8/19 PBE Update: Skin Bios & Balance Changes

The PBE has been updated! As we continue the 10.18 PBE cycle, today's patch includes skin bios for the PsyOps skins this cycle 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.)

Table of Contents


Miscellaneous 

  • Skins bios for the PsyOps skins were added in today's update:
    • PsyOps Master Yi: "A legendary psychic swordsman and elite leader of the PsyOps unit. Yi is calm, professional, and always gets the job done, making him a terrifying bogeyman among rogue militaries, and a target for those harboring resentment towards the global war machine."
    • PsyOps Sona: "An immensely powerful psychic, Sona has spent the past several years locked in darkness, subjected to harrowing experiments to further the Black Rose Group's aims of manufacturing the perfect human bioweapon. Freeing herself during the assault on the BRG's research facility, she discovers her power has grown to near-omnipotence, making her less a human than a psychic god."
    • PsyOps Ezreal: "A young hotshot and the newest recruit in the elite PsyOps unit, Ezreal's raw psychic ability is only matched by his severely over-inflated ego. He has successfully annoyed the rest of his team to the point they just direct him towards hard targets and half-hope he winds up dead."
    • PsyOps Ezreal Prestige Edition: "Ezreal's mastery of psychic military combat has driven him to new heights, attracting the attention of his handlers in High Command. He's calmed down a bit, earning some respect from his squad mates... but not enough. He's never calmed down enough."
    • PsyOps Shen: "A psychic soldier and field lieutenant within PsyOps, Shen's power is connected to a phantom child that follows him wherever he goes -- granting him insight into the middens between the living and the dead. Where the boy came from only High Command knows, and they aren't talking."*

Balance Changes

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

Champions
Ahri
[Context / Changelist]
  • Essence Theft (P)
    • Passive name changed from Vastayan Grace to Essence Theft
    • [Removed] Innate :: Whenever Ahri lands 2 ability hits against a champion within 1.5 seconds, she gains 20% bonus movement speed for 3 seconds.
    • [New] Innate :: Whenever Ahri hits an enemy with one of her abilities, she gains a charge of Essence Theft, and can gain up to 3 charges per ability cast. Upon reaching 9 charges, her next ability that hits an enemy Champion heals her for 30/60/90/180 (based on level) (+27% AP). 
      • (note this is 1 large heal instead of the per-hit heal on live).
  • Orb of Deception (Q)
    • [Removed] Passive :: Ahri gains an Essence Theft stack for each enemy hit by her abilities, up to a maximum of 3 per cast, and storing up to 9 at once. While Ahri has 9 stacks of Essence Theft, Orb of Deception consumes the stacks to Heal power heal Ahri for 3/5/9/18 (based on level) (+ 9% AP) for each enemy hit instead of generating more stacks.
  • Fox-Fire (W)
    • [New] Now grants a burst of 40% Movement Speed decaying over 1.5 seconds.
    • [New] Deals 200% damage to minions below 20%.
    • Cooldown increased from  9/8/7/6/5 to 10/9/8/7/6
    • Mana cost increased from 40 to 55

Lux
[Changelist - Lux has other changes in testing on the PBE!]
  • Prismatic Barrier (W) mana cost changed from 60 to 60/65/70/75/80

Sona
[Sona has other changes in testing on the PBE!]
  • Base HP lowered from 482.36 to 480
  • Base mana lowered from 340.6 to 340

Context & Notes

1) Riot Maxw3ll noted the Lillia changes testing on the PBE this cycle would be reverted soon:
"We had a meeting today regarding Lillia balance as it relates to her balance in 10.18. 
Long story short, based on the increase in Pro presence, we didn't feel comfortable giving her any buffs given that worlds is soon and we really want to make sure the meta is in a safe place. Given that she's not OP in top lane, we pulled the minion mod nerf on her Q from this patch."
2) Scruffy noted context and changelists for Ahri and Kayle mechanics changes that are now testing on the PBE:
[1] We have some light mechanics upgrades coming to PBE for Ahri and Kayle. Aiming to get these into the 10.18 patch.  
Both should amount to very small buffs, but focused on creating better gameplay primarily. Details in thread (1/3) 
[2] Ahri Goals:
-More flexibility and control of her movement speed to open up new small combos and outplays
-More incentive and heal reward for trading with champions (2/3) 
[3] Kayle Goals:
-More active laning where trading with the enemy laner is a more available option over pure passive play (3/3)
3) Reina Sweet noted tooltip changes are now ont he PBE for testing, providing more clarity at a glance:
"This should be on PBE soon for all champions. :)"

4) notquitefrodo on twitter noted that the phantom child mentioned in PsyOps Shen's Bio is actually a girl -
"the gender is currently a typo -- she is, in fact, a girl. she is from another universe. i cannot reveal more than that, though there are hints as to the larger story scattered all over PsyOps Sona's VO"

Check out [THIS PAGEfor 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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