League of Legends Patch 8.5 Buffs Swain, Restores Some of Zoe's Power

The patch notes for the next League of Legends patch have been revealed with buffs to numerous [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

The patch notes for the next League of Legends patch have been revealed with buffs to numerous champions while more oppressive champs lose some of their power.

Mid lane champions like Swain, Zoe, Galio, and Ryze are featured in the notes for Patch 8.5, though the changes for junglers like Shyvana and Olaf are nothing to ignore either. As he has in recent updates, Rengar also has quite a few changes coming to continue working on the champions' reverted abilities. Supports don't make an appearance in this patch with no champions like Braum or Rakan appearing in this patch, but ADC mains have a few changes to be aware of for Jhin, Tristana, and Twitch, though the new champion Kai'Sa might have players' full attention for a while.

Check out all of the changes below coming for League of Legends champs in Patch 8.5 as organized by what role they'd typically fill.

Top

League of Legends Sion
(Photo: Riot Games)

There are a couple of other champions included in the patch notes that could be taken in the top lane such as Swain and Olaf, but Sion is the only champ in the patch that players will almost exclusively see in the top lane aside from the occasional appearance in the support role.

Sion's changes are more about bugfixes than actual balance adjustments, but they're plenty impactful enough for those who play as and against Sion. The bug that's been fixed in Patch 8.5 was causing Sion's Roar of the Slayer (E) to have a much bigger hitbox than intended, thus making it frustrating to avoid when he launches a minion at you.

Sion

  • E - Roar of the Slayer
    • BOWLING WITH SION: Fixed a bug that made Roar of the Slayer's pass-through damage radius much wider than intended
    • BOWLING WITH SION IN THE JUNGLE: Jungle monsters launched by Roar of the Slayer now properly damage enemy champions

Jungle

League of Legends Skarner
(Photo: Riot Games)

Jungle champions received a bit more attention in the patch with lesser-played champs like Nocturne getting buffed to help bring them up to speed with more popular picks. On the other end of the spectrum, champs that have been seeing tons of professional and normal play like Skarner were nerfed.

Nocturne

  • Passive - Umbra Blades
    • BASE HEALING 10/18/26 (at levels 11/7/13) ⇒ 15-40 (at levels 1-18)
    • COOLDOWN REFRESH 1 second per hit on champion ⇒ 2 seconds per hit on champion
  • Q - Duskbringer
    • MISSILE SPEED 1400 ⇒ 1600
  • W - Shroud of Darkness
    • DAARRKNNEESSS If Shroud of Darkness is active when Nocturne re-casts Paranoia to dash to a target, it'll stay active until Nocturne reaches his target
  • R - Paranoia
    • BLACKOUT AND RECAST DURATION 4 seconds ⇒ 6 seconds

Olaf

  • E - Reckless Swing
    • COOLDOWN 12/11/10/9/8 seconds ⇒ 11/10/9/8/7 seconds
    • RATIO 0.4 total attack damage ⇒5 total attack damage
  • R - Ragnarok
    • FLAT BONUS ATTACK DAMAGE 40/60/80 ⇒ 15/20/25
    • [NEW] HIT EM HARDER Olaf now also gains 30% of his total attack damage as bonus attack damage for the duration

Rengar

  • Passive - Unseen Predator
    • FEROCITY FALL-OFF TIMER 6 seconds ⇒ 8 seconds
    • [UPDATED] LOCKOUT ON FULL FEROCITY Only the spell used to gain full Ferocity is locked out
    • LOCKOUT DURATION FOR Q AND E 0.25 seconds ⇒1 seconds
  • Q - Savagery
    • BASE DAMAGE 20/50/80/110/140 ⇒ 30/60/90/120/150
    • RATIO 1.1 total attack damage ⇒ 1/1.05/1.1/1.15/1.2 total attack damage
    • BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Empowered Savagery's attack was slightly faster than regular Savagery
  • E - Bola Strike
    • [NEW] PART OF THE PLAN If Rengar presses Q or W during Bola Strike's cast time, he'll now buffer those spells and cast them when Bola Strike completes
  • R - Thrill of the Hunt
    • [NEW] CAT EYES Rengar's true vision now lingers on his target until the leap completes, rather than when the leap starts
  • Bugfixes
    • BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Tiamat could sometimes cause Rengar's basic attacks to use Savagery's animation
    • BUGFIX If Rengar was basic attacking a target before casting a spell, he'll now continue stabbing them when the spell completes rather than forgetting what he was doing and standing around awkwardly

Shyvana

  • Base Stats
    • ATTACK DAMAGE GROWTH 2.8 ⇒4

Skarner

  • E - Fracture
    • STUN DURATION 1.5 seconds ⇒1.25 seconds

Volibear

  • E - Majestic Roar
    • [UPDATED] EXTRA SCARY Slightly increased the speed—but decreased the duration—of the knockback

Mid

League of Legends Swain
(Photo: Riot Games)

Like the jungle, mid lane has quite a few changes coming for champs like Azir, Swain, and Zoe. Zoe players who lamented the nerfs that came for the champ may be able to once again bring her to the mid lane following the release of Patch 8.5, and Swain players should feel much better about bringing him to either the mid or top lane.

