Sion is way too strong because of a bug, to be fixed in Patch 8.5

Ever since the launch of the new runes, Sion has had a lot going for him, and it’s made him a force to be reckoned with in the top lane.

Sion’s strengths start with his early lane dominance, while his shield and ultimate mobility keep him relevant all the way through the late game. While at first people were taking tank runes on him, players quickly realized that his real strength came with Arcane Comet.

Turns out, his E — Roar of the Slayer, which Sion mostly uses to push minions at people — was the perfect vehicle to activate Arcane Comet’s poke, something few other toplaners can do so reliably. Add this extra damage on to the ability’s slow and armor reduction and suddenly getting hit by one single minion could mean half your health bar if the Sion followed up quickly. On top of all that, Patch 8.3 also introduced a bug that made Roar of the Slayer even more powerful than it was supposed to be.

In his Quick Gameplay Thoughts for February 28, Riot’s lead gameplay designer, Andrei “Meddler” van Roon, notified players that when Riot did a few bug fixes on Sion during Patch 8.3 they inadvertently created a new one that made his E hitbox wider than it was meant to be, something van Roon thinks may have led to Sion’s rise in power over the last couple of patches.

Thankfully, now that they are aware of the issue, Riot is working to get a fix out for the next patch, due next week. But that isn’t the only thing that was making Sion strong. In the late game, the combination of Sion’s shield, the mobility provided by his ultimate and the Demolish rune, could lead to him being a nightmare as a split pusher or in teamfights.

It remains to be seen if Riot will address any of these other Sion strengths, or if the extent of his Patch 8.5 changes will be limited to fixing the bug on his E. If Roar of the Slayer is the only thing that changes, don’t expect Sion to be going away anytime soon.