Top Changes of Patch 8.16

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The League of Legends patch 8.16 came out on August 14. It addresses a multitude of issues by nerfing current power picks, tuning down offensive runes, and giving some much-needed attention to the tank class. Let’s see how this affects Solo Queue and competitive play!

Champions

Fizz Gets Toned Down

After getting buffed for several patches in a row, Fizz was brought down to earth. The AP ratios on the actives of Seastone Trident [W] and Chum the Waters [R] were all reduced by 0.1. Moreover, Fizz lost 0.5 AP ratio on Seastone Trident’s on-hit damage. And while these changes don’t sound like much, they will be the difference between the Tidal Trickster assassinating his target and falling flat on his face.

Rakan Base Stat Nerfs

It’s no secret Rakan is one of the most impactful supports in the game. Riot addressed this by bringing down his health from 510 to 480 and decreasing his base armor by 3. Of course, these changes won’t put a dent into Rakan’s late game, but they will make him a much riskier pick in the laning phase. And we might finally be at a point where Rakan’s insane playmaking potential doesn’t make up for his lackluster numbers.

Taliyah Keeps Getting Nerfs

Taliyah has always been a tricky champion to balance. Her skillset makes the Stoneweaver a little too good at pressuring the side lanes from the mid lane and jungle positions. To solve that, Riot bumped down Taliyah’s movement speed from 340 to 335, and while that doesn’t sound like much, it will definitely make it harder to land a full Threaded Volley [Q].

On top of that, the cooldown on Seismic Shove [W] was increased by 4 seconds at rank 1 (although it does go back to 12 seconds at max rank), and Weaver’s Wall [R] was changed to not grant any vision. Of course, this won’t push Taliyah out of the meta, but it will keep her playmaking in check.

Wukong Loses Burst

The Monkey King had a bit too much fun in the carry meta. Riot is addressing this by nerfing the base damage of Crushing Blow [Q] by a whopping 20 points at all ranks. The AD ratio on the spell was also reduced by 0.1, so Wukong will have less oomph behind his all-ins.

Zoe Loses Passive Damage

There’s no denying that Zoe is a frustrating champion to play against. Her Paddle Star [Q] and Sleepy Trouble Bubble are ridiculously oppressive, but the single most annoying thing about her is that she doesn’t even need to land these to kill you! Luckily, patch 8.16 goes to great lengths to address the latter issue. Zoe’s passive lost around 10-20% base damage (depending on the level), and its AP scaling was reduced from 0.325 to 0.2. Moreover, the AP scaling on Spell Thief’s [W] passive was decreased from 0.55 to 0.4, so Zoe will no longer hit like a truck with her auto attacks.

Amumu Gets Free Resistances

There are a lot of reasons why Amumu is a niche pick. The Sad Mummy has a very dated kit, so few dare to bring it out in Solo Queue, much less pro play. And while we’re still a ways to go from Amumu getting a rework, Riot is making him a bit tankier by throwing in damage reduction equal to 3% bonus armor + 3% bonus magic resist on his Tantrum [E].

Will this make him a viable pick in competitive play? Probably not, unless your name is team MVP. But at this point, even the slightest bit of attention will be appreciated by Amumu mains.

Leona Can Spam W

The cooldown on Leona’s Eclipse [W] was changed from 14 seconds to 10 seconds at max rank! Now, Eclipse already grants extra resistances for 3 seconds, and that duration is doubled whenever Leona hits the AoE part of the ability. So, if you get 40% CDR, you will be able to sustain a massive armor/MR boost for entire teamfights!

Granted, this will be kept in check by your mana pool, but this is still a huge change for all Leona players across the globe.

Tahm Kench Devour Nerfs

It’s hard to find a downside to a moving Zhonya’s Hourglass. And if you’re talking about pro play, there really isn’t one! For far too long Tahm Kench dominated the competitive scene, so Riot is addressing this by decreasing the duration of his Devour/Regurgitate [W] to 4 seconds at all ranks. Moreover, the cooldown was increased to a whopping 28/25/22/19/16 (up from 14/13/12/11/10), and even though it’s halved when you gobble up enemies, this still makes it harder for Tahm to fulfill his main purpose and protect allied carries.

To make up for the change, Riot bumped down the cooldown on Tongue Lash [Q] from 6 seconds to 5 seconds, although the slow duration was decreased from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds. Even so, this might be the first time when pro teams have to bench the Kench for good.

Items, Runes. and Game Mechanics
New Game Mode – Nexus Blitz!

If you’ve ever thought Summoner’s Rift is getting stale, Riot has an answer for you. The new fast-paced game mode—Nexus Blitz—is entering its alpha stage on patch 8.16! It comes with unique items, double jungle setups, and a smaller map that promotes non-stop action. Just keep in mind that the game mode is still unrefined, so you might run into a fair share of bugs and unbalanced elements if you choose to try it.

Offensive Rune Nerfs

As we’ve mentioned at the start of our patch 8.16 breakdown, offensive runes received a string of nerfs. Most of these changes seek to decrease the burst damage while promoting trading or using runes in other ways. For instance, Summon Aery now deals 5 less damage at all levels, but its shield strength was increased by 5 in the early game. Meanwhile, Electocute’s base damage was toned down from 50-220 to 30-180, but its cooldown was halved.

Celerity will now convert 6% bonus movement speed into AD and 10% bonus movement speed into AP as opposed to 9.6% and 16% respectively. Cheap Shot deals 8-40 damage instead of 15-40, and Sudden Impact grants 7 lethality and 6 magic penetration instead of 10 lethality and 8 magic penetration. In a similar fashion, Scorch hits for 10-30 damage instead of 20-60 damage, but its cooldown was halved.

With that, it will be easier to survive all-ins in the early game. Another important side-effect of this change is that carries won’t be as dominant in the laning phase, so we might see the return of the tank meta.

That’s it for top changes of the League of Legends patch 8.16! You can check the complete patch notes here, and we’ll see you on the Summoner’s Rift!

ESB Staff
ESB Staff

Since: August 10, 2015

At EsportsBets.com we are a group of independent journalists with one big passion: Esports. We've been following the industry and have contributed to its growth since 2015.

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