League of Legends Patch 8.3's Biggest Changes

Swain Is Back

In case you hadn't seen all the news surrounding the next biggest rework, Swain is ready to return to the Rift with a whole new look and a powerful set of abilities to accompany him.

Along with Swain's updates skins, it also looks like he's getting a brand new cosmetic with his Dragon Master Swain skin finally revealed. You can see all of the champion's new abilities below and see them in action through a new champion spotlight video.

PASSIVE: RAVENOUS FLOCK

• Ravenous: Swain can periodically right-click any nearby immobilized enemy champion to rip out a Soul Fragment, damaging and pulling them toward him.
• Flock: Enemy champions leave behind a Soul Fragment when they die. Shadowy ravens scavenge nearby Soul Fragments, healing Swain for a portion of his maximum health. Swain can store several fragments at once.

Q: DEATH'S HAND

• Swain unleashes several bolts of eldritch power in front of him, each damaging the first enemy struck. Enemies can intercept multiple bolts, but only take full damage from the first. Bolts pierce through units they kill, restoring a portion of Swain's mana.

W: VISION OF EMPIRE

• Swain opens a demonic eye at a target location, damaging and slowing all enemies in the area after a moderate delay.
• Vision of Empire deals extra damage to champions caught in the explosion, reveals them, and grants Swain a Soul Fragment for each champion hit.

E: NEVERMOVE

• Swain projects his demonic hand forward, damaging all enemies in its path. The hand returns to Swain and explodes on the first enemy hit, damaging and rooting all enemies caught in the blast.

R: DEMONIC ASCENSION

• Swain gains a large amount of health on-cast and drains life from several nearby enemies (prioritizing champions) for an extended duration.
• When Demonic Ascension ends, Swain consumes his Soul Fragments to cast Demonflare, a nova of energy that damages the closest enemies around him. Demonflare's damage increases for each Soul Fragment consumed.
• After draining enough health, Swain can end Demonic Ascension early to cast Demonflare on-demand.

Azir and Katarina Get Nerfed

Outside of Swain's return to the mid lane, players will also see two other popular champion, Azir and Katarina, change in Patch 8.3.

These two champions have been the subject of potential nerfs for some time now leading up to the release of Patch 8.3 with both of the champs regarded as oppressive laners at different levels of play. To counteract these trends, both champions are receiving nerfs that those who play them should take note of before the patch goes live.

Azir

• Q - Conquering Sands
  • COOLDOWN: 11/9.5/8/6.5/5 ⇒ 15/12.5/10/7.5/5
• W - Arise!
  • [UPDATED] CUT OFF THE HEAD: Azir's soldier attacks now draw minion aggro to Azir.

Katarina

• Passive - Voracity
  • DAMAGE: 75/80/87/94/102/111/120/131/143/ 155/168/183/198/214/231/248/267/287 ⇒ 68/72/77/82/89/96/103/112/121/131/142/ 154/166/180/194/208/224/240

Unsealed Spellbook and Other Inspiration Rune Changes

Outside of the champions that are being altered in Patch 8.3, several of the most popular runes in the Inspiration rune path including Unsealed Spellbook and Perfect Timing were tweaked in the update.

Keystone Runes

• Unsealed Spellbook
  • SUMMONER SPELL COOLDOWN REDUCTION 25% ⇒ 15%

Contraption Runes

• Hextech Flashtraption
  • UNCHANGED: Just for clarity on which runes are in which tier now
• Magical Footwear
  • [REMOVED]: FIVE TOE DISCOUNT No longer grants a 50 gold reduction in cost to upgraded boots
  • [UPDATED] Tier 1 rune instead
• Perfect Timing
  • CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS UPGRADED ITEMS: 300 gold ⇒ 250 gold
  • SELL VALUE: 120 gold ⇒ 20 gold

Tomorrow Runes

• Biscuit Delivery
  • [UPDATED] Tier 2 rune instead
• Future's Market
  • UNCHANGED: Just for clarity on which runes are in which tier now
• Minion Dematerializer
  • UNCHANGED: Just for clarity on which runes are in which tier now

Don't Try the Zhonya's Ult Combo with Ryze

It's not one of the more impactful changes in Patch 8.3, but given how common it is to see a Ryze now with the easy escape that Stopwatch provides, it's importatnt to not that the Stopwatch or Zhonya combo with his ult doesn't work anymore.

Riot made the decision to remove the combo as a result of the ease of access the Inspiration tree provided when it came to picking up the easy escape early.

"When the original decision was made to allow Ryze to use Zhonya's Hourglass to guarantee his ultimate, we were on the fence about this interaction, but it was deemed acceptable because he paid a significant cost to access it," the patch notes read. "Zhonya's Hourglass either came later in the game, or delayed core items in Ryze's already expensive build. Now that the Inspiration tree has made Zhonya's effect much easier to access, we're not comfortable with keeping this low gameplay interaction intact."

Activating Stopwatch or Zhonya's during the channeling of Ryze's ultimate will not cancel the ability just like any other interrupting crowd control would.

Hunt of the Blood Moon Returns

Last is the return of Hunt of the Blood Moon, a rotating game mode that's filled with kills and intense chases throughout a Blood Moon-themed version of Summoner's Rift.

In this game mode that'll be available from Feb. 8-19, players must sacrifice enemy champions while interacting with mode-specific buffs to secure a win. There are only a select few champions that can be played in the game mode though, but a free-to-play pool of champs will be offered to make sure that everyone can take part in the assassin game mode.

Free to play:

• Ahri
• Akali
• Elise
• Evelynn
• Katarina
• Kennen
• LeBlanc
• Rengar
• Shaco
• Talon

Available if you own the champion:

• Camille
• Diana
• Ekko
• Fizz
• Kassadin
• Kha'Zix
• Lee Sin
• Pantheon
• Yasuo
• Zed