League of Legends Nerfs Gangplank in Sweeping Top Lane Changes

Following a mixture of nerfs, buffs, and power shifts, the top lane meta might look much different after the next League of Legends patch takes a pass at champions like Gangplank, Gnar, and Renekton.

The top lane has been a subject of much conversation within the League community as of late with top lane players lamenting the role and its impact on the game. While most of the changes deal with top lane champions, Frozen Mallet is also being adjusted, an item that's commonly used on champions like Gnar to harass melee laners.

"At the moment, too many champions (Gangplank and Ornn are definitely core offenders), are coasting their way through laning phase without needing to interact with their opposing laner," the patch notes read. "We're toning down the health and mana sustain of some of those picks, as well as weakening their ability to live in top lane from a safe range. We're also giving some love to the champions who tend to beat them so they'll be less safe of picks overall."

Below are all of the changes coming for each top lane champion and Frozen Mallet:

Darius

• W - Crippling Strike
  • COOLDOWN: 9/8/7/6/5 seconds ⇒ 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds
  • RATIO: 140% total attack damage at all ranks ⇒ 140/145/150/155/160% total attack damage
  • BUGFIX: Fixed a bug where Crippling Strike sometimes failed to damage certain units (ex. Yorick's W - Dark Procession)
• E - Apprehend
  • ARMOR PENETRATION: 5/10/15/20/25% armor penetration ⇒ 10/15/20/25/30% armor penetration

Gangplank

• Q - Parrrley
• COST: 40 mana at all ranks ⇒ 60/55/50/45/40 mana
• E - Powder Keg
• [UPDATED] BARRELY VISIBLE: Barrels no longer grant vision of other units
• DURATION: 60 seconds ⇒ 25 seconds

Gnar

• Q - Boomerang Throw
  • COOLDOWN REFUND: 45/50/55/60% (based on rank of R - GNAR!) ⇒ 40% at all levels
• E - Hop
  • BASE DAMAGE: 20/60/100/140/180 ⇒ 50/85/120/155/190

Ornn

• W - Bellows Breath
  • COOLDOWN: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds ⇒ 17/15/13/11/9 seconds
  • DAMAGE: 10/12/14/16/18% target's maximum health ⇒ 12/13/14/15/16% target's maximum health
  • SHIELD DURATION: 2.5 seconds ⇒5 seconds
  • BRITTLE DURATION: 6 seconds ⇒ 3 seconds
• E - Searing Charge
  • BASE DAMAGE: 30/50/70/90/110 ⇒ 80/125/170/215/260
  • DAMAGE RATIO: 30% bonus armor + 30% bonus magic resist ⇒ 40% bonus armor + 40% bonus magic resist
  • [REMOVED] SHOCKWAVE DAMAGE: No longer deals an additional 50/90/130/170/210 (+30% bonus armor) (+30% bonus magic resist) when colliding with terrain
  • OVERALL DAMAGE: 80/140/200/260/320 ⇒ 80/125/170/215/260
  • OVERALL DAMAGE RATIO: 60% bonus armor + 60% bonus magic resist ⇒ 40% bonus armor + 40% bonus magic resist

Poppy

• Passive - Iron Ambassador
  • DAMAGE: 10-180 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 20-180 (at levels 1-18)
• E - Heroic Charge
  • DAMAGE: 55/75/95/115/135 ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140 (doubled on slam)

Renekton

• Q - Cull the Meek
  • DAMAGE: 65/95/125/155/185 ⇒ 65/100/135/170/205
  • EMPOWERED DAMAGE: 95/140/185/230/275 ⇒ 100/150/200/250/300

Jax

• E - Counter Strike
  • RIGHT THROUGH THE COUNTERSTRIKE: Fixed a bug where Counterstrike's buff could take up to 0.25 seconds to take effect.

Frozen Mallet

• SLOW (RANGED) 30% ⇒ 20%