2017 Season Update

• 2017 Season Update
• Ranked 2017: Queue Updates
• Replays & Practice: The Technology is (Finally) Here
• Client Update: Open Beta Coming This Preseason
• Assassin Update
• Assassin Itemization
• Stealth Mechanics
• Gameplay Updates
• PBE Feedback threads
• [Comment Section]

"This year was Riot's 10-year anniversary—the perfect time to look back on our wins and losses, and to challenge ourselves to keep getting better at serving players. 

Sometimes, everybody looks like a boosted animal. Even us! That just means we’ve gotta get good. 2017 is the year. 

CHECK OUT THE LINKS ABOVE FOR MORE DETAILS ON WHAT WE'RE DOING.

THE 2016 SEASON DRAWS TO A CLOSE ON NOVEMBER 7!

THE 2017 SEASON WILL BEGIN ON DECEMBER 6TH!

RANKED 2017: Queue Updates

In 2016, we made a big mistake. We took away Solo/Duo Queue, and some of our most loyal players felt betrayed. This year, we're looking to make things right by trying something radical —giving you what you’ve been asking for all along. 

For the hyper-competitive lone wolf (and one trusted compadre), Solo/Duo Queue is back. For those who want a competitive group experience, we're morphing DQ into the Flex Queue. Play in both to get extra rewards. 

SOLO/DUO QUEUE 

Remember Season 2015's ranked system? It's a lot like that. Queue up alone or with one trusted friend and aim for Gold (or higher). The major differences from 2015 are that you'll be able to select two preferred positions and exclude your least favorite. Challenger tier will also remain solo-only.

FLEX QUEUE 

The Flex Queue allows up to five players to queue up and compete—a lot like 2016's Dynamic Queue—and those who climb in both will earn extra rewards at the end of the season. If your premade squad wants a serious, competitive game, this is where you play. Or, if you're a solo player who wants to get good in an environment that rewards more team-oriented skills, the Flex Queue is also there for you. Ranked fives will naturally be merged with this queue, and as a result they'll be available 24/7.

Replays & Practice: The Technology is (Finally) Here

Revisit your biggest wins—and learn from your failures—with Replays. Then load up Practice Tool: a powerful new set of custom game options that'll help you get good.

SAVE YOUR PLAYS

Roughly one million years ago, we told you our plans to (eventually) ship replays. With the launch of the client update, we're finally making good on that promise. 

The launch version of Replays comes with all the tools you've come to expect out of Spectate Mode—plus some. Download Replays from your match history or end-of-game screen during the patch you played on, then use the built-in recording tool to save your highlights as video files that can be shared anywhere. 

SPEEDY SCRUBBIN'

Just looking for that pentakill? The Annotated Timeline will help you find all kills, dragons, barons, towers, and inhibitors, so it's easier to find your favorite moments. 

MORE ON REPLAYS

PRACTICE TOOL
COMING TO THE UPDATED CLIENT EARLY IN 2017!

PRACTICE YOUR WAY

Instantly reset cooldowns to practice that hellaciously hard wall-flash, or cheat gold for items to try out different builds on the fly. We know you’re going to miss the good old days of waiting beside a wall for five minutes, only to fail-Flash into it. Patience is technically a skill, and we appreciate yours. 

Want to work on your last-hitting? Lock your character at level one and show those minions what's up. 

Want to try out jungle Corki but aren't sure if you'll die to wolves? Test out jungle clears without loading a new game each time!

CLIENT UPDATE: OPEN BETA COMING THIS PRESEASON

"Once upon a time we built the League of Legends client and everyone fit in it comfortably. Then we immediately outgrew our little cottage and spent the next eight years frantically renovating it. No more! This year, hundreds of thousands of alpha testers helped us rebuild the League client from the ground up. With your help, our home’s about to get good. Starting during pre-season, the client update beta will be available for everyone to download.

WE BUILT IT. YOU TESTED IT.

The old client's tech has been fully replaced with a new, more reliable foundation so we can fix long-standing bugs and set the stage for League's evolving future. We also took the opportunity to rework the client's visuals with a cohesive (and kinda sexy) hextech design. 

A MAGICAL UPGRADE
Although updating the client was mostly about preparing for the future, we couldn't help but build in a few exclusive new features for those who upgrade. Drag and drop rune pages to reorder them, or see in-game ability scaling information and change your in-game settings—all from the client. Oh, and all future features (Replays and Practice Tool!) will be exclusive to the updated client.

MAKE THE LEAP

To upgrade your client, just opt-in using the pop-up in your launcher that'll appear at some point during pre-season. You'll be able to manually launch the legacy client at any point throughout the open beta, and when the beta ends everyone will automatically upgrade to the League client update experience. Leaving beta will only be the beginning. The client—like League itself—will continue to evolve."

Assassin Update

"This pre-season, we're giving assassins some shiny new tools to help them get good. Each will earn their takedowns with unique flair. 

