Each patch on League of Legends brings some major changes to the Rift. Here is what’s important in the latest patch, 8.3.
Swain Reworked, Noxus Unleashed
With 8.3, Swain has been completely reworked from his previous interation. The Noxian Grand General now has an extensive back story as well as a complete overhaul of his ability. Visit our previous article for a brief overview on the new Swain.Along with Swain being reintroduced, Riot has also updated Noxus. Instead of the previous image of Noxus as the place where everyone “evil” is, the Noxian Empire is now a military might on Runterra that allows all its citizens to advance in society based on their abilities rather than their families. Basically, the Noxians value strength and skill over family connections. The new Universe for Noxus also mentions that the Noxian Empire allows any of its conquered nations a choice to either join them and rise based on merit or be destroyed, a massive difference from their previous policy of subjugating all conquered nations and basically turning enemies into slaves. For the full scoop on the new Noxus and Swain, visit the League of Legends Universe.
Champion Nerfs and Buffs
Several champions received some significant nerfs while a few others received buffs in this update. Jarvan IV, Katarina, Kog’Maw, Zoe and Sejuani received minor nerfs to their abilities, cooldowns, and base stats. The biggest nerfs are the ones that hit Azir and Ryze, two of the stronger mid-lane mages currently in the professional scene. Azir now draws minion aggro with his sand soldiers in addition to receiving a nerf to his Q, Conquering Sands. Ryze is no longer able to pull off the Stopwatch/Zhonya’s combo with his ultimate. Activating either Stopwatch or Zhonya’s cancels his ultimate.
The champions that received buffs in this patch are Master Yi, Tryndamere, Lucian, Jhin, and Victor. Victor and Lucian in particular have been lackluster on the rift recently, sporting some of the lowest win rates for their roles.
Inspiration Tree Changed
The Inspiration Tree has seen a massive following especially in the professional scene as of late. The first major nerf to Inspiration is towards Unsealed Spellbook, with its summoner spell cooldown reduction being changed from 25% to 15%. In addition, Magical footwear (free boots) and Perfect Timing (Stopwatch) are now on the same rune tier so players will only be able to choose one or the other while taking Inspiration. The Stopwatch from Perfect Timing has also been nerfed in the gold it gives, with its selling price lowered to 20 gold from 120 and its contribution towards an upgraded item reduced by 50 gold.