10.18 PBE Cycle

Below you will find a comprehensive list of new content, balance changes, and whatever else  is included in the current PBE cycle! Be aware that these changes are extremely tentative, there is a possibility that things you see below will be changed or even reverted prior to the live patch.

• New Skins
• PsyOps Ezreal
• PsyOps Ezreal Prestige Edition
• PsyOps Master Yi
• PsyOps Shen
• PsyOps Sona
• PsyOps Vi
• Hextech Ziggs
• Chromas
• Summoner Icons
• Emotes
• Ward Skins
• Sona Voice Update
• Nocturne, Viktor, Malzahar and Ignite - Visual Effects Updates 
• Upcoming Tooltip Changes
• Miscellaneous
• Balance Changes

New Skins

Seven new skins are now on the PBE!

PsyOps Ezreal

Here's Riot KateyKhaos with a bugs & feedback thread .for PsyOps Ezreal:

"Quest accepted! ...Wait, where are we going?" 

PsyOps Ezreal is hitting the Rift with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

PsyOps Ezreal is set to be 1350 RP. 

PsyOps Ezreal will be available to play soon on PBE! As players who get a first hand look at this upcoming content, we want to hear your thoughts! Drop your feedback in the thread below!"

PsyOps Ezreal Prestige Edition

Here's Riot Kingby with a bugs & feedback thread for PsyOps Ezreal Prestige Edition:

"Hey everyone! 

We’ve got a new Prestige skin coming out for PsyOps Ezreal! He’ll be coming with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!

PsyOps Ezreal Prestige Edition should be available on PBE! 

You guys will be the first to try him out so your feedback will be invaluable!
Looking forward to your responses!😆 

Riot Kingby"

PsyOps Master Yi

Here's Riot KateyKhaos with a bugs & feedback thread for PsyOps Master Yi:

""Form before strength." 

PsyOps Master Yi is hitting the Rift with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

Notes:

• If R is active, hood comes on and Mask stays on.
• If Recalling, Mask gets puts away. Mask will come back on during Recall Winddown.
• These are not toggles/will not be toggles.

PsyOps Master Yi is set to be 1350 RP. 

PsyOps Master Yi will be available to play soon on PBE! As players who get a first hand look at this upcoming content, we want to hear your thoughts! Drop your feedback in the thread below!"

PsyOps Shen

Here's KiWiKiD with a bugs & feedback thread for PsyOps Shen:

"PsyOps Shen is shielding an ally on the Rift with:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

PsyOps Shen is set to be 1350 RP. 

PsyOps Shen will be available to play soon on PBE! Please let me know any feedback and bugs you have! Thanks! 

-Kiwi"

PsyOps Sona

As a Legendary skin, PsyOps Sona has a new voiceover!

Here's RiotGrumboJr with a bugs & feedback thread for PsyOps Sona:

"Once a prisoner of the Black Rose Group, Sona has been freed by PsyOps. With her powers finally unleashed, Sona is the master of her own destiny and has plans for her former captors. 

PsyOps Sona is levitating her way onto the Rift, featuring:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New animations and recall!
• New VO!
• Transforms into unbound form after unlocking her R!

PsyOps Sona is set to be 1820 RP. 

PsyOps Sona will be available to play soon on PBE! As players who get a first hand look at this upcoming content, we want to hear your thoughts! Drop your feedback in the thread below!"

PsyOps Vi

Here's 6armedrobot with a bugs & feedback thread for PsyOps Vi:

"Hello All! 

PsyOps Vi is hitting the Rift... hard, featuring:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

PsyOps Vi is set to be 1350 RP and is available to play on PBE! 

Feel free to leave any feedback or questions you have down below! 

-6armedrobot"

Hextech Ziggs

Here's 6armedrobot with a bugs & feedback thread for Hextech Ziggs:

"Hello All! 

Hextech Ziggs is bringing the bang to the Rift featuring:

• New models and textures!
• New VFX!
• New SFX!
• New recall animation!

Hextech Ziggs is set to be 1350 RP and is available to play on PBE! 

Feel free to leave any feedback or questions you have down below! 

-6armedrobot"

Chromas

New chroma for PsyOps skins are on the PBE for testing this cycle!





Here's Riot Kingby with a bugs & feedback thread for the PsyOps chromas:

"Hey everyone! 

