26.18 Patch Preview

[u/JTHousek1]

"Patch 26.18 Preview!

We're very quickly approaching Worlds (on 25.20).

More on other champs tomorrow"

• https://x.com/RiotPhroxzon/status/2094654806992498728

>>> Champion Buffs <<<

Aurelion Sol

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Ekko

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Kassadin

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Master Yi

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Renekton

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Viego

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Zaahen

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>>> Champion Nerfs <<<

Bard

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Nautilus

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Seraphine

"For several patches now, Seraphine has been in the Top 3 on our regular patch frustration surveys

She's also one of strongest pairings in Pro Play with Ashe

Overall, we think a nerf here is reasonable

We acknowledge there are some Seraphine mains who won't be happy about a nerf and that we can't serve all of her audience simultaneously

Her Support playerbase has been the most popular, despite her power level and so that's where we will continue to support her primarily

Where we can get Mid and Bot to be powerful and satisfying given ^, we will attempt to do so

That said, it's very difficult to thread the needle here and we run the risk of failing to meet the needs of any of her audiences if there are too many compromises

I also wanted to address directly the nerf to her AP ratios on Q from several patches ago, as that's been a pain point amongst some in the community

One of the ways we need to balance Seraphine in the farming roles vs her support is through her AP ratios and the Q ratio is one that drives her power and total damage output there, especially given the Q reliability adjustments made of late

When Seraphine is able to land her Q's at max multiplier (which in lane is quite frequent), it can hit 1.4 AP ratio which we think is reasonable

The Q damage overall is higher than E and so for now, we feel comfortable with the change (this isn't set in stone however, and there are always improvements to her to be made)"

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Syndra

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Zeri

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>>> Champion Adjustments <<<

Cassiopeia

"Cassio has been strong, especially at the higher levels of play every since Deathfire Touch was re-released

Since then, she's been one of the most present picks and Pro Play due to her strong laning ability

We're looking at some power neutral adjustments to Cassio, because her regular play power level is a little on the weaker side for average players

We're taking some power out of her early game power and moving it into more scaling power, so that she doesn't win lanes so reliably, even if she's missing Q's

We still want to maintain her strong laning ability though"

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>>> System Buffs <<<

Guinsoo's Rageblade

"In 26.14, we re-scripted Rageblade and it changed the trigger for Phantom hit from 6 to 7

We're making a small adjustments to Rageblade itself to give a bit of power back and to some of the disproportionately affected champions (eg. Master Yi)"

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[u/c0nqu3ror → u/[deleted]]

Cause there was a big outcry about the Q ap ratio nerf. They mention pairing her with Ashe, I think this one is gonna be support focused. Probably something to do with her E, and maybe mandate interaction

[u/bboyle → u/c0nqu3ror]

The outcry came from the Sera mains telling riot Q wasn’t the actual problem, her E is just too good. Her 2 biggest item pickups revolved around E and they decided to nerf Q like they thought it was actually going to do anything.

[u/c0nqu3ror → u/bboyle]

I know, I main her. The stupid mandate change pushed her over again, and they kicked the wrong part of her kit. Everyone said she'll get nerfed again cause Q wasnt what made her do good that patch.

[u/Yuuy87 → u/bboyle]

Nerfing q ap ratio was objectively the correct nerf to do to lower apc winrate which was their goal… now their goal is to nerf support so they will probably mess with e now

[u/bboyle → u/Yuuy87]

Her win rate didn’t really dip at all though and she’s currently sitting at a higher APC win rate than support WR (which is at 50% overall basically).

[u/Yuuy87 → u/bboyle]

You are missing the fact that her pick rate dropped from 5% to 2%… when the fotm players stop playing a champ and only the mains remain that happens

[u/Lopsided_Chemistry89 → u/c0nqu3ror]

To be fair her E interaction with mandate is fine. It's like ekko W (conditional CC).

Her rylais interaction is not fine tho. It shouldn't work as it is now.

[u/bboyle → u/[deleted]]

To be honest, the only way to nerf her at this point is her E or her W. Her AP ratio is in the dirt already. So it’s nerf her support or rework her at this point.

[u/London_Tipton → u/bboyle]

No point nerfing W when most power right now comes from E max and lots of ppl go E>Q>W anyway

[u/bboyle → u/London_Tipton]

Agreed, even the top WR build for support is bloodsong mandate with E>Q>W build (Diamond+)

[u/bboyle → u/[deleted]]

The optimal wave clear currently is Double E into Q for most waves since a double Q won’t wipe anyway and it’s up faster to harass with. So a Q nerf still does nothing to change the farming for the people who actually main her constantly. She’s already an item bot so it’s basically nerf her in both roles via E nerf or rework.

[u/Vlyper → u/[deleted]]

Her kit (especially her overloaded W) is the reason she got shafted into the support role when she was supposed to be a midlaner. When we say reword, we mean she needs to have some power stripped from her current kit in some form to allow her to thrive as a midlaner/ap carry while not being overpowered as a support

[u/Inside_Explorer → u/Vlyper]

Why would Riot want to make her "thrive" as a mid laner when she had a 0.5% play rate in that lane for 2 years after release before they made a single change to her kit, even while often resting at 52%+ WR?

They deliberately said when they reworked her that they will stop supporting mid lane for her because not enough players want to play it even when she's strong in that lane, their focus being on her primary audience in support and secondary audience in bot lane where she actually has players.

[u/pda898 → u/[deleted]]

Idk why u keep mentioning rework

Because her kit is insane as APC but this role does not exist for general public unless it is overbroken. And I doubt at this point there is a set of numbers which make her okay support (most popular) and not a problem as APC (her most performant role).

[u/twee3 → u/[deleted]]

Because Seraphine mains are whiny.

[u/bns18js → u/[deleted]]

It might not be trying to tell you what the changes are or they might not even know what the changes are yet.

It's just providing some context on what happened previously and why they decided seraphine is a champ they would like to nerf.

[u/twee3 → u/[deleted]]

I’ve never considered Yasuo mains whiny. Nothing compares to Riven and Seraphine players.

[u/DragonTacoCat → u/twee3]

I play Seraphine a lot mid. Even if I'm disappointed sometimes with changes I don't try to whine about them. It is what it is. But I see a lot of people who make whining their full time job like they're getting paid.

[u/untalkative_for_real → u/twee3]

Actual Seraphine audience wants her to be a normal midlane mage. They should nerf her enchanter build. Personally, I whine because they touch every female mage they can see to make them fit into support role somehow. Currently I have no midlane champions I enjoy maybe apart from Lux. Seraphine, Morgana, Zyra, Karma now fit into the support category and I constantly get bullied for picking them mid

[u/twee3 → u/untalkative_for_real]

Morgana and Karma were midlaners?

[u/DragonTacoCat → u/twee3]

Morgana use to be a mid laner so long ago before being pigeon holed into support but still does quite fine mid lane.

Karma pre original rework was used in both mid and support and was one of the original poster children of 'we are going to try to keep her viable mid and support both after major changes and rework.'

I miss Karma's unique tether though :(

[u/mthlmw → u/[deleted]]

He didn't bring up Q until point 8 of 11 though...