LoL 9.16 Patch Notes Analysis

A new patch is released, and there is a lot of stuff to cover. The patch itself is not incredibly big, as it mainly introduces some buffs and nerfs to several champions in order to make them more balanced, reduce the amount of overpowered abilities and thus render the game more fun and entertaining.

Apart from the tweaks we mentioned, a specific champion is making a big comeback thanks to the complete rework he received in the 9.16 patch: we are talking about Pantheon, long forgotten, that is now stronger and ready to get back to the scene.

Apart from champions, some other things in LoL change after 9.16, namely minor balances and changes to items and game client, as well as a new set of cosmetics.

Champions Changes

We start by covering all the champions that went through some changes to either their stats or abilities, skipping those who just received fixes to previous bugs. Therefore, we are not going to talk about Darius, Gnar, Karma, Katarina, Lee Sin, Malzahar, Master Yi, Nautilus, Orianna, Poppy, Sylas, and Xayah.

• Azir

From his mid lane early positioning, Azir used to dominate late game thanks to his high mobility. The nerf in Conquering Sands (Q) is meant to make it harder for him to chase enemies since the cooldown has been increased from 5 / 12.5 / 10 / 7.5 / 5 to 15 / 13 / 11 / 9 / 7. A small change, but perhaps it will be enough to make him feel less powerful and give more chances to other champions.

• Corki

Changes regarding Corki have to do just with his stats. We see nerfs once again to make him feel a bit less op. This is done by reducing the amount of damage dealt since Corki is very dependant on auto-attacks.

Attack damage: 60 –> 55

Attack damage growth 3 –> 2.5.

• Dr. Mundo

Welcome back, dear old friend! Dr. Mundo is finally receiving some much needed buffs to his W and E. His Tenacity stat gets increased during Burning Agony and is now at 30% at every level instead of 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30%. Masochism received a buff, too, as its cooldown decreased from 6 at every rank down to 6 / 5.5 / 5 / 4.5 / 4.

• Ekko

Dr. Mundo was long gone from the top picked champions; therefore, he received some buffs in order to make him more appealing, especially during the early stages of the fame: his base damage got buffed from 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 to 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150.

Chronobreak (R) also got buffed since its cooldown is now lower: from 110 / 90 / 70 to 110 / 80 / 50.

• Ezreal

The champion is receiving some nerfs, regarding, first of all, the AP ratio of Mystic Shot (Q). Since with 9.16, it got nerfed from 30% to 15%, it will be more difficult to buy AP items and make a build with them. Nerfs don’t stop here, as Arcane Shift (E)’s cooldown is now 25 / 22 / 19 / 16 / 13 seconds instead of 19 / 17.5 / 16 / 14.5 / 13.

• Fiora

Some minor buffs to Fiona’s Bladework (E) too: its cooldown is now 11 / 9.5 / 8 / 6.5 / 5 seconds and not 13 / 11 / 9 / 7 / 5 anymore, and the bonus attack speed granted by it goes from being a flat amount of 50% at every stat to scaling from 50% to 60 / 70 / 80 / 90%.

Unfortunately, we are not sure whether these buffs will help her get more picked. The champion feels of a very “high skill low reward” type, and the fact that she is extremely volatile in fights and transitioning to the late game doesn’t seem to be so addressed yet by the developers. Hopefully, though, the changes to her third ability will make Fiora more interesting to play.

• Jax

Jax is finally receiving some buffs. The cooldown from Leap Strike (Q) has been reduced from 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds to now being 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6. Not the biggest of changes, but perhaps it will be enough to see more of him in the picking phase.

• Kassadin

From previously dealing 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 thanks to Kassadin’s first ability, Nether Blade, he is now able to deal a greatly increased amount corresponding to 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170.

• LeBlanc

We touched upon AP ratio changes before in our 9.16 patch notes review with Ezreal. Now it’s LeBlanc’s turn. We are talking about his Q, Sigil of Malice, which got buffed from 30% to 40%.

• Lux

The 9.16 patch update gives Lux a bit more chances in her late game team fights thanks to buff to Prismatic Barrier (W). The Shield’s increase in strength, from 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 to 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150, means that, when the ability is maxed, you have 40 extra points in your Shield which definitely improves Lux’s capabilities.

• Nocturne

Nocturne has been modified mostly in regard to base stats, which are quite funny since they mostly don’t matter at all. We say this because the patch just took care of rounding up numbers, such as HP from 582.8 to 585, mana from 273.8 to 275, mana regen from 6.756 to 7). About abilities, Shroud of Darkness (W) grants a higher bonus attack speed.

• Pantheon

We come to the one who is probably the main character of the patch, Pantheon, who received major reworks in an attempt to revamp him. As with all reworks, 9.16 comes with a new voice, skins, and artwork for the champion.

Apart from these innovations, all his base stats got minor buffs. His first ability, Shield Vault, and his ultimate, Grand Starfall, remain pretty much the same as before the patch.

What changes, instead, are Cornet Spear (Q) and Aegis Assault (E). The first has been completely modified into a skill shot, while the latter makes you invulnerable against the attacks of enemies and buildings in the direction targeted. Pantheon’s passive also gives him more strength by granting different effects depending on the ability used.

• Sejuani

Perhaps you should say goodbye to the queen of the jungle. She received some nerfs regarding Fury of the North (passive), which now gives less bonus armor and magic resistance (now 10 instead of 20). Arctic Assault (Q) has also been nerfed, as the cooldown got higher and is now 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 / 12.

• Shen

Shen sees some interesting buffs which regard first and foremost the damage dealt by his Shadow Dash (E), now 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 instead of 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150. Having damage increased by 10 at every level feels very strong. Then, his Q’s health ratio (Twilight Assault) also got buffed, and now goes from a previous 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6% of the champion’s max health to now  5 / 5.5 / 6 / 6.5 / 7%.

• Sivir

To conclude our review about champions, here we have a good change that will make laning against Sivir a bit less frustrating. The AD ratio of Ricochet (W) got nerfed from 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70% to 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70%. Therefore, she will now be forced to be more active during the laning phase and contest the enemies who try to deny her CS instead of not caring at all and keep doing her job.

Other Changes

The only item that received some modifications in patch 9.16 is Total Biscuit of Everlasting. Its healing duration has been severely nerfed, going from 15 to just 5 seconds. Other nerfs regard the health and mana ratio, as well as the one concerning manaless health. All three are now lower. Runes have been changed too, especially the Biscuit Delivery one. This time we see a buff in max mana increase, which goes from previously being 40 to now upgrading to 50.

About cosmetics, you can check the new ones added with the patch on the official LoL website and on the store. Before ending our review, we have to mention the fact that some minor changes have been applied to the way the ranked system works, with improvements to make the whole ranked experience more enjoyable.