Two weeks have passed since the last patch update, which means we have yet another set of balance changes to go over. This time it’s League of Legends patch 9.23! It is the biggest patch of the year. Because of this, we’re only going to focus on the most important aspects, rather than the full patch. We’re going to split the whole slew of changes into bite-sized chunks and then deconstruct what they mean and how they’re going to affect the game going forward.

Make sure to read as carefully as possible because these changes will profoundly impact both competitive play as well as your casual (or hardcore) solo queue adventures. We will touch on the changes below in more detail in an upcoming article, so stay tuned for that

So, without any further ado, let’s take a closer look at the League of Legends patch 9.23!

Elemental Rifts

This preseason will give us many new instances of game-to-game variety. After the second Elemental Drake dies, the map will (permanently) transform into one of the four possible Elemental Rifts. Each Rift heavily alters a part of the terrain uniquely. These changes then, in turn, affect the way your team fight, rotate around the map, set up vision, fight over objectives — you name it.

These Rifts don’t favor any one side, nor do they sway the game in anyone’s favor. They don’t introduce players to new mechanics, nor do they “complicate” things. Instead, they open new possibilities and create a new context in which unexpected outplays are bound to happen.

Infernal Rift – The brush closest to the Blue and Red buffs burn to the ground, creating new pathways through the walls. The entrance to the Dragon pit also widens considerably.

Mountain Rift – New terrain spawns in each jungle quadrant, along with a rock in front of the Drake pit.

Ocean Rift – Most brushes grow larger, new pools of water spawn throughout the jungle along with new Honeyfruit.

Cloud Rift – Moving through the Blue and Red buff zones grants the player a noticeable speed boost. The Drake pit also becomes a “wind tunnel” of sorts.

Side Lane Alcoves

The top and bottom lanes are now a fair bit different because Riot added an alcove on each side. It shouldn’t fundamentally change the laning phase. Still, it will provide additional playmaking (and outplay) opportunities and could, potentially, affect the many ways in which junglers set up ganks along with any potential TP flanks.

River Entrance Brush

There’s a new brush on each side of the map, located near the Blue buff camp. Riot aims to create new “strategic and tactical options” for each team as they fight over objectives. Not a huge change overall, but it could end up being a fascinating addition if used creatively.

Dragon Souls

As you’ve probably realized, Drakes have changed a lot. First, Riot introduced Dragon Souls. The first team to slay four Elemental Drakes gains a Dragon Soul matching the Elemental Rift. The Elder Dragon then spawns after a single team gains a Dragon Soul. It means only one team can have it. Dragon Souls are also permanent, meaning they’ll remain even if you die in-game.

Now, the benefits of a Dragon Soul change depending on the Drake.

Infernal Soul

Every three seconds, your next attack or ability on an enemy target creates a small but noticeable explosion, dealing damage (90 + 0.25 AD, +0.15 AP, +0.03 bonus HP) to that target and anyone within proximity.

Mountain Soul

After not taking damage for five seconds, you’ll gain a shield (225 + 0.2 bonus AD, +0.15 AP, +0.15 bonus HP).

Ocean Soul

Dealing damage to an enemy target heals you (180 + 0.4 bonus AD, +0.25 AP, +0.1 bonus HP) and restore a bit of mana (90 +0.04 maximum mana) over a three-second duration. If you hit a minion or monster, however, you still gain the regeneration bonus, but it’ll be just 30% as effective.

Cloud Soul

You’ll passively gain 10% increased movement speed. Finally, upon casting your ultimate, you’ll gain an additional 30% for a three-second duration (30-second cooldown).

Elemental Drake Buffs

Riot is also updating each Drake buff to make them a bit more equal in power.

Infernal buff

Infernal Drake will now be a bit less potent (damage bonus is going down from +10/17/24% AD and AP to +5/10/15/20% AD and AP).

Mountain buff

This buff no longers grants bonus true damage to epic monsters and turrets. Instead, it grants +8/16/24/32% armor and magic resist.

Ocean buff

Riot is both nerfing and buffing this one at the same time. It will no longer regenerate mana but will be active in combat as well. Going forward, you’ll regenerate 5/10/15/20% of missing HP per 5 seconds, instead of 6/9/12% of missing health and mana.

Cloud buff

This buff no longer grants bonus movement speed. Instead, you’ll gain 10/20/30/40% bonus ultimate cooldown reduction (ignoring the CDR cap).

Finally, and this is an important one, the first three drakes will always be three unique elements. Every subsequent Drake will remain the same type as the third one. The first Drake will spawn at the 5:00 minute mark and respawn every additional five minutes until one team has four drakes.

Because Drake buffs are a bit weaker, Riot is also nerfing the first two drakes health-wise.

Elder Dragon

League of Legends patch 9.23 brings huge changes to the Elder Dragon. Riot is changing the benefits it provides and is re-making it into an objective that can reward teams regardless if they’re ahead or behind.

So, most things you knew about the buff are getting removed:

Instead, we’re getting a brand-new mechanic — an execute. Riot wants to make the Elder Dragon into a game-ending buff that has a huge impact. Going forward, if you get the Elder buff, you can execute any enemy at less than 20% health. This works through invulnerability effects like Zhonya’s Hourglass and even Kindred’s ultimate “Lamb’s Respite.”

If you’re scratching your head thinking this sounds overpowered, you’re probably right.

Finally, the duration of the Elder Dragon buff is going up from 150 seconds to 180 seconds. You’ll lose the buff automatically upon dying. The Elder Dragon now spawns six minutes after a team kills their fourth Elemental Drake, and then respawn in six more minutes.

Baron Buff

Much like Elder, the Baron buff lasts for 180 seconds instead of 210. With this change, the buff should still be just as impactful as before, but it’ll also grant the defending team a bit of leeway as they’ll have to defend for a shorter duration.

Top Lane Influence

Because Drakes skyrocketed in importance, Riot is making the Rift Herald spawn a bit earlier and will allow her to respawn as well so that teams don’t over-prioritize the bottom lane (any more than they currently do). The Rift Herald is still a potent tool when used correctly, and this one change should make the map a bit more even. That’s the goal, at least.

Minion XP Gain

Going forward, solo laners will level about 2% faster than before, whereas bottom laners will level about 2% slower. Riot wants to even out the influence top and bottom laners have on the game, seeing how top lane feels too much like an island at this point.

Jungle Pacing

Riot wants to make junglers prioritize farming rather than merely clearing camps in between ganks. To do this, they are removing existing XP catch-up mechanics and are making camps respawn sooner (from 150 seconds to 120 seconds). This simple change will grant junglers a lot more income.

Riot is also reducing the amount of gold and experience each camp provides to make sure that junglers can’t simply take over the game.

These are fascinating changes. They could seriously impact the gameplay. We could see new jungle picks rise in popularity and viability. Different paths and camp clear will also be possible, which means the ways junglers impact the map will change. We still don’t know if we’re talking about severe, game-wide changes or slightly nuanced adjustments. Still, these are exciting times if you’re yearning for huge, sweeping changes to the game.

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is releasing a couple of new skins. This time around, we’re getting just two (plus a Prestige Edition variant) — Pulsefire Thresh and Victorious Aatrox! The latter is the main part of this year’s ranked rewards, so if you finished the season in gold or higher you’re eligible to receive it.

Finally, there’s a lot more information to go over with League of Legends patch 9.23. If you’re looking for the nitty-gritty, you can click here to go over the patch more officially. Only time will tell how impactful these changes will pan out to be, but it’s fair to say that we could be in for a huge shift in the gameplay.

Hopefully, it’s in a positive direction.