Azir

  • Q - Conquering Sands
    • DAMAGE 70/95/120/145/170 ⇒ 60/80/100/120/140

Galio

  • Q - Winds of War
    • COST 70/75/80/85/90 mana ⇒ 70/85/100/115/130 mana
    • COOLDOWN 10/9/8/7/6 seconds ⇒ 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds

Ryze

  • E - Spell Flux
    • DAMAGE 50/75/100/125/150 ⇒ 70/90/110/130/150
    • SPREAD DAMAGE 100% ⇒ 50%
  • R - Realm Warp
    • COOLDOWN 120 seconds ⇒ 180 seconds

Swain

  • Q - Death's Hand
    • COOLDOWN 7.5/6.25/5/3.75/2.5 seconds ⇒5/4.75/4/3.25/2.5 seconds
  • W - Vision of Empire
    • RADIUS 265 ⇒ 325
  • E - Nevermove
    • RADIUS Increased to match visuals from 70 ⇒ 100
    • BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Nevermove was starting its return a frame too slowly
    • BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Nevermove would sometimes not root its primary target hit by the return portion
  • R - Demonic Ascension
    • [NEW] OVERWHELMING Demon Flare now passes through champions. Effects like Yasuo's E - Windwall and Braum's E - Unbreakable still block the portion of the nova they intercept.
    • BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Swain's ultimate cooldown indicator was displaying as always available to his allies

Zoe

  • Base Stats
    • ATTACK RANGE 525 ⇒ 550
  • Q - Paddle Star
    • DAMAGE 45/60/75/90/105 ⇒ 50/75/100/125/150
    • [NEW] MORE DAMAGE Paddle Star's base damage is now increased by 7/8/10/12/14/16/18/20/22/24/26/29/32/35/38/42/46/50 (at levels 1-18)
    • RATIO 0.2 ability power ⇒6 ability power
    • [REMOVED] FEWER SPARKLES No longer deals Passive - More Sparkles! damage to the first target hit
    • EXPLOSION DAMAGE 100% ⇒ 80%
  • W - Spell Thief
    • ENEMY LOCK-ON RANGE 525 ⇒ 550 (matching the buff to Zoe's attack range)
    • DAMAGE 70/115/160/205/250 ⇒ 75/120/165/210/255
    • RATIO 0.6 ability power ⇒75 ability power

Bot (Marksmen)

League of Legends Jhin
(Photo: Riot Games)

Last but not least, three marksman champions are being changed in Patch 8.5: Jhin, Tristana, and Twitch.

Jhin's changes were previewed recently as well as the nerfs for Tristana to tone down some of the champion's survivability, but Tristana won't be getting straight-up nerfs. Instead, her attack range is being lowered while her Rocket Jump (W) damage is getting buffed to encourage Tristana players to take more risks with the ability resets.

Jhin

  • Passive - Whisper
    • INNATE BONUS ATTACK DAMAGE 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/16/20/24/28/32/36/40% total attack damage (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/14/16/20/24/28/32/36/40/44% total attack damage (at levels 1-18)
  • Q - Dancing Grenade
    • RATIO 40/45/50/55/60% total attack damage ⇒ 40/47.5/55/62.5/70% total attack damage
  • W - Deadly Flourish
    • [UPDATED] MORE CAPTIVATING Roots the first champion hit if they were recently hit by Jhin's basic attacks, damage from any allied champion, or are standing in a Lotus Trap ⇒ any damage from Jhin or his allies, or are standing in a Lotus Trap

Tristana

  • Base Stats
    • ATTACK RANGE 550-669 (at levels 1-18) ⇒ 525-661 (at levels 1-18)
  • W - Rocket Jump
    • BASE DAMAGE 60/110/160/210/260 ⇒ 85/135/185/235/285

Twitch

  • E - Contaminate
    • BASE DAMAGE 20/25/30/35/40 ⇒ 20/30/40/50/60

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