Patch 7.2 Notes

Warwick

Warwick, the Uncaged Wrath of Zaun, will be updated with the launch of patch 7.2! To learn more, check the following links:

• Warwick, The Uncaged Wrath of Zaun - Reveal
• "The Wrath of Zaun" Teaser
• "Engineering the Nightmare" Teaser
• Warwick Champion Spotlight

Head to the “Extras” section of Warwick’s Champion Reveal article above for high-res images of his updated base and skin splash art!

Akali

Akali’s finally reached a stable (though slightly below-average) state following her changes in the assassin update. Given that her core item is being nerfed this patch (see more in the Items section!), we’re taking the opportunity to not only offset the hit to Gunblade, but get Akali to a slightly stronger spot than she was at before.

Shadow Dance represents a lot of what we like about Akali’s kill pattern - it’s telegraphed, has appropriate downtime between casts, and gives the opposing team time to react with their abilities to help peel her prey. Considering all of that, we feel like it’s a good spot to help Akali successfully chain from one kill to the next once she gets going.

R - Shadow Dance

Darius

Darius is supposed to be the big bad guy who smashes you with an axe if you get too close, but right now he feels downright oppressive to lane against. Noxian Might’s early numbers are where the greatest problem lies. With a massive attack damage buff to count on, Darius’s level 1 all-in is brutally stacked in his favor. From there, his passive remains so potent through the early levels that opponents have no opportunity to recover. It’s okay for Darius to start building a lead with an early kill, but one death shouldn’t make or break the entire laning phase.

We also want to reward opponents who can duel Darius by outplaying Decimate, providing they do so with caution. You should still try to avoid his giant axe altogether, but if you really wanna fight the Hand of Noxus, you might have a better chance to do so now.

Passive - Hemorrhage

Q - Decimate

Gragas

Gragas has been struggling to survive his first clear in the post-pre-season jungle; camps with multiple monsters (which he should excel at clearing) proved particularly difficult to handle. Beefing up the Rabble Rouser’s early game enables him to more safely finish his first clears and ramp up through the rest of the game.

General

Passive - Happy Hour

Graves

Back in 6.23, we shipped an under-the-hood fix to a general piece of code that True Grit uses. This corrected a bug causing True Grit to refresh off any instance of damage Graves dealt, rather than only basic attacks (as stated in the tooltip). Being correct, however, isn’t always the same as being right. The bug was in place for so long that we had balanced around it, and Graves mains had grown accustomed to the extra refreshes. So, we’re putting the behavior back in and changing the tooltip instead.

E - Quickdraw

Katarina

Terrorizing high level play (and the Jin Air Green Wings), to say that Katarina’s flashy update packs a punch would be an understatement. A large part of Kat’s oppressive power comes from her early all-in strength: she’s able to land multiple abilities on opponents before they have access to most of their tools. When looking at where we could even the playing field, Shunpo felt like the obvious choice for having the least actual gameplay when used solely for its damage. Katarina’s lethal takedowns should reward anticipation, execution, and dagger tossing; repeatedly clicking on your opponent in the early-game no longer carries as much weight toward that end.

E - Shunpo

Lulu

Lulu’s prevalence as a solo laner was characterized by a combination of strengths she made little trade-offs for, making laning against her a particularly frustrating affair. We solved this by transferring some of her lane clearing power into team utility, hitting her ability to poke champions in the process. Now that the Fae Sorceress sports a healthier clearing pattern, we’re comfortable giving her some offensive power back in a way that augments both her support and solo playstyles.

Passive - Pix, Faerie Companion

Q - Glitterlance

Master Yi

Master Yi’s Meditate sells itself as a “sit still, be tanky, heal up” button. The obvious in-combat use is to channel it while waiting for cooldowns to refresh or allies to arrive, but Yi mains can also make use of the button press on its own. The first case is similar to abilities like Fiora’s Riposte: activating Meditate for a split second to mitigate incoming damage, then immediately canceling it to resume the offensive. The second uses Meditate as an attack reset - equally reflex-intensive, though not nearly as much of a high moment for Yi (relative to any other basic attacker).

To be clear, we’re not getting rid of Meditate’s insta-cancel uses with these changes! Instead, we’re making the channel more appealing andless punishing so the decision isn’t quite as lop-sided.

