League of Legends Patch 12.9 Highlights

Champion Updates

Olaf

Base Stats

• AD Growth 3.5 ⇒ 4.7
• AD at level 18 127.5 ⇒ 148
• Health Growth 100 ⇒ 105
• Mana Growth 42 ⇒ 50

Passive – Berserker Rage

• Maximum Attack Speed Granted 99% ⇒ 40-100% (levels 1-18)
• Berserker’s Rage now provides 10-30% life steal (levels 1-18), based on Olaf’s missing health
• Bonuses max out at 0% Health ⇒ 30% Health

Q – Undertow

• Cooldown 7 seconds ⇒ 9 seconds
• Damage 80/125/170/215/260 ⇒ 60/110/160/210/260
• Minimum Range 300 ⇒ 425 units
• Mana Cost 60 at all ranks ⇒ 40/45/50/55/60
• Picking up axes now fully refunds Q – Undertow’s cooldown, but axes can only be thrown a maximum of once every 3 seconds. (Note: the 3 second limit scales with Ability Haste.)
• Included a quality-of-life buff to Olaf’s Q – Undertow so that it now grants ghosting more consistently to jungle monsters who he hits or are near him when Q is cast

W – Tough It Out

• Cooldown 16 seconds at all ranks ⇒ 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds
• Attack Speed 50/60/70/80/90% ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80%
• Ability Duration 6 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
• W now resets Olaf’s basic attack timer
• On activation Olaf now gains a 10/45/80/115/150 (+25% missing health, capped at 30% of his current HP) shield for 2.5 seconds
• No longer grants Life Steal
• No longer amplifies Olaf’s healing based on missing health

R – Ragnarok

• Bonus Attack Damage 15/20/25 (+30% AD) ⇒ 10/20/30 (+25% AD)
• Duration 6 seconds ⇒ 3 seconds
• Passive Resists 20/30/40 ⇒ 10/25/40
• R – Ragnarok’s passive bonus resistances are no longer lost for the duration of the ability
• Hitting a champion with a basic attack or E – Reckless Swing extends the duration of Ragnarok by 2.5 seconds. Olaf can refresh Ragnarok indefinitely.

The Olaf mid-scope update is focused around shifting power into different parts of his kit, while also bringing down his early game prowess. The life steal and attack speed at low HP was moved from Olaf’s W to his passive and also restricted by levels. In exchange, W now provides him a missing health scaling shield.

The other big change to Olaf’s kit comes with his ultimate. Ragnarok now only lasts three seconds, but can be extended as long as Olaf is hitting his enemies. All of these changes combine to capitalize on Olaf’s berserker nature. If he can hang in a fight come mid-game, he will be much more useful than he was previously at the same point.

Taliyah

Base Stats

• Base Health 531 ⇒ 500
• Health Regen 7 ⇒ 6.5
• Health Regen Growth 0.7 ⇒ 0.65
• Base Mana 425 ⇒ 470
• Base Mana Regen 9.34 ⇒ 8
• Mana Regen Growth 0.85 ⇒ 8
• Base Armor 20 ⇒ 18
• Move Speed 335 ⇒ 330

Passive – Rock Surfing

• Out of Combat Bonus Move Speed 20-45% (levels 1-18) ⇒ 10/20/35/55% (levels 1/9/12/15)
• Passive Fall Off Time when not near Terrain 1 second ⇒5 seconds

Q – Threaded Volley

• Mana Cost 50/60/70/80/90 ⇒ 60/65/70/75/80
• Cooldown 7/6/5/4/3 seconds ⇒ 6.5/5.5/4.5/3.5/2.5 seconds
• Rock Damage 70/95/120/145/170 (+45% AP) ⇒ 38/61/84/107/130 (+50% AP)
• Damage Reduction from Subsequent Stone Shards 50% ⇒ 60%
• 5-Rock Damage 210/285/360/435/510 (+135% AP) ⇒ 98.8/158.6/218.4/278.2/338 (+130% AP)
• Damage Reduction from Subsequent Stone Shards Against Monsters 25% ⇒ 60%
• Each Stone Shard now deals an additional 30 (+10% AP) damage against monsters
• Stone Shards now deal damage in a 175 radius area of effect (approximately 1.6 Teemos)
• Q – Threaded Volley will now continue to cast while Taliyah is in Stasis
• Casting Q – Threaded Volley on Worked Ground now consumes the Worked Ground to fire a single Boulder that deals double damage [76/122/168/214/260 (+100% AP)] and slows all targets hit in a 225 AoE radius by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2 seconds
• Mana Cost on Worked Ground 1 ⇒ 20
• Minimum Cooldown on Worked Ground 1 second ⇒ 0.75 seconds
• Worked Ground Duration 25 seconds ⇒ 30 seconds
• Worked Ground Radius 300 ⇒ 400
• The size of Worked Ground on Howling Abyss now matches Summoner’s Rift
• Q – Threaded Volley casts on Worked Ground now has new VFX, SFX, animation, and icon!

