League of Legends - Skarner Release Patch Notes 8/9/2011

New Skins in the Store

• Sandscourge Skarner
• Earthrune Skarner
• Bloodstone Taric

PVP.net Store

• Added a Purchases tab that contains a history of all your purchases

PVP.net v1.41.17

• Players will now receive a popup message when they attempt to join a game lobby that is already full
• Fixed a bug where Summoner icons were displaying incorrectly in chat rooms
• Fixed a bug where All Random Mode in Custom Games was not correctly selecting your previously used skin for a Champion

League of Legends v1.0.0.123
Skarner, The Crystal Vanguard

• Crystal Slash: Skarner lashes out with his claws, dealing physical damage to all nearby enemies and charging himself with Crystal Energy for several seconds if a unit is struck. If he casts Crystal Slash again while empowered by Crystal Energy, he deals bonus Magic Damage and slows all targets hit.
• Crystalline Exoskeleton: Skarner gains a shield and while the shield persists his movement speed and attack speed are both increased.
• Fracture: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy which deals damage to enemies struck and marks them. Any further damage dealt to marked targets by Skarner will allow him to consume the mark to heal himself.
• Impale (Ultimate): Skarner suppresses an enemy champion and deals magic damage to it. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner's target will be dealt additional damage.
• Energize (Passive): Basic attacks lower the cooldowns of Skarner's abilities by 1 second against champions and 0.5 seconds against non-champions.

Akali

• The cooldown before Akali's next Shadow Dance charge and her current stacks are now shown in the same buff

Amumu

• Amumu will now attempt to attack the target after successfully pulling himself to an enemy champion with Bandage Toss

Ashe

• Fixed a bug where Frost Arrow would consume mana if Ashe canceled her auto-attack early

Blitzcrank

• Mana Barrier
  • Fixed a bug where Mana Barrier could be bypassed if the damage taken would instantly kill him
  • Fixed a bug where Mana Barrier would activate when the cooldown expired even if not taking damage
• Fixed a bug where Power Fist failed to grant lifesteal effects

Brand

• Fixed a bug where Pyroclasm would fizzle if Brand died

Caitlyn

• Fixed a bug where planting a Yordle Snap Trap after a trap was recently triggered caused a previous trap to be consumed (as if you placed too many)

Cho'Gath

• Fixed a bug where Cho'Gath could gain a Feast stack when the target did not die

Corki

• The cooldown before Corki's next Missile Barrage charge and his current stacks are now shown in the same buff

Evelynn

• Fixed a bug where Malice and Spite was healing for incorrect values
• Fixed a bug where Malice and Spite's cooldown would be reset upon killing enemy clones

FiddleSticks

• Basic attack projectile speed increased to 1750 from 1500
• Dark Wind
  • Damage reduced to 65/85/105/125/145 from 65/90/115/140/165
  • Fixed a bug where Dark Wind would fizzle when Fiddlesticks died
  • Fixed a bug where Dark Wind was bouncing 4 times instead of 5
• Drain ability power ratio reduced to .45 from .5
• Terrify cooldown increased to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

Gangplank

• Grog Soaked Blade max stacks has been reduced to 3 from 4
• Cannon Barrage
  • Fixed a bug where Cannon Barrage would not grant gold on minion kills
  • Fixed a bug where Cannon Barrage's slow was not always applying consistently

Garen

• Decisive Strike movement speed duration increased to 4 seconds from 3 seconds
• Judgment cooldown reduced to 13/12/11/10/9 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds
• Courage maximum armor and magic resistance now 25 at all ranks from 5/10/15/20/25

Heimerdinger

• H28G Evolution Turret
  • Heimerdinger will now place Frost Turrets if he places a turret while UPGRADE!!! is active
  • Fixed a bug where turrets could be moved by Crystallize, Pillar of Filth, and Cataclysm

Irelia

• Irelia will now attempt to attack the target after dashing to an enemy champion with Bladesurge

Jarvan IV

• Cataclysm
  • Jarvan will no longer follow the target while he is in the air during Cataclysm
  • Cataclysm will now create the ring of terrain regardless of whether the enemy can be targeted or not
  • Cataclysm will now be slightly more likely to push targets that the ring lands on into the center rather than out
  • Fixed a bug where Cataclysm could be interrupted by movement displacing abilities such as Crystallize or Pillar of Filth
• Fixed a bug where Dragon Strike reduced the target's base armor rather than total armor

Jax

• Jax will now attempt to attack after Leap Striking if the target is an enemy champion
• Fixed a bug where Jax's attacks could not be dodged

