League of Legends Patch 13.9–Buffs & Nerfs

The new bi-weekly League of Legends patch is now here. Released in preparation for the massive 13.10 patch (the biggest patch of Season 2023 so far), 13.9 still has some exciting and substantial changes we would like to cover. Remember: no matter how minor the patch may seem, it probably significantly changed some aspects of the game. Thus, it’s good to at least glance over each of them.

What you can expect:

• An overview of the new Neeko changes.
• Everything featured in patch 13.9.
• Highlights of the buffs and nerfs.

Champion Changes Summary

Patch 13.9 has tweaked many Champions, primarily focusing on Junglers and Top Laners. Only a couple of Champions got a nerf, while a few others were buffed and adjusted. We see Riot’s continuing narrative of buffing Tanks, as you will see in the following.

Nerfed

The Nerfed Champions were: Jinx and Sion. Jinx is the most popular Champion in League of Legends, with a sublime performance that was bound to be nerfed at some point. We’ll look at the details of each of these Champions in later parts of the article.

Buffed

There were more than a couple of buffed Champions in this patch. The ones at the receiving end of Riot’s update were: Aatrox, Amumu, Swain, Trundle, and Volibear. Nothing strange, considering how much Riot favors their Tank Champions. Some of these did indeed deserve a buff, such as Swain, but we feel like they overstepped it a bit with the others. As with the rest, we’ll look at the details below.

Adjusted

A few Champions were also adjusted and tweaked a bit in patch 13.9. However, there is one major change here that we will look at in detail. To summarize: Bel’Veth, Kayle, and Taliyah received adjustments this patch, while Neeko got an entire Midscope update. It features significant changes to how she plays, which Riot hopes will increase her popularity and viability in matches.

The Neeko Update

As Riot themselves say, Neeko’s Midscope is the star of patch 13.9. The whole patch is just a preparation for the upcoming one in which most of the game will be receiving a mini-rework. We’ll see many popular items come back, as well as major revamps to existing systems.

As Riot has put it: “The intent of Neeko’s Midscope is to help her achieve her undelivered fantasy as one of the premier tricksters in League.”

She has received a significant update, especially to her passive, that has turned her into very much the Loki of League of Legends. Neeko can now turn into anything she desires, which has caused her to be a pure troll pick, reflected in her having a 39% Win Rate overall. That is abysmally low, even lower than that of Ryze during the period of his many reworks. It is incredible how such a change can impact a Champion’s performance, turning them from a fun AP Mage/Support into a troll pick.

Let’s take a look at everything Riot has updated with Neeko.

Passive – Inherent Glamour

• [Removed] Neeko for Speedo: Neeko will no longer receive a unit’s attack/movement speed if it is higher than hers.
• Neeko Get Sho’Ma!: Neeko stores the Sho’Ma of non-epic monsters, minions, traps, wards, or plants. By clicking on their bar, Neeko can turn into said units. To return, the player can click on Neeko’s face. The little ‘X’ takes Neeko out of her current Sho’Ma. Only one unit can be stored at a time.
• Neeko Disguise is Durable!: Neeko’s disguise no longer dispels upon taking damage. It disappears only when the disguised unit would have died or if she is stunned/crowd controlled.
• Cooldown: Reduced from 25-10s (based on level) to 2s.

Q – Blooming Burst

• Secondary/Tertiary Pop Damage: Changed from 40/65/90/115/140 (+20% AP) to 35/60/85/110/135 (+25% AP)
• Area of Effect Size: Increased from 225 to 250 (Max range snares should always land now).
• [NEW] Jungle Tomato: Q now deals 30/40/50/60/70 bonus damage to monsters
• [NEW] Better Blooms: Neeko’s Q will now cast at maximum range if used beyond its maximum range instead of having Neeko walk up to use it.

W – Shapesplitter

• [NEW] Neeko Move Neeko: Neeko can reactivate after casting to send the Clone in another direction.
• [NEW] Neeko Funny!: The Clone now plays animations and sounds of Q/E/Dance/Joke/Taunt/Recall/Laugh and survives for their duration.
• Neeko Jungle!: Empowered Attacks deal 50 bonus damage to monsters.
• Neeko is Become One: Neeko’s clone now spawns directly on top of her instead of 100 units away.

