League of Legends Patch 10.2 preview: Aphelios set for BIG nerfs

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League of Legends. Photo courtesy of Riot Games. /

Champions

Nautilus

"Q – Dredge Line Damage: 80/130/180/230/280 -> 70/115/160/205/250"

Nautilus has ruled the roost amongst support champions for the best part of six months now and it’s probably time for change. His endless crowd control chain, early game damage, and inherent tanky stats make him the perfect engager, protector, and team fight menace in the current meta.

Patch 9.22 saw nerfs hit Depth Charge, but failed to blow the champion out of the water and he maintained his place at the top of the support charts. Now, Dredge Line is being targeted with a -10 damage reduction at Level 1 and -30 damage reduction at Level 9 (Q is the first maxed skill).

Everyone knows that damage is not the most important part of Nautilus’ Q, but any form of damage nerf will affect the champion’s all-in ability in the early stages of the game.

Lowering Dredge Line’s damage makes it more difficult to instantly burst down an enemy carry and makes alternative support champions a more attractive option on Patch 10.2, potentially cutting down Nautilus’ previously untouchable status at the top of the support tier list.

Qiyana

"W – Terrashape Attack Speed: 20% -> 5/10/15/20/25%"

The Empress of the Elements is among a long list of mid lane champions that could be considered overpowered in the current meta, but she’s the only one who’s been addressed in Patch 10.2’s proposed change list.

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Combining a 50.94% win rate and 9.8% ban rate makes it clear that Qiyana deserves the nerfs headed her way next week, but it does seem a bit unfair with the likes of Cassiopeia, Diana, Fizz, and Kassadin all remaining untouched. Maybe we just want a bit longer to play with her True Damage skin.

Due to the fact that Qiyana puts points into Terrashape last, this is basically a -15% attack speed nerf for her W. This means that her DPS is slightly lower and she’ll take a bit longer to clear out minion waves in the early game.

This change isn’t enough to reduce Qiyana to the bottom tiers of mid lane, but she’ll probably miss out on the huge S tier party that’s currently happening and is showing no signs of stopping.

Sona

"E – Song of Celerity Aura Bonus Movement Speed: 10/11/12/13/14% (+3% per 100 AP) -> 10/11.5/13/14.5/16% (+4% per 100 AP) Self Bonus Movement Speed: 10/11/12/13/14% (+3% per 100 AP) -> 25% (+4% per 100 AP)"

Did we say Karma and Lulu were the only ones left out of the enchanter party?

Sona hasn’t been left out of the enchanter celebration completely though. She’s sort of sitting outside a window peering in and occasionally speaking to party-goers as they leave the building for a quick smoke or fresh air.

Her 48.92% win rate from just a 1.7% pick rate suggests she’s not in an awful spot right now, but compared to other enchanters like Janna, Nami, and Soraka, she could definitely use a helping hand.

This helping hand comes in the form of bonus movement speed buffs on E – Song of Celerity. Surrounding allies will now receive +1% movement speed from Sona’s items until the late game when Sona begins adding points to the ability, a pretty negligible buff.

Sona, on the other hand, will receive +16% movement speed whenever she uses her E, which is probably enough to put her in range for a Crescendo in most scenarios.

Ultimately, movement speed is not the biggest issue with Sona’s kit right now so these changes won’t have much of an impact, but they certainly add a unique aspect to Sona as her E movement speed can now be considered a threat and one to look out for if she wants to land an ultimate or poke.

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