Passive - Double Strike

W - Meditate

Nidalee

It’s no secret that Nidalee’s strength in 2017 isn't what it used to be. There's a catch, though - while most Bestial Huntresses are now struggling to make ends meet, experienced Nidalee players aren’t feeling that pain. We're not in a rush to make her Queen of the Jungle again, but that doesn't mean we can't beef up her consistency. For this round of changes, we're focusing on putting power into Nidalee’s utility outside of the jungle. Making Bushwhack a more consistent Hunt activator - especially in lane - should reward creative Nidalees without putting them right back on top.

General

W - Bushwhack

E - Primal Surge

Yasuo

We’re okay with Yasuo maxing Sweeping Blade first if he needs to dodge stuff and be super fast, but we’re not okay with how much damage he gets on top of that mobility. That said, Yasuo’s still supposed to ramp into a late-game carry, so we added a ratio to E so he gets some of that damage back as the game progresses. You gotta earn, yo.

E - Sweeping Blade

Duskblade of Draktharr

Following up our nudge to Lethality is some love for its marquee item. Much like Infinity Edge or Rabadon’s Deathcap, Duskblade is intended to be the big purchase if you’re all-in on Lethality’s gameplan of murdering everyone that’s not a tank. That said, many champions we’d expect to see with the item (like Kha’Zix or Talon) instead opt for other big ticket AD items like Ravenous Hydra or Infinity Edge itself to push their damage output to the next level. We’re adding some more bite to Duskblade’s effect to make it shine in the situations you’d expect to see it succeed.

Edge of Night

Edge of Night fills out our trifecta of Lethality care packages. Similar to Duskblade, Edge is a unique item for a specific playstyle that’s getting crowded out by other options (namely, Maw of Malmortius). We actually like the tradeoff between Edge and Maw, but the trickiness of properly using Edge’s active is pushing people away from it. Targeting the cooldown opens up more flexibility and room for error when using the spell shield, making the item less punishing when you predict a teamfight incorrectly. Toss in the potential to gain multiple spell shields per fight, and you’re looking at a change that just might push this item over the Edge. Of Night.

Hextech Gunblade

As a powerful fringe item, Gunblade finds itself in a similar position to last season’s Frozen Mallet. While few champions are able to capitalize on its specific set of stats, those that can (Akali, Katarina, Corki) have uncovered Gunblade’s overbearing potential. When built as a first item, Gunblade’s active provides damage akin to a 5th spell for most users, easily overpowering the opposition with its instant nuke. We want Gunblade users to feel good about buying into an aggressive option, but the effectiveness of the item was just too much.

Redemption

Redemption gives supports (especially enchanters) a way to contribute more directly to teamfights. However, its mid-game ability to dramatically turn skirmishes is making it the optimal first purchase on just about every support. In this landscape, whoever gets Redemption has a substantial advantage in all-ins, which leaves no room for other item choices. We’re significantly toning back its early strength, but keeping the teamfight impact that makes the item so redeeming.

Knight's Vow

Even among protector-types like Braum, Knight’s Vow isn’t seeing much play at the moment. This might just be because everyone’s buying Redemption (see above), so we want to see how this patch shifts the support item landscape before making substantive changes to Knight’s Vow. That said, a lower price point should help encourage supports to make the switch.

Eye of the Equinox

Eye of the Equinox has been suffering two-fold. Tank supports have fallen off in popularity, and Ruby Sightstone has gotten significantly more prevalent. We’re making Eye of the Equinox a bit more attractive for tanks to hit both problems with one stone.

Ardent Censer

Ardent Censer isn’t living up to its promise of empowering attack speed carries in late-game teamfights. We’re adding some scaling so Enchanters get more bang for their buck as the game progresses.

Chalice of Harmony

The Chalice of Harmony paths are supposed to give mage-like supports (and support-like mages) the health and mana they need to keep using their abilities. However, sustain doesn’t do much if you’re dead in two seconds. For all the magic damage showing up in bot lane right now (looking at you, Ziggs and Malzahar), Chalice is missing the mark as an option to keep supports alive while they spellcast. Slightly more magic resistance should put it on track.

Athene's Unholy Grail

Mikael's Crucible

Courage of the Colossus

Courage of the Colossus should be the go-to pick for tanky champions who want to dive into the enemy team and not die immediately. But it’s also encroaching on Grasp of the Undying’s role, giving far too much consistent power in 1-on-1 situations. We want to focus Courage of the Colossus on teamfights, leaving room for Grasp of the Undying to excel in extended trades.

Ghost

Right now, players are using Ghost in much the same way as Flash: a snap reaction spell in sticky situations. We think Ghost has its place in avoiding incoming ganks, but shouldn’t be so effective at escaping ganks that are already in-progress. The problem stems from Ghost giving all of its speed upfront, padding the punishment for slow response time.