Thoughts on Patch 5.5 :: League of Legends Blog

Greetings and salutations! With the new patch being announced sometime yesterday, and the rundown having aired today, I'd figure I'd get into the habit of posting my thoughts and opinions on the new patch when the rundown rears its face. So let's jump right into it. With Bard coming around the corner, a new AP item and a change to the juggernaut enchant to something else, this will be an interesting patch to say the least.

First off, let's hit on the items!

Made into the game - I gotta admit, this is kind of a cool item. It manipulates Sunfire Aegis and is basically the minor variant of it. I think it's neat, now you don't need to save gold to go straight into Sunfire Cape, and instead have SFC minor. Let the time come when we find out whether or not this is a good change.
Enchantment: Cinderhulk - Here's where it's interesting, Bami's Cinder now upgrades into the old Juggernaut enchant, and makes it Cinderhulk, which does something very similar to Sunfire Cape. All of this stuff has uniques, so there'd be little point to build Sunfire with this.
Overall - Neat little change, and gives Green Jungle Enchant some viability. Otherwise, I couldn't care less. I don't play many tank Junglers other than Warwick, and even then I'd take Enchantment: Devourer personally unless I'm behind.

It's buffed - It's gotten a slight armor buff, and has this new ability called Point Runner, making it useful around fallen turrets, which I assume is both ally and enemy. All items that upgrade from this also get point runner, which means Ohmwrecker is slightly more viable now.

It's basically Statikk Shiv - The new 120 AP item to replace Deathfire Grasp is here! I gotta say, it's a cool concept, but early on that 100 magic damage + .15 * AP could get silly since Shiv doesn't scale off of anything, but this does. It's going to be worth a try, and early on literally EVERY AP champ will build it to see if it's viable on them. My big predictions will be viable on Ahri, Veigar, and Brand, giving them much more burst in the long run, and really ruining groups as they hit lots of targets many times. Also Racecar Veigar just got more silly with this item...

Rift
NPC Changes

Turrets and Minions - Now over time, minions and turrets will scale health (and damage for turrets), making late game a bit more unviable to dive, and making minions all the harder to deal with as they get really chunky. Additionally, shield turrets, AKA inner turrets, will do less for shielding, and mid shield turret will no longer shield, delaying the game less, and making it easier to push these towers down. Can't say I'm particularly mad, as it's saved my games at times and has turned the tables on my team at times. Plus the shield was more annoying than helpful.
The jungle is nerfed - FINALLY! Kayle jungle, I'm coming baby! In seriousness though, and I'm not kidding about Kayle jungle, it's like the only jungle I can do, the jungle was a little bit harsh on idiots like me who didn't know what they were doing half the time in the jungle, and more often than not ended up hurting their team more than helping because of the sheer amount of damage the monsters did. Gromp buff also got a buff, that scales off of bonus health, so that's kind of cool. Either way, this should make learning and doing jungle much easier now that the monsters do less damage. Oh, did I mention Tibbers gets to run through Rift Scuttler shrine like he's a champ now? Better be scared...
Overall - I'm happy about the changes on the rift, Riot per the norm cares about its audience (though sometimes ticks it off a lot more than they should), and has made what I believe to be good changes on the rift, and now that the jungle is a tad easier, I shouldn't have to worry too much when I'm stuck as the jungler. Still need to work on my ganks though...

Skins

Preface - Every patch I love to see what new skins come along for every champion, and sometimes like to make an odd comment or quirk about them, how pretty the art looks, etcetra etcetra, you get the gist. So, I'd figure as an experiment I'd do this now and comment on the up and coming skins.
Elderwood Bard - This skin gives me a druidy kind of vibe, and as far as Bard is concerned, that's not a bad vibe to get from this skin; it's very mystical and fantasy like, and upon his champion spotlight, it looks pretty good in game. Probably worth the pickup if you REALLY like Bard.
Headhunter Akali - Continuing with their Predator from Alien VS Predator theme, here comes Akali wearing the theme. I personally don't know if it really fits Akali, unlike the likes of PROJECT: Yasuo, which seemed to take a note from Metal Gear Rising: Revengerance, and whatnot, as I never got the whole hunt your head vibe from Akali or her kit really, I got the stealthy ninja assassin type kind of vibe from her. To say the least this skin does not excite me at all. Looks cool from the splash art though.
Secret Agent Xin Zhao - This, look, AWESOME! Much like the Commando series (which has relatively horrible looking splash artwork compared to today in my opinion), he's got sunglasses and looks super cool. The minute I saw it, I immediately thought Turks from Final Fantasy VII, and the suit with black gloves doesn't help at all with that thought, as that was the apparel for the Turks. Admittedly though their suits were blue, but regardless.
Overall - This batch of skins look cool, and I stand by this especially; here my opinion could mean a toss less to you, I'm just stating my opinion on what I think the skins are, cool or not, awesome or not, adowable or scary, the likes and what have you. Make your own opinion on this one, and spend your money wisely.

