‘League Of Legends’ Previews Changes For Nautilus, Pantheon, Janna in Patch 7.18

With League of Legends’ Patch 7.17 just a few short days away now, plans are already being made for the following update.

While the patch after next will still contain plenty of balance changes for champions and items, what sets Patch 7.18 apart from the other patches will be the length of time it takes to receive that patch. Between Patch 7.17 and Patch 7.18, a 3-week gap will separate the two updates, something that has to happen once every year in order to fit in all the necessary patches.

“Since there’s a 3 week gap between 7.17 and 7.18 we’ll also be doing a second pass partway through the patch development cycle,” Riot Meddler said on Friday. “That means there’ll be further changes coming, based in part on how 7.17 performs and pro play on 7.16 which starts this coming weekend.”

Prefacing the conversation with that statement, Meddler dove into three champions they’re looking to change within that patch.

Nautilus

Meddler didn’t have too much to say about the sunken behemoth known as Nautilus, but what he did offer was pretty promising for anyone who’s fond of the watery titan.

“Needs to be buffed,” Meddler stated. “Not certain what we’ll do yet, first step is assessing his needs.”

It’s a step in the right direction, and many players who have tried to play Nautilus recently in a variety of roles can likely point to several of his weaknesses. 

Naut definitely had his time to shine as a top laner for a while, but his mana costs hurt him quite a bit up there when he’s on his own. He certainly has enough CC to be a jungler, but his clear speed and lack of mobility keep him from joining the ranks of other, more reliable tank junglers.

It’s unclear what changes Nautilus will be receiving, but you can count on something in Patch 7.18, especially with a 3-week period to test the buffs.

Pantheon

Pantheon’s changes have a bit more of a defined direction, but unlike Nautilus’, those who play against Pantheon will be able to guess that toning down his early game is part of the plan. However, the intention is to move his impact elsewhere.

“We’ll likely nerf his early Q damage,” Meddler said, letting Pantheon’s opponents rest easy. “Might then put some power somewhere else, make him less about either crushing lane or failing to be useful. An ult buff’s one of the more likely possible changes.”

A feast-or-famine champ if there ever was one, Pantheon certainly needs that early-game snowballing to topple other lanes. By throwing spear after spear followed by an all-in and an ignite, Panth can quickly get the ball rolling all by himself.

An ult buff as a trade-off for a Q nerf actually sounds pretty reasonable given how unreliable Pantheon’s ultimate can feel at times. It’s quite an entrance, but hard to land with everyone dashing about all the time.

Janna

Janna has found herself being picked or banned on tons of games at both the professional and normal level with the support being the queen of peel and shields at the moment. Some might recall that Janna had several skill-based changes being tested on the PBE, but for now, they’ve been pulled from the testing grounds until other related changes have settled in.

“No immediate changes planned, going to be monitoring her closely though to see how the combination of Coin and Ardent Censer nerfs affect her though, with changes later in the patch cycle moderately likely as a result,” Meddler said.

In the past, players have voiced concerns about champions being nerfed, then those champs’ relevant items get nerfed, and the champion changes are never reverted, leaving them in a pretty sore spot. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Janna, though, since they’re holding off to see how two item changes affect the support before continuing with nerfs.

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