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Thoughts and Analysis - Jayce Patch

Tue 10th Jul 2012 - 12:36pm Category: League of Legends

This week a new patch has come out on EU servers which introduced a new champion - Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow. I will analyse the most important changes in this patch which are worth mentioning and how they are going to affect champion picks in solo queue and 5v5 premade matches, as well as for new players starting their adventure with League of Legends.

 

 

 

Full Patchnotes

 

Changes for each specific champion and how it goingto influence gameplay:

 Akali

•  Crescent Slash (E)

- Energy cost reduced to 60/55/50/45/40 from 60 at all ranks

- Now activates Mark of the Assassin's secondary damage

Akali is one of the champions who, at low ELO, if played well, can stomp her lane and even the whole game. Those changes will make her gameplay a bit more facerollish and a bit easier, but it doesn't mean that she will be easier to master.

 

 

 Alistar

•  Trample (Passive)

- Damage reduced to 7-24 from 10-27

•  Triumphant Roar (E)

- Mana cost increased at earlier ranked to 40/50/60/70/80 from 28/41/54/67/80

Hitting Alistar's jungle speed and his sustain will surely move him a little down in jungle tier list. Since not only his ganking is extremely powerful, but his jungle speed wasn't bad either. I think it's a move in the right direction to make him more reliant on successful early game ganks to be able to transition into late game. Good changes overall to put him in a lane with other heavy ganking junglers.

 

 

 Caitlyn

•  90 Caliber Net (E) cast time has been reduced

•  Ace in the Hole (Ultimate R)

- Range increased to 2000/2500/3000 from 1900/2050/2200

- Channel time reduced to 1 second from 1.25 seconds

Caitlyn is a bit of a forgotten AD carry. At this moment I can only think of only one professional player that would use her in competitive gameplay and it's still a rare pick for him. Those changes might be good to make her skillset more responsive, which would lead to a better late game. I really like those changes, because it might bring her back into the competitive scene.

 

 

 Fiora

•  Blade Waltz (Ultimate R)

- Cooldown reduced to 130/120/110 from 150/130/110

It's a nice buff for Fiora since she is one of the abandoned champions, but I think that at the end of the day it won't make her more viable than she is now.

 

 

 Gragas

• Base Health increased to 523 from 493

• Armor per level increased to 3.6 from 2.7

•  Body Slam (E)

- Charge speed increased to 1050 at all ranks from 650/750/850/950/1050

- Mana cost reduced to 50 at all ranks from 50/55/60/65/70

Some nice adjustments for Gragas since he was a really common pick back in the day, but recently lost popularity. Nothing major here except charge movement speed, which can be a really huge factor when trading on a lane. Good changes overall.

 

 

 Janna

•  Zephyr (W)

- Passive Movement Speed reduced at earlier ranks to 4/7/10/13/16% from 8/10/12/14/16%

- Slow duration reduced to 3 seconds from 4 seconds

•  Monsoon (Ultimate R)

- Cooldown increased at earlier ranks to 150/135/120 seconds from 120 seconds at all ranks

A few changes to Janna's lanephase power. She is still considered as one of best supports that’s why we see those nerfs. I think they want to make her more defensive support instead of being overall good. I don't think those were really needed, but we will have to live with it.

 

 

 Karthus

•  Requiem (Ultimate R)

- Cooldown increased to 200/180/160 seconds from 180/150/120 seconds

One of the global presence nerfs of some champions. I feel it's heading in the right direction since "Globals" were quite powerful, even if used in teamfights, not considering that you could put pressure from any point on a map to every single lane, which was really uncomfortable to fight against.

 

 

 Kennen

• Attack Range reduced to 550 from 575

• Attack animations are now more responsive

Kennen attack range was one of things that made laning against him a horror for every single melee character. Small nerf in that direction is a good thing and big props to RIOT that they didn't go to far with this nerf. Overall good balancing.

 

 

 Kog'Maw

•  Living Artillery (Ultimate R)

- Additional cost stack maximum increased to 10 from 5 (max Mana cost increased to 400 from 200)

AP Kog'Maw is considered one of the champions that, when he hits level 16, you basicaly won a game. His poke and burst at this level is really huge. Increasing Mana cost per ultimate will make him more reliant on blue buff and huge mana pool. Its still going to be a great champion, but will increase skill cap of that champion by a fair amount. 

