Marta J. December 3, 2019
Riot Games is balancing the ARAM game mode coming patch 9.24. The update will include nerfs and buffs for over 20 champions applicable only to the Howling Abyss.
Riot’s principal game designer “Mort” shared on Twitter which changes the developer is looking to push after a detailed consideration to better balance the game mode, although it’s overall in a good place. Mort also added the Presence of Mind rune will get nerfed and that some bugs will be fixed.
Karthus, Pyke, Sion, and more up for buffs in ARAM
Champions getting buffed on ARAM include Karthus, Kayle, Kennen, Olaf, Pyke, Renekton, Sion, and Zyra.
Karthus and Kayle have had their damage lowered previusly, which made them fall behind, so they’re getting their damage back. Zyra will be dealing a bit more damage, but setting it to her Summoner's Rift default would make her too dangerous on the narrow map, so it’s a small increase change. She will also take less damage.
Kennen, Olaf, Pyke, Renekton, and Sion will all be receiving less damage in ARAM as well. The biggest change is for Pyke, who will be taking 10% less damage and deal 5% more, which puts him back to a dangerous place after the nerfs.
ARAM nerfs await for Qiyana, Ryze, Kassadin, and many more
Many more champions are getting nerfed.
Champions that will be dealing less damage include Camillie, Jayce, Jhin, Kassadin, Nocturne, Qiyana, Ryze, Udyr, and Zac. Most of these champions had their damage in ARAM buffed in comparison to their default versions, which made them carry games more easily than was intended, so some of that damage has to be taken away to balance them back out.
Camille, Khazix, Nocturne, Qiyana, Udyr, Yorick, and Zac will also be taking more damage, but the rates will still be lower than the default. This nerf will also be implemented on Kassadin, Leona, and Nautilus.
All in all, there are a lot of balance changes coming to ARAM. These aren’t drastic however, and shouldn’t change the flow of the games overly much. More than anything, what Riot is looking to do is bring all champions to a relatively close average win rate, making the entirety of the champion roster viable in the game mode.
The ARAM balance update is coming with patch 9.24, scheduled to go live on December 11. A detailed list of changes can be found here.