Spectator Mode!

Spectate your Friends
Added the ability to spectate games that friends are playing by right clicking their name in the buddy list
Easily identify friends you can spectate by the eye icon near their name
Featured Games
The landing page will now host featured games that anyone can spectate
Click the 'Watch Now' icon to view some of the most skilled players in League of Legends!
Games cycle at regular intervals so be sure to check back often
Directed Camera
Implemented a directed camera mode that will automatically follow the action in game!
The camera will seamlessly jump between champion fights and other critical moments
Interesting events like Champion kills will be prioritized
When multiple Champions are on the screen, the camera will automatically adjust to include them
Timeshift Controls
Spectators can now jump around the timeline of a live game to watch past events!
Replay events in slow motion to review action-filled moments
Spectators can now actively fast forward through the game
Spectator announcer coverage will now report more events
Updated spectator UI elements to respect colorblind mode

I think the community will be very excited about this feature. I've heard some concern for current streamers -- that they may lose a bit of an audience do to this, but I would disagree to this notion, as most streamers stream from a first person, educational point of view, whereas spectator mode won't present the opinions and reasoning the streamers bring to the table. Furthermore, many excellent players who aren't as popular via streaming at the moment, may receive a substantial gain in audience numbers, purely do to the extra exposure through Riot featured games.

New Skins in the Store


Frostblade Irelia
Rune Wars Renekton

PVP.net v1.59


Added a new image for ignored Summoners in the buddy list
Fixed several display inconsistencies when using Summoner Name Change
Summoners must now be level 5 to talk in public chat rooms
Level 1 summoners will still be able to join with read-only access
Pending a hotfix, only game creators can invite players to games

Small tweaks, mostly.

PvP.net Store

Added an indicator to show owned rune content when attempting to purchase a new rune
Rune purchases past the usable rune limit will now be prevented

Very appreciated change.

League of Legends v1.0.0.139

Alistar

Now gains 1.25 Magic Resist per level

I like this buff (and the buff to all support tanks), because, as a support tank, if you didn't outright build an early aegis and mercs, in favor for other team utility, you'd be at an incredibly dangerous position against many AP casters -- more so than someone with the label "tank" should be at.

Amumu

Curse of the Sad Mummy cooldown reduced to 150/130/110 seconds from 170/150/120 seconds
Now gains 1.25 Magic Resist per level

Though Amumu's early game will be equally easy to counter, I feel this really helps his ganking consistency in the mid game. I feel he needed these buffs, and though they appear to not be overwhelming, actually raise his mid and late game threat a good deal. This change definitely helps bring Amumu's viability back into the game.

Annie

Base Health increased to 460 from 424
Incinerate Mana cost reduced to 70/80/90/100/110 from 80/95/110/125/140
Molten Shield
Fixed a bug where Molten Shield returned damage to turrets
Duration reduced to 8 seconds from 15 seconds and cooldown reduced to 16 seconds from 30 seconds
Mana cost reduced to 20 from 25
Armor and Magic Resist increased to 20/30/40/50/60 from 10/20/30/40/50

I like these buffs to Annie, purely because she has been largely outclassed as an AP for quite a while, due to her short range. She'll still do what she always did, but she'll do so slightly more safely.

Blitzcrank


Updated playing against tips

Interface updates, woo.

Cho'gath

Movement Speed increased to 320 from 315

Cho'gath needed this buff, in my opinion. For a bruiser tank-built cho, it was often very hard to not be kited in battle, due to his slower movespeed.

Dr. Mundo

Burning Agony
Now has a short cooldown upon activation (to avoid accidental disabling)
Base damage reduced to 35/50/65/80/95 from 40/55/70/85/100
Crowd control reduction decreased to 10/15/20/25/30% from 15/20/25/30/35%
Fixed a bug where Burning Agony was reducing the duration of blinds and silences by more than intended
Sadism
Cooldown increased to 75 seconds from 65 seconds

So Dr. Mundo, over the past half-dozen patches or so, went from this semi-troll, obnoxious champion, to this god-tier jungler. His jungle speed was too fast, his early game, too strong, and his gank potential, too deadly, given his ridiculous scaling into mid and late game. I feel these nerfs bring him to a good middle ground between where he was at the beginning of the season, and where he's been for the past few patches. He'll still be strong, he'll still do what he does, it'll just be a bit more dangerous for him, and a bit less forgiving in the early stages of the game.

Graves


Fixed a bug where using a ward could break Buckshot's sound

Bug fixes are nice.

Irelia

Base health increased to 546 from 515
Health per level increased to 90 from 85
Base health regen per 5 increased to 7.5 from 6.5
Base damage increased to 59.3 from 56.3

With the constant nerfing of Irelia over the past few patches, she fell into a bit of a spot where she was out-classed, even by champions she used to counter, purely because her early game became so unsteady. I feel these slight base stat buffs will help her out a little, but won't push her into the stages of immovability that she used to reside in.

Jarvan IV

Fixed a bug with Commando and Dragon Slayer skins that caused the game to hitch when first using Demacian Standard

Yay, bug fixes.

Jax

Fixed a bug where Counterstrike was stunning through spell shields

And more bug fixes.