 

 

 LeBlanc

•  Sigil of Silence (Q) missile speed increased to 2000 from 1400

•  Distortion (W)

- Cooldown reduced to 18/16/14/12/10 seconds from 20/18/16/14/12

- Casting Mimic: Distortion no longer disables LeBlanc's ability to return to Distortion's origin point and vice versa

Those changes kind of surprised me at first, but when you think about it, it's not that big of a deal. To make her "double juke" she will have to sacrifice her burst potential. Only good thing is that her Q is now quite quick so it matches up with her W, which is going to lead to easier gameplay and will make her easier to deal full damage in teamfights with.

 

 

 Lux

• Base Mana Regen per 5 seconds increased to 6.6 from 5.6

•  Light Binding (Q)

- Mana cost reduced to 50/60/70/80/90 from 60/75/90/105/120

•  Finales Funkeln (Ultimate R)

- Mana cost reduced to 100 at all ranks from 100/150/200

- Cast range now displays on the mini-map

Lux' biggest problem was her mana during lane phase, which lead to poor trading possibilities. Now with her Q mana cost reduced she will have more potential on lane for trading - she will basicaly have more possible tries to hit Q before going OOM (Out of Mana). Some nice changes, but it might not be enough to make her one of the top tier AP carries.

 

 

 Miss Fortune

•  Double Up (Q)

- Range increased to better match her attack range

•  Make It Rain (E)

- Slow increased to 20/28/36/44/52% from 20/25/30/35/40%

- Mana cost reduced to 80 at all ranks from 80/85/90/95/100

Miss Fortune's problem was that she fell off in the late game. They tried to address that by making her Q smoother and making her slow a bit better. In my opinion it's still not enough, but its heading in the right direction.

 

 

 Nautilus

•  Dredge Line (Q)

- Damage reduced at earlier ranks to 60/105/150/195/240 from 80/120/160/200/240

- Cooldown increased at earlier ranks to 18/16/14/12/10 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

•  Depth Charge (Ultimate R)

- Primary target damage reduced at earlier ranks to 200/325/450 from 250/350/450

- Cooldown increased at earlier ranks to 140/110/80 seconds from 120/100/80 seconds

Nautilus is considered as the strongest jungler since his clearing time, ganking power and CC in late game in simply too good. Nerfs to his damage will still make him a great champion that will bring 4 crowd control abilities to the team. His damage will still be really good, so in total it won't change Nautilus' place in current meta.

 

 

 Nunu

•  Visionary (Passive)

- Attacks required to activate reduced to 5 from 7

•  Consume (Q)

- Damage increased to 500/600/700/800/900 from 400/525/650/775/900

- Damage dealt to Dragon and Baron increased to 100% from 50%

- Cooldown reduced to 16/14/12/10/8 seconds from 18/16/14/12/10 seconds

•  Absolute Zero (Ultimate R)

- Minimum damage if interrupted increased to 12.5% from 0%

- Maximum damage if interrupted increased to 87% from 70%

Nunu might actually make a comeback to being decent jungler. His jungle clear speed got a nice boost after those changes. I already seen a video from PBE that shown Nunu being able to solo Baron, which was really surprising. I really hope they make him work again since he was one of my favorite junglers back in the day.

 

 

 Orianna

• Global spell cooldown reduced to 0.15 seconds from 0.5

•  Clockwork Windup (Passive)

- Base damage adjusted to 10-50 from 5-30

- Damage amplification per stack increased to 20% from 15%

- Maximum stacks reduced to 2 from 3

- Ability Power ratio reduced to 0.15 from 0.2

•  Command: Attack (Q)

- Missile speed reduced to 1200 from 1275

- Cooldown reduced at later ranks to 6/5.25/4.5/3.75/3 seconds from 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds

- Damage reduced to 60/90/120/150/180 from 60/100/140/180/220

- Ability Power ratio reduced to 0.4 from 0.6

- The Ball now responds faster to Dissonance and Shockwave commands

•  Command: Dissonance (W) Ability Power increased to 0.7 from 0.5 

•  Command: Protect (E)

- Cast range increased by 100

- Ball leash range is increased by 100 when attached to an allied Champion

- The Ball will now respond faster to Dissonance and Shockwave commands

•  Command: Shockwave (Ultimate R)

- Cast time increased to 0.5 seconds from 0.4

- Fixed: Shockwave no longer stuns units for longer than the duration of the movement

- If the Ball forcibly leashes back to Orianna, Command: Shockwave will go on a brief cooldown if it is ready

Huge changes to Orianna that can be shortened into a few sentences. More responsive ball, Q does less damage but W deals more and that shield range got increased. Orianna was a really strong champion with a really high skill-cap, so now after RIOT made her a bit easier to control more players will try to pick her up.

