Riot Games confirm which League of Legends champions will face buffs or nerfs in Patch 9.5

Joe O'Brien

Riot Games have revealed which champions and items will be receiving buffs in the upcoming Patch 9.5, and which will be getting nerfed.

Patch 9.5 will be the next major update for League of Legends, and will focus on champion and item balance, following up on a variety of changes already made in patch 9.4.

Though Riot had already confirmed that 9.5 would not introduce any changes to major game systems, the exact contents of the update was otherwise unknown.

Now, however, Richard ‘MapleNectar’ Henkel, Product Lead on the League of Legends balance team, has confirmed the Patch is “more or less locked” and revealed which champions, items and runes the patch will focus on.

The changes being made by Patch 9.5

In total, 10 champions are receiving buffs, although the degree to which each will be empowered remains unknown at this time. Of particular note are the likes of Rakan and Akali, both of which have been subject to recent nerfs which Riot seem to have decided were at least a little heavy-handed.

On the nerf side, the more significant changes are likely to be those to the item Relic Shield, and runes Conqueror and Aftershock, which will affect a variety of heroes that typically use them. Nunu & Willump and Yorick are also getting direct nerfs, however.

Finally, both Vi and Sylas, the newest champion to join the League of Legends roster, will be receiving more neutral adjustments that don’t fall into either the buff or nerf category.

Though details of exactly what changes will be made haven’t been fully revealed yet, MapleNectar did confirm the changes to Yorick, which will see his ultimate ability Eulogy of the Isles nerfed, as well as confirming the change being made to Aftershock.

The full list of champions, items, and runes being affected by Patch 9.5:

Champion Buffs

  • Neeko
  • Graves
  • Dr. Mundo
  • Akali
  • Rakan
  • Gangplank
  • Cho’Gath
  • Tryndamere
  • Skarner
  • Jhin

Champion Nerfs

  • Nunu & Willump
  • Yorick

Champion Adjustments

  • Vi
  • Sylas

Item/Rune Buffs

  • Stormrazer

Item/Rune Nerfs

  • Relic Shield
  • Aftershock
  • Conqueror

As patches are typically applied on Wednesdays and MapleNectar confirmed the patch is coming next week, players can likely expect to see 9.5 hit the live servers on March 6.