League of Legends: Previewing the item changes in Patch 9.23
By Josh Tyler
Doran’s Shield
A small change to Doran’s Shield’s unique passive, where it will now regenerate up to 40 health over 8 seconds after taking damage from an enemy champion, based on a percent of the champion’s missing health. This is essentially a straight buff to the shield passive and makes it a lot better into ranged top laners and short-ranged ADCs.
Who this helps: Melee top laners (all of ’em) and short-ranged ADCs (Vayne, Kai’Sa).
Who this hurts: Long-range ADCs who want to bully lane (Caitlyn) and ranged top laners (Teemo, Rumble, Quinn).
Removed items
All of the Raptor Cloak items (Zz’Rot Portal and Ohmwrecker) are being removed after basically never being built in competitive play. While Trick2g cries himself to sleep, I personally don’t think either of these items will be missed.
Brawler’s Gloves are also being removed and replaced by Agility Cloak in just about all recipes. I’ll reserve judgment to see if this change is that impactful.
Next. How pros are playing and building Senna. dark
Finally, the biggest item change overall in my opinion, is the removal of Spear of Shojin. This item made champions like Jax, Renekton, and Aatrox nightmares to balance and now it is finally being removed. It makes me a bit sad because I like the spirit of the item (having an item that grants bonuses for champions that have long-lasting ultimates) but it was just too overloaded. I think if they had gotten rid of the bonus attack speed or cooldown reduction and made the passive last for the same amount of time as your ult it could have been a bit more balanced.
Who this helps: AP and tank top laners (Maokai, Lissandra)
Who this hurts: Bruisers (Jax, Renekton)