9/11 PBE Update: Championship Kha'Zix, Hextech Malzahar, and more!

The PBE has been updated! As we start the 8.19 PBE cycle, today's patch includes Championship Kha'Zix, Hextech Malzahar, new chroma, icons, emotes and much more!
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.)

Table of Contents


New Skins

Two new skins are headed our way in the 8.19 PBE cycle - Championship Kha'Zix and Hextech Malzahar!

Championship Kha'Zix

1350 RP
[Look for a new R Evolve picture later, form not working on the PBE just yet!]


Here's Riot KiWiKiD with a bugs & feedback thread for Championship Kha'zix:
"Championship Kha’Zix leaps onto the Rift with the following features: 
  • New model and textures: Sleek blue and silver metals shimmering all over.
  • New VFX for all spells: Celebrate worlds with gorgeous--yet fierce--metallic effects.
  • New SFX for all spells: Your enemy won’t forget the sharp sounds of a champion.
  • New recall animation: Secret fireworks hidden away for the right time! 
Championship Kha’Zix is now available to play on PBE! As players who experience this content firsthand, your constructive feedback is appreciated. If you have any questions, do drop them below and I’ll do my best to answer them. 
Championship Kha’Zix is set to be 1350 RP. 
Prices are subject to change"

Hextech Malzahar

Loot Exclusive

Here's Nurse Flan with a bugs & feedback thread for Hextech Malzahar:
"Hextech Malzahar is the newest addition to the Hextech collection! Ooo so ominous, has he taken over Hextech Poppy's lab!?
  • New model and textures - Malz is now a Hextech machine!
  • New VFX for all spells - Hextech magic!
  • New SFX for all spells - Zippy zap!
  • New recall animations - A Hextech gem face hidden beneath his mask!
  • Hextech Voidling babies!!
As players who get the first look at this in-progress skin, it would be wonderful to hear your constructive thoughts and feelings on the new Hextech skin! The feedback and bugs you leave here will help us get a better idea of things we may still have to take a look at! :) 
This skin is intended to be sold for a number of Gemstones.
Pricing is subject to change. 
See you on the Rift!"

New Chroma

Like Championship Ashe in 2017, Championship Shyvana, Kha'zix, Zed, Thresh, and Kalista have each received a golden chroma! Look for more details on how to unlock these chroma later in the cycle! Neolexical noted there would also be a Championship Riven Golden chroma coming!

Championship Kha'Zix

Championship Kha'zix will have 24 more chromas! Each chroma changes up Kha'Zix's look to match a team's colors and flashes a team logo on his recall! These will be the 24 teams who qualify for Worlds 2018!
 

Championship Shyvana


Championship Zed


Championship Thresh


Championship Kalista


New Esports Icons & Emotes

Each of the teams participating in Worlds 2018 have had new summoner icons and emotes added to the PBE! Here's an example of each of the summoner icons and matching emotes. Not all of the teams will make it to Worlds, and only the qualifying teams icons/emote sets will make it to live.


New Ward Skins & Emote

Two new Championship ward skins and matching emotes are now on the PBE!

