Since Aphelios entered the rift on patch 9.24, he’s been extremely overpowered, players have showcased his overpowered nature by killing opponents from their own fountain with his auto-attacks using the ‘lock-on’ feature through Crescendum’s Q, Sentry. Patch 10.2 aims to target Aphelios’ kit as a whole whilst adjusting some numbers in other areas to provide certain champions a bit more power, addressing the issue of reoccurring ‘overpowered’ champions being picked or banned 100% of the time, balancing out the new ranked climb in Season 10.

Buffs

Draven

Draven has received a minor buff to the attack damage scaling on his ultimate ability, Whirling Death. The buff won’t be as noticeable during the early portions of the game but as Draven continues to scale up and purchase more items, the bonus attack damage scaling at levels 11 and 16 will be more impactful and provide him extra damage in team fights.

• Whirling Death (R):
  • Damage increased from 175/275/375 (+1.1 bonus attack damage to 175/275/375 (+1.1/1.3/1.5 bonus attack damage).

Jinx

A buff for Jinx that at first doesn’t seem to influential but this buff should definitely not be underrated. Gaining additional movement speed whilst damaging Epic Monsters (Baron Nashor, Rift Herald and Dragons) will give Jinx the movement speed to reposition herself throughout the ensuing team fight.

• Get Excited! (Passive):
  • Bonus movement speed granted whenever Jinx damages enemy champions, turrets or inhibitors to enemy champions, turrets, inhibitors or Epic Monster (that her teams within 3 seconds of their death.

Karma

Karma has been in and out of the meta for the past year, both as a support and solo laner. The small buff to her Q and W feels somewhat random as Karma is in a viable position currently, nevertheless, these buffs will aid her poke in the laning phase and trading potential.

• Inner Flame (Q):
  • Base damage increased from 80/125/170/215/260 to 90/135/180/225/270.
• Focused Resolve (W):
  • Base damage increased from 30/55/80/105/130 to 40/65/90/115/140.

Lulu

Lulu has been neglected from the meta for a long time, and the last time Lulu was picked in a big competitive match (Fnatic vs RNG tiebreaker at the 2019 Worlds Championship), she got abused and obliterated. The minor buffs to her base stats won’t have that much effect on her viability but the flat cooldown reduction to her E will enable her to shield her allies and poke her opponents on a more regular basis.

• Base Stats:
  • Armor increased from 28.22 to 29.
  • Attack damage increased from 46.368 to 47.
• Help, Pix! (E):
  • Cooldown reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.

Sona

Similarly to Lulu, Sona hasn’t seen much competitive play nor is strong in solo queue (unless she’s with Taric in that ridiculous meta). Although I don’t think these changes will bring Sona back into the meta, I think the movement speed is a step in the right direction.

• Song of Celerity (E):
  • Self-movement speed increased from 10/11/12/13/14% (+0.03 per 100 ability power) to 25% (+0.04 per 100 ability power).

Trundle

Trundle didn’t see as much competitive play during the 2019 season compared to prior seasons. He was an extremely situational pick that could be abused by a lot of meta junglers. The changes to his W and E will not only improve his ganking capabilities but also provide him the tools to chase down enemies that are fleeing away from him due to the increased movement speed on his W and the increased slow reduction on his E.

• Frozen Domain (W):
  • Movement speed increased from 20/25/30/35/40% to 30/35/40/45/50%.
• Pillar of Ice (E):
  • Slow reduction increased from 15/25/35/45/55% to 20/30/40/50/60%.

Ziggs

Ziggs has been neglected for a long time and continues to fly under the radar each patch as he hasn’t received any love or attention since patch 9.16. The buffs to Ziggs in patch 10.2 is definitely something Ziggs mains can get excited about as his overall kit has been bolstered with increases to his damage, knockback distance, and slow reduction.

• Bouncing Bomb (Q):
  • Damage increased from 75/120/165/210/225 to 85/130/175/220/265.
• Satchel Charge (W):
  • Enemy knockback distance increased from 400 to 500 range.
• Hexplosive Minefield (E):
  • Slow reduction increased from 20/25/30/35/40% to 30/35/40/45/50%.

Nerfs

Aphelios

Aphelios is getting hit with the nerf hammer for the second patch in a row, speaking volumes to how absurdly broken this champion currently is.

• Calibrum, the Sniper Rifle:
  • Basic attack mark damage change from 20/25/30/35/40 (+0.3 bonus attack damage) (levels 1-9) to 15 (+0.2 bonus attack damage).
  • Q Cooldown increased from 9/8.25/7.5/6.75/6 seconds (levels 1-9) to 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds (levels 1-9).
• Cresendum, the Chakram:
  • Basic attack damage reduced from 130 -> 264% total attack damage (mirror Chakrams 1-10) to 130 -> 223% total attack damage (mirror Chakrams 1-10).
• Severum, the Scythe Pistol:
  • Q damage scaling reduced from 10/15/20/25/30 (+0.35 bonus attack damage per hit (levels 1-9) to 10/15/20/25/30 (+0.3 bonus attack damage per hit (levels 1-9).

Nautilus

Nautilus has been extremely potent tank support for the last year, with the rune Aftershock, Nautilus has been known to solo kill AD carries and squishy junglers as his base damage on his abilities are way too high for a support. The changes in patch 10.2 will touch down the damage on his Q to draw back his one-vs-one potential.

• Dredge Line (Q):
  • Base damage reduced from 80/130/180/230/280 to 70/115/160/205/250.

Qiyana

Qiyana’s early game attack speed has always been strong as the scaling was a flat percentage at all levels, now the attack speed on her W has been modified to scale with the ability level.

• Terrashape (W):
  • Passive attack speed reduced from 20% to 5/10/15/20/25%.

Items

Cloak of Agility

Cloak of Agility’s critical strike has been decreased by 5%, a direct nerf to any AD user that builds Zeal, Essence Reaver, Stormrazor or Infinity Edge.

• Critical strike chance decreased from 25% to 20%

Stormrazor

On top of the Cloak of Agility nerfs, Stormrazor has also lost an additional 5AD.

• Total attack damage decreased from 55 to 50.

Frozen Heart

Frozen Heart has been given a minor armor buff, aiding those that build it as a first or second item against AD heavy team compositions.

• Armor rating increased from 100 to 110.

Summoners Rift

Rift Herald

Shelly has had her base stats tweaked, her health and health scaling between levels 6 and 12 have taken a slight knock.

• Base Stats:
  • Health decreased from 5500 (8250 -> 16500 [levels 6-12]) to 5750 (7125-14250 [levels 6-12]).