Talon 

Now with Parkour

He's League's original cloak-and-dagger contract killer, and we're adding more precision to Talon's bladed assault. Outfitted with the new terrain-hopping Assassin's Path, there's no wall too steep to keep Talon from his targets.

 Passive: Blade's End
(NEW) Talon's abilities wound champions and epic monsters for a short duration, stacking up to three times. When Talon basic attacks a fully wounded target, they bleed for a large amount of physical damage over time.

 Q: Noxian Diplomacy
(UPDATED) Leaps to a target, dealing physical damage. If cast from melee range, Talon instead critically strikes the target. Whenever Noxian Diplomacy kills a unit, Talon regains a small amount of health.

 W: Rake
Tosses a volley of blades in a direction, dealing physical damage and returning after a brief delay. On their return, the blades deal increased physical damage and briefly slow all enemies hit.

 E: Assassin's Path
(NEW) Targeting terrain allows Talon to do a super-cool vault over it. Talon can't vault over the same terrain for a long period of time.

 R: Shadow Assault
Fires a ring of blades from Talon's location, increasing movement speed and making him invisible for a few seconds. When Talon emerges from stealth, the blades converge on his location, dealing physical damage each time they pass through an enemy. If Talon breaks his stealth by basic attacking or using Noxian Diplomacy, the blades will converge on his target's location instead.

Rengar

Knifecat's got some new hunting gear 

Rengar's pre-season changes are about giving him tools to be the Biggest Game Hunter in the League. With revamped Ferocity and a fresh Bonetooth Necklace, Rengar's ready to savor the Thrill of the Hunt.

 Passive: Unseen Predator

(UPDATED) While in brush, Rengar's basic attacks cause him to leap at his target. Leaping to enter combat generates one Ferocity. At four Ferocity, Rengar's next ability is empowered, granting special effects and increasing his movement speed.

 Passive: Bonetooth Necklace
(UPDATED) Rengar gains trophies whenever he takes down a unique enemy champion. For each Trophy, Rengar's attack damage is permanently increased.

 Q: Savagery
(UPDATED) Slashes enemies in an arc in front of Rengar, followed by a piercing strike, dealing physical damage and generating one Ferocity. If cast with four Ferocity, each strike's damage is massively increased.

 W: Battle Roar
(UPDATED) Roars, generating one Ferocity, dealing magic damage, and healing Rengar for a portion of the damage he's taken in the last few moments. If cast with four Ferocity, Rengar removes all existing crowd control effects and prevents incoming ones for a short duration.

 E: Bola Strike
Tosses a bola in a targeted direction to deal physical damage, generate one Ferocity, and slow the first enemy hit for a short duration. If cast with four Ferocity, the bola roots the first enemy hit for a short duration instead.

 R: Thrill of the Hunt
(UPDATED) Rengar's predatory senses take over, stealthing him for a long period of time. While stealthed, Rengar gains movement speed and can see the nearest enemy champion to him from very far away. Rengar can leap to the revealed champion for a guaranteed critical strike.

LeBlanc

Double LB Weekend 

While Leblanc's combo-kills are flashy, she's not always fitting of the title "Deceiver." This pre-season, we're adding some more tricks up her sleeve to misdirect her prey.

 Passive: Sigil of Malice
(NEW) Leblanc's abilities inflict Sigil of Malice, which can be detonated and consumed by her other abilities after a few seconds to deal bonus damage.

 Q: Shatter Orb
(NEW) Fires an orb that damages an enemy. If the orb triggers Sigil of Malice it shatters, consuming the sigil and dealing damage to the nearest available Sigil of Malice.

 W: Distortion
Dashes to target location, dealing damage to all nearby enemies upon landing. Recasting Distortion within a few seconds returns Leblanc to her starting location.

 E: Ethereal Chains
Launches illusionary chains in a direction, damaging and shackling the first target hit. If the target remains shackled for a few moments, they'll take additional damage and become rooted.

 R: Mimic
(UPDATED) Leblanc becomes invisible for a short duration, creating a Mimic to take her place and cast a stronger version of one of her basic abilities. The Mimic lasts only for a few moments and expires if it takes damage from champions or turrets. 

Mimicking Leblanc's ultimate spawns a Mimic at a target location instead. Once formed, the Mimic will walk toward the nearest visible enemy champion, casting a non-damaging version of Leblanc's most recently used ability upon arrival.

Katarina

More daggers, more Shunpo 

Katarina's still the same whirlwind of blades, but now we're adding more lightning-speed shunpo-shenanigans to help you get the reset.

 Passive: Voracity
Whenever an enemy champion dies after being recently damaged by Katarina, her cooldowns are significantly reduced.

 Q: Bouncing Blade
(UPDATED) Throws a dagger, dealing magic damage to the target and two nearby enemies before falling onto the ground.
If Katarina picks up a dagger, she flourishes, dealing magic damage in an area around her.

 W: Preparation
(NEW) Tosses a dagger in the air, gaining movement speed for a short duration. After a brief delay, Katarina can pick up the dagger.

