It’s all about adjustments in the Riot Games offices, with the flavor of League of Legends Patch 13.16 trending toward that topic: more Caitlyn buffs, a shock Naafiri backflip, and a move to strike down Duskblade of Draktharr after its power slowly began bleeding into unexpected places.
This League update, which marks three until the Worlds patch, includes 10 buffs and five nerfs for characters, as well as another half-dozen item changes.
As I mentioned before, there’s one distinct flavor I’m keeping my eye on: reversions. Riot balance boss Matt Leung-Harrison admitted the team “overnerfed” a few specific champions in the last patches and several of those mis-hit picks will now be getting a doling of strength back. Alongside those reversals, the devs are heaping more nerfs on new champ Naafiri after saying otherwise.
Outside balance changes, Riot is also bringing back the famed Immortal Journey universe with six more skins, but that isn’t all roses either–I, among many, have been shocked by their choice to drop the unique titles there.
Before those details though, we have to date our calendars.
When will League Patch 13.16 go live?
The countdown to the next August update is on, with less than two weeks until we get our hands on the next round of changes. Complete with nearly two dozen changes across League’s champion roster and item catalog, League Patch 13.16 will be deployed live on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
The first update in August will start staging in Australia–where I’m playing from–around 10am AEST before rolling out on major League servers throughout the day.
Here are all the key patching times:
- 3am PT (NA)
- 5am GMT (EU West)
- 3am CET (EU North East)
- 8am KR (Korea)
And here’s a ticking countdown for all you visual learners:
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Expect several hours of server downtime once the patch begins staging. Matchmaking will be disabled across all League queues three hours before the update is officially set live.
What’s in League Patch 13.16?
More Naafiri nerfs despite Riot promise
Last cycle the Riot developers suggested Naafiri had suffered enough nerfs for the time being after being whacked a fair few times post-release. That turned out to be not quite true, however, with League’s newest hound getting blasted with more reductions in this August update, at least in the PBE testing phase.
Extra headshot power for Caitlyn
Text.
Duskblade makes power picks way too strong
Riot will also be ripping some strength out of the Duskblade of Draktharr to indirectly nerf non-assassins like Illaoi, Aatrox, and Yorick, all of whom have been helping themselves to the AD item’s power recently.
“We’re bringing down its power,” Leung-Harrison explained, “and bringing up some of the other weaker items in the assassin system [to make up for it].”
Related: League Arena tier list: Best champs for 2v2v2v2 mode
The items getting buffed because of Duskblade’s nerfs include Axiom Arc, Serpent’s Fang, Prowler’s Claw, and Umbral Glaive.
Immortal Journey skins become uniform
Riot has returned to another of League’s parallel universes this update, adding another seven skins to the old Immortal Journey skin line, including variants for Kayle, Shyvana, Sona (who is also getting a fancy Prestige skin version in the Mythic Shop this update), Soraka, Zeri, and Zed.
I bet you remember that, before these skins, the Immortal line had unique titles like God Fist, Majestic Empress, and Valiant Sword, though the devs haven’t done that this time–a pretty disappointing choice, I think.
Here are all the skins coming this patch:
- Immortal Journey Kayle (1,350 RP)
- Immortal Journey Shyvana (1,350 RP)
- Immortal Journey Sona (1,350 RP)
- Prestige Immortal Journey Sona (125 Mythic Essence)
- Immortal Journey Soraka (1,820 RP)
- Immortal Journey Zed (1,350 RP)
- Immortal Journey Zeri (1,350 RP)
These skins will go live during the Patch 13.16 cycle.
I’ve put together all the early League patch notes for the August 16 update below. Remember, until Riot releases the official notes, any of these buffs, nerfs, and changes are still very much tentative and we could see them pulled at any time.
League Patch 13.16 patch notes
Champions
Caitlyn
- Number of stacks needed to Headshot reduced from six to five.
