League of Legends Patch 7.17: 5 things to know

Patch 7.17 is here and signals a League of Legends that is prepping for the biggest tournament of the year. The Worlds patch is but three short weeks away, and 7.17 is all that stands between us and watching the next world champions take the stage. As usual, the pre-Worlds patches are smaller in terms of actual balance, an effort to not mess up everything going into the month long tournament. But content wise, 7.17 delivers with a new champion and the latest addition to fan-favorite skin line: Star Guardians.

For a full list of 7.17 changes, look here.

1. Ornn burns up the Rift

Ornn, the Fire Below the Mountain, will finally be hitting the Rift during 7.17. Ornn is a unique fellow, able to build his own items anywhere on the map, as well as upgrading items for his allies. Ornn comes just in time to break up the monotony of the tank meta. A beefy boy through and through, Ornn will eat all the damage you send his way, build a Warmog’s Armor from the gold, and do it all over again.

2. Zed’s getting a buff just in time for Worlds

We at the Rift Herald believe it’s always a special moment when League’s most fearsome ninja — sorry Kennen — comes back into the meta just as the best teams face-off at the World Championship, and it seems like Riot agrees. Patch 7.17 is bringing us Zed’s first changes since late last season. Sure, the changes aren’t much, but they’re enough to give us hope that he might start showing up in competitive and our own solo queue matches soon.

3. Ardent Censer nerfs have arrived

In the throws of a tank meta, it’s always nice to give a little love to AD Carries. That being said, Arden Censer was a step too far. With a strong early game that never fell off as the game got later, it was a go to item for every support that could use it, and in both professional play and solo queue it turn weak AD Carries into forces of terror. Thankfully, Riot is tuning that back a bit by shaving off the item’s late game strength in favor slightly better early stats.

4. Draven’s finally getting nerfed

Draven had the highest win rate and the second highest ban rate in solo queue last patch and has been a dominant force there for almost two months. So, Riot’s finally stepping in and toning back a bit of the strength from The Glorious Executioner. Draven players shouldn’t be too worried though, the only thing that’s getting touched is his ability to snowball from Adoration stacks, so he should still hit like a truck, just maybe a little later in the game.

5. Star Guardians are star guarding

This year brings the third wave (if you include Lux as her own) of Star Guardian skins. New heroes are being added with Syndra, Ahri, Soraka, Miss Fortune and Ezreal. The skins themselves will release on September 7 and come with the brand new Invasion game mode, a wave based co-op attack. The new skins are gorgeous and you can check out an interview that the Rift Herald did with Riot about them here.