We’ve got new Chromas coming up for PsyOps Sona, PsyOps Shen, PsyOps Master Yi, PsyOps Vi! 

Images for the chromas will be updated shortly and we are currently working on some fixes before they are available on PBE. Apologies ahead of time if this have left you guys wanting 😢 

PsyOps Sona

• New textures:
• PsyOps Sona (Ruby)
• PsyOps Sona (Obsidian)
• PsyOps Sona (Citrine)
• PsyOps Sona (Emerald)
• PsyOps Sona (Amethyst)
• PsyOps Sona (Turquoise)
• PsyOps Sona (Sapphire)
• PsyOps Sona (Hunter)

PsyOps Master Yi

• New textures:
• PsyOps Master Yi (Emerald)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Tanzanite)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Turquoise)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Sandstone)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Ruby)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Sapphire)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Rose Quartz)
• PsyOps Master Yi (Hunter)

Psy Ops Shen 

• New textures:
• PsyOps Shen (Ruby)
• PsyOps Shen (Obsidian)
• PsyOps Shen (Sandstone)
• PsyOps Shen (Emerald)
• PsyOps Shen (Tanzanite)
• PsyOps Shen (Turquoise)
• PsyOps Shen (Sapphire)
• PsyOps Shen (Hunter)

PsyOps Vi

• New textures:
• PsyOps Vi (Ruby)
• PsyOps Vi (Sandstone)
• PsyOps Vi (Obsidian)
• PsyOps Vi (Rose Quartz)
• PsyOps Vi (Turquoise)
• PsyOps Vi (Hunter)
• PsyOps Vi (Granite)
• PsyOps Vi (Tanzanite)

The Chroma sets should be available on PBE soon! We hope you all will enjoy the new sets; and as usual, we’re looking forward to hearing your constructive feedback.
Thanks! 

Riot Kingby"

Summoner Icons

New summoner icons are now on the PBE:

Emotes

Three new PsyOps themed emotes are now on the PBE

Ward Skins

Two new ward skins are now on the PBE:

Sona Voice Update

Along with the new Sona skin, her voice has been updated!

Non-English Sona voiceovers can be found on LeagueVoices!

With Sona's updated voiceover, she has new special interactions! Here's a video showing them off:


Sona's Choose VO line was updated along with her new voiceover:

• "What masterpiece shall we play today?"

Nocturne, Viktor, Malzahar and Ignite - Visual Effects Updates 

Here's Beardilocks with a post on Nocturne, Viktor, Malzahar, and Ignite VFX changes coming to the PBE for testing:

"Hello Everyone! 

Riot Beardilocks here to bring you another round of visual effect updates. Similar to the previous VFX updates we’ve made in the past (Ziggs, Thresh, Lux, etc), we're working on updates to the Visual Effects (VFX) of more champions whose spell effects are in need of some love. In Patch 10.18, we'll be releasing a VFX Update for Malzahar, Nocturne, Viktor and Ignite! 

Our goals for these sorts of smaller scope updates is to improve the overall gameplay clarity of vfx whilst bringing them up to modern League of Legends standards. This means that our efforts are primarily aimed at spells which do not clearly communicate the hitbox. Our goals are not to change the art direction for these skins or champions - those kinds of changes are reserved for full Visual + Gameplay updates (VGUs). 

Just like the previous ones, since these are smaller updates geared toward sprucing up some of the oldest members of the roster, they aren't in the same prioritization conversation as to how we decide who gets a VGU (where we take model, gameplay, and thematic into account too!): they do not affect any other timeline, and are simply dev passion projects. 

We're looking for feedback on their VFX changes, which should be up on the PBE soon-ish. Please try them out there —especially if you're a main— and leave us your feedback once the changes are up! 

MALZAHAR 

VFX Update aimed at modernizing this old champion's feel while improving his gameplay readability. We also took this opportunity to get a better look at the Void thematic's VFXs to better illustrate its modern representation in the Lore. 