Kog'maw

Void Ooze slow reduced to 20/28/36/44/52% from 28/36/44/52/60%

I have little opinion on this nerf. I think Riot simply thought Kog was still too strong over all, and decided to minorly nerf his utility. It won't make a huge difference.

Lee Sin


Iron Will Life Steal and Spell Vamp reduced to 5/9/13/17/21% from 5/10/15/20/25%
Safeguard and Iron Will cooldown increased to 9 seconds from 8 seconds

Lee Sin is an odd character. I feel like no matter how many times Riot nerfs him, he's still going to be considered overpowered, purely due to how obnoxiously mobile he is, and how much utility you can potentially bring to a team with him. Still, they finally hit his sustain, which is, in my opinion, what they should have initially nerfed. He'll still be playable, for sure, for those willing to put in the time to adequately learn him.

Leona

Now gains 1.25 Magic Resist per level

Refer to Alistar comments.

Lulu

Glitterlance
Ability power ratio reduced to 0.6 from 0.7
Mana cost increased at later ranks to 40/50/60/70/80 from 40/45/50/55/60
Updated Wild Growth tooltip to reflect knock up ability rather than knock back

I will not deny that Lulu needed some minor nerfs, however, I think riot may be targeting the wrong areas on these nerfs, with the ratio reductions on Glitterlance. I don't feel that Glitterlance scaled too heavily, I feel it had too high a base damage, and was too easily spammable. A Lulu with only magic pen, could easily force a lot of champions out of lane, in many stages of the game, due to the incredibly strong poke it provided. With these changes, I feel she'll only be a weaker mid lane, but will still offer poke that's potentially stronger than that of pre-nerf Sona.

Malphite


Fixed a bug where Polymorph was interrupting Unstoppable Force

Bug fixes are good.

Master Yi

Meditate
Mana cost reduced to 70/80/90/100/110 from 70/85/100/115/130
Highlander
Fixed a bug where assists with Highlander failed to reduce Alpha Strike's cooldown
Duration changed to 8/10/12 seconds from 6/9/12 seconds

I don't feel Master Yi needed more buffs. He's already one of the strongest late game DPS bruiser-carries, provided a team has a comp/counter comp that enables him. His early game and laning didn't need buffing, in my opinion.

Miss Fortune

Bullet Time now deals physical damage
Double Up secondary target damage increased to 120% from 115%

I like the Bullet Time tweak, as it now makes the ability moderately useful to Miss Fortune in later stages of the game, as she'll have armor pen to back it up. However, I don't think Double Up needed buffs. Miss Fortune already has an incredibly strong laning phase. I don't believe it needed any further strengthening.

Nocturne

Fixed a bug with the Ravager skin where Unspeakable Horror was not visually applying the fear tether

Huzzah, bug fixes.

Nunu


Added a range indicator to Absolute Zero
Now gains 1.25 Magic Resist per level

Usability buffs are good, and see Alistar comments.

Olaf

Reckless Swing cooldown increased to 9/8/7/6/5 seconds from 8/7/6/5/4 seconds

Olaf will still be incredibly strong in lane, though less so in jungle. I don't personally think his jungle was very good to begin with, however, but no matter. Still a very strong champion.

Ryze

General
Base attack damage increased to 52 from 49
Base missile speed increased to 2400 from 1400
Recommended items updated on The Crystal Scar/Summoner's Rift
Animations updated for Overload, Rune Prison, and Spell Flux
Overload
Mana ratio reduced to 6.5% from 7.5%
Ability power ratio increased to .4 from .2
Overload base damage increased to 60/85/110/135/160 from 40/65/90/115/140
Range reduced to 650 from 700
Rune Prison
Mana ratio reduced to 4.5% from 5%
Mana cost adjusted to 80/90/100/110/120 from 80/95/110/125/140
Rune prison duration reduced to .75/1/1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds from 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds
Spell Flux:
Added a 1% mana ratio
Missile speed reduced
Bounce radius increased to 400 from 375
Spell Flux now prioritizes enemy champions over Ryze
Mana cost adjusted to 80/90/100/110/120 from 80/95/110/125/140
Desperate Power:
Passive mana component removed
Active now adds 35/45/55 movement speed

Now this Ryze change could go two ways, and I have yet to play around with it or do the math on it. Either A. it ends up being a hard enough nerf to his scalings that he's a weaker all-around champion, or B, the changes slightly drop his early and mid game damage, while leaving his late game damage (assuming you build the same way) roughly the same, and granting him an even stronger passive. If this is the case, this change is a huge buff to Ryze, and Riot must be insane. We shall see. My guess for the moment is B.

Singed

Base Health increased to 487 from 448
Fixed a bug where Insanity Potion was reducing the duration of blinds and silences by more than intended

Singed buffs... were probably not necessary, but I won't complain.

Sivir

Boomerang Blade bonus attack damage ratio increased to 1.1 from 1.0

Since her nerfs, Sivir has been pretty out-classed by most other AD carries, providing nothing more than utility to specific comps in late game, as an advantage. I'm certain that this buff will help bring some of her old deadliness back to her laning phase. If it's not too heavy a buff, I definitely agree with this.

