Two weeks have passed, which means we have yet another patch on our hands to break down — this time it’s League of Legends patch 9.5! This isn’t a monumental patch by any means, but it’s still a highly welcomed one.

The changes shipping this time around are mostly smaller, nuanced champion buffs and nerfs, but they should slightly alter the meta, at least when it comes to casual play. Certain champions will surely rise in priority — picks like Dr. Mundo, Skarner, and Vi. The smaller buffs to Akali should also propel her back into the spotlight, although it’s still too early to know for sure.

Regardless, let’s focus on the many changes shipping with League of Legends patch 9.5!

Champion Releases

Riot is releasing an update to Kayle and Morgana. While the latter only received a noticeable visual update (and two smaller ability buffs), the former had multiple abilities changed. If you want to learn more about the Kayle rework, you can check out our champion breakdown here.

Buffs

There are many buffs shipping with patch 9.5, although none of them are huge or highly impactful.

Akali

Akali was nerfed a bit too hard back in patch 9.3, so Riot is cautiously buffing her back up. She’s a hard champion to balance, but at least Riot has taken a slow and methodical approach that should yield positive results sooner rather than later.

Most notably, her ultimate “Perfect Execution” is getting a shorter cooldown — from 120/100/80 seconds to 100/85/70.

Rakan

The nerfs to Rakan’s W “Grand Entrance” back in patch 9.2 left him in a pretty sad state. He was still playable, but parts of his core identity were no longer present.

To counteract this, Riot is rolling back the initial nerf, although not by a lot. The damage on his W will go up (from 70/115/160/205/250 +0.7 ability power to 70/120/170/220/270 +0.7 ability power) and its dash speed will be a constant 1500 across all levels, instead of 1400/1445/1480.

Skarner

The radius on Skarner’s passive “Crystal Spires” is going up from 1150 to 1600. This buff will allow players to switch up their jungle pathing considering how their shrines will now be in range of both Raptors and Krugs. The spires themselves are also getting removed from the mini-map, making counter-jungling a bit trickier.

Neeko

Neeko is receiving a buff to her E “Tangle-Barbs.” The conditions of landing her root were a bit too complex, so Riot is simplifying them in order to make the ability more consistent.

Going forward, it will root the first enemy hit for 0.7/0.9/1.1/1.3/1.5 seconds, and all other targets afterward for 1.8/2.1/2.4/2.7/3 seconds.

Vi

Riot wants to push Vi back into viability, so they’re buffing multiple aspects of her kit. The shield ratio of her passive “Blast Shield” is going up (from 10% max HP to 15% max HP), but its cooldown will be a bit longer — from 12-8 seconds (levels 1-9) to 16-12 seconds (levels 1-9).

Her Q “Vault Breaker” will now have a slightly lower bonus AD ratio (from 1.6 to 1.4), but it will be dealing full damage to non-champions. The attack speed of her W “Denting Blows” is also rising (from 30/35/40/45/50% to 30/37.5/45/52.5/60%) and every time it procs it will reduce the cooldown of her passive by three seconds.

Her E “Excessive Force” now has slightly tweaked damage ratios (from 1.15 total AD and 0.7 AP to 1.1 total AD and 0.9 AP), and the damage cones can now critically strike.

Finally, her ultimate “Assault and Battery” will have a slightly longer cooldown (from 110/85/60 seconds to 120/100/80), but it’ll do more damage (from 150/300/450 +1.4 bonus AD to 150/325/500 +1.1 bonus AD). It will no longer deal 25% reduced damage to secondary targets, but all enemies that Vi passes through once she casts her ultimate will be knocked back further— from 250 range over 0.25 seconds to 350 range over 0.75 seconds.

To balance these buffs out a bit, Riot is decreasing her base attack speed growth from 2.5% to 2%, in an attempt to contain her jungle clear speeds.

Cho’Gath

Riot is shipping a buff to Cho’Gath’s E “Vorpal Strikes.” Its damage will go from 20/30/40/50/60 to 22/34/46/58/70. Hopefully, this doesn’t push him back into competitive play seeing how no one really wants to see tanks back in the meta.

