The mage has always been an established character in League of Legends, or any MOBA, for that matter.
The glass cannons typically stay back in team engagements, and are often known as ‘poke champions’ when it comes to controlling lanes. With all that in mind, Riot wanted to redefine the mages that they currently have in play a little bit more.
The update targets Malzahar, Brand, Vladimir, Zyra, Vel’Koz, and Cassiopeia. Small adjustments are also coming to Annie, Swain, Fiddlesticks, Ziggs, Syndra, Xerath, Anivia, and Veigar.
Riot has given several of these champions upgraded or new passives, with the most prominent being Zyra. Her new Passive, Garden of Thorns, helps to keep control and (presumably) vision on the map. Seeds continue to spawn around Zyra passively, becoming faster with level and lasting a longer period of time. If a champion from the enemy team happens to step on the seed, it’ll die, but Zyra can cast Deadly Spine or Grasping roots near her seeds to plant extra.
On top of the new passives and updated abilities for the champions, Magical Items are also getting an adjustment.
Items getting updates are Tear of the Goddess, Chalice of Harmony, Hextech Revolver, Fiendish Codex, Hextech Gunblade, Archangel’s Staff, Morellonomicon, Athene’s Unholy Grail, Rod of Ages, Abyssal Scepter, and Zhonya’s Hourglass. There are four new items, Catalyst of Aeons, Lost Chapter, Hextech GLP-800, and Hextech Protobelt-01. One item will be getting removed from the game, Will of the Ancients.
One of the biggest changes coming to the game will effect how everyone plays with their team. For the first 35 minutes of the game, “Elemental Dragons” will now be spawning. These dragons give your team different buffs, and multiple elemental buffs will stack on each other. When you take down an elemental dragon, both sides will be aware of what kind if spawning next. There are four different dragons, which means four different buffs.
The Fire Dragon increases champion killing power, augmenting your dueling and team fighting abilities. The Earth Dragon increases turret and epic monster dragon, helping you to take over objectives. The Water Dragon increases your health and mana regeneration, making it easier to siege and poke the enemy team. Finally, the Air Dragon increases out of combat movement speed, allowing you to easily outmaneuver the enemy team.
After 35 minutes, The Elder Dragon will spawn on the map instead of an elemental dragon. “The Elder Dragon is far more difficult to kill than his elemental counterparts, but taking him out grants a powerful burn-over-time on spells and attacks and a buff that is stronger for each elemental stack you have.”
You can check out full patch notes on League of Legend’s website.