League of Legends Patch 4.16 Notes

Here’s the full patch notes, this time with an introduction by Scarizard:

“Hey y’all,

Welcome to patch 4.16! We’ve got a sizeable Gameplay Update to everyone’s favorite snake lady Cassiopeia, but aside from that we’re going pretty light on the balance side. Similar to 4.15, a lot of the changes you’ll see below are focused on smoothing out some champion interactions, or just plain ol’ bugfixin’ goodness (Check out the context below for what’s happening with Wall-Slams!)

For all things non-balance though, we’ve got a little more meat for you. First up, in addition to her Gameplay Update we mentioned earlier, Cassiopeia is joined by Renekton for updates to their visuals! Follow that up with new base splash arts for the desert-dwelling duo and Akali and Orianna, and this patch is set to delight all the art fans out there.

As we mentioned last patch, we’ve started patching some finished pieces of Summoner’s Rift to the live environment in order to minimize the size (and download times) of the eventual Summoner’s Rift launch patch. These pieces aren’t usable and we don’t have an official release date – for now these pieces will just be preemptively sitting on your hard drives.

That’s it for me! Check out the full breakdown in the notes below, and be careful out on the Rift – there’s been a lot of sandstorms recently…

Patrick “Scarizard” Scarborough

Azir

Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia’s high DPS has always sat alongside her poison as defining characteristics of the serpent lady. Historically however, these traits have led to oppressive gameplay that’s as challenging for the opponent to deal with as it is to understand (THANKS DAMAGE OVER TIME). To preserve both sides of what makes Cassi unique, we realized we had to modify the relationship between the two.

In this update, the key to Cassiopeia’s heavy-hitting damage potential lies within her new passive, Aspect of the Serpent. Cassi builds power throughout the game as she poisons enemy champions, unlocking stat bonuses to fuel her (now more powerful) Twin Fang. This new aspect (heh) of growing her end-game scaling allows us to solidly push her into the ‘completely-absurd-damage-potential’ space she’s currently hanging around. This comes at the cost of some early game power, but make no mistake – you can expect to see a late-game Cassiopeia as one of the most potent damage threats in the League.

General

NEWPassive – Aspect of the Serpent

Q – Noxious Blast

W – Miasma

E – Twin Fang

R – Petrifying Gaze

Renekton

General

Brand

R – Pyroclasm

Corki

W – Valkyrie

BUGFIXFixed a bug where Valkyrie being interrupted would halt Corki’s movement but still extend Valkyrie’s damage field.

Gnar

Gnar’s ultimate and similar skills work with player-made terrain (this time, Jarvan’sactually helping). Part one of three.

Continuing to clean up GNAR! with some consistency work across all wall-slams. As with the changes to Poppy and Vayne you’ll see below, we’ll be watching to see the effects of these changes play out and ready to adjust accordingly.

R – GNAR!

NEWCOME ON AND SLAMNow detects collision with player created terrain (Anivia’s Crystallize, Azir’s Emperor’s Divide, Jarvan’s Cataclysm and Trundle’s Pillar of Ice)

WAP!Fixed a bug where using GNAR! on a dashing unit would cancel their movement, but not stun them, if they hit a wall.

Irelia

Q – Bladesurge

SORRY WICKDFixed a bug where stopping Bladesurge mid-dash would still deal damage to her target.

Poppy

Tried to make a joke, but Poppy doesn’t know any. Part two of three.

E – Heroic Charge

NEWAND WELCOME TO THE SLAMNow detects collision with player created terrain (Anivia’s Crystallize, Azir’s Emperor’s Divide, Jarvan’s Cataclysm and Trundle’s Pillar of Ice)

Shen

Full disclosure – we’re not 100% on what the impact of changing this will be as it’s hard to know how much random Energy this was giving Shen in teamfights. If Shen needs love as a result we’re happy to give it, but he shouldn’t have to rely on a bug for power.

E – Shadow Dash

REMOVEDNO DISRESPECTFixed a bug where taunting dead champions would give Shen bonus energy.

Varus

In 4.13 we introduced a line indicator (similar to Xerath) over his previous circular one, hoping it would increase accuracy and satisfaction for Varus players – as it turns out, neither of those things happened (OOPS) so we’re taking it back to the original. Thanks for the feedback, y’all!

Q – Piercing Arrow

WHOOPSLine indicator removed (Now uses range circle again as per previous functionality)

Vayne

As if Vayne players needed any more highlight reel material. Part three of three.

E – Condemn

IT’S TIME TO SLAM JAMNow detects collision with player created terrain (Anivia’s Crystallize, Azir’s Emperor’s Divide, Jarvan’s Cataclysm and Trundle’s Pillar of Ice)

Vladimir

Tides of Blood is now doing what everyone thought it was doing already.

The decision to fix this wasn’t for power reasons, but rather to fulfill player expectations on how Tides of Blood should work. We’ll be monitoring to make sure he doesn’t go crazy, but for now Vlad players are a little less thirsty.

E – Tides of Blood

TECHNICALLY A BUFF TO GUNBLADENow correctly increases healing from Vladimir’s Spell Vamp (and Lifesteal)

Zilean

With the Chronokeeper back in the spotlight, we figured it’s as good a time as any to help players realize when he’s got their back.

R – Chronoshift

YOU ASKED FOR ITNow subtly tints the target’s screen

Flash

The following skins will be released at various times during Patch 4.16:

Galactic Azir

Guardian of the Sands Kha’Zix

Points of interest in 4.16

New Champion – Azir

While he likely won’t be available for purchase and play right away, Azir, The Emperor of the Sands is included in the 4.16 patch!

Azir, The Emperor of the Sands

Joining Azir  is his release skin “Galactic Azir”

Galactic Azir

Model & Texture Updates – Cassiopeia and Renekton

Renekton and Cassiopeia have also received texture updates and new splash arts in 4.16! We’ll have a comprehensive look at all of their updated skins coming as soon as the patch hits live!

Renekton

In addition to his base skin, Galactic Renekton, Outback Renekton, and Bloodfury Renekton have also been updated.

Cassiopeia

In addition to her base skin, Desperada Cassiopeia, Siren Cassiopeia, Mythic Cassiopeia, and Jade Fang Cassiopeia have all been updated.

As mentioned above, Cassiopeia has also received a gameplay update and vfx updates in this patch!

Guardian of the Sands Kha’Zix

New Ward Skins

Continuing with the Shurima themed content, we also have THREE new ward skins – Armordillo, Sad Mummy, and Sun Disc. No details yet on availability but all three are priced at the standard ward skin price of 640 RP.

Armordilllo Ward

Sad Mummy Ward

Sun Disc Ward

New Featurd Gameplay Mode – Ascension

Ascension, the new featured gameplay mode pitting players against an Ascendant and battling it out to see who among them will Ascend, is also included in this patch but will likely not be available right away.

New Splash Art

Akali and Orianna have also received new base splash arts in 4.15!

 Akali

Orianna

Voiceover updates

To go with their roles in the upcoming Shurima event, Cassiopeia, Sivir, Renekton, and Xerath have all had a ton of lines added to their VOs, including some with Ascension specific special dialogues and new taunts for each other!

New Summoner Icons

Several new Shurima themed icons have been added, although we have no heard any details on availability or how to obtain them just yet. These are likely tied to Ascension.

Misc

Urgot has a fancy new auto attack particle!

As mentioned above, Zilean’s ultimate now triggers a screen indicator for those he cats it on.

We also have a new font and art assets for the in-game announcements and multi kill call outs