Champions
Preface - CHOO CHOO! All aboard the buff train (totally stole that from Riot, but I'm gonna roll with it)! Upon first glance, this patch hands out buffs like they're goin' out of style, and one buff in particular (if you read my last blog you can guess which) I think is unfairly received as he needs a nerf instead. So I may get sour about a couple champions (what else is new, I play League), and I may be super happy about others. Overall though, these are buffs, so overall these champions should be viable. I think there's like two nerfs and they're not that big.

HE'S HERE! - The most fun looking support I've seen in a long while has shown his face! All hail the stupid ult! All hail the trolling that can happen! Seriously though guys, don't troll with this guy, he's too awesome to troll with...

Base Stats - Here's a buff that I think is kind of undeserved, but I can kind of understand why he got it; his attack speed is up, his soldier attack range is up, and the spear pass-through range has been decreased to compensate for the increase in soldier attack range. Do I really mind? A little, Azir's soldiers probably have the most harass in the game considering they're untargetable champions in some essence, really extending Azir's range to something ludicrous. However, I don't see Azir often enough for it to matter, so I guess you could say I'm not that angry. I might see him some more though...

Grog Soaked Blade - So that's what his passive does...seems silly. Either way, apparently a rather annoying bug prevented Gangplank from having his DoT portion of his passive apply to targets like a Master Yi using Highlander. So that's a nice bug fix, and I'm happy for Gangplanks. Not so happy for myself though, as I'm not a fan of fighting something that fights crowd control with an orange...

Base Stats - More mana! This gives the jungler that Gragas has quickly become to be more sustain in the jungle, which gives him more viability. Can't complain I guess, it looked like some pretty low base mana.
Drunken Rage - It's only a change to his damage to monsters, making it easier for him to jungle. The viability is astounding, and I look forward to working with jungle Gragas. Not so much as far as facing him.
Overall - It's a good buff to make Gragas more viable in the jungle, as it seems he's really outfitted for the task ever since people have apparently stopped playing him mid, which I find weird since his kit was fairly mobile for someone so big.

Defiance - It's a bug fix! So it seems before that this was giving the Inspire portion of the shield instead of what was intended, which was half of the damage dealt to nearby enemies as a shield. Gotta say, as far as bug fixes go what a nerf. Nah, I'm kidding. It's always better for an ability to work as intended.

Wall of Pain - So apparently as Ahri before this patch I could've dashed through his wall (sometimes) and not be affected by the slow? Good fix Riot, Karthus players rejoice!

Riftwalk - Hey what'd I tell ya last patch? His range is up since the PBE, but not only that but the cooldown and cost of the spell is decreased, making him much more spry when jumping about. That's a pretty big buff, so stop being salty alright? Nidalee beware, you have a chasing counter to you if you're not careful/accurate. Oh, his visuals got updated so your toaster won't implode if he's on the rift now too by the by.

Ice Shard - Here's one of the nerfs! Her overall damage is down across all levels, and their reasoning is because she could play really safe and not see repercussions because of it. I agree, that darn shotgun made it really hard to play against her and get aggressive, as I couldn't hide behind my minions or else face the wrath of fanning out shrapnel, and getting close was risky unless she couldn't hit close range. It's a bad day when that happens.

Titan's Wrath - The big man got a nerf here! So it seems while this shield was active Nautilus was doing extra damage that was a little intense for most people, and the shield was really hard to break. So the damage has been scaled back a little, but the bonus health has been scaled up except for the max level where it stays the same, making a focus on being tankier while drawing back his damage, forcing people to focus more as a tank than anything. Considering the viability of this titan before, this doesn't really seem to change that, but I digress; he's a more viable tank it seems.
Riptide - Oh man, this got buffed! Well, except the damage ratio and slow, that got nerfed, but shorter cooldown (that goes down with level), and an overall reduced cost. Makes him able to slow more, keeping enemies from running as easily, but to compensate the slow is not as long, making it a little harder for Nautilus to keep them around for very long. At least he's dealing more damage though, makes him a scary viable tank.
Overall - I got a friend who would probably be pretty happy about these changes, and I want to see more of the jungling titan if I'm honest. His kit is interesting and has a lot of possible synergy with it as there are few teams he'd work poorly on. So thank you Riot, I'm happy about a champion change I don't play because it means I get to see him more often.

Bushwhack - Well, it scales better on AP but is less of a tank killer since it's max HP damage ratio is gone, so squishies beware (beware already since it marked you), and tanks be glad. It's a balanced change that makes me fear Nidalee just a tiny bit more. I'm gonna see her more aren't I?

