LoL Patch 9.24: Diana, Yuumi Take the Spotlight

Akali

Q – Five Point Strike

• Bonus Damage to Minions/Monsters reduced from 33% >>> 25%

Akali is one of the stronger Mid/Top lane flex picks right now. Her damage, mobility, safety, and prowess in lane help her take control of the game at all stages. With this nerf to her main wave clear spell, Akali should have a bit less priority in tougher lanes, allowing more ranged mid laners and top lane bullies to play into her. Her roaming and split pushing will also be a bit slower.

Braum

W – Stand Behind Me:

• Cooldown reduced from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds >>> 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
• Mana Cost reduced from 50/55/60/65/70 mana >>> 40 mana
• Resistances to Ally changed from 10/14/18/22/26 (+10/11.5/13/14.5/16% bonus resistances) >>> 10/14/18/22/26 (+12% bonus resistances)
• Resistances to Self increased from 10/14/18/22/26 (+10/11.5/13/14.5/16% bonus resistances) >>> 10/14/18/22/26 (+36% bonus resistances)

R – Glacial Fissure

• Base Damage increased from 150/250/350 >>> 150/300/450
• Knock-up changed from 1/1.25/1.5 seconds on close enemies, 0.25 seconds on enemies in a line unless only 1 enemy is hit, resulting in the full duration >>> 1-1.5 seconds on first enemy hit based on distance from Braum, 0.25 seconds on all other enemies.

Some of these Braum changes may be difficult to understand, but it essentially boils down to more tankiness and mobility at the cost of utility. Braum can no longer AOE knock-up an entire enemy team if they are in melee range, making him worse at peeling multiple divers. That said, his W buff makes him a much harder target to take down, giving him more defensive stats and more accessible mobility. Braum has always been a one-size-fits-all support in pro play, so Riot is trying to define his anti-ranged champion niche.

Diana

• Base Mana increased from 372 >>> 420

Passive – Moonsilver Blade

• Now grants 10-40% attack speed (levels 1-18)
• Casting an ability triples Moonsilver Blade’s attack speed for 3 seconds
• Every Third Strike Damage Ratio reduced from 0.8 ability power >>> 0.4 ability power
• Third Strike no longer refunds mana

Q – Crescent Strike

• Mana Cost reduced from 55 mana >>> 50 mana

W – Pale Cascade

• Cooldown increased from 10 seconds >>> 15/13.5/12/10.5/9 seconds
• Base Shield decreased from 40/55/70/85/100 (total shield 80/110/140/170/200) >>> 30/45/60/75/90 (total shield 60/90/120/150/180)
• Orb Damage Ratio decreased from 0.2 ability power (total 0.6 ability power) >>> 0.15 ability power (total 0.45 ability power)
• Shield Ratio now increased by 0.1 bonus health (total 0.2 bonus health)

E – Lunar Rush (Formerly R)

• Cooldown decreased from 25/20/15 seconds >>> 22/20/18/16/14 seconds
• Mana Cost decreased from 50/65/80 mana >>> 40/45/50/55/60 mana
• Damage decreased from 100/160/220 >>> 40/60/80/100/120
• Damage Ratio decreased from 0.6 ability power >>> 0.4 ability power

R – Moonfall (Formerly E)

• Cooldown increased from 26/24/22/20/18 seconds >>> 100/90/80 seconds
• Mana Cost increased from 70 mana >>> 100 mana
• Slow increased from 35/40/45/50/55% >>> 40/50/60%
• Now, if Diana pulls in one or more enemy champions, the moonlight crashes down onto her after 1 second, dealing 200/300/400 (+0.6 ability power) magic damage in an area around her, increased by 35/60/85 (+0.15 ability power) for each target beyond the first pulled

Hot off her mini rework, Diana comes in as what feels like a new champion. With access to a gap closer as early as level two, Diana now has many more options on how to play early game. Not only can she be a strong bully in solo lanes, her jungle clear and pathing options have been busted wide open. The new moonlight burst on her R also gives Diana the potential for massive team fight impact. Initial PBE reactions had Diana on the strong side, so we’ll have to see where she lands after release. If there is a follow up 9.24 balance patch, Diana will likely be seeing some tweaks.

