Surrender at 20: 6/20 PBE Update: New & Tweaked Summoner Icons

[Added in Cursor Update on PBE v3!]

The PBE has been updated! As we continue the 8.13 PBE cycle, today's patch includes new and tweaked summoner icons and more tentative balance changes!

Continue reading for more information!

(Warning: PBE Content is tentative and subject to change - what you see below may not reflect what eventually gets pushed to live servers at the end of the cycle! Manage your expectations accordingly.)

New & Tweaked Summoner Icons

A new summoner icon is now on the PBE:

The Darius icon we saw in a previous update was tweaked to add his scar across his eye:

[Old]

Miscellaneous

Wolf Ward spotlight from Skin Spotlights:

God-King Darius full VO from Skin Spotlights:

Non-English versions:

God-King Garen full VO from Skin Spotlights:

Non-English versions:

Aatrox champion update non-English VO:

Balance Changes

* NOTE*: The PBE is a testing grounds for new, tentative, & experimental changes. Be aware that what you see below may be relative to other changes earlier this cycle! These are not official notes.

Champions

Fizz
[Context/Changelist - Note: Not shipping in 8.13!]

Seastone Trident (W)

[REMOVED] W passive marking targets for 6s
[REMOVED] W active dealing triple damage when hitting a mark-primed target
[NEW] W active now has second cast, similar to the first, but dealing more damage (especially against low health enemies)

Bonus Damage on Hit:

First W: 10/20/30/40/50 + 40% AP
Second W: 35/50/65/80/95 + 50% AP (+0-100% increased damage based on enemy % health missing)

1s lockout on recasting W

Using W on a target slowed by Chum the Waters allows W to be recast instantly

Mana refund amount reduced from [20/28/36/42/50] to [10/14/18/22/26]

Mana refund applies to both casts individually

[REMOVED] Cooldown reduction when killing any unit with W active

Jinx

Switcheroo! (Q)

[Meddler mentioned "What we'll first be testing first for Jinx: -Allowing the bonus Rocket damage (the +10%) to also crit." This seems to be in place now - live vs. PBE image]

Zap! (W) AD ratio increased from 140% to 160%

Kalista

Note on 6/19 change from Meddler

"Slightly increased AD ratio on spear damage (20-35% by rank, from 20-30%). Not necessarily a final change though, still some discussion going on."

Kassadin
[Kassadin as other changes in testing on the PBE!]

Force Pulse (E) AP increased from 70% to 80%

Lucian

AD per level lowered from 3.11 to 2.75
The Culling (R) minion damage lowered from 400% to 200%

Orianna

Command: Dissonance (W) cooldown lowered from 9 at all ranks to 7 at all ranks.

Command: Protect (E) damage AP ratio reverted from 40% to 30%

Riven

HP regen increased from 1.1 to 1.4
Blade of the Exile (R)

Cooldown lowered from 130/95/60 to 120/90/60
extra AD reverted from 20/25/30% to 20% at all ranks

Singed

Insanity Potion (R) stats lowered from 30/60/90 to 30/55/80

Vs. Live: From 35/60/85 to to 30/55/80

Tryndamere

Spinning Slash (E) cooldown lowered from 13/12/11/10/9 to 13/11.5/10/8.5/7

Vladimir

HP per level reverted from 93 to 96
Base HP reverted from 477 to 537
Tides of Blood (E) max damage AP lowered from 100% to 80%

Zoe
[Zoe has other changes in testing on the PBE!]

Spell Thief (W)

AP lowered from 75% to 65%
movement speed reverted from 20/25/30/35/40% to 30/40/50/60/70%

Runes

The Aether Blade (D+S Set Bonus)

AD increased from 11 to 12
AP increased from 18 to 20

The Wicked Maestro (D+I Set Bonus)

AD increased from 11 to 12
AP increased from 18 to 20

The Immortal Butcher (D+R Set Bonus)

AD increased from 5 to 6
AP increased from 9 to 10

The Twisted Surgeon (D+P Set Bonus)

AP increased from 13 to 14

Context & Notes

1) Here's Meddler's quick gameplay thoughts for 6/20, including notes on the crit itemization balance update that went out on 6/18, as well as the 'funneling' strategy:

"Hi folks,

Usual Disclaimers

These posts will often contain talk about future work we're doing, or planning to do, that isn't yet guaranteed to ship. The nature of the work could change or, depending on what we discover, projects mentioned may get put delayed or even stopped. If you'd like to see a Tweet whenever a new one of these posts goes up: https://twitter.com/RiotMeddler

AD Item Micropatch

Earlier this week we put out a micro patch that buffed Stormrazor (AD and MS), IE (gold cost) and ER (more AS, though shorter duration). Goal there was to buff marksmen who use those items somewhat, with our goal still being to get marksmen back into a better spot without pushing other classes out of bot lane. We decided to go with a micro patch partway through 8.12 both because it helps address a clear need and because it gives us a chance to assess the impact of these item buffs while we're considering which champion buffs to put into 8.13. If the items add more or less power to individual champs than predicted means we can react to that for the upcoming patch, rather than needing to wait another two weeks.

