Two weeks have passed, which means we have yet another set of changes to break down, this time it’s League of Legends patch 9.6! There are a lot of changes to go over, most of them aren’t earth-shattering, but there are a couple that could heavily impact professional play.

Fortunately, Riot decided to hit a couple of big names this patch, so your solo queue adventures should be a bit more enjoyable going forward.

With that out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!

Champion Changes

Buffs

League of Legends patch 9.6 doesn’t bring any huge buff per se, but there are a lot of smaller nuanced quality-of-life improvements that could potentially push some of these champions back into the limelight.

Neeko

Seeing how the recent mid-patch nerfs hit her a bit too hard, Riot is increasing Neeko’s attack speed growth from 1.5% to 2.5%

Ornn

After numerous nerfs, Ornn went from being a potent lane bully to a victim. To compensate, Riot is decreasing the cooldown on his W “Bellows Breath” from 12 seconds at all ranks to 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds. Not exactly mind-blowing, but it should be a noticeable buff regardless.

There are also a couple of smaller changes and bug fixes to his passive “Living Forge” and Q “Volcanic Rupture.”

Urgot

Riot came down hard on Urgot a couple of patches ago and with good reason. He was simply running rampant in both solo queue and professional play. This time around, in an effort to balance things out, they’re shipping a couple of changes and buffs.

His base mana is going up from 300 to 340 along with his base mana regen growth — from 0.6 to 0.8. Furthermore, his passive “Echoing Flames” will no longer deal 10% reduced damage to enemies you’ve hit in the last five seconds.

This is where things get interesting. His W “Purge” will no longer shield Urgot, but will instead become a toggle ability at max rank. Its mana cost is going down from 65 mana to 40/30/20/10/0 along with its cooldown — from 17/15/13/11/9 to 12/9/6/3/0 seconds. You’ll basically be able to use it free of charge when maxed out. To balance things out a bit, its on-hit damage reduction is going down from 66% to 50%.

His shield will still remain a part of his kit, albeit on his E “Disdain.” Starting with patch 9.6 onwards, his E will shield him for 60/80/100/120/140 (+1.5 bonus AD)(+15% bonus HP) for four seconds, and its damage is going up (from 60/100/140/180/220 + 0.5 total AD to 90/120/150/180/210 +1 bonus AD). Finally, the cooldown is getting adjusted — from 16/15/14/13/12 seconds to 14 at all ranks.

To balance things out, the mana cost will go up from 50 mana to 50/60/70/80/90.

Lastly, Urgot’s ultimate “Fear Beyond Death” is getting a huge buff when it comes to sight range — from 1600 to 2500, its cast time is going up from 0.4 to 0.5 seconds, and the damage it deals is also getting an increase — from 50/175/300 (+0.5 total AD) to 125/250/375 (+0.5 total AD).

Not too shabby.

Caitlyn

The damage on Caitlyn’s ultimate “Ace in the Hole” is going up from 250/475/700 to 300/525/750. This isn’t a mind-blowing buff, but it will be noticeable, especially in the early game.

Gnar

The cooldown on Gnar’s W “Wallop” is going down from 15/13/11/9/7 seconds to 7 seconds at all ranks.

Hecarim

Hecarim’s Q “Rampage” will deal an additional 10% bonus damage per stack of Rampage.

Ivern

Entering a brush will now empower Ivern’s attacks a lot quicker. A small quality-of-life change but a noticeable one.

Nautilus

Riot is increasing Nautilus’ base armor (from 35.5 to 39) but also the per-target cooldown on his passive “Staggering Blow.” In other words, you’ll be able to apply CC through your passive more frequently which should, in turn, make Nautilus’ early game a lot stronger — along with his jungle clear.

Shen

A short damage increase on his Q “Twilight Assault” — from 5/10/15/20/25/30 (levels 1/4/7/10/13/16) to 10/16/22/28/34/40 (levels 1/4/7/10/13/16).

Trundle

Riot is shipping an early game-oriented buff to his W “Frozen Domain” — from 20/40/60/80/100% to 30/47.5/65/82.5/100%.

Xayah

Xayah is receiving a noticeable W “Deadly Plumage” attack speed buff — from 30/35/40/45/50% to 40/47.5/55/62.5/70%.

