5 things to know about League of Legends patch 9.9

League of Legends patch 9.9 has arrived and it’s a big one. Along with a few balance changes for both champions and runes, both Aatrox and Tahm Kench are getting massive adjustments.

Also changing this patch are the VFX for a few of Blitzcrank’s abilities, along with the his ultimate which is getting a different passive. Ashe, Jax, Caitlyn, and Renekton are also getting VFX updates, but they aren’t getting updates to their abilities like Blitz is. Soraka is also getting a big ability change with a very different Q that should prove a little more useful.

As for runes, the biggest change this patch is coming to Aftershock which is going to scale off of other resistances up to a cap, rather than just off level. This should keep it in the game, but stop it from being quite as useful as it is right now.

For a look at all the changes coming to League of Legends with patch 9.9 you can check the full patch notes.

Riot Games

Aatrox is getting a pretty big update

Aatrox has been getting bounced between great and terrible every few patches since his rework. The kit is good, but the numbers are tough to get right. So, rather than trying to address things slowly by making one change at a time, Riot is trying to fix the whole thing in one go with a lot of changes. As part of that, Aatrox no longer reduces the healing or shielding champions receive, he also got some big changes to his Q that make it do a little less damage but be up less often. Most importantly, Aatrox’s ult will now give him a lot more life steal and should be more useful overall.

Tahm Kench is getting a lot less safe

Tahm has always been a staple pick for pro play mostly because he could always keep his teammates safe. After this update, he’ll still be able to keep them safe, but it won’t be quite as easy. Now, when Tahm Devours a friendly champion, he’ll be slowed by 95 percent and grounded. So he can save his allies from damage, but he can’t give them the quick escape he used to be able to provide.

Magical Footwear is too strong, but a few other runes got buffs

Magical Footwear was the go-to rune for way too many champions according to Riot, so they’re taking its power down a peg or two. Instead of appearing in your inventory at 10 minutes (-30 seconds per takedown) it’s now going to take 12 minutes (-45 seconds per takedown). That means if you’re playing aggressive it’s still pretty useful, but otherwise you’ll be waiting a little longer. Meanwhile, Scorch got a nice damage buff of five damage at all stages, and ultimate hunter should decrease cooldowns a little more effectively now.

Kindred, Hecarim, and Jarvan IV all got nerfed

The jungle has been dominated by just a few picks over the last few patches and these three champions stand out the most. So, Riot is bringing in a nerf for each of them in hopes of balancing things out a little better. Kindred’s first mark is going to spawn later, Hecarim’s Q and E are going to do less damage, and J4 is losing a bit base health and mana and quite a bit of power from his Golden Aegis shield.

Riot Games

Conqueror Alistar is here, along with some chomas

This week’s new skin is Conqueror Alistar who’s getting added as a celebration of MSI. This skin already looks pretty good, but in case you don’t like its base colors, it’s also getting a chroma this patch as well. Also getting chromas are previous competitive skins like Challenger Ahri and Nidalee, as well as Conqueror Karma and Conqueror Varus.