In terms of the impact of the micro patch we've only seen a bit of play with the buffed items at time of writing. Looks like Xayah and Tristana have benefited noticeably, though not enormously. Other ADCs haven't changed much, some movement in how much they win but just within normal fluctuations.

Gold/XP funneling

After spending time assessing funneling strats last week we've come to the conclusion that, at least for now, the correct approach to dealing with them is to address a small subset of champions, rather than trying to make wider systemic changes. The systemic options we looked at all came with significant costs to other types of play we didn't want to affect (lane minion XP penalties with jungle items, return of over leveled jungle XP, limit of one support item per team etc). Looking at funneling play most of it's heavily concentrated on just a few champs who are also on the strong side and nerf candidates anyway.

Champ changes/rationale:

Master Yi - Removing bonus damage to minions so that he can't clear waves almost instantly. Reducing Q mana cost as well to reduce degree that hits lane/split push Yi.

Taric - Lowering E base damage and increasing Armor ratio so his effectiveness isn't as gold independent. Also increasing ult CD which is just a bit short for its power.

Nunu - Nerfing W AP bonus. He's got a VGU coming up moderately soon and AP boosting isn't on the revised kit. Hitting it as a result given Karthus/Nunu is the other big problem case apart from Taric/Yi."

Fizz Change Heading to PBE

Here's Riot NeuroCat with context and a changelist for Fizz changes headed to the PBE this cycle for testing:

"Hi all,

I’m NeuroCat, a Game Designer at Riot. I previously worked on Remake and Honor, and I’m now working with the Champions team on some smaller projects, starting with Fizz.

We’re shipping some small Fizz changes to PBE for feedback. Since the Assassin Rework, we’ve heard a lot of dissatisfaction from Fizz players around his current W. The waiting game around the charging bleed mark is healthier (by increasing Fizz’s burst window), but feels awkward to use and unintuitive to a lot of you. Our primary goal with these changes is to replace the mark charging mechanic and Fizz’s current W with a more satisfying and intuitive version of W (while maintaining the delay on Fizz’s full burst).

Current Changes to W

REMOVED - W passive marking targets for 6s

REMOVED - W active dealing triple damage when hitting a mark-primed target

NEW - W active now has second cast, similar to the first, but dealing more damage (especially against low health enemies)

Bonus Damage on Hit:

First W: 10/20/30/40/50 + 40% AP

Second W: 35/50/65/80/95 + 50% AP (+0-100% increased damage based on enemy % health missing)

1s lockout on recasting W

Using W on a target slowed by Chum the Waters allows W to be recast instantly

Mana refund amount reduced 20/28/36/42/50 >>> 10/14/18/22/26

Mana refund applies to both casts individually

REMOVED - Cooldown reduction when killing any unit with W active

The updated W has two casts, both reset Fizz’s auto-attack and deal bonus damage on hit. The first deals lighter damage; the second deals heavier damage, especially when the enemy is low on health. There is a lockout between the two casts, so you’ll need to stay in combat if you want to get your full damage off (or play around priming his W casts). We still want you to be able to unload your full combo onto enemies you hit with your shark, so you’ll be able to recast instantly when you W a “sharked” target. Along with these changes, we’ve also tuned his damage a bit so Fizz’s ability to scrap in lane at early levels should be higher (instead of having to sit back and wave clear until 6).

Keep in mind, with these changes, we’re not looking to update Fizz or make large scope changes, just smooth down a consistent pain point for Fizz players. We’ll be listening to feedback and iterating as we let these changes sit on PBE for a little while, so to be clear, these changes will not ship in 8.13.

If you play with these changes on PBE, please leave some feedback if you’re able. Thanks!

-NeuroCat"

Cursor Update on PBE v3

Here's Fearless with a new iteration on the cursor update that should be coming to the PBE this cycle:

"Hey all, here’s one more iteration during this PBE cycle. In this round, we’ve been focusing on the following areas:

Enemy Hover (Sword) Iterations - shape, size, and color
Pass on visuals to feel closer to League style (WIP)

For this round we focused on updating the render quality of our assets to feel a bit more like League but still contrast the colors and vfx that happen in game so you don’t lose track of the cursor. The renders are not final, and if we move forward with these designs, they will still need some polishing.

We have also heard a good amount of feedback on the sword feeling small or the shape change not giving enough feedback on when you’re hovering an enemy. So in this iteration, we are adding color combined with the shape shift to a bigger sword to give you that quick feedback when you need it.

Color can be tricky - the legacy cursor often had problems with losing a red sword in a red wave of minions. To solve that, we’re trying out a red sword but with a brighter white edge and tip to help stand out against all the red in the game.

These visuals are still a work-in-progress and we’d love to get your feedback. Thanks!"

Check out [THIS PAGE] for a comprehensive list of the new content & changes currently on the PBE as a part of this cycle or catch up with the individual update links below !

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6/20 PBE Update: New & Tweaked Summoner Icons

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