2018 Championship Ward & Championship 2018 Emote

2018 Golden Championship Ward & Golden Championship 2018 Emote


Visual Effect and Sound Effect updates to Jarvan, Lee Sin, Veigar and Vi

Here's Beardilocks with details on some VFX and SFX changes testing on the PBE:
"Summoners! 
On the PBE for testing this patch are updates to the visual effects (VFX) and sound effects (SFX) of four champions—Jarvan IV, Lee Sin, Veigar and Vi. 
These older champions have great character art or fun gameplay, but they were developed before we established guidelines for how effects should appear in the game. 
These guidelines include things like: making sure an ability's visual or audio representation matches its power relative to other spells, or using elements that clearly show the hitbox for a spell. You can read more about our guidelines for visual effects in our Visual Effects Style Guide
Older champions whose effects don't meet these standards can be confusing in a teamfight or harder to learn to play. Champions like J4, Lee Sin, Veigar, and Vi are prime candidates for VFX and SFX updates because their effects aren’t up to today’s standards, but they also aren't high-priority for full VGUs. We can update their VFX and SFX in a significantly shorter time than it would take to do a full VGU, which allows us to deliver this kind of update much faster. 
Here’s a breakdown of the updates you can expect to see on the PBE: 
Veigar
Full upgrade of visual and sound FX.
Q - Baleful Strike now clearly indicates the hitbox
W - Dark Matter now feels appropriately like dark matter; explosion is 100% more satisfying
E - Event Horizon walls now more accurately show the hitbox
R - Primordial Burst is 200% more evil and burns the ground with its dark energy 
All Veigar skins that previously used base VFX have been updated to use the new ones
Bad Santa Veigar and Leprechaun Veigar have also received an update to their unique VFX
Lee Sin
Full upgrade of visual and sound FX.
Q - Sonic Wave’s VFX look less flickery; audio and visual FX are now more like a sonic wave
W - Safeguard shield actually looks like a shield; scrolls received a visual upgrade
E - Tempest now clearly indicates the hitbox
R - Dragon's Rage has improved hit FX and leaves a fiery trail
All Lee Sin skins that previously used base VFX have been updated to use the new ones
Knockout Lee Sin's shield has been updated
Pool Party Lee Sin's Q mark has been updated
God Fist Lee Sin's E - Tempest now clearly indicates the hitbox 
Jarvan
Full upgrade of visual and sound FX.
Auto attacks - Jarvan's auto attacks should look and sound more powerful, particularly his Martial Cadence
Q - Dragon Strike now clearly indicates the hitbox and looks suitably powerful
W - Golden Aegis VFX are cleaner; the shield is more golden and glowy
E - Demacian Standard's impact and glow effects have been upgraded
R - Cataclysm has improved visuals that reduce noise; looks 100% less like poop on destruction
All Jarvan skins that previously used base VFX have been updated to use the new ones 
Vi
Visual effects cleanup and optimization—she should run much smoother on slower machines. Sound FX unaltered.
W - Denting Blows’ shield icon has been reduced to an appropriate size for the importance of the armor shred debuff 
We’ve playtested these updates internally, and now we need your help—especially if you main one of these champions. Please try them out on the PBE and leave us your feedback here. There are a number of other champs whose VFX and SFX we’d like to update if these changes are well-received, so please help us to make these a success!"
Riot Sirhaian also provided an extra comparison shot for Veigar's R:
"For those wondering, here's the difference between early and late game Veigar's ult missile. It scales up like on Live~ 
Let us know how you feel about this!"

Here's a video showing off the changes for each champion (and skins if changed):


Miscellaneous 

  • A new layout on the Profile page is now testing on the PBE! Here's Riot Revenancer with more:
"Hey guys, I'm the product manager for the team working on these profile changes. The current screen you're seeing on PBE doesn't quite have all the elements we've planned yet (though it does have the majority). It's also not visible to see in a screenshot, but we've increased the size and amount of information in some of the hover states (ranked and champ mastery noticeably). 
I feel you on the pain of having those empty icons right now. Ultimately what we're trying to do with these changes is mostly set-up for the future - when we bring Clash back and also for the ranked changes that are planned for 2019. That means that right now they're going to be a little more empty, but that should change soon. That being said, please give us your feedback so we can keep making improvements!"
  • All of the Odyssey content that is rolling out is patch 8.18 has also been added to the PBE!

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
Elise
  • Rappel (Spider E) Cooldown lowered from 26/24/22/20/18 to 22/21/20/19/18
  • Spider Form / Human Form (R) Cooldown lowered from 4 seconds to 3 seconds


Kha'Zix
  • Void Spike (W)
    • Cooldown lowered from 9 to 8
    • Evolved Spike Racks slow potency increased from 40% to 60%


Nunu & Willump
[Context]
  • Snowball Barrage (E) 
    • Snowball AP ratio increased from 5% to 8%
    • Willump's Turn AP ratio increased from 50% to 80%

Context & Notes

1) Riot Xenogenic noted some changes to Nunu & Willump this cycle:
"We're going to be testing some buffs to AP Nunu on PBE. Looking at increasing the AP ratios on his E, for now, as we don't want to buff his tank build in the process.

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