E – Tangle-Barbs

• Magic Damage: Increased from 80/115/150/185/220 (+60% AP) to 70/105/140/175/210 (+65% AP)

R – Pop Blossom

• [REMOVED] Neeko Need No Shield!: Neeko no longer gains a shield when channeling her R.
• Adjusted Ultimate: Neeko channels for 1.25s, then jumps into the air and knocks up all nearby enemies for 0.6s. Neeko then crashes together with all afflicted enemies to the ground, dealing Magic Damage and stunning them for 0.75s.
• Cooldown: Changed from 90 seconds to 120/105/90 seconds
• Magic Damage: Changed from 200/425/650 (+130% AP) to 150/350/550 (+100% AP)

Champion Buffs

Other than Neeko, ten more Champions were updated with this patch. We will first look at those that Riot decided to treat with a buff.

Aatrox

Riot Games believe that Aatrox has been struggling in the Top Lane. To bring him up to speed and make him viable again, they’ve updated some of his damage scaling and movement speed.

• Passive – Deathbringer Stance: Bonus Physical Damage increased from 4-10% of the target’s max HP based on level to 4-12%. This gives Aatrox a bit more leeway in the game’s later stages and ensures his longevity.
• R – World Ender: Bonus movement speed increased from 50/65/80% to 60/80/100%. Aatrox’s mid and late games are bound to be much more impactful now.

Amumu

League of Legends developers consider Amumu an amazing low-rank Jungler. They expect him to have a high win rate in those divisions and general low-level play, but he’s recently fallen off. Considering he’s also a good Support at all levels, they didn’t want to push him too hard, so he’s received only a minor buff.

• W – Despair: Flat Magic Per Second rounded to 20 at all ranks from 12/16/20/24/28. Increased %HP Magic Damage per Second from 1/1.15/1.3/1.45/1.6% to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2%.

Swain

Swain’s early game performance has been falling off recently so Riot pushed up his primary damage source (Q). This will hopefully add to his skirmishing capabilities and general early damage output.

• Q – Death’s Hand: Magic Damage increased from 60/80/100/120/140 (+38% AP) to 65/85/105/125/145 (+40% AP). Bonus damage per Bolt increased from 12/22/32/42/52 (+8% AP) to 15/25/35/45/55 (+10 % AP). Finally, the ability’s maximum Magic Damage was increased from 108/168/228/288/348 (+70% AP) to 125/185/245/305/365 (+80% AP).

Hopefully, Swain returns to his old, strong self that can reliably Lane and duel against his foes.

Trundle

Riot nerfed the Troll King a while ago and seems to have realized their mistake. They’re reverting the nerf to bring Trundle back into the fray, as he’s been significantly underperforming both in the Jungle and on Top. They’ve also added a mana buff as a cherry on top.

• Base Stats: Base Attack Speed increased from 0.6 to 0.67. Base Mana increased from 281 to 340.

We’ll see if these changes give the old Troll enough of a boost.

Volibear

As Volibear is underperforming compared to other Top Laners, Riot is walking back on some previous nerfs. Their goal here is to bring Voli back a bit while still keeping him in check so as not to make Laning against him more frustrating. Volibear is still a strong Champion, so any significant buff would be catastrophic for the Top Lane environment.

• W – Frenzied Maul: Physical damage increased from 5/30/55/80/105 (+100% AD) (+ 5% bonus health) to 5/30/55/80/105 (+100% AD) (+ 6% bonus health). The healing ratio based on missing HP increased from 7/8.5/10/11.5/13% to 8/10/12/14/16%.

Champion Nerfs

Only a couple of Champions got a nerf this patch. Jinx and Sion are popular picks and have been doing very well in the past few patches. Let’s take a look.

Jinx

Jinx is the most popular League of Legends Champion with over 30% pick rate. Even Riot considers her to be immensely strong at the moment, so a light nerf was necessary to level the playing field. Compared to most ADCs out there, Jinx is simply overperforming and sits at the top of any tier list.

• Base Stats: Attack Speed growth reduced from 3.4 to 3.15.

This minor adjustment will halt Jinx’ snowball, and we’ll see if it’s enough to contain her raging performance and popularity.

Sion

Sion’s health stacking finally got the better of him. The durability update and the Heartsteel item have been insanely good on Sion and have caused his passive to last way beyond intention. Therefore, Riot has toned the ability down a bit to try and make things fair again. But Sion will keep being Sion, and this likely won’t have too drastic of an impact.

• Passive – Glory in Death: HP Decay increased from 2-19 (1 HP per level) to 2.3-24.4 (1.3 HP per level).

It seems insignificant and probably is. Sion’s HP stacking likely won’t end any time soon.

Champion Adjustments

Some Champions don’t work as intended, and Riot decides to give them minor or major adjustments to breathe new life into them. Such changes in this patch impacted four Champions. We’ve covered Neeko’s extensive mini-rework, and we have three interesting Champions left to cover. Let’s check them out.

