How reworked Rengar works after the update

Rengar has been one of the most problematic champions in League’s roster for the past several years. Rioters have been very vocal about how badly he needs changes, and he has seen a lot of different iterations. In the pre-season this year, Riot decided to actually give him a miniature rework.

For his new kit, click here.

As far as the other major updates goes, Rengar certainly feels the most similar to how he was in Season 6. That being said, almost all of his abilities received minor changes.

Bone Tooth necklace is still baseline and passive, but it now only scales up to five. Rengar has a unique piece of HuD (very similar to Kindred) that displays each of the five champions on the enemy team. Each time Rengar kills a unique target, he gains a trophy and that champion’s portrait is grayed out. Each stack gives Rengar an additional percentage of AD, making him a very scary kitty indeed.

Speaking of passives, Rengar’s ferocity now only stacks to 4 and is lost entirely when he leaves combat.

From a mechanical perspective, Savagery, Rengar’s Q, is certainly the most different. Instead of Rengar just taking his big old knife and sticking it deep into something, Rengar now slashes forward with his claws (which he has done a very poor job of using in the past, but it turns out you can teach old cats new tricks) and then stabs forward with his knife, moving him a little bit. Ferocity still just gives it more damage. This changed Q feels great in the jungle and a little weird everywhere else. It will take some getting used to but ultimately seems like a much better ability.

Rengar’s W, Battle Roar, now heals Rengar on a gray health system similar to Tahm Kench, allowing teammates to know how much health Knifecat will get back when he casts W. It will also only heal Rengar based on recent damage he has taken. When Rengar casts Battle Roar with full Ferocity, he will also cleanse himself of any CC.

Thrill of the Hunt, Rengar’s Ultimate, also saw a few quality of life changes. It now lasts a very long time, but Rengar can now only see the champion nearest to him, instead of all enemies around him. Rengar gains some crazy movement speed and also gets a guaranteed crit when he attacks. This ability actually just feel better to use as Rengar. No more pressing R and not being able to catch your target in time!

All and all, new Rengar feels pretty solid. He also just has more numbers in his kit with Bone Tooth Necklace, which should allow for far easier balancing on Riot’s part in the future. Hopefully Rengar players will be satisfied with the changes and Rengar’s victims will feel a little better about not getting one shot. Now if only we could get a licensed Hello Rengar skin...

THE GOAL: You want to try and start fights with leaping out of a brush and then using savagery. Then, slow your target down with a quick bola, and use Battle Cry to regain some lost health. Use Savagery two times in a row for the normal and then ferocity improved version. If you can start a fight with Thrill of the Hunt, you should be able to get an extra Savagery in there somewhere (due to the free ferocity) to increase your assassination potential.