5 things to know about League of Legends patch 9.5

Patch 9.5 is here and it’s a big one for reworks, but there aren’t a lot of other changes going on.

While most players know that Kayle received a complete overhaul and Morgana got a visual update (and a couple of kit changes), there’s another very soft rework that went under the radar: Akali. Akali just got a rework last year, but there were a few finishing touches needed that Riot took care of with this patch.

Outside of those, nothing in patch 9.5 is a major change. A few champions, like Vi, got buffed to help make them more competitive. The Conquerer rune got nerfed slightly, which is to be expected of a newly redesigned rune. Finally, a few champions got minor buffs like Cho’Gath, Dr. Mundo, Gangplank, Graves, and Jhin.

For a look at everything that changed in patch 9.5 you can check out the full patch notes.

Riot Games

Kayle and Morgana’s reworks are live

While these two may be sisters and may be getting reworked at the same time, Kayle is the only real star here — sorry, Morgana. Kayle’s kit got an entire overhaul. She still has the elements that made up her core identity, like an invulnerability and ranged auto attacks, but now she also has an evolve mechanic that makes her more powerful the later the game goes and more levels she gains. Meanwhile, Morgana just received a visual update and a speed boost on her ultimate, which is a good upgrade, but not as exciting as a full rework.

Akali got changed again

Akali’s rework from last year was a little too good in some places. Which is why she’s slowly been nerfed in almost every patch since then. This time around, though, Riot is taking a different path. Rather than nerfing her abilities and damage, Riot is making a foundational change to her kit and giving a little power back in other places to balance it out. So, alongside a few buffs, Akali can no longer hide from turrets. Anytime she is within a turret’s attack range she is revealed.

Riot Games

Lots of champions are getting little buffs

Not every patch should change the game, so sometimes it’s nice to focus on the little things that a patch does for certain champions. In patch 9.5, those little things are buffs to a few champions that you probably haven’t seen in a while. Cho’Gath is getting a damage increase on his Vorpal Spikes, Dr. Mundo is getting a magic resist increase, and Gangplank is getting a little more damage on both his Powder Kegs and his Cannon Barrage. Those buffs may not be quite enough to pull those champions back into the meta, but they should help out. Graves and Jhin both got damage increases as well, and in their case it may actually be the difference between playable and not for both solo queue and competitive play.

Relic Shield healing has decreased

Tank supports have quietly had a good thing going with Relic Shield. Their main disadvantage in lane should be that they are easy to harass and can’t do much in retaliation, but for a while now Relic Shield has been able to heal back most of the harass that happens in lane. Thankfully, Riot has noticed and decided to reduce the healing on Relic Shield a bit to help make poke supports a little more valuable.

Riot Games

Arclight Brand has arrived

This time around there aren’t many new skins, but Arclight Brand is here and he looks great. His effects are nice and fit right into the Arclight line — without being too hard to see in a fight, thankfully. Also releasing this time around is KD/A Ahri Prestige Edition, which has a few huge upgrades over the regular version of the skin. Morgana and Kayle have also had their skins reworked and most of them look fantastic, so you can think of those like new skins for this patch too.