Karma

• The cooldown before Karma's next Mantra charge and her current stacks are now shown in the same buff

Katarina

• Katarina will now attempt to attack the target after teleporting to an enemy champion with Shunpo

Kayle

• Holy Fervor
  • Armor and magic resistance shred increased to 3% from 2%
  • Fixed a bug where Holy Fervor was shredding the target's base armor and magic resistance rather than total armor and magic resistance

Kennen

• Thundering Shuriken ability power ratio increased to .75 from .66
• Lightning Rush
  • Energy cost adjusted to 100/95/90/85/80 from 100 at all levels
  • Ability power ratio increased to .6 from .55

Kog'Maw

• Updated Living Artillery's reveal particle effect

Lee Sin

• Lee Sin will now attempt to attack the target after dashing to a champion with Resonating Strike

Leona

• Shield of Daybreak cooldown reduced to 11/10/9/8/7 seconds from 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
• Zenith Blade
  • Mana cost reduce to 60 at all ranks from 60/65/70/75/80
  • Particle adjusted to more accurately reflect the area of effect (actual area of effect unchanged)
  • Leona will now attempt to attack the target if she uses Zenith Blade to jump to a target
• Solar Flare cooldown reduced to 90/75/60 seconds from 105/90/75 seconds
• Fixed a bug where Eclipse would break enemy spell shields on activation

Lux

• Updated Lux's autoattack to feel more responsive and increased its missile speed
• Light Binding cooldown reduced to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 16/15/14/13/12 seconds

Malphite

• Brutal Strikes mana cost reduced to 50/55/60/65/70 from 55/60/65/70/75
• Ground Slam
  • Radius increased to 400 from 350
  • Mana cost reduced to 50/55/60/65/70 from 60/65/70/75/80
• Fixed a bug where Unstoppable Force sometimes failed to pass through Crystallize, Pillar of Filth, and Cataclysm

Maokai

• Maokai will now attempt to attack after using Twisted Advance if the target is a champion

Master Yi

• Alpha Strike
  • Master Yi can now use Wuju Style and Highlander while Alpha Strike is active
  • Master Yi will now attempt to attack the target after using Alpha Strike to teleport to a champion

Mordekaiser

• Fixed a bug where Mace of Spades was providing the diminished Spell Vamp effect even if used against a single target
• Fixed a bug where Children of the Grave would fail to clone targets if they were nontargetable when they died (Sanguine Pool, Alpha Strike, etc)
• Fixed a bug where Children of the Grave could clone a clone

Morgana

• Updated Morgana's autoattack to feel more responsive and increased its missile speed
• Base movement speed increased to 310 from 300
• Dark Binding cooldown reduced to 11 seconds from 12 seconds.
• Tormented Soil mana cost reduced to 70/85/100/115/130 from 70/90/110/130/150
• Soul Shackles
  • Stun duration adjusted to 1.5 at all ranks from 1/1.5/2
  • Cooldown reduced to 120/110/100 seconds from 120 seconds at all ranks
  • Shackle activation time reduced to 3 seconds from 4 seconds

Nasus

• Attack range increased to 125 from 110
• Soul Eater lifesteal increased at earlier levels to 14/17/20% from 10/15/20%
• Wither
  • Cooldown reduced to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 15 seconds at all ranks
  • Mana cost reduced to 80 from 100
  • Wither will now reach its max slow even if its duration is reduced (ie: by tenacity)
• Spirit Fire
  • No longer has a 0.5 second delay before taking effect
  • Now deals half of its damage initially and the other half over the duration -- initial 55/95/135/175/215 (+0.6 ability power) Magic Damage and 11/19/27/35/43 (+0.12 ability power) Magic Damage each second for the next 5 seconds
• Fixed a bug where Siphoning Strike sometimes gained extra lifesteal

Nidalee

• Bushwhack
  • Updated Bushwhack's reveal particle effect
  • Fixed a bug where Bushwhack was reducing the target's base armor and magic resistance rather than total armor and magic resistance

Nocturne

• Paranoia
  • Nocturne will now attempt to attack the target after using Paranoia
  • Paranoia no longer grants assists for limiting enemy vision