Garen

E – Judgement

• Number of spins reduced from 7 (+1 spin per 20% attack speed) >>> 7 (+1 spin per 25% attack speed)
• Spin Damage reduced from 4/8/12/16/20 (+0-8.2 based on level) (+0.32-0.4 attack damage) >>> 4/8/12/16/20 (+0-6.6 based on level) (+0.32-0.4 attack damage)

Garen has sprinted out of the pre-season gate due to the earlier changes to his E damage scaling and the Conqueror rework. The result was Tri-Force and Attack Speed focused builds that shredded opponents while Garen himself remained a tanky juggernaut. These nerfs should help reign him in.

Senna

Passive – Absolution

• Mist Wraith Drop Chance reduced from 5.55% on minions Senna kills >>> 1.67% on minions Senna kills

Q – Piercing Darkness:

• Damage reduced from 50/80/110/140/170 (+0.5 bonus attack damage) >>> 40/70/100/130/160 (+0.4 bonus attack damage)

W – Last Embrace:

• Root Duration reduced from 1.45/1.65/1.85/2.05/2.25 seconds >>> 1.25/1.50/1.75/2/2.25 seconds

R – Dawning Shadow

• Damage Ratio increased from 0.4 ability power >>> 0.5 ability power

Senna definitely released too strong overall, so changes across the board were expected. Most importantly, the Passive and Q changes make her damage potential as ADC much lower. With far fewer Mist Wraiths available to scale her stats, and lower damage and AD ratio on her main team fight and wave clear spell, Senna’s most abusive role should be curbed.

Yuumi

Passive – Bop ‘n’ Block:

• Now restores 50-160 (levels 1-18) mana on proc
• Base Shield increased from 50-300 (levels 1-18) >>> 60-400 (levels 1-18)

Q – Prowling Projectile

• Mana Cost increased from 75/80/85/90/95/100 mana >>> 85/90/95/100/105/110 mana
• Damage Ratio reduced from 0.45 ability power >>> 0.3 ability power
• Empowered Damage changed from 50/85/120/155/190/225 (+0.65 ability power) >>> 50/95/140/185/230/275 (+0.4 ability power)
• Missile Duration reduced from 3 seconds >>> 2 seconds

W – You and Me!

• Now has a Channel Time of 0.25 seconds when attaching from an unattached state
• Yuumi no longer teleports with her Anchor when attached
• Immobilizing Yuumi now places this ability on a five-second cooldown
• Adaptive Force bonus changed from Yuumi and her ally grant each other 5/7/9/11/13 adaptive force (+4/7/10/13/16% of their respective adaptive force >>> Yuumi increases her ally’s adaptive force by 12/14/16/18/20 (+12/14/16/18/20% of her attached ally’s adaptive force) (Yuumi grants herself the same amount)

E – Zoomies

• Now Grants 25/30/35/40/45% attack speed to herself or the Anchored target
• No longer stocks charges
• No longer increases Yuumi’s healing based on the target’s missing health
• Heal increased from 30/40/50/60/70 (+0.1 ability power) >>> 70/110/150/190/230 (+0.3 ability power)
• Cooldown reduced from 18/17/16/15/14 seconds >>> 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
• Mana Cost increased from 30/40/50/60/70 mana >>> 100/115/130/145/160 mana
• Movement Speed changed from 25%, decays over time >>> 15%, no longer decays over time
• Duration increased from 2 seconds >>> 3 seconds

Yuumi has rightfully received a drastic makeover. Her dominance of the entire meta following her release has prompted a mini rework from Riot. There’s a lot to unpack, but essentially Riot have hit her most annoying points. The Q nerf has drastically lowered her potential damage output. The ability is now less spammable, has a lower AP ratio, and can only travel 66% as far as before. As the mana costs on her Q and E have increased, Riot has returned the mana refund on Passive. This means a good Yuumi must be outside of her Anchor whenever her Passive is up in order to frequently cast spells. However, the W changes will heavily punish Yuumi for being out of position. Yuumi will now have to properly manage her spells and positioning in order to remain impactful, something that couldn’t be said about her previous iteration.

Conqueror

• Duration reduced from 8 seconds >>> 6 seconds
• Ranged champions now heal for 15% >>> 8% of damage dealt

Conqueror’s rework has seen it rise to the top of the Keystone ranks, being taken by numerous champions who can abuse it. This nerf to ranged healing will help to keep champions like Cassiopeia, Ryze, Aurelion Sol, Urgot, Swain, and Katarina in check.

***

Overall, patch 9.24 did a very good job of addressing some of the main complaints during the pre-season cycle. Not listed here are many smaller changes to champions like Ryze, Karma, and Kassadin, so check out the full patch notes if you haven’t. Check back at Hotspawn for more League of Legends coverage during Season 10.