After the big changes that Patch 9.3 brought, League of Legends‘ Patch 9.4 is bringing the nerfhammer on more champions. Riot Games is nerfing Yasuo, Lucian, Urgot, and Karthus (to a degree). Additionally, they are making some quality-of-life changes to Rek’sai, as well as her ultimate ability. Patch 9.4 will also introduce the new Conqueror rune, as well as visual effect updates for multiple champions.
[Global] Heads up that Patch 9.4 has been pushed one day and is planned to release on Thursday (2/21)! Make sure those firewall settings are given League exceptions for a smooth patch: https://t.co/7NvXsFzDz7 🥰 pic.twitter.com/kNS0Q132bm
— Riot Games Support (@RiotSupport) February 18, 2019
However, most players are anticipating 9.4 because this will be the patch that brings the updated Kayle and Morgana skins. Kayle has gone through a complete rework, from her visual and sound effects to her entire kit. Meanwhile, Morgana will only be going through a visual update, while her kit will remain relatively untouched, save for her ultimate.
League Nerfs Galore!
First up on the nerfing block is everyone’s favorite (or hated) swordsman, Yasuo. They will be reducing his base attack damage from 63 to 60, which isn’t that big of a change. However, the big adjustment that Riot Games will be applying is the nerf to his Q, Steel Tempest. They are reducing the critical strike damage from +80% to +60%, which is a pretty big reduction. Lucian is also getting a nerf onto his W, Ardent Blaze. It will now cost twenty more mana, and the damage is reduced at every rank. This way, players cannot abuse the Manaflow Band rune route in order to spam abilities more.
Urgot was the victim of a few big nerfs as well. For example, his Q, Corrosive Charge, will now cost 80 mana instead of 60 mana. His W, Purge, has been set to cost 65 mana at all levels. The shield the ability gives is also lowering in the early game, with less bonus health as well. This way, players must now choose between poking with Q or charging in with W, instead of being able to use both. Meanwhile, Karthus is also undergoing nerfs, but many players are scoffing at them. The powerful mage jungler is having his Q damage lowered by a whopping five damage. Riot says that “Karthus spams his Q more often than most champs cast their abilities, so the numbers definitely add up”, but it doesn’t seem too drastic a nerf to a lot of League fans.
Conqueror rune changes!
Now, Conqueror has been completely changed for Patch 9.4. According to Riot, the old Conqueror would provide “too much immediate power since users can bypass its initial delay by staying in combat against minions”. As a result, they’ve changed the rune so that attacks and abilities “grant 3-15 adaptive force (levels 1-18) for 3 seconds (8 seconds for melee), stacking up to five times to a max of 15-75″. After five stacks, 10% of the damage you inflict on enemy champs will convert to true damage and will heal you for that amount. Damage-over-time attacks will grant a stack every five seconds.
Final Thoughts
In response to the critical strike buffs that many items got in 9.3, this Yasuo nerf is welcomed with open arms by many players. Urgot’s early game trading potential being nerfed should make things interesting in certain matchups, especially against strong early game champions. The Conqueror rune changes should also give some certain champions a good power spike and will be an interesting build path to take.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming Patch 9.4? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more League of Legends coverage, check us out here!
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