Patch 8.24 breakdown: a bad Dark Harvest and colossal Galio changes
By Josh Tyler
The last patch of Season 8 is here with a few final champion adjustments and the introduction of ranked changes to play around with during the pre-season. Which changes in Patch 8.24 will cause the most chaos?
November has come and gone, and now we are in the final month of the 2018 League of Legends season. Season 8 has certainly had its share of ups and downs (shudders to repress the memory of the Taric/Yi funneling strat), but we can’t quite jump to Season 9 yet.
One final patch has arrived for this pre-season, with Riot announcing Patch 8.24 which will go live on December 5. This is anticipated to be a smaller patch but in all likelihood, there will be a need for another mid-patch update like Riot did after Patch 8.23. Without further ado, let’s see what last changes Season 8 has for us.
New Champion
Neeko, the Curious Chameleon will finally make her entrance onto the Rift in Patch 8.24. For a full detailed breakdown on her kit, see our Neeko champion preview here.
Champion Changes
Aatrox
"Q – The Darkin Blade [REMOVED] MONSTER HATE: No longer deals an additional 0.1 attack damage against monsters"
This is an attempt to curb the recent rise of a semi-funnel strat where mid-Aatrox will take smite, shove the waves, and then proceed to take the enemy jungle’s raptors and wolves. This change is therefore specifically targeted at how effectively he will be able to steal those camps, particularly at early levels.
However, this change is more likely to weaken jungle Aatrox (which according to Champion.gg was his second-most played role in Patch 8.23 after top lane). So this seems like a heavy-handed nerf to a fairly niche problem since top lane Aatrox wasn’t taking smite and following this strategy. Letting mid Aatrox make the sacrifice to have to take smite instead of an offensive summoner spell would have been a fine tradeoff to allow, but if they really wanted to nerf the strategy Riot should have nerfed his ability to push waves early game.
Akali
"W – Twilight Shroud DURATION: 5/5.5/6/6.5/7 seconds ⇒ 4/4.5/5/5.5/6 seconds MAX DURATION EXTENSION: 3 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds"
Akali has been a scourge in top and mid ever since her rework, and the Twilight Shroud – which gives her pure vision obscurity – is one of the main culprits. Most Akalis are maxing W second, but this change is unlikely to change the rank max order. It’s a straight nerf and gives Akali players less time to maneuver in her shroud to reset her passive, especially early.
Camille
"Base Stats BASE ATTACK SPEED: 0.644 ⇒ 0.625"
Although this nerf will is said to be targeting jungle Camille, she typically tends to clear more using her abilities (specifically her Q > Q reset). Yes, this will slow her clear down, but she should still be one of the top tier picks.