Patch 10.8 brought to League of Legends its share of changes, but some of them are particularly game-changing.
More experience for solo kills, especially in the early game, more heal from the jungle items — we decipher all these changes and their consequences, just below.
Balancing the Early Game
Changes
- Pity Zooms: On death, gain a smaller version of Homeguards which gives the player about 2.5 seconds less time to get back to lane
- Lone Wolf: At levels 1-6, a champion's solo kills grant 20% more experience and assisted kills grant 20% less experience. At levels 7-8, these numbers are reduced to 10%
Consequences
While these two changes may seem benign, they will surely have a big impact on the meta to come.
- With less experience coming from the assisted kills, the botlane will clearly be disadvantaged. Moreover, the jungler will indirectly be affected as ganking will naturally become less interesting. It also means that all solo lanes have received kind of a buff that reinforces the potential of individual carries.
- To adapt to these changes, Junglers will have to gank less and focus more on counter-jungling, especially in the early game. Champions like Rengar, Shaco, and Nidalee will probably perfectly fit the upcoming jungle meta as their goal is to invade the enemy jungle.
- As a solo laner, you'll keep the 20% experience bonus until you reach level seven, meaning that leveling-up to 6 will be the perfect moment to kill your opponent.
- The Homeguards mini-bonus encourages the use of Ignite at the expense of Teleportation, especially in the toplane. Teleportation's cooldown is very high at the start of the game (7 minutes at level 1) while Flame is only 3 minutes. This increases your possibilities to kill in 1v1 and to carry the game individually.
Jungle Buff
Changes
- Camp Experience: 1.25x more XP at levels 9+ ⇒ 1.35x more XP at levels 9+ (between 10-13 additional XP per camp)
- Unique Passive — Tooth/Nail: Healing of jungle items is increased by 50% when you have less than 30% of your max HP. (Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Skirmisher's Sabre, Stalker's Blade)
Consequences
- The slight increase in Camps XP encourages not to abandon them from the middle of the game.
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The new passive effect bringing some heal is a true boon for junglers who lose a lot of life in the early-game and tend to struggle clearing camps. This can also push some champions to prefer buying Hunter's Machete at the expense of the Hunter's Talisman in order to clear certain camps more quickly. For instance, Olaf who could clear his jungle even faster.
Note: Healing from Smite is not increased by 50% when you have less than 30% of your max HP.
If you should remember only one thing from the changes brought by Patch 10.8, it would be the experience buff in the early game for solo laners. Added to the new tweaks of the jungle, the new meta that should emerge will definitely favor solo carries, at the expense of the botlane.
While the priority is often put on this part of the Rift in the early-game, due to the importance of securing Drakes, the indirect nerf of ganks will definitely have a strong impact on the 3v2 meta that tends to be the norm since the beginning of Season 10.
What do you think it will be? Do you think it's a good idea for Riot to make individual plays more beneficial than collective actions? Feel free to drop your opinion in the comment section below!
Following the changes brought by the previous patches, Riot Games are introducing new tweaks to nerf funnel mechanics. Patch 10.8 also introduces three new members to the Coven skin family: Morgana, LeBlanc, and Zyra.
