LoL Patch 12.8 Preview: Swain Update Coming

League of Legends Patch 12.8 is going to be released in about two weeks. This will likely be the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational patch, so we're expecting many changes geared towards pro-play.

Dragonslayer Olaf — Mid-Scope Updates coming our way! | © Riot Games

Not only is League of Legends Patch 12.8 most likely going to be the patch that the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational will be played on, but it's also going to have some bigger champion changes heading our way quite soon.

Swain was already supposed to be getting some changes all the way back in Patch 12.6, but Riot took those off the PBE server faster than we could blink and decided to put him in the same box as Olaf and Taliyah, giving him a mid-scope update... who knew it would release this soon, though?

Swain Mid-Scope Update

Now, this is just what is currently on the PBE Server and from what we've seen before, Riot can still take champions off PBE to work on them internally gain, which could push the mid-scope update back. But we're not going to be debby-downers on this Swain update, so let's go over what Riot will want to change.

Ability	Change
Ravenous Flock (P)	[REMOVED] Swain can no longer pull crowd-controlled enemies [REMOVED] Swain's pull no longer deals damage Healing changed from 4/5.5/7% (lvl1/6/11) max health to 4/5,5/7/9% (lvl 1/6/11/16) max health Health per soul fragment 4 --> 12
Death's Hand (Q)	Mana Cost: 65-85 --> 45-65Cooldown: 9-3 seconds --> 7-3 seconds Damage: 55-135(+40%AP) --> 60-140(+40%AP) Additional Bolt Damage: 15-35% --> 12-52(+10%AP) Max Damage: 88-324(+64-96%AP) --> 108-348(+80%AP)
Vision of Empire (W)	Mana Cost: 70-110 --> 60-80 [NEW]Pings now display enemies in range, similar to Twisted Fate R and Nocturne R
Nevermove (E)	[NEW] Can be reactivated to pull all champions rooted by Nevermove [NEW] Cooldown is reduced by 20% during Demonic Ascension (R)
Demonic Ascension (R)	Cooldown 120s --> 100/80/60sDrain Damage per second: 35/50/60(+14%AP) --> 20/45/70(+10%AP) Drain Heal per second: 20/35/40(+16%AP) --> 20/40/60(+16%AP) --> 15/40/65(+25%) [REMOVED] No longer grants 125/200/275 health [CHANGED] Upon casting Demonic Ascension, Swain gains 50 demon power. Demonic Ascension lasts as long as Swain has demon Power, which drains at a rate of 10 per second. While draining an enemy champion, Swain gains 20 Demonic Power per second. After 3 seconds, Swain can cast Demonflare (R2)
Demonflare (R2)	Demonflare Damage: 100/150/200(+50%AP) --> 150/225/300(+60%AP) [NEW] Demonflare now slows enemies by 60% decaying over 1.5 seconds [CHANGED] On casting Demonic Ascension, Swain can cast Demonflare 1 time. This does not end Demonic Ascension [REMOVED] Demonflare no longer charges up based on health drained, up to double damage

That looks like a lot, right? Well, these changes should pull Swain out of the bot lane and into the mid lane once more. He'll have more burst damage, which is something he's needed.

Seriously, his ultimate looks scary and players have a chance to go for quite a long time, as long as he keeps draining opponents. Everyone is going to run away screaming from Swain with these changes, but they look wonderful for the champion. Swain mains, you've been fed good.

Updates on PBE for the Future

Olaf Mid-Scope Update Patch 12.9

Now, you thought we were done there, right? Well, Olaf is also getting a mid-scope update at some point in 2022, and it might hit the rift much sooner than anticipated.

When Riot made the announcement that our favorite viking was getting an update, I thought this would come out in winter, but the changes are already on the PBE 12.8 server with an expected ship date being Patch 12.9 – NOT Patch 12.8.