Bel’Veth

Bel’Veth is one of the few role-locked Champions in League. She must Jungle and Jungle she must. So, it was abnormal for her kind to be struggling in her assigned role. Bel’Veth’s early clear was too dangerous, and she’d emerge unhealthy from it, making ganks risky or impossible. This was addressed in this patch, but she also got a minor nerf to keep things neutral.

• Base Stats: Attack Damage growth reduced from 1.7 to 1.5
• Q – Void Surge: Monster Damage Modification increased from 120% to 140%.

With these adjustments, Bel’Veth players should be happier with their performance, while the Champion itself shouldn’t spiral out of control. Riot claims she’s pretty balanced, but the author of this article begs to differ.

Kayle

Kayle’s Ultimate ability caused her to sacrifice her role as a ranged carry. To prevent her from becoming a glorified melee fighter, Riot has made some significant adjustments to how her Ultimate works. To compensate for the buffs to her Ult, they’ve nerfed her E to prevent her from being too strong in this patch.

• E – Starfire Spellblade: On-Hit AP Ratio decreased from 25% AP to 20%. The spell’s Passive (Divine Ascent) had its Wave Damage changed from 15/20/25/30/35 (based on E rank) to 20-41 (based on champion level, levels 11-18).
• R – Divine Judgement has received the following changes:
• [REMOVED] Ascending: Kayle no longer lowers her range when casting her Ultimate on herself.
• Cast Time: reduced from 1.5s to 0.5s.
• Area of Effect Radius: increased from 525 to 675/675/775
• Invulnerability Duration: changed from 2/2.5/3 to 2.5
• Time Delay until Sword Falls: increased from 1.5s to 2.5s
• Magic Damage: Increased from 200/350/500 (+100% bonus AD)(+80% AP) to 200/300/400 (+100% bonus AD)(+70% AP).

These significant changes will surely improve Kayle’s performance in the game. She’s already powerful in the late-game and can now do even more.

Taliyah

Taliyah’s Midscope update changed when she can and cannot cast her Ultimate. One of these aspects resulted in bad situations for Taliyah when it shouldn’t have. Riot has made a slight change to her Ultimate’s formula to make it feel better.

• R – Weaver’s Wall: Taliyah will no longer be locked from her Ultimate after she deals damage. Now, it’ll be unavailable only if she’s damaged.

A minor change, for sure, but one that could make a major difference.

Item Changes

Only one item has changed this patch, and it’s a well-known one. Popular items in League of Legends aren’t always the strongest, and even they need to be taken care of every once in a while.

Lich Bane

Lich Bane hasn’t been performing in line with its popularity. It’s a bit unsatisfactory and doesn’t output enough damage in the wake of the durability update. So, it’s received a minor boost to help it perform a tad better.

• Ability Power: Increased from 75 to 85.

Other Changes

Riot Games doesn’t only patch their Champions and items. This patch saw changes made to an entire game-mode. ARAM is a popular alternative to Summoner’s Rift and they’ve made quite a bit of changes to the thing that you can read in the following screencap:

Source: Riot Games

Riot has also expanded the Emote Wheel, making it more robust. Here’s how it looks:Source: Riot Games

Players can now finally report people from the game’s scoreboard. Other functionalities have been added, such as all mute options being contained in one, and a whole Mute Self and Mute All button. Such small changes can make life so much easier. Riot explains these systems thus:

Source: Riot Games

And, finally, there are many bugfixes and quality of life updates that are too numerous to name in an article. We’ll include a screencap below of Riot’s own words on the subject. Thank you Riot Games for making this game last as long as it has, we don’t know what we’d do without you 🙂

Source: Riot Games

Source: Riot Games

Upcoming Skins

It wouldn’t be a League of Legends update without some new skins. So, here are the brand new and upcoming skins that are just around the corner.

Inkshadow Aurelion Sol

Inkshadow Kai’Sa

Inkshadow Master Yi

Inkshadow Udyr

Inkshadow Volibear

Inkshadow Yasuo

Inkshadow Yone

Prestige Inkshadow Yasuo

This fantastic new skin lineup will breathe a ton of life into League of Legends. We cannot wait to get our hands on some of these, especially if we get that beautiful Prestige Inkshadow Yasuo skin. Prestige skins are just too good to be true, and we hope we’ll manage to snag one for the LeagueFeed team.

Conclusion

That was all we got from Riot Games in the League of Legends Patch 13.9. We hope that you’ve enjoyed the read. Keeping ourselves informed is the most essential thing in League of Legends. Don’t let your enemies catch you lacking in information, as knowing more than the opposing side is often enough to achieve victory. Good luck on the Summoner’s Rift!

Also check out: 3 BEST SOLO CARRY Champions for EVERY ROLE on PATCH 13.7