Soraka

Starcall
Duration of Magic Resist reduction decreased to 5 seconds from 8 seconds
Mana cost increased at later ranks to 20/35/50/65/80 from 20/30/40/50/60
Infuse will no longer target allied minions
Astral Blessing armor bonus adjusted to 25/45/65/85/105 from 25/50/75/100/125

Nerfs, largely to AP Soraka. Somewhere along the line, people figured out that could build tanky AP Soraka, sit in an enemy team, and shred their entire team for stupid amount of magic resistance. This patch makes it a bit more difficult to do this, as disengaging will revert the shred much more quickly.

Swain

Fixed a bug with Bilgewater and Northern Front skins that caused the game to hitch the first time Decrepify was used

Bug fixes are good.

Talon

Rake mana cost reduced to 50/55/60/65/70 from 60/65/70/75/80
Base armor increased to 20.5 from 18.5

Talon definitely fell off after his chain of nerfs. Not only was his early game incredibly risky due to general squishiness, but his mana costs would run him dry incredibly quickly, and he'd end up forced to recall quite frequently, potentially causing a good bit of experience loss. I feel these buffs should help put him back into a balanced position.

Taric

Now gains 1.25 Magic Resist per level

See Alistar comments.

Udyr

Turtle Stance shield reduced to 60/95/130/165/200 from 60/100/140/180/220

Udyr is simply an incredibly strong champion at the moment, both as a jungler, and as a top laner. This slight nerf won't break him at all really, but it will bring him down a level, hopefully back onto par with a few more champions.

Volibear

Fixed a bug where Majestic Roar was reducing Minion movement speed to 0 at rank 5

Bug fixes are good.

Warwick

Hungering Strike
Damage reduced to 8/10/12/14/16% from 8/11/14/17/20%

Warwick's Q > Ult > Q is an incredibly powerful, basically un-counterable single target nuke, especially for a bruiser. I feel these nerfs are both balanced, and needed.

Zilean

Zilean can no longer level up Rewind at level 1

Yay, fixing his ability to go into the game with no skills!

General

Turret base damage decreased but armor penetration and damage to minions increased
Improved particle scaling on larger characters like Dragon and Baron
Champion skin names will now be displayed on the load screen
New option added: Show All Chat
Cross-team chat in all games is now hidden by default
Cross-team chat in spectated games will also be hidden by default
If you enjoy competitive banter, opt-in using the new toggle in the 'More Options' menu!
Fixed a crash that would occur when attempting to maximize the window while loading into the game
Selected unit outlines are now improved to be less pixelated
"Surrender Vote Failed" message no longer appears to the enemy team
Announcements will now take up the same proportional amount of screen space regardless of the display resolution. The net result is a smaller size at smaller resolutions

The notable gameplay change here is regarding turrets. Basically, they'll scale slightly differently against armored targets.

Items

Deathfire Grasp
Now builds out of Blasting Wand and Kage's Lucky Pick (total cost reduced to 2600 from 2610)
Now grants 80 Ability Power and 15% Cooldown Reduction, from 60 Ability Power, 12 MP5, and 15% Cooldown Reduction
Increased cast range to 750 from 650
Active base damage changed to 25% +4% per 100 AP of the target's current Health from 30% + 3.5%
Fiendish Codex cost reduced to 1125 from 1245
Morello's Evil Tome
Now builds out of Fiendish Codex and Kage's Lucky Pick (total cost reduced to 2330 from 2350)
Now has Grievous Wounds active
Sunfire Cape aura damage increased to 40 from 35
Will of the Ancients
Now builds out of Blasting Wand and Hextech Revolver
Total cost increased to 2500 from 2100, combine cost reduced to 440 from 465
Atma's Impaler, Manamune, Archangel's Staff, Randuin's Omen, Force of Nature, and Deathfire Grasp tooltips now update dynamically
Fixed a bug where Randuin's Omen tooltip stated the incorrect slow duration

I like basically all these changes. It's now worthwhile to build a Kage's on some supports, Morello's is no longer a largely out-classed AP item, DFG makes more general sense, and isn't as overpowered on tanky champions, while being about the same in strength (if not slightly stronger) on casters. You can now run it on non-mana based champions without wasting stats, as well. Sunfire Cape is a fairly out-classed item, though the damage buff does help it a bit. As for WotA, it has been an incredibly cost-efficient team-based caster item for a long time. Too efficient.

Summoner Spells

Fixed a bug where Teleport could be used after being affected by Crowd Control effects
Fixed a bug where casting Cleanse could interrupt Teleport
Summoner Heal base value reduced to 100 from 145

Not sure why they nerfed Heal again. I stopped taking it a while ago, anyway. Bug fixes are good, however.

Co-op vs. AI

Changed Soraka Bot's Wish logic to help all allies instead of just those near her
Changed logic for Master Yi Bot's use of Meditate
Fixed a bug where Dominion bots would prematurely break counter-channel attempts on neutral points
Fixed a bug where Caitlyn Bot did not learn all of her skills

Yay, AI.

WTF, no Varus?