After League of Legends patch 10.7 has finally gone live, we are now looking forward to the next update in the form of Patch 10.8, and the wave of nerfs, buffs, skins and items that awaits us.
What would a LoL patch be without nerfs for Aphelios and Senna? The two heroes have had a hard time for some time now and they are always being targeted by Riot Games. Considering the fact that they are a regular pick in pro games, this seems understandable to us. But Kalista and other champions will also be changed in the League of Legends patch. In addition to the hero buffs and nerfs, there are a few items that will be especially interesting in the jungle and some pretty cool skins.
Nerfs
Three heroes in particular are likely to be affected by patch 10.8: the all-time nerf favorites Senna and Aphelios, and Kalista. After Aphelios was hit hard in just about every patch, his Crescendum and Calibrum guns will probably be changed again. Senna is likely to get the worst of it in terms of utility - Riot has already nerfed her damage before.
Kalista has been working her way up towards Bruiser meta and is now at home on Top Lane - it's quite possible that Riot will bring the "Spear of Vengeance" back to Bot Lane. And if it hits Kalista, we can also count on Varus, who is also being played a lot more often lately.
More nerfs can be expected for Zedd and Master Yi. With the latter, we hope for a change in his "funnel strategy", which will allow him to collect gold and XP from camps, creating an almost unstoppable Wuju power.
Buffs
Like the nerfs, we generally expect the buffs to balance the ADCs. Ashe, Tristana and Xayah will probably receive some buffs to increase their popularity. Soraka, Riot’s problem child since patch 10.4, will also be buffed, as will Evelynn.
Lategamers Ryze and Orianna can also be happy, as they had a hard time against assassins like Talon, Diana and Fizz so far - this might change with patch 10.8. And of course Urgot gets a nice buff because of his "Pajama Guardian" skin.
Items
Away from bot lane and into the jungle. Besides the nerfs mentioned above, the items in patch 10.8 refer to this area. Junglers will have to cope with a change in their way of playing, or at least realize that there is something else than mere ganking. The item changes are primarily related to increased health regeneration, supporting junglers who focus more on farming rather than ganking: XP and gold will be gained more through farming rather than by executing enemies. The following items increase healing by 50% when health drops below 30%: Hunter's Talisman, Hunter's Machete, Stalker's Blade and Skirmisher's Sabre.
Skins
Last but not least the cosmetic highlights in patch 10.8. PBE players can already test the new coven skins. Because the Eclipse universe is back! Actually there are three new skins: Coven Morgana, Coven LeBlanc and Coven Zyra. The latter is additionally available in the Coven Zyra Prestige Edition.
Conclusion
The 10.8 patch includes some changes for both the bot lane and the jungle meta. We can only wait and see how the nerfs and buffs will affect the hero pick of the casual and per-game, but it will definitely change. We are especially happy about the new jungle strategies supported by the update. The patch is expected on April 15. Are you still ganking or already farming?
