Ornn’s Patch 7.18 changes explained

Since Ornn released on August 23, he has been all aboard the USS Struggle Bus. In fact, he has spent so long on the Struggle Bus that he bought one of his own and became the Struggle Bus conductor. Basically, he is in a very, very poor spot. If you look at champion.gg right now, before the stats swap over to 7.18, Ornn is still sitting in a sub-37 percent win-rate in three roles. While things look pretty dire, Riot has been doing their best to make the new, beefy boy a little less ... really horrible.

What changes have they made?

Since his release during patch 7.17, Ornn has gotten hot-fixed twice. Not once, which would already be a lot, but two times. Two micro-patches just for Ornn.

And, against all odds, he is still terrible. They changed his base stats and, as of Patch 7.18, every single one of his abilities, including his passive, have been buffed or altered in one way or another.

Lets look at specifics.

Stat changes

HEALTH GROWTH STAT 85 ⇒ 90

BASE HEALTH REGEN 7.18 ⇒ 9

HEALTH REGEN GROWTH 0.6 ⇒ 0.8

ATTACK SPEED GROWTH 1.3% ⇒ 2%

Living Forge changes

Players were getting a little too excited in Ornn games and upgrading their items as soon as they had the gold. This is a really bad idea and will actually hurt your build. Riot noticed this and changed it up. Now you can’t unlock upgrades until level 13. Also, for Zhonya’s Hourglass users, you can now purchase a upgrade for that item as well.

Volcanic Rupture changes

Volcanic Rupture had a problem when it first launched, mainly that it was too damn slow. Riot decided to change that, making it pop up sooner which is a huge help whether you are laning as Ornn or jungling him. The pillar can now displace people and won’t spawn in walls, which was weird to begin with. Basically all we have here are quality of life changes, which this ability desperately needed.

Bellow’s Breath Changes

Bellow’s Breath also saw a few quality of life changes. It now slows Ornn less when he uses it, goes out farther and has extended range on the final belch.

Searing Charge changes

Searing Charge doesn’t knock back targets that Ornn charges through, which will probably make following up on things a lot easier.

Call of the Forge God changes

Call of the Forge God was changed in a micro patch and in Patch 7.18. The cooldown has been lowered and the Forge God now runs toward Ornn faster than he did before. In my guide, I said that this was one of the best abilities in League of Legends, and I honestly stick by that. Hopefully these new changes make it easier to use.

Will it be enough?

This is a hard question to answer. Clearly Riot isn’t pushing too hard, probably because they think he has a high learning curve and payers will eventually come into him (he does and they will). That being said, I actually feel like the stat changes may be the biggest thing here.

No damage ratios or active tank ratios were changed on his abilities, which means that everything else is a little harder to evaluate. Quality of life changes, especially the ones seen here, can make a huge difference. However, Ornn needs the worlds biggest shovel (too bad he threw his away) to dig himself out of the pit he is in right now.

Sadly, only time will tell if these buffs will be enough for Ornn or if he needs some more special help. Mark my words, before the year is done, players will get good enough that Ornn will be deemed OP and these buffs will be looked back on with frustration, as is the great League of Legends circle of life.