Surrender at 20: 10/30 PBE Update: Rift Herald, continued PRESEASON changes, new summoner icons, Mysterious Announcer VO added, & more

[UPDATE: A few mysterious lines were added to the announcer VO!]

The PBE has been updated! As we enter into the second patch of preseason, the RIFT HERALD is now available for testing, we have a few new summoner icons, several adjustments for masteries and item & ability icons, another large set of balance changes, and more!

Continue reading for more information!

(Warning: PBE Content is tentative and iterative - what you see may not reflect what eventually gets pushed to live servers! Manage your expectations accordingly. )

Mysterious Announcer Files Added

A mysterious set of new lines have been added to the female announcer VO files.

These lines are not in the traditional announcer voice but instead different characters voice. There are a total of six new lines:

Here are the six lines:

"I'm running out of heroes."
"I wish they'd give up trying to stop me, but I can understand their position."
"Well, that wasn't the hero."
"They try to knock me down, but I have a low center of gravity."
"I got lucky. You'll get me next time."
"Annnddd, my search continues."

Current speculation is that these MAY be for the upcoming Poppy champion update, which will be "Sion level" in scope and contain a new voiceover!

Rift Herald

The RIFT HERALD is now on the PBE for testing!

The Rift Herald is a new neutral mob that spawns in Baron's Pit for the first ~20 minutes of the game until Baron spawns. On death, he grants gold to the killing team and a buff to the player who slayed him.

[Portrait icons]

Riot Jag has posted a PBE boards context thread on Rift Herald, including details on the encounter:

Spawn & Despawn details:

Rift Herald spawns at the Baron Pit at 4:00.
Rift Herald respawns every 5 minutes
Rift Herald despawns at 19:45 unless in combat; hard despawns at 19:55 no matter what

[ATM Rift Herald respawn /spawn counter appears right below baron on the tab screen.]

The Rift Herald encounter:

Rift Herald has only melee attacks but hits hard. Jag suggests you "need to be able to take a punch" to tank Rift Herald.
The eye on Rift Herald's back will occasionally open, making attacks on him from behind deal bonus damage 12% of Rift Herald's Max health as True Damage.
Rift Herald's takes 35% less damage from ranged basic attacks.

On death, Rift Herald grants:

Everyone on the killing team 50 gold
Gives "Doom's Eve" buff to killer

10% increased damage + 40 bonus MS
Enhanced Baron recall
Buffs nearby minions offensive power just like Baron buff + an additional attack speed increase (NOTE: This Rift Herald buff does NOT increase their defensive power)

There is a global announcement when a team kills the Rift Herald.

Here's a short video of us duoing the fight - notice it takes extreme damage from behind when eye is open.

.. he will also dance with you if you /dance near him.

New Summoner Icons

Three new icons for the upcoming ALL STAR event have been added!

On a related note, files for "AS_IceFinisher" were also added. Seems similar to the special kill finishers we saw during URF earlier this year.

Mastery adjustments

They've messed around with the order of the new mastery trees - while the names remain the same, the offensive (red) tree is now on the left and the defensive (blue) tree has moved to the right.

[NOTE: Only position & colors changed, names have not been changed. unsure if intentional!]

There are also a few adjustments in the individual trees:

Vampirism- Reduced to 0.4% (2% at 5 points) lifesteal and Spell vamp from 0.5% (2.5% at 5 points)
Legendary Guardian - Increased to 0.6 (3 at 5 points) Armor and MR for each nearby enemy champion from 0.4 (2 at 5 points)
Runic Affinity (T2 cunning) - no longer mentions extending river shrine buff duration

Speaking of masteries, you can also see which KEYSTONE MASTERY ( the 18 point selection) allies and enemies are using via the tab screen scoreboard.

Need to catch up? Check out our earlier PBE coverage for more on the new masteries system for preseason, including the powerful new keystone masteries!

Item & Ability icon Adjustments

Few icon adjustments in today's update, two item icons tweaked and a new passive icon for Caitlyn!

Caitlyn's passive icon has been updated.

Corrupting Potion - the icon background is now green instead of yellow.

Tracker's Knife - the item icon background now teal instead of grey

Balance Changes

* Remember *: The PBE is a testing grounds for new, tentative, and sometimes radical changes. The changes you see below may be lacking context or other accompanying changes that didn't make it in - don't freak out! These are not official notes.

General

AP damage to turrets increased from 0.4 AP to 0.5 AP! [source]

Ambient Gold gain up to [20.4 per 10] from [19 per 10]. Bounty kill values changed too.[source - reddit / twitter]

The Homeguard buff after 20 minutes has been removed and Homeguard boot enchantments are back. According to G-Mang this change should return next cycle.

As part of preseason changes, seems death timers have been changed - seem to be longer vs live. Here's the specifics:

Time at which DT scaling starts should now be 15 minutes instead of 35 minutes. (10/29)
Percent death time growth increased lowered to 1% from 2% (10/29)

[CONTEXT: Death timers are a bit to digest - here's the lol wiki article on them. Starting from the time listed (currently 15 min on pbe, but 35 min on live), every 30 seconds the death timer increases by (1% on PBE, 2% on live). Since the death timer increases now start way earlier, death timers are longer ]

Summoner Spells

Clarity can no longer be used on Summoner's Rift. Still usable on ARAM and Dominion.
Clairvoyance can no longer be used on Summoner's Rift. Still usable on Dominion.

