League Of Legends Exploring Changes For Syndra, Fizz, Other Mid Laners

While the most recent League of Legends patch addressed a ton of changes across multiple roles, the next patch already looks to have quite a bit of work being focused on the mid lane if changes on the PBE persist into Patch 7.16.

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Previously, it was announced that champions such as Orianna and Syndra would be looked at for balance changes to help create some more viable mid lane options instead of a few must-haves for normal and competitive gameplay. Both of them have changes in the works, and according to Riot Meddler, more changes for mid laners might be coming soon as well.

“We’ve got a bunch of changes aimed at bringing strong performing champs who mid a lot down at present,” Meddler said about the mid lane changes. “Not targeting anything too large on any individual champ, more looking to shift the highest performing tier there down a bit generally. Some of those changes are on PBE already, should expect a few more, or adjustments to existing ones, over the next few days though (e.g. Syndra nerfs changing to a ratio nerf instead of a base damage nerf).”

The changes that are currently being tested for these mid lane champs and others, numbers courtesy of Surrender@20, can be seen here.

Syndra

As indicated by Meddler’s previous comment about the mid lane changes, Syndra is one of the first mid lane champs that comes to mind who’s up for changes, though they’ll be coming in the form of nerfs as opposed to buffs. Her ult can all but delete squishier champs from the Rift with ease, so it’s no wonder that it’s the ability that’s being looked at for the changes listed below.

Unleashed Power (R)

AP per sphere lowered from 20% to 17%
AP on total damage lowered from 60% to 51%

Referencing Meddler’s comment again, the first round of changes that were proposed for Syndra on the PBE lowered the flat magic damage applied as a total and per sphere, but that change was reverted in favor of these ratios.

Galio

While he also sees his fair share of play as a top lane tank, Galio feels just as comfortable in the mid lane as well with his inherent resistance to magic damage. He can also make a dramatic appearance in the side lines with his ultimate once he hits level 6 without straying too far from his lane, but both that ability and his Justice Punch move are the ones that are up for nerfs.

Justice Punch (E)

Damage lowered from 100/140/180/220/260 to 80/120/160/200/240

Hero’s Entrance (R)

Cooldown increased from 160/140/120 to 180/150/120
Ally damage reduction lowered from 20/30/40% to 20% at all ranks

Assuming Galio can land his Justice Punch in the early game, he’s got a guaranteed combo that’ll do quite a bit of damage, so the nerf should tone that down slightly. The nerfs to his ultimate affect both the early and late game though with a longer cooldown initially and less damage reduction for his target as the game goes on.

Orianna

Another one of those champs that was mentioned previously as one that would likely receive changes in the next patch, Orianna has proven to be a consistently powerful pick for the mid lane. Picked often in solo queue and even more so at the professional level, Orianna is one of those champs that many players have called to be nerfed for some time now, and the current changes on the PBE do just that.

Command: Dissonance (W)

Damage lowered from 70/115/160/205/250 to 50/95/140/185/230

Affecting each stage of Orianna’s Dissonance ability, these nerfs should affect her power throughout the game should they go through. Another change was previously being explored that would cause her Q to do even less damage when it passed through multiple enemies, raising the damage reduction from 10 percent to 15 percent, but those changes have since been reverted. This likely means that more changes will come to Orianna aside from her W since multiple abilities are being looked at.

LeBlanc

Regardless of what happens to LeBlance, the mid lane champion somehow persists as a frustrating opponent to lane against due to her mobility and high damage output. Her waveclear has been the subject of discussion regarding her recently changed abilities and how they interacted with different items as they were buffed and nerfed, but the changes currently being tested for the mage are taking another shot at her Q that’ll further affect her waveclearing capabilities.

Shatter Orb (Q)

Damage to minions lowered from 80% to 50%

While her Q was already doing a reduced amount of damage to minions in its current version, these nerfs would lower the damage that bounces to other minions even further, doing only half of the ability’s normal power. LeBlanc is one of those champs that’s expected to get more in-depth changes in the future like Azir and Yasuo, so these changes are likely more band-aids than total fixes.

Other Mid Lane Changes

While the previous champions are some of the mid laners that most players would think of when it comes to signature mid lane champs that might need adjustments, they aren’t the only ones in line for changes. Other champs include the recently popular Corki, Taliyah, and even Brand who we’ll include here despite him being seen much more often as a support, if at all.

Brand

Conflagration (E)

Mana cost lowered from 70/75/80/85/90 to 40/50/60/70/80
AP Ratio increased from 35% to 40%
Damage lowered from 70/90/110/130/150 to 60/85/110/135/160
[New Effect] “If cast on a minion or monster that is not ablaze, Conflagration’s cooldown is reduced to 3 seconds.”

Cassiopeia