 

 

 Rammus

•  Powerball (Q)

- Mana cost reduced to 70/80/90/100/110 from 80/90/100/110/120

- Reduced the spell casting and movement delay after collision

•  Defensive Ball Curl (W) mana cost reduced to 40 from 50

The thing that makes these changes interesting is the fact that Rammus won't knockback himself after hitting an enemy by Powerball. It will make it easier for him to taunt an enemy just after this little knockback from his Q. This is a nice gameplay improvement, which will make Rammus a more reliable heavy ganking jungler.

 

 

 Shen

•  Stand United (Ultimate R)

- Cooldown increased to 200/180/160 seconds from 180/150/120 seconds

As I wrote before about Karthus ultimate getting nerfed - It was simply needed because those Global Ultimates were simply too good compared to others and could put pressure from any point on a map on all the lanes, which was really annoying to play against. +1 for RIOT. 

 

 

 Sona

•  Hymn of Valor (Q)

- Mana cost reduced at earlier ranks to 45/50/55/60/65 from 65 at all ranks

- Champion prioritization range slightly increased to better match her attack range

 Some suprising and really nice improvements to Sona's gaming experience. When I did test these changes, it felt much smoother to hit Q + Passive combo. Really enjoyed this change.

 

 

 Soraka

•  Astral Blessing (W)

- Armor buff duration reduced to 3 seconds from 5 seconds

•  Wish (Ultimate R)

- Cooldown increased to 160/145/130 seconds from 120/110/100

Changes to Soraka were all about her Global Presence (as Shen and Karthus) nerfs and about making a bit of a nerf to armor buff on her heal. It's a good change since before Armor lasted so long you almost couldn't find a really good window of opportunity to trade against soraka lane. Now it seems more balanced since 5 vs 3 seconds is a huge difference.

 

 

 Xerath

•  Locus of Power (W)

- Magic Penetration bonus increased to 16/22/28/34/40% from 10/15/20/25/30%

•  Mage Chains (E)

- Missile speed increased to 2100 from 1700

- Ability Power ratio increased to 0.8 from 0.7

I don't know where those buffs are coming from and how they should help Xerath. I feel like his Ultimate is the real issue. I heard that RIOT are going to give him some love next patch as well.

 

 

 Ziggs

•  Bouncing Bomb (Q)

- Mana cost reduced to 50/60/70/80/90 from 60/70/80/90/100

To be honest I was quite dissapointed about this change. It won't help Ziggs to a level that he would be a really really good pick. I feel like Kog'Maw or even Nidalee still outshine him as "Poking AP" champions.

 

 

 Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow

•  Hextech Capacitor (Passive): Jayce gains 40 movement speed for 1.25 seconds and ignores unit collision each time Transform is cast.

•   To the Skies!/ Shock Blast (Q):

- To the Skies! - Jayce leaps to an enemy, dealing physical damage to his target and to enemies in the area, slowing them for 2 seconds.

Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 mana

Cooldown: 16 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 seconds

Physical Damage: 20 / 65 / 110 / 155 / 200 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

Slow: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 %

 

- Shock Blast - Fires an orb of electricity that detonates upon hitting an enemy or reaching the end of its path, dealing physical damage to all enemies in the area of the explosion.If Shock Blast is fired through an Acceleration Gate, the area of effect, missile speed and range will be increased, and its damage will increase by 40%.

Cost: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 mana

Cooldown: 8 seconds

Physical Damage: 60 / 115 / 170 / 225 / 280 (+1.2 per bonus attack damage)

Accelerated Physical Damage: 84 / 161 / 238 / 315 / 392 (+1.68 per bonus attack damage)

 

•   Lightning Field / Hyper Charge (W):

- Lightning Field - (Passive): Jayce regenerates mana each time he strikes an enemy while in Hammer Stance.

