A detailed list of Azir’s ability changes has been released as League of Legends’ Shurima emperor emerges from his mini-rework.
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Described in the announcement from Riot as a “balance minefield,” the descriptor certainly seems like an apt title for Azir. The mid laner has fluctuated between being overpowered while in the hands of Azir mains and worthless when controlled by up-and-coming Azir players. Azir’s update hoped to find somewhere in the middle where the mage can thrive as he summons his Sand Soldiers and stabs down enemies.
For those who preferred the theme of Azir and his gameplay, you won’t have to worry too much since Riot worked to preserve his core identity. Every ability except for his passive received an update though, so even though it’s being described as serious fine-tuning, there’s plenty to catch up on before you return to the Rift with Azir.
The Mini-Update’s Goal
When attempting to balance Azir between new and veteran players, the main goal was to make the champion more vulnerable when he’s engaged on instead of being able to attack at range and still disengage with ease whenever enemies get close.
“Most long-ranged champions get bopped if an enemy champion gets up close and personal, whether because they’re immobile or because they have low durability,” Riot Gentleman Gustaf said regarding their intentions for Azir. “Azir, however – in addition to his long range – had the mobility to escape and a shield to keep him alive. On top of that, Emperor’s Divide gave him a ton of zone control to keep opponents at bay.”
By reaffirming that Azir should be a champ that excels at controlling certain areas with soldiers and fighting in his favor while still being vulnerable when engaged, his abilities have received plenty of changes to work towards that goal.
Q: Conquering Sands
The changes to Azir’s Conquering Sands ability look to reign in the range in which the mage poses a threat as well as limit his long-range escape possibilities.
His soldiers are Azir’s primary method of avoiding trouble through use of the Shurima Shuffle where he quickly changes a soldier’s position and dashing to them. The Shuffle is still there, but the length of it is just a bit shorter now that his soldiers can’t dash as far.
Range down on dashing.
- CAST RANGE: 875 ⇒720
- SPEAR LENGTH: 300 ⇒370
Balance tweaks
- COOLDOWN: 10/9/8/7/6 ⇒11/9.5/8/6.5/5
- BASE DAMAGE: 65/85/105/125/145 ⇒70/100/130/160/190
- ABILITY POWER RATIO: 0.5 ⇒3
- BUDDY SYSTEM: Soldiers clump closer together upon arrival
W: Arise!
Azir’s core ability, Arise! went through the most changes with soldiers’ deactivation ranges, damage, and other stats all being tweaked.
The soldiers won’t remain active at the range that they safely exist within now since the deactivation range has been decreased by a pretty noticeable amount.
Attack range decreased (summoning range up slightly).
- SOLDIER DEACTIVATION RANGE: 800 ⇒660
- CAST RANGE: 450 ⇒500
- [REMOVED] WARD KILLERS: Azir’s Soldiers can no longer attack wards or trinkets.
Soldier attack damage up.
- BASE DAMAGE: Increased at all levels slightly
- SOLDIER STAB DAMAGE BASE DAMAGE: Increased
- [NEW] STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: Azir gains an additional 30/40/50/60/70% attack speed for 5 seconds whenever he summons or has 3 or more soldiers out on the field.
More soldiers early on.
- AMMO RECHARGE: 10/9/8/7/6 seconds ⇒7/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds
Less ambient AoE damage.
- [NEW] STABBING IS HARD WORK: Stabs do 40/70/100% damage to secondary targets (levels 1/6/11)
E: Shifting Sands
Next up is Azir’s E, his Shifting Sand ability that allows him to make his glorious escapes by returning to his soldiers’ locations.
Shifting Sands was highlighted by the update announcement as one of Azir’s biggest strengths that allows him to be overpowered in the right hands. To combat this the shield duration has been nerfed pretty hard, but he gets it on ability use instead of when he collides with an enemy champ. He can also summon a new Sand Soldier as soon as he hits a champ with his dash.
Some smaller bases stat tweaks were also included for Azir in the following changes:
E: Shifting Sands
- SHIELD DURATION: 4 seconds ⇒5 seconds
- [UPDATED] SHIELD UPFRONT: Azir gains his shield upon casting E, not after hitting an enemy champion.
- [NEW] SHIELD ABILITY POWER RATIO: 0.6
- TO BATTLE: If Azir hits an enemy champion, he immediately prepares a new Sand Soldier for deploy
Base Stats
- BASE HEALTH: 524.4 ⇒540
- BASE MOVEMENT SPEED: 325 ⇒335
R: Emperor’s Divide
An ability change that’s easier to understand when you see it in effect, a short update video was provided for the changes to Azir’s ultimate.
The tweaks to the ability preserve Azir’s chances at making big plays by blocking an engage or dashing behind an enemy and ulting them to start his own fight, but the wall won’t be quite as much of a problem anymore after it’s been used.
- SHURIMA’S BUMPER CARS: Wall Soldiers now only interrupt enemy dashes over them while the soldiers themselves are moving. After reaching their final destination, Wall Soldiers now behave as normal terrain.
- WALL SIZE: 4/5/6 soldiers ⇒5/6/7 soldiers
- COOLDOWN: 140/120/100 seconds ⇒120/105/90 seconds
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