Dr. Mundo

Dr. Mundo is receiving a noticeable buff to his E “Masochism.” Its magic resistance will go from 2% per stack (to a maximum of 6/12/18/24/30%) to 3% per stack, maxing out at 6/15/24/33/42%. That’s an incredible amount of magic resist, and if you’re playing against a magic damage-heavy team comp, you’ll basically be unkillable.

As if taking Mundo down wasn’t already semi-impossible.

Gangplank

Gangplank is getting two buffs, one to his E “Powder Keg” and the other to his ultimate — “Cannon Barrage.” His kegs will deal more damage to enemy champions (from 60/90/120/150/180 to 80/105/130/155/180), and his ultimate will deal more damage per wave (from 35/60/85 +0.1 AP) which will also increase its maximum damage dealt — from 420/720/1020 +1.2 AP to 480/840/1200 +1.2 AP.

Fighting against a skilled Gangplank that can chain multiple kegs in a row will be trickier than ever.

Graves

Riot is increasing Graves’ base attack damage — from 63 to 66. While it might not seem like much, it should help his jungle clear speeds seeing how he was indirectly hit by the recent Stormrazor changes.

Jhin

A smaller buff to Jhin’s Q “Dancing Grenade” should give him a bit of power that he’s currently lacking. It will now deal 0.45/0.525/0.6/0.675/0.75 total attack damage instead of 0.4/0.475/0.55/0.625/0.7.

Tryndamere

Here’s a champion we haven’t seen in the patch notes in what feels like an eternity. He’s been in a good spot overall — not viable, but a pocket niche pick that’s perfectly playable. When played properly (and he has an advantage) the champion is downright unstoppable.

With patch 9.5 and onwards, the crit chance cap per fury on his passive “Battle Fury” will be 35/40/45/50% at levels 1/6/11/16 instead of just 35%. A noticeable buff, and a surprising one seeing how no one was really asking for it. Regardless, if you’re a Tryndamere main you’re surely not complaining.

Sylas

The healing effect of Sylas’ W “Kingslayer” is getting increased early on, but it’ll be less effective once maxed out. After patch 9.5, it’ll heal for 60/80/100/120/140 +0.45 AP instead of 50/80/110/140/170 +0.35 AP.

Nerfs

Nunu & Willump

Riot wants to make Nunu & Willump a bit less durable in the early game, so they’re decreasing the champion’s base health (from 590 to 570) along with the heal amount on their Q “Consume” — from 75/120/165/210/255 to 75/110/145/180/215.

Yorick

The recent changes to Yorick’s ultimate made him far too oppressive. To counteract this, Riot is nerfing the damage done by the Maiden of the Mist from 10/20/40 +0.5 of Yorick’s total AD to 0/10/40 + 0.5 of Yorick’s total AD.

The mark damage on his ultimate is also getting a decrease — from 5/7.5/10% of target’s maximum HP to 3/6/9%.

Item Changes

Relic Shield Line

Riot wants to dial back the potency of the healing Relic Shield provides, so they’re nerfing all three items — Relic Shield, Targon’s Brace, and Remnant of the Aspect.

These changes could, in theory, usher in a different meta in the bottom lane — one that’s more forgiving to Spellthief’s Edge and Ancient Coin users. This holds especially true for competitive play.

Stormrazor

With League of Legends patch 9.5, Stormrazor will provide 5 more Attack Damage (from 55 to 60), and 5% more attack speed (from 25% to 30%).

Rune Changes

Aftershock

Riot is decreasing Aftershock’s resist duration from 3 seconds to 2.5. This is a highly welcomed nerf considering Aftershock is far too strong at the moment, especially when used by certain meta champions like Lissandra.

Conqueror

Conqueror was still far too strong even after the patch 9.4 changes, so Riot is shipping another set of nerfs. Hopefully, these adjustments will make the rune more balanced.

Cut Down

Riot wants to make Cut Down a bit more competitive with Last Stand and Coup de Grace, so they’re buffing its bonus damage from 4-10% to 5-12%.

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is releasing two fantastic skins along with accompanying chromas.

K/DA Ahri Prestige Edition

Arclight Brand

They’re also releasing chromas for Blackthorn Morgana along with Viridian Kayle.

That’s it for our League of Legends patch 9.5 breakdown! If you want to go over the patch in a more official manner, make sure to go down to Riot’s official webpage.