Abilities/Stats	Changes
Base Stats	Attack Damage :: 68 (+3.5/level), 127.5 at level 18 >>> 68 (+4.7/level), 148 at level 18 Health :: 575 (+100/level), 2275 at level 18 >>> 575 (+105/level), 2360 at level 18 Mana :: 316 (+42/level), 1030 at level 18 >>> 316 (+60/level), 1336 at level 18
Berserker Rage (P)	Calculation reworked to grant max effectiveness at or below 30% health Maximum Attack Speed granted :: 99% >>> 40-100% (levels 1-18) [NEW] Now gives up to 12-35% life steal (levels 1-18), based on Olaf's missing health
Undertow (Q)	[NEW] - Shreds 25/27.5/30/32.5/35% armor for 4 seconds on champion hit Damage :: 80/125/170/215/260 >>> 60/110/160/210/260 Minimum Range :: Approximately 300 >>> 425 Mana Cost :: 60 at all ranks >>> 40/45/50/55/60 Cooldown :: 7 seconds >>> 8 seconds Cooldown refund on axe pickup :: 4.5 seconds >>> 5 seconds
Vicious Strikes (W)	[NEW] Resets Olaf’s basic attack [NEW] Olaf gains 70/115/160/205/250 (+25% of Olaf’s missing health) as a shield for 2.5 seconds [REMOVED] No longer grants Life Steal [REMOVED] No longer amplifies Olaf’s healing based on missing health Attack Speed :: 50/60/70/80/90% for 6 seconds >>> 40/50/60/70/80% for 4 seconds Cooldown :: 16 seconds at all ranks>>> 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds
Ragnarok (R)	[NEW] Hitting a champion with a basic attack or E - Reckless Swing extends the duration of Ragnarok to 2.5 seconds. Olaf can refresh Ragnarok indefinitely. Duration :: 6 seconds >>> 3 seconds [REMOVED] R - Ragnarok's passive's bonus resistances are no longer lost for the duration of the cast

Olaf's W has been completely reworked here and might even get a name change according to the Riot Axes on Reddit.

So, Olaf will have to be looked at in more detail. He's the type of champion that will take over the pro meta whenever he receives a single buff to one of his abilities to help him out in solo queue, which is why some changes had to be made.

Not to mention, the changes to fighter items seem to have hit Olaf harder than any other champion in the jungle and top lane, which is why Riot is going for these drastic changes in his kit. Do you think these changes are going to help the viking out?

Skins Coming in Patch 12.8

Since there isn't much on the PBE server right now in regard to Patch 12.8, we're going to take a look at the upcoming skins in Patch 12.8. There are a few, so let's see which skins we've got!

Eclipse Sivir — Sivir is getting her first legendary! | © Riot Games

Eclipse Skins in Patch 12.8

The Eclipse and Coven universe is expanding, with five champions getting new Eclipse skins!

	Champion	Skin Type	Cost
Solar Eclipse	Sivir	Legendary	1820 RP
Solar Eclipse	Sejuani	Epic	1350 RP
Solar Eclipse	Kayle	Epic	1350 RP
Lunar Eclipse	Aatrox	Epic	1350 RP
Lunar Eclipse	Senna	Epic	1350 RP
Lunar Eclipse Prestige	Senna	Mythic	125 ME

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story Skins Coming in Patch 12.8

At the end of November, Riot Forge and Airship Syndicate finally released the much-anticipated turn-based RPG set in the world of Runeterra around the same time of the Ruination event. To celebrate this, Riot prepared a brand-new skin for Yasuo as well, but due to the delay in the game, the skin was pushed back to 2022.

But, this gave them time to make another skin in this skin series as well for Gangplank, who is in need of a new skin anyway, his last skin coming in 2020 after FPX won the 2019 World Championship – and this is a Legacy skin only available at certain times of the year.

	Champion	Skin Type	Cost
Sea Dragon	Yasuo	Epic	1350 RP
The Betrayer	Gangplank	Epic	1350 RP

So, while the Ruination event might not have hit the mark, these skins sure do. Not to mention that we're getting a book surrounding the cataclysm of the Blessed Isles as well soon, so we can find out even more about the events unfolding in Runeterra.