Base Kit:

• P - Reduced some of the noise from the shield. Made it a bit brighter to match other spell shields (this one also negates 99% of damage, so yeah it needs to be visible).
• BA - New missiles and hit effects.
• Q - New quickcast indicator to better represent its actual hitbox (yes, it's always been that large). Completely revamped the whole effect. Void spikes grow from the ground, revealing Void portals in their heart. These then dissolve into missiles towards each other, damaging enemies. Also new hit effect. Fixed a bug where the hit effect would proc once per missile, even though the damage only applied once.
• W - New spawn effects. Voidlings now follow the natural Void evolution, going from white/bone color to their usual appearance, as they spawn in. Also added an idle glow on their eyes. They also have new basic attack impacts.
• E - Added a beam from Malzahar to his target on cast. Completely new debuff effect, much less noisy, but still chaotic. When it propagates, a beam links the dead target to the new one. It also now spawns a little hit effect on each damage proc. Also fixed a bug where his E would go on cooldown when Malzahar's target would die during the cast time.
• R - New beam, hit and AOE effects. The pool should feel more appropriate to the current Void aesthetic in the lore, rather than just "space stuff".

SKINS: 

Our approach when updating skins is to respect skin pricing tiers. Unless a skin is a 1350, we will not add any custom VFX. The exception to this is for older skins who already had unique visual effects. In this case, we allow these unique VFX to be updated to modern standard, regardless of tier. 

Overlord Malzahar: Overall recolored effects, since this is a 975. Went for a shadow-y feel. 

Snow Day Malzahar:

• P - Cleaned up and glowier.
• Q - Completely revamped, with different ground indicators. Big snowballs!
• W - New voidling impacts. Summon effects were good, so we left them alone.
• E - Recolored beams from base, and new snowy E debuff.
• R - Some more snow, and new edge on the pool. Overall cleaned up. 

Battle Boss Malzahar:

• Q - New ground indicator. Ships and their shot have been turned horizontally, so they match the actual hitbox. 

Hextech Malzahar:

• P - Cleaned up and glowier.
• Q - New ground indicators. Gems are slightly bigger. Cleaned up the missiles. Added some more animation to the whole spell.
• W - New voidling impacts. Summon effects were good, so we left them alone.
• E - New hextech-y beams, with cleaned up debuff effect.
• R - Slight cleanup and timing adjustment on the pool. Added some more hextech-y waves. 

Worldbreaker Malzahar:

• P - A bit glowier.
• Q - New ground indicators. Made the wave shot horizontal to match the hitbox. 

(Malzahar updates by RiotSirhaian) 

NOCTURNE

*VFX Update aimed at modernizing this old champion's feel while improving his gameplay readability. The primary improvements were around making sure his Q is visible and that the passive clearly communicates the area of effect. Nocturne had too many colours on his kit previously, so we made the decision to unify to just two colours - red and blue. 

Base Kit: 

• P - Added a circular effect that communicates the area that Nocturne slashes targets. The passive ready effect has been moved from Nocturne's hands to be a glow on his blades. This way it is clearer when the effect is ready, and it does not compete with the attack speed buff for space.
• BA - New swipes and target effects
• Q - New animated claw that should be easier to see in a busy teamfight. The darkness trail has been balanced so it isn't so overwhelming for its low gameplay impact.
• W - New shield effect, with thematic darkness elements.
• E - New beam and shadow effects. The timing better illustrates when the target will be feared.
• R - New dash and trail VFX. The hit effect on the target does not look like it should do area of effect damage anymore.

SKINS 

Our approach when updating skins is to respect skin pricing tiers. Unless a skin is a 1350, we will not add any custom VFX. The exception to this is for older skins who already had unique visual effects. In this case, we allow these unique VFX to be updated to modern standard, regardless of tier. 

All skins had updates to move the Passive glow from Nocturne's hands to his blades. 

Frozen Terror Nocturne:

• All of Frozen Terror Nocturne's VFX were updated with the same approach as base, but keeping their winter theme. 

Haunting Nocturne:

• All of Haunting Nocturne's VFX were updated with the same approach as base, but keeping their spooky theme. 

Eternum Nocturne:

• P - Changed the glow to the blades, and gave it some high-tech lens flare effects
• BA - New swipes and target effects
• Q - Updated to include a shadowy claw in the centre of the ball, to help improve recognisability. Reduced overall noise
• W - Reduced noise with a high tech galaxy effect.
• E - Unchanged
• R - New dash, trail and hit VFX. Nocturne gets an upgraded shadow tornado effect on his body when he activates his ultimate. 