- Critical strike ratio formula changed from (1.25 x (0.875 plus 50 percent bonus crit damage) x 130 percent crit chance) to (62.5 percent total crit damage x 130 percent total crit chance).
Milio
- Q base damage changed from 90-270 to 80-342, damage ability power ratio increased from 90 to 120 percent ability power.
- E base shield increased from 60-140 to 60-160.
Naafiri
- Base attack damage reduced from 57 to 55.
- Base armor reduced from 32 to 30.
- Base attack speed reduced from 0.688 to 0.663.
Nunu
- Fixed: On release of the Snowball, no longer incorrectly checks for collision at a stored location from a previous cast if the previous cast’s channel was cancelled by either being rooted or rolling the snowball into terrain with an enemy target nearby, leading to the effect disappearing in Nunu’s field of view and affecting targets in a very different location.
Rek’Sai
- Q attack damage radtio changed from 50 percent bonus attack damage at all ranks to 34-50 percent total attack damage.
- Removed: Q no longer has a base damage of 21-45.
Shyvana
- W base damage per tick reduced from 10-35 to 10-30, bonus attack damage ratio per tick reduced from 15 to 10 percent bonus attack damage, on-hit damage changed from 50 percent of W damage per tick to 5-13 (plus five percent bonus attack damage).
Tristana
- Base health reduced from 670 to 640.
- Base armor reduced from 36 to 30.
- Armor growth increased from 4.2 to 4.5
- Base magic resistance reduced from 30 to 28.
Lucian
- To be confirmed…
Lulu
- Health per level increased from 88 to 92.
- Q ability power ratio increased from 40 to 50 percent.
- E ability power ratio increased from 40 to 50 percent.
Karma
- Q ability power increased from 40 to 50 percent.
- R-Q explosion ability power ratio increased from 60 to 70 percent.
- R cooldown reduced from 40-34 to 40-31 seconds.
Wukong
- Mana per level increased from 0.65 to 0.8.
- Q mana cost reduced from 40 to 20.
- W mana cost reduced from 80-40 to 60-40.
Brand
- Passive mana restore increased from 20-40 to 30-50 (based on levels 1-18).
- Q ability power ratio increased from 55 to 65 percent.
- E ability power ratio increased from 45 to 50 percent.
Akali
- W damage increased from 40-140 to 45-145, energy cost reduced from 130-70 to 110-70.
Ekko
- Q outgoing damage increased from 60-120 to 70-130, slow increased from 32-60 to 40-60 percent.
- W shield increased from 70-150 to 100-180.
Sylas
- Base mana increased from 310 to 400.
Shaco
- Base mana regeneration reduced from 7.15 to six.
- W mana cost increased from 50-70 to 70 flat.
Items
Axiom Arc
- Base ultimate cooldown refund increased from five to 10 percent.
Duskblade of Draktharr
- Cooldown increased from 10 to 30 seconds.
- Nightstalker bonus damage reduced from 0-20 to 0-18 percent (based on target’s missing health).
Serpent’s Fang
- Lethality increased from 12 to 15.
Prowler’s Claw
- Cooldown reduced from 10 to five seconds.
- Bonus attack damage ratio increased from 45/30 percent (melee/ranged) to 55/35 percent (melee/ranged).
Umbral Glaive
- Lethality increased from 10 to 13.
Runes
- No changes this update.
Systems
- No changes this update.
General Changes
- Coming soon…
Skins
- Immortal Journey Kayle
- Immortal Journey Shyvana
- Immortal Journey Sona
- Immortal Journey Soraka
- Immortal Journey Zed
- Immortal Journey Zeri
- Prestige Immortal Journey Sona
Bugfixes
- Coming soon…
Update Aug. 9, 7.24pm CT: Rounded out all confirmed changes from League PBE testing realm (excluding Lucian changes).
Update Aug. 9, 1.31am CT: Added leaks from League PBE.
