All spells attempted to be cast while crowd controlled (stunned, snared, etc) will now cast immediately at the end of the effect
• Improved particle scaling on characters like Dragon or Baron Nashor
• Fixed a bug where players could not spam emotes to their heart's content
• Fixed a bug where units would remain highlighted after death
• Fixed a bug where inputs made while the shop is open would translate onto the battlefield (unintentional pings, pathing, etc)

Also be sure to read Riot's latest post on the League's Newest item, previously mentioned during this weeks Patch Preview, below:

In the Darius Patch, we’ll also be rolling out a new upgrade option to the classic Magic Resistance item Chalice of Harmony. To help keep Chalice a viable item choice late into the game, we wanted to add a late game upgrade aimed specifically at Ability Power carries who might have trouble keeping their Mana high. With that in mind, we’ve added the option to add some damage stats later in the game by upgrading to Athene’s Unholy Grail.

The Chalice Conundrum

The added Magic Resistance from Chalice of Harmony combined with the heavy Mana Regeneration granted by its unique passive makes it an attractive option for an Ability Power in a disadvantageous position – particularly one that is heavily reliant on the Crest of the Ancient Golem. In the event that you find yourself behind your lane opponent with the enemy team invading your jungle, a timely Chalice can give you the added durability you need to rally. Meanwhile, the rapid Mana Regeneration can function as a sort of surrogate golem buff, allowing even the most heavily Mana reliant caster to continue fighting effectively. 

Unfortunately, while Chalice of Harmony might be the right item choice to fuel an early game comeback, without any damage stats mage players often sell it as the game wears on or simply avoid buying it altogether. For this reason, we decided to offer the option to pick up a little a little extra bang for your buck by upgrading to Athene’s Unholy Grail. 

My Cup Runneth Over

To give Chalice of Harmony the staying power it needs to carry on into late game, we decided to add the option combine it with Fiendish Codex to build Athene’s Unholy Grail. With some added Ability Power and Cooldown Reduction, Athene’s Unholy Grail can easily function as a core item for mages interested in picking up some additional durability. 

• +80 Ability Power
• +36 Magic Resist
• +15 Mana Regen per 5 seconds
• UNIQUE Passive: 15% Cooldown Reduction
• UNIQUE Passive: Restores 12% of your max Mana on Kill or Assist.
• UNIQUE Passive: Increases your Mana Regen by 1% per 1% Mana you are missing. Does not stack with Chalice of Harmony.

Moreover, in addition to the passive Mana Regeneration afforded by Chalice of Harmony’s unique passive, Athene’s Unholy Grail also has the added benefit of granting a significant Mana bonus upon scoring a kill or assist. This can keep an aggressively ganking Ability Power carry topped off and in the field, as well as grant some additional staying power over the course of a protracted team fight. 

I’ll Drink to That!

With the addition of a few offensive stats and a new, offensively focused Mana Regeneration mechanic, the new upgrade to Chalice of Harmony should make it a more attractive option for casters early on in the game. Upgrading to Athene’s Unholy Grail, can help you convert that early game comeback into late game staying power.