The League of Legends patch 8.10 came out on May 15. It didn’t do much in terms of champion balance, but there are plenty of tweaks to items, runes, and—most importantly—jungle experience. We examine the biggest changes that will affect the competitive meta!
Champions
Sion E Tweaks
Sion has been a staple pick in pro play, and it doesn’t look like this is about to change. Even so, Riot is removing some of his laning prowess by reducing the base damage on Roar of the Slayer [E] by 5. Also, the ability will deal 100% damage (down from 130%) to secondary targets, so Sion will have less poke in the early game.
To make up for these nerfs, Riot bumped up the spell’s AP scaling by 0.15. Plus, it will now apply 20% armor reduction to all targets affected by Roar of the Slayer instead of the primary target only. If that wasn’t enough, the debuff will last longer, so Sion will still have an insane teamfighting presence.
Mundo Ult Nerf
The buffs to Sadism [R] made Dr. Mundo far too oppressive. In this patch, Riot is increasing the ultimate’s cost from 20% current health to 25% current health. The cooldown is longer as well, don’t expect Mundo to ult twice in a single teamfight. Granted, these aren’t huge nerfs, but they should make the doctor more manageable.
Items, Runes & Game Mechanics
Runic Echo Gutted?
The mage jungle enchantment—Runic Echo—lost its 7% movement bonus! Of course, Riot tried to make up for this by throwing in an extra 300 mana as well as 10% cooldown reduction, but we can’t help thinking that most junglers would rather have movement speed. With that, it will be much easier to escape from Elise, Evelynn, and Shyvanna, so this change looks like a flat-out nerf.
Yellow Trinket Changes
The Warding Totem (aka the Yellow Trinket) also saw a number of changes. The ward duration was increased from 60-120 seconds to 90-180 seconds. However, the charge time was boosted from 180-90 seconds to 240-120 seconds, so you’ll have to be very careful about where you place your wards.
Support/Jungle Items Become Exclusive
While the concept of junglers buying Relic Shields never took off, Riot is playing things safe by removing the possibility altogether. That’s right, you can no longer hold jungle and support items at the same time. Of course, this doesn’t change much for the current state of the game, but it might come into play in the future.
Rune Stat Tweaks
A bunch of runes went through minor stat tweaks. Most people will appreciate the nerfs to Chrysalis and Bone Plating that make these options 15-20% less effective. Then, Phase Rush received a movement speed increase from 15-40% to 25-40%. Finally, Perfect Timing kicks in 2 minutes sooner, so we might very well see the return of the Stopwatch meta. At least, to some extent.
Jungle Experience Overhaul
The biggest changes this patch revolve around jungle experience. All monsters grant less experience in the early game, although things even out towards level 7. Moreover, camps like Razorbeaks and Krugs provide much more experience if you full clear them, so junglers like Olaf, Skarner, and Graves are going to have a field day.
Another thing to consider is the Rift Scuttler. The initial spawn timer was reduced by 15 seconds, so you’ll be able to contest these camps sooner. Also, the experience and gold bounty was increased considerably, so junglers will have more incentives to fight for these camps. Especially when you consider that only one Rift Scuttler will spawn on the map after you first clear them.
Keep in mind, though, that Scuttlers became tankier in the early game, so you will have to be smarter at approaching them and avoiding enemy steals.
Finally, all jungle items received a new passive that grants 120 bonus experience on the First Large Monster kill. This should still give you level 2 from a single camp in spite of the overall changes, but you will have to clear more monsters for that level 3 power spike. Also, the mana regen was changed to restore a portion of missing mana while you’re in the jungle.
Shutdown Gold Change
During the last patch, if your team killed a champion with a bounty, everyone got a piece of the pie. Now, only the actual killer will benefit from the extra reward. The reward itself was decreased by 30%, so dying when you’re fed won’t result in a ridiculous momentum swing.
That’s it for top changes of the League of Legends patch 8.10! You can check the complete patch notes here, and we’ll see you on the Summoner’s Rift!