Pantheon

• Heartseeker Strike
  • Now does a better job of hitting targets on top of Pantheon
  • Damage increased to 13/23/33/43/53 from 4/6/8/10/12
  • Scaling adjusted to a .6 bonus Attack Damage ratio from a .2/.25/.3/.35/.4 total Attack Damage ratio
  • Now fires 3 strikes instead of 5
  • Cooldown reduced to 10/9/8/7/6 seconds from 18/17/16/15/14 seconds
  • Mana cost reduced to 45/50/55/60/65 from 70 at all ranks
  • Channel duration reduced to .75 seconds from 1.8 seconds
• Spear Shot
  • Damage increased to 65/105/145/185/225 from 16/28/40/52/64
  • Now scales off of a 1.4 bonus Attack Damage ratio from a 1/1.15/1.3/1.45/1.6 total Attack Damage ratio
  • Certain Death now causes Spear Shot to critically strike for 1.5x damage
• Aegis of Zeonia
  • Cooldown adjusted to 13/12/11/10/9 seconds from 12 seconds at all levels
  • Stun duration adjusted to 1 second from .7/.9/1.1/1.3/1.5
  • Pantheon will now attempt to attack the target after using Aegis of Zeonia
• Grand Skyfall
  • Jump channel time reduced to 2 seconds from 3 seconds
  • Land time reduced to 1.5 seconds from 2 seconds
  • Edge damage increased to 50% from 33%

Renekton

• Fixed a bug where Slice and Dice was only reducing the target's base armor rather than total armor

Rumble

• Fixed a bug where The Equalizer would fizzle if Rumble died

Shaco

• Jack-in-the-Boxes can no longer be disabled or pushed by effects like Crystallize

Sion

• Fixed a bug where Enrage would consume health if Sion canceled his auto-attack early

Teemo

• Noxious Traps will now 'level up' if Teemo ranks up his R slot while the traps are active

Trundle

• Fixed a bug where Rabid Bite was not blocked by Spell Shield, Shroud of Darkness, or Banshee's Veil

Tryndamere

• Bloodlust heal per 1 fury increased to .65/1.15/1.65/2.15/2.65 from .5/.95/1.4/1.85/2.3
• Spinning Slash
  • Base damage increased to 70/100/130/160/190 from 60/90/120/150/180
  • Bonus AD ratio increased to 1.2 from 1
  • Fixed a bug where Tryndamere was not gaining the proper Fury upon using Spinning Slash

Urgot

• Noxian Corrosive Charge will now update as the target gains or loses armor

Warwick

• Infinite Duress
  • Fixed a bug where Infinite Duress would sometimes tick only 4 times
  • Fixed a bug where Infinite Duress could sometimes break early even if not interrupted

Wukong

• Wukong will now attempt to attack a target champion after using Nimbus Strike
• Cyclone Attack Damage ratio increased to 1.2 from 1
• Wukong is now properly considered melee for items and spells that differentiate between melee and ranged characters.
• Fixed a bug where Crushing Blow was shredding the target's base armor rather than total armor

Yorick

• Omen of War attack damage ratio increased to 1.2 from 1

Items

• Quicksilver Sash is now unique
• Tears of the Goddess, Manamune and Archangel's Staff now display your unique bonus mana in their tooltips.

General

• Made adjustments to reduce the load time for games
• Made adjustments to how death and kill streaks work
  • Dying to non-champions no longer resets kill streaks or increases death streaks
  • Assists now reduce (not reset) death streaks
• Using Summoner Teleport on a ward will no longer reveal the ward through fog of war to enemies. Instead, it will destealth the ward to be seen if an enemy is near and reveal the teleport particle through fog of war to enemies
• Allied champions can no longer block targeting of an enemy champion if they are standing on top of one another
• Added a new in-game option for "Borderless Window Mode" that allows people to alt-tab more efficiently
• Attack-move improvements:
  • Attack-move targeting is now more predictable (now targets closest enemy)
  • Attack-move will now target visible wards
  • Changed attack-move cursor color to red from green
• Added new keybindings for "Self+Smart Cast" for abilities and Summoner spells. Casting with these binds will first try to Smart-Cast the ability; if there is no target or an invalid target under the cursor, it will attempt to Self-Cast the ability
• Fixed a bug where clones did not show items in their inventories
• Fixed a bug where certain particle effects would not show up if using the minimap for targeting
• Fixed minor tooltip errors on Kayle, Soraka, Nasus, Sona, and Renekton
• Fixed a bug where some Energy runes were giving less Energy than their tooltip stated
• Fixed a bug where several spells were triggering on-cast events more than once
• Fixed a bug in which players could get stuck in a "dead" state until they disconnected and then reconnected