Nerfs

As for the nerfs, however, things get a lot more interesting. Riot is hitting multiple competitive mainstays, so expect a shift in the meta sooner rather than later.

Kayle

The latest champion update made Kayle a bit too strong. It’s no wonder Riot decided to scale her back a bit.

First up, her base stats are getting hit — attack damage growth will go down from 3 to 2.5, along with her attack speed growth (from 2 to 1.5). Also, her default adaptive choice will no longer be Ability Power but instead Attack Damage.

The bonus movement speed ratio on her W “Celestial Blessing” will go down (from +10% per 100 AP to +8% per 100 AP), and will now apply its effect on cast.

Finally, the cast time on her E “Starfire Spellblade” will now be identical to her basic attack windup instead of having a 0.25 second delay.

LeBlanc

LeBlanc currently has a bit too much burst on her Q “Sigil of Malice,” so Riot’s decreasing its AP ratio from 0.4 to 0.3. Not a lot, but any LeBlanc nerf is a highly welcomed one.

Rek’Sai

Rek’Sai quickly rose in competitive play because of her versatility, and Riot is looking to bring her back down to earth. They’re increasing the cooldown on her ultimate “Void Rush” (from 100/80/60 seconds to 100/90/80), but also its bonus AD ratio — from +2.0 to +1.75.

Sylas

Riot is dialing back Sylas’ W “Kingslayer” and its potent heal. Going forward, its heal ratio will be 0.4 Ability Power instead of 0.45, and the empowered heal amount is going from 200% when Sylas is below 40% to 175%.

Zoe

Solo queue players rejoice! The cooldown on Zoe’s E “Sleepy Trouble Bubble” is getting increased from 16/15/14/13/12 seconds to 20/18.5/17/15.5/14. Furthermore, it’ll be slowing for 10/15/20/25/30% instead of 10/20/30/40/50%.

Laning against Zoe should be a lot more bearable going forward.

Jayce

Riot is looking to decrease Jayce’s oppressiveness in lane, so they’re reducing various stats — health (from 576 to 560), base health growth (from 95 to 90), base health regen (from 7.5 to 6), and base health regen growth (from 0.8 to 0.6).

These changes should make him a bit more vulnerable early. At least we can hope.

Item Changes

Tear of the Goddess Line

Starting with League of Legends patch 9.6, you’ll no longer be able to buy a secondary Tear-based item if you already own one. This is a direct nerf to Ezreal seeing how he quickly rose to prominence in competitive play with his double Tear build.

Brawler’s Gloves

The critical strike amount that the item provides will no longer be unique, so you’ll be able to stack multiple instances.

Rune Changes

Minion Dematerializer

This rune has been a staple pick in competitive play due to its ability to manipulate minion waves. To counteract this, Riot is decreasing the number of charges it provides (from 6 to 3), but they’re increasing its base damage bonus (from 4% to 6%), the additional damage bonus (from 1% to 3%), along with its starting cooldown (from 240 seconds to 180 seconds).

Overheal

Overheal became a must-pick for multiple AD carries in the game. Having such a predetermined set path eliminates freedom of choice, so Riot is nerfing Overheal in an attempt to make it less of a mandatory pick.

They’re decreasing its effectiveness early on (from 40-100% of excess healing into shielding to 20-100%) which should, in theory, make it a lot less potent.

Bounty Changes

Riot is rolling out some huge changes to how the bounty system works. These are highly welcomed adjustments and if you’re into in-depth math and explanations, make sure to go over the screenshot below for more information:

Ranked Changes

After a ton of fan clamoring, Riot decided to remove position ranks from the North American and Korean servers. They’ll also be doing a partial reset of the ranked ladder from Diamond and above.

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

As with every new patch, Riot is shipping a couple of exceptional new skins. This time we have six!

Corgi Corki, Fuzz Fizz, Meowrick, Pretty Kitty Rengar

Fuzz Fizz Prestige Edition

There are also accompanying chromas for Pretty Kitty Rengar, Corgi Corki, and Meowrick.

That’s it for our League of Legends patch 9.6 breakdown! If you want to go over the notes in a more official manner, you can click here to go over to Riot’s official website.