Tunnel - It keeps up to date on how many tunnels you currently have a'la ward tracker style, so now you won't accidently destroy a tunnel you need the next time you do it. It's a nice visual change that gives you more information, so that's good.

Flame Breath - So this does more bonus damage to marked targets based on (Shyvana's?) maximum health, it's a .5% increase but it could make all the difference. Depending on whose health matters because I have no clue. I'm assuming Shyvana, and as she's a tank/bruiser that could get silly (it'd be sillier if it were the opponent, as then she's a tank buster).

Fling - Ho ho, so if you're skilled enough to land your target into Mega Adhesive, you get them stunned 100% of the time now? Bug fixes, gotta love 'em as there is really nothing wrong with them.

Decimating Smash - Seems like they want Sion to focus on using this more, because this got buffed. It scales better damage wise AND costs less mana overall. I guess if I were Sion, I'd upgrade this to max first, especially since...
Roar of the Slayer - ...got a nerf. The only nerf though is that it costs more mana as you rank up instead of a flat amount though. So damage wise it still is strong, but otherwise the mana makes it less efficient.
Overall - I just played against a support Sion, and although me and my support trashed the lane, we lost the game, and that roar was probably a factor of this. That and his decimating smash, but not as much as the roar as it's so cheap and efficient mana wise. So we just have to see how this plays out. Who knows, maybe Sions everywhere will try to be greedy and hit with a fully charged Q.

Shattered Earth - SKAR SKAR! The scorpion got some buffs! Though it's really the base and bonus damage per crystal energy stack on him, it's still good for maybe jungling, which is what they were aiming. It'll also STING when he hits champions! No, no one liked that? Alright, let's move on...
Ixtal's Impact - Flat damage buff, scales, not much else to say.
Overall - The scorpion hurts just that tiny bit more, and it's only base damage. Sure, it's not a significant change, but the jungle monsters won't like him very much... At the least, it may be fun to see him on the rift again, I don't see him enough.

Power Chord - It's a bug fix! So yeah, if she hits a blue trinket ward with power chord, it won't burn the charge anymore. Sweet! No worry, I got you covered ADC, I can clear wards AND power chord the enemy carry!
Crescendo - This now costs 100 mana flat across all ranks, which is a sort of a big buff, as that's half of its cost at level three. So she doesn't need to worry about mana as much. Goodbye Mikael's Blessing, Sona no longer needs you.
Overall - The only major change is Crescendo, and to be fair, it's really strong now, Sona doesn't need to conserve her auras AS much in order to use her ult, so I expect to see more of her. Yo DJ! Turn up those sick tunes!

Starcall - Bug fix! Now if you're stuck in the middle of this, your health goes buh-bye as intended. That kinda sucks, I didn't know this was a problem. So all this time when I've been hit I've been taking unintended damage. Whelp, better work on my dodging.

Rapid Fire - So this is a buff to give more incentive to use an ability in Tristana's kit. I have yet to play against the reworked Trist, so aside from the unbiased, "well that's kind of cool" comment, I've no other opinion. All I can say is I fear for my life as an ADC if I get by an explosive charge and she keeps resetting her cooldown on this by hitting me really quickly, as my health will sink like a rock!

King's Tribute - Ugh, gross. His passive, which states if an enemy dies near him he heals off of x% of their max health, has its range increased. So this tank may very well never die. I may be jumping the gun, but this is the first time I've actually seen this passive and it is pretty good to say the least, especially if a tank dies. It just goes to show; never focus the tank...unless your name is Trundle.
Frozen Domain - So this gave a movement speed buff before, still does, and now its healing when the troll king resides in it is now a flat 20%? Whoo, team fights are gonna be rough against this tanky troll. Especially with a Soraka on his team.
Subjugate - Bug fix! So it now steals the intended 40% armor and magic resist when before it stole 36%. Tanks beware, the troll king has made this rift troll town.
Overall - So Trundle has had it reinforced he's the tanky tank buster of the rift, and I expect to see a little bit more of him because of the buffs he's received today. Am I mad? No, not really, but am I afraid to play top ever again? A bit, time to play Quinn top lane exclusively...

Terror Capacitor - The base shield got nerfed, but Urgot took a page out of Ryze's book and this scales off of mana. So now if he builds like a Ryze, he's rewarded for it. Well, save for the fact that he needs AD and not AP, so that's the big difference. Manamune anyone?
Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser - This got a cooldown buff, meaning the cooldown is shorter. So try to dive this crab less and don't get too close so that you're now diving; it may not turn out so well if you go off of old cooldown.
Overall - It seems like a much bigger rework is in the works for the owner of Urgot Burgers, but for now these buffs are in place until he's fully reworked. I gotta admit, I may see him more and I'm NOT looking forward to it. He's the only ADC with a dedicated damage taking shield, and that shield does a lot more than just take damage. I think his ult is a bit of a joke, but I know better than to laugh at it, because I could get caught in the middle of his team, and that's not cool.

