The Next League of Legends Patches Will Be Balanced Around the New Runes

The next couple of League of Legends patches might feel a bit different to League players who [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

League Team Graves
(Photo: Riot Games)

The next couple of League of Legends patches might feel a bit different to League players who scour the patch notes every two weeks, but that's because they'll be balanced for a world with sharp new runes.

Patch 7.19 was the final patch that'll be balanced around the game as players know it now, but with the Runes Reforged overhaul already on the PBE for testing and balance tweaks, the next patch will be geared towards the changes. Those who have a PBE account might've already noticed some of the changes taking place as champions are prepped for the new runes, and Riot Meddler says that's the plan for the next two patches.

"Generally we'll be balancing champions and the game in general for the new Runes system much more than the old one," Meddler said. "We'll hit anything that's massively out of line in the new system still, but we're focusing work on how things will be for the long term, rather than the 2-4 weeks any changes in those patch will have on Live before old runes/masteries are replaced and balance around them's no longer relevant."

One of the first examples of champions being balanced around a post-Runes Reforged game is Evelynn's rework, an update that's also currently on the PBE and will roll out with the next patch. When redesigning Evelynn, Riot looked further ahead into how she'll interact with the new runes. Because of that, they've said that Evelynn might be a bit out sorts compared to other champion releases, and while she'll be fixed if there's anything outstandingly strong or underwhelming, she'll likely feel different with the new runes.

That being said, every champion will undoubtedly feel different with the new runes as well. Aside from simply having new, creative effects through the runes, each champion is also receiving moderate stat boosts to account for the lack of raw stats the current runes provide. Riot's Ricklessabandon commented that champion buffs currently on the PBE are part of a "global buff" that will change the every single champions' base stats soon.

The new runes won't go live until Nov. 8, but expect to see some lengthy patch notes in the next couple of patches with all the balance changes.

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