W – Seismic Shove

• Mana Cost 70/80/90/100/110 ⇒ 40/30/20/10/0
• Cooldown 16/15/14/13/12 seconds ⇒ 14/12.5/11/9.5/8 seconds
• Knock Up Radius 200 ⇒ 225
• Time Delay before Knock Up 0.8 seconds ⇒ 0.75 seconds
• W – Seismic Shove no longer deals damage

E – Unraveled Earth

• Cooldown 16/14/12/10/8 seconds ⇒ 16/15/14/13/12 seconds
• Damage on Initial Cast 50/75/100/125/150 (+40% AP) ⇒ 60/105/150/195/240 (+60% AP)
• Slow Strength 20% (+4% AP) ⇒ 20/22/24/26/28% (AP ratio removed)
• Boulder Detonation Damage 50/60/70/80/90 (+30% AP) ⇒ 25/45/65/85/105 (+30% AP)
• Damage Reduction per Subsequent Boulder Hit 15% ⇒ 25%
• Maximum Boulder Detonation Damage 155/186/217/248/279 (+93% AP) ⇒ 62.5/112.5/162.5/212.5/262.5 (+75% AP)
• Delay Between Casting and Spawning First Row of Boulders 0.1 seconds ⇒ 0 seconds
• Delay Between Spawning Rows of Boulders after the First Row 0.1 seconds ⇒ 0.17 seconds
• E – Unraveled Earth now spawns 6 rows of boulders extending outwards from Taliyah with 4 boulders per row (previously spawned 4 rows of boulders with 6 boulders per row)
• Boulders now stun enemies that dash through them for the duration of the dash + 0.6/0.7/0.8/0.9/1 seconds. (Note: the max stun duration is 2 seconds and monsters are always stunned for the max duration).
• E – Unraveled Earth no longer detonates to deal additional damage after 4 seconds

R – Weaver’s Wall

• Range 3000/4500/6000 ⇒ 2500/4500/6500
• Dash Range when Jumping off Wall 400 ⇒ 700
• Dash Speed when Jumping off Wall 1000 ⇒ 1200
• Moving Taliyah while she is riding the Weaver’s Wall now causes Taliyah to dash to the location clicked, up to the maximum dash range instead of dropping her perpendicular to the wall.
• Dashing when jumping off of the wall is now more forgiving when trying to dash through terrain
• Damage from enemy champions or structures now prevents Taliyah from casting R – Weaver’s Wall for 3 seconds
• Taking damage no longer knocks Taliyah off her wall

Every single one of Taliyah’s abilities has been changed with this mid-scope update. There is way too much here to go over every single thing, but the entire update boils down to giving Taliyah more to offer than just single target DPS and a zoning Weaver’s Wall.

Threaded Volley’s AOE hits are back, making it easier for Taliyah to clear the jungle and minions. Using Q on Worked Ground also now creates a large Boulder that slows enemies it hits. Crowd control was also added to Unraveled Earth, as a stun is now applied to anyone dashing or getting knocked through the stones.

Lastly, Weaver’s Wall now allows Taliyah to jump off of it more freely, landing in an increased range and moving faster while doing it. It’s safe to say that Taliyah has a lot more tools at her disposal now, which should make her a prominent champion.

Champion Nerfs

Ahri

E – Charm

• Cooldown 12 seconds ⇒ 14 seconds

R – Spirit Rush

• Cooldown 130/105/80 seconds ⇒ 140/115/90 seconds

The queen of mid lane has seen nerfs to her E and R cooldowns. This does give Ahri less uptime on her crucial catching ability, but she should still be strong due to her trading, wave clear, and mobility.

Nidalee

Base Stats

• Base Health 570 ⇒ 540

Thirty HP is a pretty noticeable amount for a champion that needs to tread the line early to gain leads. Nidalee will definitely feel that missing HP, especially when faced with other powerful early game junglers.

Pyke

Passive – Gift of the Drowned Ones

• Damage Converted to Grey Health when near Two or more Enemies 40% (+0.5% per Lethality) ⇒ 45% (+0.5% per Lethality)

Q – Bone Skewer

• Bone Skewer now refunds mana upon hitting an enemy champion
• Mana Cost 50/55/60/65/70 ⇒ 74/78/82/86/90
• Mana Refund 50% ⇒ 75%

R – Death From Below

• Cooldown 120/100/80 seconds ⇒ 100/85/70 seconds
• Pyke no longer receives “Your Cut” gold upon successfully executing enemy champions with his R (last assisting ally will still receive “Your Cut”)
• Pyke no longer receives additional “Your Cut” gold when allies kill enemies within Death From Below’s execution area

Mid has been Pyke’s most successful role for a while now. Riot is trying to kill it off once and for all by gimping his Mana when he uses Q on the wave, as well as preventing Pyke from gaining insane amounts of cash from his ultimate. This will likely make Pyke’s win rate plummet, so avoid playing him if you value your LP.

