League of Legends patch 13.9 notes: Neeko and Kayle adjustments, Lich Bane buffs

Liam Ho
Star Guardian Neeko Prestige Edition Splash Art

Patch 13.9 for Riot’s MOBA League of Legends brings about new quality-of-life changes for both Neeko and Kayle, as well as buffs to Lich Bane. Here’s everything you need to know.

League of Legends is a forever-changing game, with Riot implementing frequent patches to change up the meta and pace of the MOBA. The most recent patch 13.9 sees major adjustments to both Neeko and Kayle, whilst delivering a slew of buffs and nerfs to champions. Alongside this 13.9 brings a buff to the much beloved Lich Bane, which has fallen out of favor as an AP option for quite some time.

From when the new update goes live to a full rundown on what to expect, here’s everything you need to know about patch 13.9 in League of Legends.

When does LoL Patch 13.9 go live?

League of Legends Patch 13.9 should go live on May 3, 2023, according to Riot’s patch schedule. Patch 13.9 will head to Oceanic servers first, with other servers slowly receiving it throughout the day.

Here are the key timings of Patch 13.9 for your server:

  • 3AM PT (NA)
  • 5AM GMT (EUW)
  • 3AM CET (EUNE)
  • 8AM KST (Korea)

There’ll be a few hours of downtime when patching begins, and matchmaking queues will be taken offline about three hours beforehand.

What’s changing in LoL patch 13.9?

Neeko becomes a melee minion?

Neeko’s new revamp will see her passive being massively improved upon in a huge quality-of-life update for the chameleon. Her new passive will allow her to become almost anything in the game, so be wary of any suspicious blast plants or that extra caster minion in a wave.

Kayle QoL hits live

Kayle has always seemed like a bit of a problem champion for Riot, with her insane scaling due to her passive, she’s always felt either too weak or too oppressive. At the current moment in time, Riot believes Kayle is currently on the weaker side. As such Riot is looking to buff her E and ultimate to give her a bit of a boost.

Sun Eater Kayle skin splash art
Kayle will be receiving some quality-of-life buffs to her Ultimate, Divine Judgement.

Lich Bane buffs

AP itemization has been a pain point for mid-laners, with the role being swarmed with fighters, assassins, and even ADCs (looking at you Akshan). As such, many mages like Xerath, Lux, and Veigar have been shoved out of the role and have found themselves in the bot lane. Riot is looking to buff up Lich Bane in this patch to give it a bit more of an oomph, hopefully helping mid-laners who run it in the process.

League of Legends patch 13.9 notes

Champions

Aatrox

Passive: Deathbringer Stance

  • Max HP damage increased: 4-10% >>> 4-12% (based on level)

E: World Ender

  • Bonus movement speed increased: 50/65/80% >>> 60/80/100%

Amumu

W: Despair

  • Damage per second adjusted: 12/16/20/24/28 (+1/1.15/1.3/1.45/1.6% target’s max HP) >>> 20 flat (+1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2% target’s max HP)

Bel’Veth

Base Stats

  • AD per level reduced: 1.7 >>> 1.5

Q: Void Surge

  • Bonus damage monster ratio increased: 120% >>> 140%

Jinx

Base Stats

  • AD per level reduced: 3.4 >>> 3.15

Kayle

E: Starfire Spellblade

  • On-hit AP ratio decreased: 25% >>> 20%
  • Passive wave damage increased: 15-35 (based on E rank) >>> 20-41 (based on lvls 11-18)

R: Divine Judgement

  • Cast time decreased: 1.5 seconds >>> .5 seconds
  • AoE delay increased: 1.5 >>> 2.5
  • Invulnerability duration flattened: 2 – 3 seconds >>> 2.5 seconds
  • AoE radius increased: 525 >>> 675/675/775
  • Damage decreased: 200 – 500 (+80% AP) (+100% bAD) >>> 200 – 400 (+70% AP) (+100% bAD)

Neeko

Passive: Inherent Glamour

  • When Neeko is near a non-epic monster, minion, trad, ward or plant for two seconds she stores their Sho’Ma. Neeko can click on her bar to become that unit. Click on Neeko’s face to return to Neeko. Clock on the little x to clear out that Sho’Ma. Only one unit can be stored at a time.
  • Disguise no longer breaks on taking damage, only when the disguised self would have died or when you are crowd controlled
  • Neeko no longer inherits base Attack Speed/Movement Speed from disguised target if that stat is higher than hers
  • Cooldown flattened to 6 seconds at all ranks

Q: Blooming Burst

  • Secondary/Tertiary Pop Damage: 40/65/95/115/140 (+20%AP) >>> 35/65/85/110/135 (+25%AP)
  • Each explosion now deals 30/40/50/60/70 bonus damage to monsters

W: Shapesplitter

  • After casting Neeko can reactivate to send the clone to a new location
  • Clone now plays animations and sounds of Q/E/Dance/Joke/Taunt/Recall/Laugh and survives for their duration
  • Empowered Attacks deal 50 bonus damage to monsters

E: Tangle Barbs

  • Damage adjusted: 80/115/150/185/220 +60%AP >>> 70/105/140/175/210 + 65%AP

R: Pop Blossom

  • After the channel, Neeko jumps into the air, knocking up all nearby enemies.
  • After 0.6s Neeko crashes to the ground with all suspended enemies and deals damage to all nearby enemies, the stun longers for 1.25s total
  • No longer shields Neeko on cast
  • Damage: 200/425/650 (+130%AP) >>> 150/350/550 (100%AP)
  • Cooldown: 90s >>> 120/105/90s

Sion

Passive: Glory in Death

  • HP loss per tick increased: 2-19 >>> 2.3-24.4 (based on level)

Swain

Q: Death’s Hand

  • Damage increased: 60/80/100/120/140 (+38% AP) >>> 65/85/105/125/145 (+40% AP)
  • Bonus damage per subsequent bolt increased: 12/22/32/42/52 (+8% AP) >>> 15/25/35/45/55 (+10% AP)

Taliyah

R: Weaver’s Wall

  • Cast lockout unaffected by Taliyah dealing damage, now determined by whether Taliyah takes damage

Trundle

Base Stats

  • Base Attack speed increased: 0.6 >>> 0.67
  • Base Mana increased: 281 >>> 340

Volibear

W: Frenzied Maul

  • Damage from bonus HP ratio increased: 5% >>> 6%
  • Missing HP heal ratio increased: 7/8.5/10/11.5/13% >>> 8/10/12/14/16%

Items

Lich Bane

  • AP increased: 75 >>> 85

League of Legends 13.9 ARAM patch notes

The following changes will only be made in ARAM only.

Champions

Ashe

W: Volley

  • Cooldown increased: 18/14.5/11/7.5/4 >>> 21/18/15/12/9 seconds

Aurelion Sol

E: Singularity

  • Cooldown increased: 12 >>> 16 seconds

Skins

Inkshadow Master Yi (1820 RP)

Inkshadow Aurelion Sol (1350 RP)

Inkshadow Kai’Sa (1350 RP)

Inkshadow Udyr (1350 RP)

Inkshadow Volibear (1350 RP)

Inkshadow Yasuo (1350 RP)

Inkshadow Yone (1350 RP)

Prestige Inkshadow Yasuo (150 Mythic Shards)

About The Author

Liam is a writer on the Australian Dexerto team covering all things gaming with an emphasis on MMOs like Destiny and FFXIV along with MOBAs like League. He started writing while at university for a Bachelor’s degree in Media and has experience writing for GGRecon and GameRant. You can contact Liam at liam.ho@dexerto.com or on Twitter at @MusicalityLH.