Piercing Arrow - It's kind of a big deal sort of buff, now when Varus starts charging up his shot, the cooldown starts. That's kinda neat, but I'm not looking forward to getting more arrows stuck into my face in the future.

Preface - Again, I'm going to preface this, and yes this is the buff I think is totally undeserved. Veigar is pretty strong as is, what with his stun lasting as long as a Morgana snare like I said last time. Thing is, is that this buff made it appear faster. Is that good? Technically, makes him more of a reliable stunner, but it also makes it a little harder to get away from him. I suppose what matters is that you still have a chance, but now he could catch the likes of Udyr as they're running away. Which technically means he's much better now, but I digress, I still think this buff is a bit out there.
Baleful Strike - This travels faster which makes it harder to dodge, and crowd controlling Veigar mid cast will no longer cancel his cast, which I say good. Never noticed it, but I prefer to do what every other champ does; get cc'd mid cast, throw my ability anyway.
Event Horizon - This got a pretty big buff in my mind, it now lands after .5 seconds of cast time whereas before it was .75. .25 seconds could make a big difference on this spell in particular. The warning for where it'll land appears the second the spell is starting, so when Veigar begins casting, not when he's done, which adds about .25 seconds worth of notice. I guess it balances out, but it could still be very sudden. We'll see how it goes though.
Overall - I play this champion, and I love him to death, but what I see before me is a buff that makes this little (not a short joke, I swear) bundle of fun a lot stronger. I'll have to wait and see though, as I could be totally off.

Base Stats - Vi's movement speed got dropped by five points, which is kind of a big woop, but these are notorious for little being a lot, since a champion practically moves all the time, it means Vi covers a lot less distance. Makes sense though, she's got some heavy assets. ...Her robot fists...perverts.
Cease and Desist - At lower ranks this ability does less base damage, but it still does its old 450 base at max rank. I think that's good, it makes her less of a threat at lower levels, and believe me when I say, a ganking Vi has often been my worst nightmare because of her burst.
Overall - It's sort of a minor nerf, but it could mean the difference between quick ganks and consistent ganking. So I can't really complain, having played a bit of her myself and sort of liking her.

Death Ray - Oh yay...a bug fix. I actually really dislike Viktor, he's been a pain in my neck, but again, if things don't work as intended then it's bad. The bug is fixed that when this detonates, it no longer cancels his auto. Good...I suppose.

Frenzy - Nom nom nom bite portion of this, used on monsters, refunds half of the cooldown, which makes Volibear a much more effective jungler. I just recently picked him up, so I like this buff, makes him better PvJ.

Battle Cry - On top of a cool skin, this nasty jungler got a buff to his heal. Well, early level base buff, but otherwise it's a pretty minor buff, giving him better sustain.
Audacious Charge - This got a flat damage buff, and it's kind of a big thing since it's magic damage. This champ is mostly AD so you'd typically build armor, and this breaks the armor building a bit. This particularly makes this champ so annoying, and when he's fed does it show.
Overall - I'm not going to like seeing more of this champion, as I've always thought he was too strong since he'd consistently get very fed very early, making him a pain to deal with late game. But I digress, I'll have to wait and see won't I?

Unstable Matter - So on top of restoring health by picking up the bits of himself that fly off with each use of an attack, which by the by use his health to cast, this ability now gets a shorter cooldown per picked up matter blob he picks up? I'm a little concerned this may make him super strong since this is his blast radius around him ability, but I'll have to see.
Elastic Slingshot - The knockback is increased by half a second, which can make the difference between life and death, especially when a Yasuo is around. This is a change that may make matters against Zac a lot harder to deal with, as his ganks will be much more effective, but who knows, I might be blowing steam.
Overall - A somewhat strong buff, at the least however I may see Zac more, and if I'm fair I've always sort of liked him as a champion, even if scaling off of AP is silly since it's hard to build against a champion like that, he's always a fun opponent to play around.

Time Bomb - Zilean gets to throw a Zilean of these as the cooldown went down on this. No huge deal though, he still has to land the skill shot first, but it does mean he can get a tad bit more annoying.

That's all I got on this patch, every other patch note is the end of the beta on the new rift, visual rebalancing, minor tweaks to some items, and a quick mention of , so keep an eye out for it in the next patch because I will. So until next patch everyone, I hope I played devil's advocate and made you look at the game from another perspective, made myself look like a fool who needs to learn more because trust me, I do need the criticism that is constructive, and may you all become champions in your own right!

Firbane

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