Skarner, the Crystal Vanguard - A New Champion Approaches

Lore:
Centuries ago, there lived a race of creatures as ferocious as they were wise. The brackern were unusual beings blessed with the earth’s primal magic, embodied in the form of crystals. Their kind knew of an arcane ritual to bind their life’s essence to a crystal, communing with the magic embedded in it. With this power, the brackern thrived in the Odyn Valley, protecting both creatures and crystals alike. Despite attacks from those looking to claim the primal magic, it seemed that nothing could get past the brackern’s defenses. Nothing, that is, until the devastation of a Rune War.
A vicious battle was fought near the Odyn Valley and the unleashed chaotic magic poisoned the crystals. The brackern began to grow sick and die, and no amount of defensive magic could reverse the effects. To avoid extinction, their only course was to hibernate underground until the wars stopped. The strongest, most intelligent brackern hibernated closer to the surface to awaken first and assess the world’s condition for the return of their race. The recent mining operations and violent escalation in Kalamanda were enough to awaken the first of these vanguards. When Skarner burst to the surface, he lashed out in anger and confusion. Reason eventually won out over his anger when he realized that the agents of the League who found him were simply functionaries. Skarner was invited to the Institute of War to share the brackern’s story. In return, the summoners told him about the history that his kind had slept through. Much had been done to curb the unchecked use of magic since the Rune Wars, but it was obvious that the world was not yet safe for his kind to reawaken. For now, however, there is a place where Skarner can use his power to change the world into one to which his kind could eventually return: the League of Legends.
”The humans have not yet learned to control their magic – what once was Kalamanda is now a crystal scar on the history of this world.” – Skarner
Abilities:
Energize (Passive): Basic attacks lower the cooldowns of Skarner’s abilities by 1 second against champions and 0.5 seconds against non-champions.
Crystal Slash: Skarner lashes out with his claws, dealing physical damage to all nearby enemies and charging himself with Crystal Energy for several seconds. If he casts Crystal Slash again while empowered by Crystal Energy, he deals bonus magic damage and slows all targets hit.
Crystalline Exoskeleton: Skarner gains a shield and while the shield persists his movement speed and attack speed are both increased.
Fracture: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy which deals damage to enemies struck and marks them. Any further damage dealt to marked targets by Skarner will allow him to consume the mark to heal himself.
Impale (Ultimate): Skarner suppresses an enemy champion and deals magic damage to it. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner’s target will be dealt additional damage.

PS Vita Release Delayed - No More 2011 Holiday Portable

An interesting turn of events has happened; Sony is pushing back the release of their much hyped portable system, the PS Vita — the PSP’s worthy successor. It was first announced at E3 that the Vita would be coming to North America and Japan this holiday season at two price points: $249 for WiFi, and $299 for the 3G model. Has the recent, dramatic price cut by Nintendo to their 3DS system thrown a wrench into the Sony machine?
According to Sony’s big man in charge, Kaz Hirai is not calling this a delay but rather just a precaution to make sure that there is enough software to go in line with the portables launch. This would make absolute sense seeing as this was the issue with the much sought after 3DS — despite its wide appeal it couldn’t break on the scene like Nintendo intended without a killer line up of must have first-party games and third-party support.
“The PlayStation business is a key pillar,” the Kaz-man said. “The video-game industry is evolving constantly. My expectation is for the PlayStation business to remain at the forefront of this very dynamic industry.”
What’s this mean? Well, not a whole lot but that Sony doesn’t want their system to be another failed experiment that takes a whole year or more to finally see returns. But this does mean that Christmas sales will be non-existant and gamers and kids everywhere will have to tell their parents to hold off on getting their presents until the dang thing finally comes out — with no exact date specified.

As many of you know if you are an avid League of Legends follower, Riot Games has a big announcement to make this week regarding something new.  Well the day has finally come and the news it out everyone.  League of Legends is releasing a new map, no it's not Magma Chamber, but the new map seems interesting, since the new game mode is a fast paced PVP environment.  It is similar to capture points from FPS games, but this time translated to the MOBA scene.  The games according to Riot Games lasts approximately 20 minutes, which faster then most games on average on Summoner's Rift 5v5 match ups.  The objective in this new game mode is to essentially defense your nexus from the opposing team from channeling and depleting your nexus energy to 0.  Seems simple, straight forward enough, but how is the map set up and is there any kind of protection, only time will tell.  The new map and game mode will available for live preview at Gamescon and at PAX Prime for those that are able to attend those events in Europe and the US.