 E: Shunpo
Instantly blinks to target enemy, ally, or dagger. Upon arrival, Katarina deals magic damage to the nearest enemy. If Katarina targets a dagger, Shunpo's cooldown is massively reduced.

 R: Death Lotus
Become a flurry of blades, rapidly throwing knives at the three nearest enemy champions and dealing massive magic damage over the duration. All enemies struck receive Grievous Wounds, reducing their healing.

• Fizz - Fizz's shark gets bigger depending on how far Chum the Waters traveled.
• Zed - Upon killing an enemy champion with Death Mark, Zed permanently gaiuns a portion of their attack damage for himself.
• Akali - Akali blinks a short distance, leaving Twilight Shroud at her original location.
• Kha'Zix = Kah'Zix's evolutions are evolving, too. Q, W, and R are getting updates to be more suited for isolated takedowns.
• Shaco - Shaco's clone drops three Jack in the Boxes and causes enemies to flee when it dies.
• Ekko - Ekko's passive no longer slows, but Chronobreak triggers Parallel Convergence as Ekko travels back through time.

Assassin Itemization

"Current AD assassin items barely do more than increase the raw damage output of their wielders. While items still need to pack a punch so assassins can close out their kills, we're updating them to include more tricks to help assassins set-up, stalk, and ambush—not just burst. 

LETHALITY

Flat armor penetration's been changed to Lethality. They're pretty much the same thing, but the bulk of Lethality's penetration scales with your opponent's level. This makes it less snowbally, meaning we can give Assassins more of it than we could flat armor penetration!

STEALTH MECHANICS 

The Assassin update seemed like a good opportunity to revisit stealth in League. Broadly speaking, we think of stealth in two ways which roughly map to long/moderate-duration effects (Evelynn), versus short-duration effects (Wukong). We're embracing the distinction to add consistency within the champs that occupy these two camps.

CAMOUFLAGE
Camouflage is what we call 'strategic' stealth. It's strongest when used to get around the map unseen, moving from one victim to the next. Evelynn's had this mechanic for a while, and we're extending it to Rengar and Twitch as well.

INVISIBILITY
Invisibility can be thought of as 'tactical' stealth and is the more common of the two mechanics. Invisibility effects don't last long enough for its users to move from one lane to another, but are well-suited for combat maneuvering (whether that's within a fight or starting one). Champs like Wukong and LeBlanc possess this mechanic.

CONTROL WARDS
Now that Rengar and Twitch are in the Camouflage camp, we're able to give power back to stealth champions. So, Vision Wards have been updated into a more focused anti-vision tool: Control Wards. Control Wards still grant their own vision, but also provide strong vision denial—they reveal and disable nearby enemy wards and traps—but they don't reveal Invisible champs.

GAMEPLAY UPDATES 

"Looking back, you’d think pre-season was just an annual jungle-changing ceremony. But this really is the best time to try out big game changes, and this year we’ve got… jungle changes. Fact is, we’ve been trying to figure out how to make the jungle interesting and meaningful all the way into the lategame for a long time. So, this season the jungle grows up, supports will find some new items, and we’ve got some minor changes to masteries to round it all out.

LIVING JUNGLE

These green goodies grow in specific areas on the Rift, offering worthwhile bonuses throughout the game.

BLAST CONE

Knocks away nearby units when destroyed. Use it to jump into your next jungle camp, or to escape an enemy that's chasing you.

SCRYER'S BLOOM

When destroyed, releases pollen across the map away from the attacker, revealing units on the way. Use it to scout for enemies!

HONEYFRUIT

When destroyed, spills healing fruit on the ground. Eat the fruit to keep your health and mana topped off as you roam the jungle.

Jungle Adjustments 

With plants overlapping some (not all) Smite rewards, we’re streamlining things by removing Smite buffs (Smite will now heal you whenever you smite a large monster, no matter which one it is). We're also making some additional minor changes to camps to make each feel more distinct. 

• Blue Sentinel & Red Brambleback
• Blue and Red buff have evicted the smaller monsters that lived in their camps. How lonely. 

• Raptors
• There are now a total of six raptors to peck you to death. 

• Murk Wolves
• ...Actually, not much has changed here. Carry on! 

• Gromp
• Gromp's poison is gone, but now he enrages at the start of the encounter. Get licked. 

• Krugs
• Krugs now split into progressively smaller Krugs as you kill them. They're really quite persistent.

Masteries

The only really big mastery change hits the Resolve tree, but there are a bunch more adjustments in the works! Be sure to check the Patch Notes when pre-season drops for all the juicy details.

Items

When it comes to defense and utility, Aegis of the Legion's aura was second to none—to the extent that it became a must-buy for any support. We're removing the aura and adding new items which offer more active ways of supporting your team.

Champion Mastery

Every ranked season, you can earn one free Hextech chest per champion. If you or a premade ally get an S- or better grade—and you haven’t already gotten a chest for the champ you were playing—you get a chest! Score big across a wide variety of champs and you can earn up to 52 free chests per year. 

With the start of the 2017 ranked season, you’ll be able to re-earn your one free Hextech chest per champion."

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