5 things to know about League of Legends patch 9.1

The first League of Legends patch of the new year has arrived and it’s bringing a few important champions changes with it.

First up are big changes to Kalista, Ornn and Sejuani. While the first two have substantial changes to their mechanics, Sejuani is mostly getting numbers changes which should add up to making her better in fights after she has used her ultimate, so she isn’t so much of a one-trick pony any more.

Also coming in patch 9.1 are a few minor rune changes, like increasing the attack speed stat rune, or making players with Celerity move a little faster. Turrets will also grant their assist gold to champions who are slightly further away now, which should let players be a little bit more careful about how they position when taking towers.

For a full look at all of the changes coming to patch 9.1, be sure to check out our patch notes.

Kalista is no longer your team’s best jungler

Kalista has always been a problem. Since her initial release she’s often been either too weak to play at all, or a complete monster in both solo queue and competitive play. As with most champions like that, Riot is taking a hard look at Kalista’s kit to see from where exactly some of the problems might stem. In this first adjustment to the champion, Riot is targeting the extra AD she gets from being near her soulbound ally, as well as the rend damage to monsters. This prevent her from scaling quite as fast, and certainly make her a little less effective at securing objectives like Dragon and Baron.

No more Ornn shop

Ornn has always been in a slightly weird spot. He’s often been powerful, but it wasn’t for the reasons that made him unique. So, in order to move them to a better spot, Riot is making some changes to huge parts of his kit. Specifically the upgradable items part. Now, Ornn’s items will automatically upgrade after he hits level 13 — he can have two upgraded items at a time — and at each level after 14, Ornn will be able to upgrade an item of one of his teammates. While other parts his kit got changes, both nerfs and buffs, as well, this is the part that you’re most likely to notice right away.

Riot Games

Quality of Life changes and a big Nasus buff

Quite a few champions fall under this category this time around. Ashe, for instance, gets an assist if her E grants vision of a champion before a kill, Jinx’s W scales off attack speed, Jayce’s Q and E combo together a little more smoothly. Nasus also now gets 12 stacks off canon minions. That’s not really a quality of life change it’s just a massive buff to stacks, doubling the number he gets from killing canon minions, large monsters and champions.

Jungle item changes

This isn’t necessarily a change for junglers, just to their items. Monster Hunter, the passive that prevented laners from using jungle items by reducing the amount of gold minions gave them if it made a majority of their total gold, is now back in the game. This was done mostly to help discourage funnel comps, which were making a bit of a comeback with the preseason.

Riot Games

New Blood Moon skins are here

For the first patch of the year Riot is breaking out the fan favorite Blood Moon skin line and giving it a few more additions. Pyke, Sivir and Aatrox are all getting Blood Moon outfits that looks fantastic. Even better, Aatrox’s Blood Moon skin is getting a Prestige version which will likely need to be unlocked through an event or missions.