There are a lot of… interesting changes on the PBE.
The PBE has always been used as a judge of something’s initial response. Many buffs and nerfs have come into existence and been removed from existence as a result of the community’s assistance on the PBE. What is happening now on the PBE makes the next patch seem massive. The PBE patch has just begun and already we’re seeing tons of changes.
The first major change is the release of Ornn, The Fire Below The Mountain. While new champions are nothing new, Ornn brings a lot to the table in the form of specialized items and a new CC debuff called Brittle. The odd part about this patch is that the champion isn’t the most liked or hated change. There are 5 more Star Guardian skins which totals the line at 10, and the whole set seems like a bit of a cash grab, players speculate. The 5 champions getting the skins are Ahri, Ezreal, Miss Fortune, Soraka and Syndra. There’s also a new version of PAX Sivir for Riot’s arrival at the upcoming PAX event called Neo PAX Sivir, which current PAX Sivir owners will get automatically.
The new Star Guardian skin line.
Along with the Star Guardian skins comes a new PvE defense gamemode called Invasion. We don’t know much about it aside from that and that you’ll only be able to play as the Star Guardians in the mode. Star Guardian Ahri is also the announcer for the whole patch. Also coming soon are emotes, which will have a new UI element implemented so you can use 4 different emotes in a game, akin to mastery flairs.
Now, for balance changes. Hecarim is getting a small buff and quality of life change, which isn’t very important in the grand scheme of things. Janna, Leona and Zed have also received changes, which are overall buffs for all three champions. Vayne was going to receive changes, but the community backlash on her buffs was so massive that Riot reverted the change after a day or two. Last of all, and what a lot of people enjoy about this patch, is the ardent censer change. The item gives significantly less attack speed now, which means shielding supports are less powerful. This shifts the meta in a good way, away from an ADC centric game to a more tank/assassin dominated game again.