Champions

[NOTE: Lots of mana / regen tweaks today due to large number of preseason changes.]

Alistar:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Anivia:

Base Mana increased to 396.04 from 346.04
Mana Growth reduced to 50 from 53

Ashe

Volley (W) now notes it applies Critical Strikes (so critical slows, not extra damage).

[NOTE: This change is relative to the Ashe passive changes, allowing her to land "critical slows" for enhanced slowing effect. See this post for more info.]

Blitzcrank:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Brand:

Base Mana increased to 375.6 from 325.6
Mana Growth reduced to 42 from 45

Evelynn:

Base Mana increased to 315.6 from 265.6
Mana Growth reduced to 42 from 45

FiddleSticks:

Base Mana increased to 400.12 from 350.12
Mana Growth reduced to 56 from 59

Fizz:

Base Mana increased to 317.2 from 267.2
Mana Growth reduced to 37 from 40

Galio:

Base Mana increased to 369.0 from 319.0
Mana Growth reduced to 47 from 50

Hecarim:

Base Mana increased to 327.2 from 277.2
Mana Growth reduced to 37 from 40

Irelia:

Base Mana increased to 338.8 from 288.8
Mana Growth reduced to 32 from 35

Janna:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 2.3 from 1.8

Jax:

Base Mana increased to 338.8 from 288.8
Mana Growth reduced to 32 from 35

Jayce:

Base Mana increased to 357.2 from 307.2
Mana Growth reduced to 37 from 40

Karma:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Kassadin:

Base Mana increased to 397.6 from 347.6
Mana Growth reduced to 67 from 70

Kindred:

Damage Growth decreased to 1.7 from 2.2
Base Damage increased to 54 from 49
Base HP Regen Per Second reduced to 1.4 from 2

Lulu:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 2.2 from 1.7

Maokai:

Base Mana increased to 377.28 from 327.28
Mana Growth reduced to 43 from 46

Morgana:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Nami:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 2.3 from 1.8

Nasus:

Base Mana increased to 325.6 from 275.6
Mana Growth reduced to 42 from 45

Nautilus:

Base Mana increased to 334.0 from 284.0
Mana Growth reduced to 47 from 50

Olaf:

Base Mana increased to 315.6 from 265.6
Mana Growth reduced to 42 from 45

Pantheon:

Base Mana increased to 317.12 from 267.12
Mana Growth reduced to 31 from 34

Quinn

[REMEMBER - Quinn has a large rework currently on the PBE. See this context thead and check our previous PBE coverage for details.]
Harrier (P) total attack damage ratio increased to 1.5 at all ranks from 1.25-1.5

Aerial Assault (Q) - damage adjusted

Base damage lowered to 10/40/70/100/130 from 50/80/110/140/170

second value is x2 on first - down to 20/80/140/200/260 from 100/160/220/280/340)

.35 bonus AD ratio removed (from before increase from missing hp)
.6/.7/.8/.9/1 ratio added (from before increase from missing hp)

increase damage based on missing health ratio now 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8/2 total AD from .68 bonus AD

Tag Team (R) mana cost reduced to 80/40/0 from 120/60/0

Ryze:

Base Mana increased to 392.4 from 342.4
Mana Growth reduced to 52 from 55

Sion:

Base Mana increased to 325.6 from 275.6
Mana Growth reduced to 42 from 45

Sona:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 2.3 from 1.8

Soraka:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 2.3 from 1.8

Swain

Base Mana increased to 374.0 from 324.0
Mana Growth reduced to 47 from 50

Syndra

Base Mana increased to 384 from 334
Mana Growth reduced to 60 from 63

Tahm Kench

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.6 from 1.1

Talon:

Base Mana increased to 377.2 from 327.2
Mana Growth reduced to 37 from 40

Taric:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Twitch

Rat-Ta-Tat-Tat (R)

New "Auto crit first target" removed.
Subsequent target damage reverted to 20% from 30%. Minimum reverted to 40 from 35%

The duration, cooldown, and mana cost reductions are all still present. Not surprised at this revert as the other changes were not mentioned on boards.

Veigar:

Base Mana increased to 392.4 from 342.4
Mana Growth reduced to 52 from 55

Velkoz:

Base Mana increased to 375.6 from 325.6
Mana Growth reduced to 42 from 45

Xerath:

Base Mana increased to 366.96 from 316.96
Mana Growth reduced to 44 from 47

Ziggs:

Base Mana increased to 384.0 from 334.0
Mana Growth reduced to 47 from 50

Zilean:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Zyra:

Base Mana Regen Per Second increased to 1.7 from 1.2

Items

[REMINDER: Lots of new items here! Be sure to check the mega post for full context]

Corrupting Potion (new item in preseason)

Touch of Corruption damage increased to 15-30 from 5-10

Eye of the Watchers (new item in preseason)

Amount of procs per 30 seconds reduced to 3 from 4

Farsight Alteration (new trinket upgrade in preseason)

% Reduced cooldown lowered to 60% from 66%

Removed Items

Zephyr was removed in today's update - Xypherous confirming.

Check out THIS PAGE for a comprehensive list of the new content in this PBE cycle or catch up with the individual update links below !

10/30 PBE Update: Rift Herald, continued PRESEASON changes, new summoner icons, Mysterious Announcer VO added, & more

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