League of Legends Patch 8.8: balance changes, skins, and more

If you’ve seen our 5 things to know for this patch, you’re already aware that Ahri has gotten some love in 8.8. Almost all of her abilities have been touched in one way or another, but she was given a completely new passive.

Vastayan Grace is Ahri’s new passive. If you’re able to hit a single champion twice with spells within 1.5 seconds, you’ll gain a 20 percent movement speed boost. This effect has a nine second cooldown. This should allow Ahri to move quickly more frequently, helping her get in for a kill and helping her escape with aggression.

If you’ve taken a look at our 5 things to know for Patch 8.8, you’ve already seen that the Sweeping Lens is dead and Oracle Alteration is the new king of ward sweeping. If you came here wondering why there are only three trinkets now, here’s what you need to know.

Those who’ve played jungle or support know how frustrating it can be waiting for Oracle Alteration to become available at level nine. Riot felt that frustration and essentially decided to axe Sweeping Lens. Oracle Alteration, that real good trinket that follows you while you sweep, is now the primary option for ward removal and is available from level one.

It’s no secret that the 2016 assassin update didn’t do its target champions any favors. Just about every champion involved has seen a major overhaul since their rework. In a few cases, like Rengar, Riot has simply done a full revert and decided that the whole experiment was a failure and reverted the champion’s kit all the way back to what it was before the update. LeBlanc received the latest of these kit reversions thanks to Patch 8.8.

But, if you never played the old LeBlanc, or simply don’t remember what she was like, don’t worry, we’ve got everything you need to know about her kit before heading into Patch 8.8.

8.8 is here and it’s time for another big patch ... kinda. We’re getting close to the fabled midseason patch, which means Riot has decided to slow down the big changes a bit. But that doesn’t mean 8.8 is empty.

In 8.8, you can expect balance changes to a load of different champions, including the brand new Irelia rework. Ahri and LeBlanc are also getting some new abilities. Well, Ahri is. LeBlanc, on the other hand, is being reverted to her pre-Assassin update state, a welcome change for LebBanc mains everywhere. Homestart is getting altered, trinkets are getting changed up, and MSI is almost here. Get excited folks, League of Legends is still happening.

Patch 8.8 is here and as part of Riot’s rotating big patch/small patch schedule, it’s a big one. We’re seeing tons of balance changes as usual, but we’re also getting kit updates for two mages: LeBlanc and Ahri.

This patch doesn’t have as many huge changes as we might be used to seeing in preparation for the big midseason update. Regardless, lots of champions got tuned up, so make sure to skim through to make sure your favorites didn’t get hit with the nerf bat.

A new Varus skin has been added to the Public Beta Environment! He’s getting the commemorative Conqueror skin used to celebrate the Mid-Season Invitational.

The skin is priced at 975 RP and comes with a new model, textures, recall, and spell VFX.