Two weeks have passed, which means we have yet another set of balance changes to go over — this time it’s League of Legends patch 9.17! This patch isn’t particularly monumental, but it does have more than a handful of interesting changes. It feels more like a follow-up patch for 9.16 than something standalone. Regardless, there’s more than enough to go over this week!

One glance at the image below is all you need to get excited!

So, with that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the League of Legends patch 9.17!

Champion Adjustments

There aren’t many champion adjustments in League of Legends patch 9.17, but there are a couple of niche picks that are getting some love. So, if you’re the kind of player who fosters a deep (and highly idiosyncratic) champion pool, there’s bound to be something of interest below!

Aurelion Sol

Riot is making Aurelion Sol a bit more vulnerable in the early game so that they can buff his late game presence.

First up, his passive is getting nerfed. It will now deal less damage (from 20/23/26/29/32/35/40/45/50/55/60/70/80/90/100/110/120/130 to 16/18/20/22/24/27/30/35/40/45/50/60/70/80/90/100/110/120), but will have a fixed AP ratio (from 0.18 – 0.35 based on level to 0.25 AP). Finally, ability-inhibiting crowd control effects will no longer nullify Aurelion’s passive.

His Q “Starsurge” will have a shorter cooldown — from 10 seconds to 11/10/9/8/7 seconds and will grant 20% bonus movement speed instead of 10%. If Aurelion Sol happens to be faster than his star, the star will speed up to catch up.

His W “Celestial Expansion” will now have an adjusted cooldown — from 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 seconds to 8/6.5/5/3.5/2 seconds. Its mana cost is also getting changed — from 40 mana + 22/24/26/28/30 mana per second to 70/80/90/100/110 mana on cast. Also, when Sol pushes his stars to their maximum range, they gain increased damage and will rotate at a much higher (albeit decaying) speed. After a three-second duration (or if the player reactivates the ability after said duration), the stars will retract and give 40% bonus movement speed for 1.5 seconds.

Finally, his E “Comet of Legend” will no longer provide bonus movement speed when moving in the same direction for a longer period. Its range is going up (from 3000/4000/5000/6000/7000 to 5500/6000/6500/7000/75000), its cooldown is also getting increased (from 60/55/50/45/40 seconds to 80/75/70/65/60 seconds), but will provide more speed (from 600 to 600/650/700/750/800).

Galio

Galio has been underperforming — as expected. Riot’s recent nerfs destroyed him in every way, shape and form. To boost him back up a bit, they’re buffing his mana regen (from 9.335 to 9.5), his Q “Wins of War” will have a shorter cooldown on early levels (from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds to 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds), and his W “Shield of Durand” will deal more minimum damage (from 10/20/30/40/50 to 20/35/50/65/80) as well as maximum damage (from 30/60/90/120/150 to 60/105/150/195/240).

These changes are a step in the right direction, but whether or not they’ll push Galio back into viability is a big question mark. The main problem with Galio right now is the fact that he lacks an identity.

Kalista

Riot wants to make Kalista a bit more viable in the hands of an average player, so they’re buffing a couple of her base stats. Going forward, she will have more attack damage (from 67 to 69), more mana (from 231.8 to 250) as well as base mana growth (from 35 to 45). These aren’t the biggest of changes, but they should be visible ever so slightly in the early stages of the game.

Kayle

Riot is shifting power into Kayle’s early game, at the expense of her late-game prowess. Going forward, Kayle’s passive will work the other way around. So, once you reach level 6 you’ll become Arisen (instead of Aflame) and when you reach level 11 you’ll become Aflame (instead of Arisen).

The zealous bonus movement speed is also getting changed as it will now provide an 8% bonus when Exalted in all directions, rather than just when moving towards enemies.

The zealous stacks will now stack off all basic attacks, instead of just basic attacks against non-structures.

The Arisen attack range is going down from 550 to 525. Its bonus attack speed per stack will no longer increase to 10% per stack. The transcendent fire wave true damage will no longer exist, and when Kayle reaches her Transcendent form, she will gain an additional 50 range for a total of 575 attack range on basic attacks.

Kayle’s Q “Radiant Blast” will now refund 50% of the ability’s mana for each champion it hits, it will have a shorter cast delay (from 0.5 seconds to 0.25), a different cast time (it will no longer depend on attack speed but will instead have a flat 0.25 second cast time), the speed of the missile is going down (from 2000 to 1600) along with its range (from 950 to 900), and the ability will now reduce 15% of the target’s armor and magic resist for four seconds instead of 20% for three seconds.

Her E “Starfire Spellblade” will deal less bonus magic damage (from 8/10/12/14/16% +1% per 100 AP of the target’s missing health to 8/9/10/11/12% +1% per 50 AP of the target’s missing health) but will have a slightly higher on-hit ratio (from 0.1 total AD and 0.2 AP to 0.1 bonus AD and 0.25 AP).

Finally, her ultimate “Divine Judgment” will cost less mana when maxed out (from 100 mana to 100/50/0 mana) and will have a slightly bigger AoE radius (from 475 to 500).

Leona

Riot wants to further enable Leona and strengthen her core, so they’re decreasing the cooldown of her Q “Shield of Daybreak” from 6 seconds to 5.

Lucian

Lucian’s base attack damage is going up — from 61 to 64. A slight boost in power should make him a bit stronger in the early game. That said, this is an incremental change.

Neeko

Going forward, Neeko will be able to return to her form by deactivating her disguise. This is labeled as a quality-of-life change, but it should pan out as a noticeable buff.

Pantheon

Going forward, when you active a short spear throw (holding the ability and releasing it within a 0.35 second window), it will increase the physical damage on targets below 25% of their maximum HP. This will now match a fully charged spear throw.

Finally, Pantheon’s E “Aegis Assault” will no longer reduce damage against non-epic monsters. These changes should make jungle Pantheon much more viable.

Qiyana

The latest addition to the ever-growing League of Legends champion roster is a bit too strong right now. To counteract this, Riot is decreasing the base damage on her E “Audacity” (from 70/105/140/175/210 to 60/95/130/165/200) while also increasing the cooldown of the ultimate “Supreme Display of Talent” (from 120/100/80 seconds to 120 seconds at all ranks).

These changes should make her a bit less dangerous while also preserving her viability.

Ryze

Riot is increasing Ryze’s base magic resist from 30 to 34. Not a huge buff, but it should improve his survivability early on.

Zyra

Going forward, Zyra’s ultimate “Stranglethorns” will cost less mana (from 100/120/140 to 100 mana at all ranks) and will have a noticeably shorter cooldown (from 130/120/110 seconds to 110/100/90 seconds). This should allow her to burst enemies more frequently, so expect Zyra to pop up in competitive play sooner rather than later.

Free-to-Play Champion Rotation

With Qiyana’s release, Riot officially hit the 145-champion mark. As a result, they’re increasing the number of free champions on weekly rotations to fifteen (up from fourteen) starting with the first week of September!

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is releasing brand-new skins, and this time we have a couple of insane ones! To say that Riot did a stellar job would be an understatement. Furthermore, all six skins will be accompanied with adequate chromas.

Elderwood Ahri

Elderwood Veigar

Elderwood Nocturne

Elderwood Nocturne

Infernal Shen, Infernal Galio, Infernal Varus

That’s it for our League of Legends patch 9.17 breakdown! If you’re want to go over the patch more regularly, you can click here to go over to Riot’s official website.