'League of Legends' Is Updating Blitzcrank's Passives

League of Legends' PBE servers were updated recently with some new changes for Blitzcrank's passive abilities including his normal passive that grants a shield based on mana and the passive lightning that shoots off from the steam golem's ultimate. If the changes are successful in the way Riot Games hopes, Blitzcrank players should no longer have to worry about conserving mana to make use of the shield and also won't have to fret about their ultimate's passive lightning stealing nearby minions away from other players.

Riot Maxw3ll, a game designer on the champions team who joined Riot Games several months ago, shared a changelist for Blitzcrank's passives ahead of the PBE update. The Rioter said the changes should be live on the PBE servers now are "a show of good faith" as the designer's first act on the team. The goal here is to remove some of the old RNG from the game that players usually take issue with.

The breakdown of the updated abilities can be found below courtesy of Riot Maxw3ll's post on the League of Legends boards.

Passive: Mana Barrier

• Shield Strength: 50% of current mana -> 30% of Max Mana

Ultimate: Static Field

• Passive: When Static Field is active while in combat, Blitzcrank randomly shocks a nearby enemy every 2.5 seconds (removed)
• New Passive: While Static Field is active, lightning charges Blitzcrank's fists, marking enemies he attacks. After 1 second, marked enemies take 50/100/150 + 30%AP magic damage.

Blitzcrank's new passive effect on the champion's ultimate is the most notable change that gives more control of the ability over to the player. So long as Blitzcrank can stick to enemies with a hook and a speed boost, the champ can keep applying pressure with the new Static Field passive. The Rioter would go on to explain in greater detail the nuances of the new passive.

"Just to clarify, a second auto attack will not refresh the mark, nor interrupt it," the Rioter said. "If you attack again during the mark, nothing extra happens, and if you attack after the mark, you'll apply a new one. Blitz can mark any number of targets, limited by his access to them and his attack speed."

Though they're on the PBE for testing, the changes aren't expected to go live in the next patch.

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