- Sion’s zombie passive damage to turrets and Hullbreaker meta will receive a large nerf
- Some other champions are to be nerfed in an effort to make team fights last longer
- Hecarim, Varus, Braum, and Tresh will be getting some slight buffs
League of Legends Patch 12.9 will see major nerfs affecting Sion’s damage to turrets, Master Yi’s ultimate, and more.
Sion and His Meta Are Getting a Massive Nerf
Thousands of League of Legends players have been at the wrong end of Sion mains’ attacks, suffering from a split-push. However, this may soon not be such a problem as Riot Games is nerfing the Undead Champion. This comes along with some other significant changes to other champions and items in LoL’s latest 12.9 update.
Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, Riot Game’s lead balance designer, explained Sion’s changes. Although simple, they will significantly diminish his zombie form’s structure damage from 100 percent to only 40 percent. This means that Sion players will not force opponents to use valuable time just to prevent them from smashing a turret down with their increased attack speed and bonus attack damage.
This playstyle was a problem because it was not too interactive since players would just throw themselves into a lane with the Hullbreaker split pushing item and busting down structures with the passive.
Speaking of the Hullbreaker, it’s getting a huge nerf too. Normally the item's passive lets champions deal extra auto-attack damage against all targets, as well as extra 20% bonus damage against structures. The new change is that champions will deal the bonus damage only on turrets.
What Other Champions Will Be Changed in 12.9?
Sion and his meat build are not the only changes to champions coming in the new patch. Some other characters will also receive nerfs, following Riot's attempts to rebalance damage in order to make team fights last longer. Here is a list of the champions being nerfed:
Rengar
- W – Battle Roar
Bonus Monster Damage: 85-150 –> 65-130
Master Yi
- R – Highlander
Bonus Attack Speed: 25-65% –> 25-45%
Nidalee
- Base Stats
Health: 570 –> 540
Ahri
- E – Charm
Cooldown: 12 –> 14
- R – Spirit Rush
Cooldown: 130-80 –> 140-90
Renata Glasc
- Base Stats
Armor: 29-27
- P – Leverage
Damage: 1-3.5% [lvl 1-13] (+1% per 100 AP) –> 1-2% [lvl 1-9] (+2% per 100 AP)
Sion
- P – Glory in Death
Zombie Structure Damage: 100% –> 40%
While the 12.9 patch will see many champions being negatively affected by changes, some are getting much needed buffs:
Hecarim
- Q – Rampage
base AD Ratio 85% –> 90%
- W – Spirit of Dread
Cooldown 18 –> 14
Varus
- P – Living Vengeance
Minion Attack Speed: 10/15/20 (+15% bonus Attack Speed) –> 10/15/20 (+20% bonus Attack Speed)
Champion Attack speed: 40% (+30% bonus Attack Speed) –> 40% (+40% bonus Attack Speed)
- W – Blighted Quiver
On-hit: 7-21 (+30%AP) –> 7-27 (+30%AP)
Braum
- P – Concussive Blows
Target cooldown: 8-6 –> 8-4 (level 1, 7, 13)
- E – Unbreakable
Damage Reduction: 30-40% –> 35-45%
Thresh
- P – Damnation
AP and AR per soul: 0.75 –> 1
- W – Dark Passage
Shield: 60-180 (+1 per Soul) –> 60-180 (+2 per Soul)
Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison also mentioned in a tweet that Renekton will be getting some adjustments to his scaling over time.
Finally, Riot will be making some minor adjustments to other champions, including Olaf, Taliyah (who will have a major ability rework), and Pyke.
The new patch is going to be released next week on May 11.
