2/24 PBE Tentative Balance Changes

(Not sure if this is a big buff....but a buff is a buff) Devastating Charge (E) Movement speed back to being multiplicative from additive. knock back distance also now scales based on how far Hecarim has traveled during E.

(Aye, Riot finally notice Jarvan) Dragon Strike (Q) mana cost reduced to 40/45/50/55/60 from 45/50/55/60/65 Cataclysm (R) Mana cost reduced to 100 at all ranks from 100/125/150 Now does damage to all enemies in the circle instead of only target. Now plants a flag he can Q to in the middle of the circle.

(Let's pay our respect to Pantheon before Riot kicks him into a well.) Heartseeker Strike (E) Active damage over 3 strikes lowered to 80/130/180/230/280 (+3 bonus AD) from 80/140/220/260/320 (+3.6 bonus AD) Grand Skyfall (R) Mana cost reduced to 100 at all ranks from 125. No longer refunds (85) mana if R is cancelled. Cooldown when cancelled increased to 30 seconds from 10 seconds. Grand Skyfall (R) Mana cost reduced to 100 at all ranks from 125. No longer refunds (85) mana if R is cancelled. Cooldown when cancelled increased to 30 seconds from 10 seconds.

(This buff is pretty decent) Slice and Dice (E) - both Slice and Dice now generate fury, rather than just Dice E1 (Slice) now generates 2 fury for each non champion hit and 10 fury for each champion hit, up to a maximum of 30 fury. E2 (Dice) fury generation reduced to 2 for non-champion hits down from 2.5 Health bonus changed to 250/500/750 from 200/400/800 Now gains 25 range while R is on (doesn't stack with W)

(Uh, why is Soraka getting buffed again.) Mana cost reduced to 60 at all ranks from 70/75/80/85/90 Cooldown lowered to 5 seconds from 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds. All enemies hit are slowed rather than only those in center. Enemies in center no longer take 50% extra damage. [NEW MECHANIC] "If Starcall damages a champion, Soraka gains Alignment for 4 seconds, which restores up to 10-22 (+10% AP) health per second and grants 15% movement speed when not moving toward enemy champions." Updated tooltip: "Calls down a star from Soraka to a target location. Enemies standing in the explosion radius take 70/110/150/190/230 (+.35 ) magic damage and are slowed by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2 seconds. If Starcall damages a champion Soraka gains Alignment for 4 seconds, which restores 10/13/16/19/22 (+ 10% AP) health per second and grants 15% movement speed when not moving toward enemy champions." Heal value lowered to 80/110/140/170/200 from 120/150/180/210/240 [REMOVED] No longer heals Soraka on champion Q hit. [NEW MECHANIC] "If cast while affected by Alignment, Soraka will grant her target its benefits for 3 seconds". Updated tooltip: "Restores 80/110/140/170/200 (+.6 AP ) health to another champion ally. If cast while affected by Alignment, Soraka will grant her target its benefits for 3 seconds. Cannot be cast if Soraka is below 5% health."

(Urgot Buff? Did you say Urgot Buff? Urgot Buff....URGOT BUFF....URGOT BUFF!) Base damage increased to 54.05 from 52.05 Terror Capacitor (W) Duration down to 5 seconds from 7 seconds. Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser (R) now terrifies nearby enemies for 1.5 seconds after swapping!

(Not the best Vi buff but okay) Excessive Force (E) mana cost reduced to 40/45/50/55/60 from 60 at all ranks.

(Great...they're removing his AS Steroid passive....just great...) Attack speed growth increased to 3 from 1.5 Caustic Spittle (Q) Armor and Magic resist reduction increased to 20/25/30/35/40% from 12/16/20/24/28% Mana cost reduced to 40 at all ranks from 60 Bio-Arcane Barrage (W) No longer grants passive 15/20/25/30/35/40% attack speed. Now also deals 5/10/15/20/25 flat magic damage while active. Living Artillery (R) Duration between subsequent shots lowered to 6 from 10.

(GJ Riot, here's a doggy treat) Flail of the Northern Winds (W) ["AA reset for her W updated so it feels less clunky"] Permafrost (E) can now also be used on enemies slowed by allies! Glacial Prison (R) [has a new range indicator that includes explosion radius.]

Total cost lowered to 2700g from 2900g. Combine cost reduced to 1180g from 1380g. Now notes restores greater of 700 HP or 30% of maximum health rather than just 30% max hp.

My thoughts: The buffs to Hecarim (Riot redeem themselves after the gutting of Hecarim's passive), Jarvan (I'd say Jarvan is fine right now in the meta), Renekton (It's okay, I guess.), Urgot (Mmm, going to love that new fear if it comes to the live servers), Vi (She has been under the gun during Pre-Season due to Mundo, Kindred, and Elise running around, can't wait to see Vi become a good pick again in S6), and Sejuani (The auto-attack reset should help her clear faster and the new E should help Sej in ganks) are pretty decent in my opinion. However for the Soraka buff (No...just....no), Kog Maw nerf (They should have just lowered the Attack speed value), and Pantheon nerf (I don't know why Riot is gutting Pantheon's kit, the only reason why Panth is strong is because of these items ), I would like to say "Fuck you Riot!"

What are your thoughts on these changes? [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]