League of Legends Patch 8.13’s Biggest Changes

The patch notes for League of Legends’ next update have now been released with reworks, skins, buffs, nerfs, and more to take note of.

Whether you were waiting for the update to bust out the reworked Aatrox or just to stay up to speed on everything that was changing so you don’t slip up in your next game, Patch 8.13 has plenty to take note of. It’s not one of the game’s larger patches in recent memory with no huge changes like the crit item rework or ADC changes, but it does include a few champion adjustments as well as some quick and easy buffs and nerfs.

If you’re looking for the super quick rundown of what you should keep an eye on, check out the League video above that highlights some of the biggest changes as we break down some of the update’s biggest takeaways.

The Big Aatrox Update

First and foremost, Patch 8.13 will be known for releasing Aatrox’s long-awaited update. The champion would of course be reworked now that he’s actually become relevant again in this anything goes meta as pro players ban him out of matches, but his rework means that players essentially get an all-new champion to continue wrecking top and bottom lanes with.

Riot Games just released a new champion spotlight trailer for Aatrox as well that shows his Riven-like mobility and his signature self-reviving powers. You’ll also notice that he looks a bit different in the trailer with Riot Games updating his visuals as well to keep him looking fresh with the new kit. You can watch that destructive demo above and can see the finer details of all his abilities here.

Domination Rune Path Buffed

For assassins and other champions who want to close in on opponents and burst them down as quickly as possible, you’ve got some Domination rune buffs waiting for you with the release of Patch 8.13.

The buffs don’t improve every rune in the Domination tree but rather take aim at the stats that you get from taking the rune path with others as a secondary. It’s buffs across the board with every rune path combination coming out in a better state than before. Hail of Blades, the newest Keystone Rune that doesn’t see much playtime, is also getting buffed.

Domination Style Bonus

• WITH PRECISION 13 ability power/7.8 attack damage ⇒ 14 ability power/8.4 attack damage
• WITH SORCERY 18 ability power/10.8 attack damage ⇒ 20 ability power/12 attack damage
• WITH RESOLVE 9 ability power/5.5 attack damage ⇒ 10 ability power/6 attack damage
• WITH INSPIRATION 18 ability power/10.8 attack damage ⇒ 20 ability power/12 attack damage

Hail of Blades

• OUT OF COMBAT COOLDOWN 5 seconds ⇒ 4 seconds
• MAXIMUM TIME BETWEEN ATTACKS 1.5 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds

Pyke Is an Assassin, Not a Tank

Speaking of those assassins, Riot Games also took aim at League’s latest assassin/support hybrid, Pyke, by pushing the champion to build more damage instead of opting for a traditional tanky melee support loadout.

“Pyke has seen a lot of success opting into tank builds and mixed success with more damage builds,” the patch notes said. “We’re looking to encourage his more aggressive, less safe build paths by rewarding him more for building damage.”

With lowered health growth and base damages compensated by better defensive stats and ability ratios, here’s the Patch 8.13 version of Pyke.

Base stats

• HEALTH GROWTH 110 ⇒ 100
• ARMOR GROWTH 4 ⇒ 5
• MAGIC RESIST GROWTH 1.25 ⇒ 2

E – Phantom Undertow

• BASE DAMAGE 95/130/165/200/235 ⇒ 95/125/155/185/215
• DAMAGE RATIO 0.8 bonus attack damage ⇒0 bonus attack damage

R – Death From Below

• BASE DAMAGE 190/240/290/340/390/440/475/510/545/580/615/635/655 (at levels 6-18) ⇒ 200/250/300/350/400/450/475/500/525/550/575/590/605 (at levels 6-18)
• DAMAGE RATIO 0.6 bonus attack damage ⇒8 bonus attack damage

Cheese Strategies Take a Hit

If you’re one of the League players who prefers to work with friends do take the infamous Master Yi/Taric or Nunu/Karthus combos to the Rift, you can still do so after the next patch, but you’ll have to try a bit harder.

Riot Games said in the past that it’d be looking at the individual champions that compose these strategies that have become quite popular recently. Karthus escaped any direct nerfs, but his buddy Nunu wasn’t so lucky with the following changes reducing each combo’s effectiveness.

Master Yi

• Q – Alpha Strike
  • [REMOVED] MINION SLAYER No longer deals bonus damage to minions
  • COST 70/75/80/95/90 mana ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70 mana

Nunu

• W – Blood Boil
  • ATTACK SPEED 25/30/35/40/45/50% ⇒ 20/24/28/32/36/40%
  • [NEW] ATTACK SPEED RATIO 5% bonus attack speed for every 100 ability power
  • ABILITY POWER 40% ⇒ 20%
  • [NEW] ABILITY POWER RATIO 5% bonus ability power for every 100 ability power

Taric

• E – Dazzle
  • BASE DAMAGE 105/150/195/240/285 ⇒ 90/130/170/210/250
  • ARMOR RATIO 0.3 bonus armor ⇒5 bonus armor
• W – Bastion
  • BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Taric’s W – Bastion was granting more armor than intended
• R – Cosmic Radiance
  • COOLDOWN 160/130/100 seconds ⇒ 180/150/120 seconds

New Skins and a VS Mission

New skins aren’t always a focal point of League patches, but in the case of the new God-King skins for Darius and Garen along with their accompanying VS event, this time is different.

The two skins that were teased and eventually revealed by Riot Games aren’t just hitting the in-game store by themselves. Instead, they’re bringing a host of VS missions and loot with them in a battle that pits Garen and Demacia against Darius and Noxus. Players have to pick a side to fight for, a decision that can’t be reversed, but everyone gets loot and Blue Essence regardless of who you side with.

League of Legends Patch 8.13’s full notes can be read here in preparation for the release of the update this week.