Sion

Passive – Glory in Death

• Sion now does 40% reduced damage to structures while in his reanimated frenzy form (includes runes and items)

Gone are the days of Zombie Sion destroying your turret by running it down and dying twice in a row. The champion hasn’t actually been nerfed besides this, so he should still be decent. That said, this change does hurt the “inting” Sion playstyle that recently became popular due to a certain shilling streamer. Expect Sion’s play rate to drop quite a bit.

Champion Buffs

Braum

Passive – Concussive Blows

• Per-Target Cooldown 8/7/6 seconds ⇒ 8/6/4 seconds

E – Unbreakable

• Damage Reduction 30/32.5/35/37/40% ⇒ 35/40/45/50/55%

Braum is back for the first time in years. The Warden extraordinaire suffered quite a bit in the Nautilus/Leona metas, as well as Enchanter metas. These buffs should help him find a place in the hearts of support players once again.

Renekton

Base Stats

• Health Growth 92 ⇒ 97
• AD Growth 3.75 ⇒ 4.15
• AD at Level 18 132.75 ⇒ 139.55

W – Ruthless Predator

• Cooldown 13/12/11/10/9 seconds ⇒ 16/14/12/10/8 seconds
• Total Physical Damage 10/30/50/70/90 (+75% AD) ⇒ 10/40/70/100/130 (+75% AD)
• Total Physical Damage when Empowered 15/45/75/105/135 (+75% AD) ⇒ 15/60/105/150/195 (+75% AD)

R – Dominus

• Magic Damage per Second 40/80/120 (+10% AP) ⇒ 50/100/150 (+10% AP)

Everyone’s favorite crocodile has been given some mid game and scaling love this patch. More scaling HP and AD, as well as a more powerful W and ultimate with levels should help Renekton stay relevant for longer in games.

Thresh

Passive – Damnation

• Ability Power and Bonus Armor per Soul 0.75 ⇒ 1

W – Dark Passage

• Shield Strength 60/90/120/150/180 (+1 per Soul) ⇒ 60/90/120/150/180 (+2 per Soul)

Thresh fell from being one of the best and most versatile supports to a glorified Lantern bot. These changes won’t return him to being the king of support that he once was, but they are a nice way to give both Thresh and his teammates a bit more survivability and tankiness.

Varus

Passive – Living Vengeance

• Bonus Attack Speed on Non-Champion Kills 10/15/20% (+15% bonus Attack Speed) ⇒ 10/15/20% (+20% bonus Attack Speed)
• Bonus Attack Speed on Champion Kills 40% (+30% bonus Attack Speed) ⇒ 40% (+40% bonus Attack Speed)

W – Blighted Quiver

• Bonus Magic Damage On-Hit 7/10.5/14/17.5/21 (+30% AP) ⇒ 7/12/17/22/27 (+30% AP)

While Varus might not be a popular pick, he is always one step away from relevance thanks to his powerful utility ultimate. These buffs help Varus’s attack speed builds by a small amount. Notably, the extra damage on W is locked behind levels, which would require that Varus doesn’t max it last like usual. If anything, watch out for the fringe, AP one-shot Varus to be on the rise.

Items

Hullbreaker

• Champion Bonus Resists While Hunting Alone (Melee) 20-60 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 10 (levels 1-11), then 20/35/43/51/59/67/75 (levels 12-18)
• Champion Bonus Resists While Hunting Alone (Ranged) 10-30 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 5 (levels 1-11), then 10/17.5/21.5/25.5/29.5/33.5/37.5 (levels 12-18)
• Deal 20% bonus damage from all sources against structures ⇒ ONLY attacks deal 20% bonus damage against structures

Hullbreaker has been shaping the top lane meta for the majority of Season 12. It survived nerfs before, but this nerf should be the one that finally cuts it down to size. Now, champions must be at least level 12 to gain any meaningful resistances from a Hullbreaker purchase. This kills first-item Hullbreaker entirely. Only dedicated split pushers who purchase it second or third will want to look Hullbreaker’s way from now on.

Those are the biggest changes of League of Legends Patch 12.9. It is going to be very interesting to see where exactly Olaf and Taliyah land after their mid-scope updates. They will likely be on the strong side, so try them out for yourself and see if you like them.