Riot just dropped a massive magical bomb on League of Legends fans today. The next patch is going to introduce the mid-year mage update, which not only brings weaker mages into modern League, but revamps all the magic items in the game and changes dragons entirely. This may be the biggest change to the game since the preseason, which gave us marksman reworks and Rift Herald.
Items:
Riot has long struggled with balancing magic items, since Ability Power works much differently than Attack Damage. This time around, Riot is rethinking Mana regeneration. Every item that restores mana has been given a new lease on life, and two new Hextech items have been added into the game. Tear of the Goddess, Chalice of Harmony and Catalyst of Aeons all restore mana either passively or when you use an ability.
Will of the Ancients is being removed, but a new book-based item is being added into the game. Lost Chapter builds into Morellonomicon and restores mana instantly when you level up. Item recipes have changed entirely. Rod of Ages now uses Needlessly Large Rod, Zhonya’s Hourglass uses Fiendish Codex and Abyssal Scepter uses an Amplifying Tome and a Fiendish Codex. Getting used to these changes won’t be easy.
Hextech Gunblade now passively restores health whenever you attack and actively shoots a slowing bolt. Hextech GLP-800 turns some of the damage you receive into mana and actively sprays ice bolts that slow enemies. Hextech Protobelt-01 gives you a dash that does magic damage. These items all help immobile mages keep up in a game where everyone is getting dashes.
Dragons:
Here’s where the show gets really interesting. Regular dragon is gone, and in his place are four elemental dragons. Air, Fire, Water and Earth will all spawn randomly until 35 minutes and give a buff. That buff stacks if you get multiples of the same dragon. This should make dragon a more important objective. Here is what the four dragons do.
- Fire Dragon- increases champion killing power and increases your power.
- Earth Dragon- increases turret and epic monster damage
- Water Dragon- increases health and mana regeneration
- Air Dragon- Increases out of movement combat speed.
After 35 minutes an Elder Dragon spawns that gives you an ability similar to the current fifth dragon stack. Your abilities do damage-over-time and the more Elder Dragons you get, the more damage it does. I have no idea how this is going to shape the meta, but this may be the death of the 2v1 double tower trade.
Mage Update:
Not all mages are getting a major update, some are just having their numbers tweaked. If I don’t mention it, the ability is the same as it used to be. Here’s what’s happening to all fourteen mages getting an update:
- Malzahar- New passive turns him invulnerable after being out of combat for a bit, then makes him take reduced damage for a few seconds. His W now summons a Voidling, and when the little purple guy kills a unit another one is spawned. When you have three, they gain increased attack speed. His ultimate not only suppresses but creates a ring around enemies’ feet that does percentage health damage.
- Vladimir- His Q now gives him Crimson Rush when you activate it for a second time, which gives him bonus damage and movement speed. His E now takes a portion of his health and explodes after a delay around him, slowing all enemies hit
- Brand- Passive now stacks; when three are applied an AOE circle appears around the target dealing massive damage.
- Zyra- She passively spawns seeds around her, creating more as she levels up. Her Q is now a line, similar to Malazahar’s Q. She can still set seeds with her W, but now it increases her plants health passively.
- Vel’Koz- His ultimate slows and does more damage on those that have had three stacks of his passive applied.
- Cassiopeia- Her passive gives movement speed per level. Her Q gives her movement speed if she hits a champion with its cloud. Her W spits a lane-wide slow that poisons enemies and makes them unable to use movement spells when they walk through it.
- Annie- Tibbers does more damage on stunned targets.
- Swain- Sends his bird to slow an area instead of a target.
- Fiddlesticks- New passive gives him movement speed if he stands still.
- Ziggs- W now executes turrets under an amount of health (that’s actually insane.)
- Syndra- Passive spawns dark spheres.
- Xerath- If his ultimate hits an enemy, it gives him another shot.
- Anivia- Ultimate now expands over time, doing bonus damage when it gets to its max range.
- Veigar- Passive gives him Ability Power if he hits an enemy with a spell or when he kills an enemy.