(Active): Creates an electric aura, dealing magic damage over 4 seconds to nearby enemies.

Cost: 40 mana

Cooldown: 10 seconds

Mana per hit: 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 14

Magic Damage Per Second: 25 / 42.5 / 60 / 77.5 / 95 (+0.25 per ability power)

Total Magic Damage: 100 / 170 / 240 / 310 / 380 (+1.0 per ability power)

 

- Hyper Charge - Jayce gains a burst of energy, increasing his attack speed to maximum for 3 attacks. These attacks deal varied damage depending on rank.

Cost: 40 mana

Cooldown: 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 / 6 seconds

Damage: 70 / 85 / 100 / 115 / 130 %

 

•   Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate (E):

- Thundering Blow - Deals magic damage equal to a base amount plus a percentage of the target's maximum health, knocking the target back a short distance. This damage is capped against monsters.

Cost: 40 mana

Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds

Magic Damage: 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

Max Health to Damage Ratio: 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20 %

Max Damage to Monsters: 200 / 300 / 400 / 500 / 600

 

- Acceleration Gate - Deploys an Acceleration Gate for 4 seconds, increasing the movement speed of all allies who pass through it for 3 seconds. This bonus fades over the duration.

Cost: 30 mana

Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 seconds

Movement Speed: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 %

 

•   Transform: Mercury Cannon / Transform: Mercury Hammer (Ultimate R):

- Transform: Mercury Cannon - Transforms the Mercury Hammer into the Mercury Cannon, gaining new abilities and ranged attacks.
The next attack in Cannon Stance reduces the enemy's armor and magic resist for 5 seconds.

Cooldown: 6 seconds

Armor and Magic Resist Reduction: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 %

 

- Transform: Mercury Hammer - Transforms the Mercury Cannon into the Mercury Hammer, gaining new abilities and bonus armor and magic resist.
The next attack in Hammer Stance deals additional magic damage.

Cooldown: 6 seconds

Bonus Armor and Magic Resist: 5 / 15 / 25 / 35

Bonus Magic Damage: 20 / 60 / 100 / 140

Ohhh, this champion really excited me from the very first moment I tested him on PBE. His gameplay seems so fun and cool. I felt that I could do everything well. I played him as AD carry, Toplaner and Jungler and he seemd pretty good in every single role. He got amazing initiation possibilities, good damage output, decent CC and poke. He feels quite strong since he can do a lot of things decently and his scaling into late game is really good.

 

 

There are few other changes in gameplay that involves:

•  Hovering over items with auras or actives now shows their effect radius

 

•  Athene's Unholy Grail

- Ability Power increased to 90 from 80

- Magic Resist increased to 40 from 36

Some slight buffs to Athene's Grail were not necessary, but still nice because people still prefered to pick other items first. Not sure if these were really needed though.

 

 

•  Ionic Spark

- Combine gold cost reduced to 575 from 775 (total gold cost reduced to 2100 from 2300)

- Chain lightning damage increased to 125 from 110

Those changes are to make Ionic Spark a viable alternatice for Wit's End and I truly believe they managed to pull it off. It's quite a nice tool for champions that lack pushing power and still is a great teamfight item. I was really happy when I saw those changes.

 

 

•  Quicksilver Sash

- Combine gold cost increased to 900 from 700

- Magic Resist reduced to 48 from 56

This change was expected. QSS was quite cheap way to have free cleanse in late game and gave really a lot for it's cost. 

 

 

•  Dragon and Baron

- Dragon and Baron kills will now have a chat message and kill callout if your team gets the kill or sees them die

- Spectators will now hear callouts indicating which team kills Dragon and Baron

Great feature for both spectators and for players. I think everyone was expecting it sooner or later. 

 

 

Summary of this patch:

-  Buffs - Ionic Spark, Athene Unholy Grail, Ziggs, Xerath, Sona, Rammus, Orianna, Nunu, Miss Fortune, Lux, LeBlanc, Akali, Gragas, Fiora, Caitlyn 

-  Nerfs - Quicksiver Sash, Soraka, Shen, Karthus, Nautilus, Kennen, Kog'Maw, Alistar, Janna

- New champion - Jayce - I really like this champion. His playstyle is so different from everything else, so it's hard to compare him to any other champion. I think he is going to be a viable pick in the toplane and in the jungle.

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