Wukong, the Monkey King Review

Wukong, the Monkey King is the newest champion to enter the ranks of League of Legends' finest warriors.  Wukong is Riot Games' rendition of the famously known Monkey King.  Wukong, is considered a bruiser/tanky DPS and can be somewhat of an assassin due to one of his abilities.  Wukong definitely meets the idea of the Monkey King being a devious person however as a speedy agile and combination skilled champion it does not.  It meets one side of Monkey King that everyone knows him for, which they do well with Wukong's ability Decoy or his W ability.  This ability allows him to create a copy of himself and go stealth for 1.5 seconds before the copy attacks and disappears.  This is a great ability to add an escape ability, but also provides the sense of being a trouble maker since he can hide and plot other attacks while his decoy keeps people occupied.  However, this ability only truly fools those at the lower ELO level in my opinion as a stationary target is kind of obvious that it is the clone and therefore will not be attacked. Wukong makes for a great early game with his poke harass combination of his E ability, Nimbus Strike allowing him to dash in and deal damage followed by his Q ability, Crushing Blow.  This is great in the lane for harassing, but sadly the damage seems to fall off late game.  His damage overall falls off as the game progresses and he is only really capable of taking down the opposing team's carry if allowed to reach them, which is rarely the case as Wukong is a slow melee champion with just boots and a lack luster ultimate that is great for CC.  However, aside from that the damage is lackluster as it can never reach close to its full damage even with armor penetration from players getting armor items.  This isn't a bad move really in Riot Games' part as a tanky DPS should not be able to do massive amounts of damage.  However, for a bruiser that is melee having lack luster survivability and mediocre damage makes him a fun champion to play with his abilities, but lacking any form of role on a team.

I believe that Wukong needs some minor buffs to help him compete with other bruisers as there are others out there that just are capable of doing more damage and closing the gap easier on opposing team carries.  That is not to say that Wukong currently is not flawed currently on the live version of the game as his Q ability is bugged along with other champions that have a percent armor and magic resist shred.  Currently these abilities only shred off the opposing champion's base armor and magic resistance instead of their total, which is quite a big flaw on Riot Games' part to release a champion who's core abilities revolve around lowering their opponent's armor in order to deal any kind of significant damage.

Wukong's ultimate is fun to use as it is Garen's, Judgement ability mixed in with a bit of Rammus', Powerball and Blitcrank's, Power Fist.  His ultimate is great for CC and early game damage but for an ultimate it deals lackluster damage due to armor and the fact it can easily be stopped from doing any damage at all.  His ultimate can easily be made useless by any form of CC that is a stun, snare, or slow.  For an ultimate that is a core part of his damage this is a little unacceptable as Garen's, Judgement has a remove slow and partial slow immunity tied into it and is only an ability.  Wukong's is similar but is an ultimate with no such thing to prevent him from not dealing any damage and practically being ignored for the rest of the team fight if his ultimate is stopped.  Wukong's movement speed and abilities have some synergy, but lack in one key feature to allow him to deal any damage without having to rely on items.  Wukong lacks no other CC aside from his ultimate to close the gap as a melee character.  Wukong's, Nimbus Strike provides a dash for a gap closer, but without any kind of slow, champions can easily escape him before he has any chance of auto attacking or even doing a E to Q combination unless the Q ability was pre-queued up similar to a Jax player would do with Empower and Leap Strike.  As a tanky DPS, his damage becomes sub par as he replaces much needed damage for survivability.  If built oppositely with damage, then he becomes easily killed with no survivability, while still dealing lack luster damage unless built with some form of burst like critical strikes RNG.

Despite Wukong's many flaws he is a fun champion to play, but still very hard to place on a team and feel satisfactory in any form of team fight when his ultimate can easily be stopped or deal mediocre damage.  As for fixes to Wukong, I will not say he needs much, but as of right now while his Q is bugged he could use some form of immunity with his ultimate or at least a possible chance to knock up champions twice during its duration.  Another would be to have some form of slow or daze stun effect on his Nimbus Strike so that he can actually catch up to and land melee auto attacks on the opposing champion so he is not just wasting his mana.  Overall, Wukong needs some form of utility to be useful on the team and useful in any 1 versus 1 fights as champions can usually get away freely if they have more movement speed then Wukong does.  Some minor movement speed buffs to his base movement speed similar to Pantheon's movement speed so as to catch people and get away a bit easier, which will be great for Decoy traps and team strategies.  This is my assessment of Wukong as of right now, but if and when the bug on his Q gets fixed by Riot Games, then Wukong may be a force to be reckoned with for damage similar to Ezreal who has no real form of CC until Trinity Force is bought in order to catch up to opponents.