Kayle and Zed nerfed in upcoming League of Legends Patch 9.8

Joe O'Brien

Riot Games have revealed an outline of the changes coming in the next major League of Legends balance update, Patch 9.8.

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The previous major update, Patch 9.7, is less than a week old, but Riot are already preparing the game’s next iteration.

For fans of professional League of Legends, this patch is also noteworthy as it’ll be the patch that the Mid-Season Invitational is played on, so these changes could help define the meta of one of the biggest events in the League of Legends calendar.

Though full patch notes haven’t been released, Summoner’s Rift Team Lead Designer David ‘Repertoir’ Capurro has announced which champions and items are due an adjustment, and also commented on the reasoning behind some of the upcoming changes.

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In particular, Repertoir revealed that improvements to Camille will focus on buffing her in the top lane now that she’s not dominant in the jungle, and stated that Zed is due a nerf as he has “crossed the OP line.” He also revealed that Riven and Vayne were “very close” to that line, but aren’t being addressed just yet.

Riot GamesMorgana and Kayle were recently reworked and have been subject to multiple balance updates since.

For fans of Aatrox, it seems buffs to the champion are in the works, but won’t be making their way into the game until Patch 9.9 as Riot “didn’t want to drop them on the MSI patch.” Meanwhile, if Sylas is to see any change, it won’t be until 9.9 or 9.10.

While specific details of most of the changes are yet to be revealed, and could still be subject to change before they reach the live servers, you can get an idea of which direction your favorite champion might be heading from the list below.

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9.8 Champion Buffs

  • Singed
  • Fiora
  • Gnar
  • Renekton
  • Sejuani
  • Blue Kayn
  • Ornn
  • Camille
  • Trundle
  • Amumu
  • Cassiopeia
  • Jhin
  • Nautilus

9.8 Champion Nerfs

  • Kayle
  • Morgana
  • Zed

9.8 Item Buffs

  • Stormrazor
  • Bramble Vest

9.8 Item Nerfs

  • Power Shift
  • Coup De Grace

Players should expect to see further details on these changes fairly soon, as Repertoir revealed that they were likely to hit the Public Beta Environment (PBE) for testing on Tuesday April 9.

About The Author

Joe O'Brien was a veteran esports and gaming journalist, with a passion and knowledge for almost every esport, ranging from Call of Duty, to League of Legends, to Overwatch. He joined Dexerto in 2015, as the company's first employee, and helped shape the coverage for years to come.