VIKTOR

*VFX Update aimed at clarifying this champion's gameplay, whilst also updating visual fidelity. The primary improvements were around making sure his E clearly communicated the width of the affected area. The other changes on Viktor were kept very small scope in order to deliver this in time for Worlds. 

Base Kit: 

• BA - New trails and target effects
• Q - Updated shield and beam VFX to feel more Hextech
• W - Made the edges of the gravity zone slightly clearer, and unified the colour palette.
• E - New VFX to clarify the hitbox, and better communicate the damage zone when Viktor has upgraded his E. Yes, it really has always been that wide.
• R - Added an initial impact effect to communicate the burst of damage on initial cast. 

Creator Viktor:

• W - Made the edges of the gravity zone slightly clearer, and unified the colour palette.
• E - New VFX to clarify the hitbox, and better communicate the damage zone when Viktor has upgraded his E. Yes, it really has always been that wide.
• R - Added an initial impact effect to communicate the burst of damage on initial cast. 

Deathsworn Viktor:

• E - Made effect wider to clarify the damage zone 

IGNITE 

Updated the visuals for ignite to reduce the overall noise whilst making it clearer when targets were affected by this powerful debuff, as well as more clearly communicate when the individual ticks of damage occur.

These changes should go to the PBE over the next few days, please test them out and leave your feedback here! 

Many thanks"

Beardilocks also noted Tryndamere would have a small change:

One more minor clarity update we're adding. #Tryndamere will now get a short flash at the start and end of his ultimate to communicate the exact timing that the buff expires. pic.twitter.com/Zdvur4ZAW0

— Riot Beardilocks #BlackLivesMatter (@Beardilocks) August 21, 2020

Upcoming Tooltip Changes

Here's BarackProbama with a feedback thread on the tooltip changes that are testing on the PBE:

"Hey friends, Barack here with some upcoming changes to tooltips that will be in your hot little hands on PBE sometime tomorrow. Special thanks to /u/Reinboom for helping (see: doing most of it) 

The First Change: all champions will now have a level-up grid on their expanded tooltip. This should help everyone understand what each character's power progression looks like as the game continues. Feedback that would be useful here is on the format the data is presented in: Do 

Expanded Tooltip

Another One: Next, we're updating the colors in our tooltips. The goal here is to help you infer important information more quickly by consistifying (very real technical term) the colors across different parts of the interface. If AP is blue in the stats panel the scaling for it probably shouldn't be green in tooltips. We're also starting to use colors to help highlight effects of spells. If a spell heals you that effect will be in green, if it does magic or physical or true damage we will highlight those as well. (and all sorts of other effects can also be highlighted) 

These formatting changes will be rolling out gradually for all champions but some notable champs that have had the work done are: Ezreal, Senna, Yone, Lilia, Volibear 

Tooltip Today

Tooltip Tomorrow

With this set of changes, we're interested in a couple of things:

• Do the colors we've chosen help you understand the effects of the spells?
• Are the tooltips more or less readable than they were before? (For this, play a few games to give the changes time to sink in)

More Bits and Bobs:

• Scaling details are now behind the extended information tooltip. By default, you'll simply see the current value of the spell as well as the stats it scales with (You can have expanded tooltips by default)
• Scaling on extended tooltips displays the ratio rather that the amount given to you by that ratio."

Miscellaneous

• Two new skinlines added:
• PsyOps
• All PsyOps skins on the PBE right now are in this skinline.
• Black Rose Group
• New Yasuo voicelines are now on the PBE!

• SkinSpotlights noted some of PsyOps Sona's interactions are tied to skin files that do not yet exist:

• Skins mentioned that do not exist:
• Samira Skin 01
• Kayle Skin 15
• Pyke Skin 25
• Viktor Skin 05
• Zed Skin 15

Ahri
[Context / Changelist]


Ashe
[Changelist]

• Base AD lowered from 61 to 59

Kayle

• Radiant Blast (Q) 
• [Removed] No longer refunds mana on champion hit.

• Celestial Blessing (W) mana cost increased from 70/80/90/100/110 to 90/100/110/120/130

• Starfire Spellblade (E) 
• cooldown changed from 8 to 8/7.5/7/6.5/6
• mana cost lowered from 50/55/60/65/70 to No Cost
• auto attack projectile speed increased from 2000 to 5000