Patch 7.21 notes

Azir

Q damage reduced at later ranks. Soldier damage reduced at later levels.

We’re happy seeing Azir succeed across a wider skill range than “only the best,” but now that everyone’s had time to acclimate to the Emperor’s new moves, it’s apparent his damage is a bit high.

Q - Conquering Sands

W - Arise!

Soldier damage unchanged from levels 1-5, reduced by 5 thereafter.

Ekko

Passive damage to monsters increased.

We’re okay with Ekko going jungle when he does so in a healthy way (read: as an assassin, not a tank). However, when we last changed his passive we made it a tad harder for AP Ekko to succeed in the jungle. This change comes to make Ekko a bit more viable in that role with as little risk as possible to his solo laning characteristics.

Passive - Z-Drive Resonance

Evelynn

E percent health minimum damage set.

Because Whiplash doesn’t kill a mini krug. We’re still tracking Evelynn’s performance post-update and may need to make more substantial changes, but this one felt pretty simple.

E - Whiplash

Galio

Q and E base damage decreased. Passive, Q, W, E ability power ratios increased. W physical damage reduction decreased.

We’d like to give more room for Galio to play aggressively and be rewarded for high impact plays. After all, we’re talking about a gargoyle who leaps across the map and justice punches his opponents. Upping the AP ratios on his abilities gives daring Galio players more room to show off their skills, but in exchange we’re trimming some of his baseline effectiveness. With less base damage and lower durability against physical damage, he might not be the priority pick we’ve seen in pro play, but he’ll have a clear niche in solo queue.

Passive - Colossal Smash

Q - Winds of War

W - Shield of Durand

E - Justice Punch

Gangplank

Q gold on kill increased.

The scaling pirate isn’t grabbing the gold he needs to get ahead, so we’re pushing a few more doubloons at him.

Q - Parrrley

Rammus

W % armor bonus increased at later ranks. W flat magic resist and % decreased.

Rammus was shaping up to be a tank of all trades, so we’re resharpening his identity to be more oriented against teams that rely heavily on physical damage—as originally intended.

W - Defensive Ball Curl

Sejuani

Innate armor and magic resist reduced but passive grants more at later levels. Passive shield duration and cooldown better early, worse late. E base damage reduced.

Sejuani’s a bit too hard to kill, even when her frost armor’s down. She’s… a tank, so we’re not looking to make her squishy, but a few adjustments to Sej’s base stats and Fury of the North are in order. She’ll be roughly as durable as ever while armored up, but easier to take down after her passive’s fallen off. We’ve also standardized the duration and cooldown of her shield to make it easier for opponents to reliably play around Fury of the North’s protection.

Beyond durability, we’re also lowering the damage Permafrost deals. Most of Sejuani’s damage against frozen targets comes from attacking them after they’re iced, so the freeze damage itself doesn’t need to be quite as chunky.

Base stats

Passive - Fury of the North

E - Permafrost

Udyr

Attack damage per level increased. Tiger strike scaling total attack damage ratio increased. Phoenix strike ability power ratio increased.

Udyr is pretty far away from where we’d like to see him, both as a champion and as a juggernaut. We don’t think this solves his problems completely, but we want to do something so that picking Udyr doesn’t always feel like the wrong decision. Dialing up his late game damage scaling should help Udyr feel worthwhile when he does manage to get on—and stick to—the right targets.

Base stats

Q - Tiger Stance

R - Phoenix Stance

Urgot

Passive damage decreased at early ranks but cooldown decreased at later ranks. Q detonates more quickly.

When Urgot succeeds, we feel like he’s in a pretty nice spot, but he’s not hitting that mark often enough. A lack of reliability on Corrosive Charge and Fear Beyond Death is putting too much burden on Urgot players and not enough on his opponents, so we’re sharpening those mechanics. We’re also giving his legs shorter cooldowns in the late game but less damage early on to shift some of his power out of lane and into teamfights.

Passive - Echoing Flames

Q - Corrosive Charge

R - Fear Beyond Death

Bugfixes

Xin Zhao

Xin Zhao’s been faring well since his recent ability update. We’re sprucing up his recommended items to better advise aspiring Seneschals.

Ardent Censer

Attack speed and on-hit damage reduced.

Ardent Censer has been making waves (and winds) in bot lane for some time. For enchanters’ purchasing decisions—and as a result, the support landscape—to remain robust, this item needs more clear points of weakness. These changes make Ardent Censer weaker early on, so rushing Ardent Censer won’t always be the best choice for enchanters.

Frozen Heart

Armor increased.

Frozen Heart has been outshined by other tank items, with Thornmail, Randuin’s Omen, and Iceborn Gauntlet all occupying nearby niches and crowding it out. We’re honing in on its strength as the pure armor item to give tanks more reasons to opt into it.

Tear of the Goddess

Stacking effect can now occur up to three times every 12 seconds.

Stacking Tear often incentivizes odd behaviors, such as using abilities while simply walking down the lane or standing still at the base. We want to make it easier for Tear to be stacked when you’d already be casting abilities, such as lane trades, teamfights, farming, and so on.

Editor’s Note: I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Mystic Shots fired at the shoulders of Ornn. I watched Overloads glitter in the dark near the Base Gates. All those abilities were lost in time, like Tears in rain. Time to stack.

Manamune

Mana per stack increased.

Read Tear of the Goddess context!