In the new patch of League of Legends it’s all about the ARAM mode!
While it is rare for the developers at Riot Games to change something about the popular ARAM mode in LoL, small balance changes are sometimes necessary to maintain the fun of the game. Of course, a game mode that relies on randomness can never be completely balanced – the developers know this themselves – but with some general changes, the game mode should feel a bit “fairer” overall.
If you are just starting with LoL, you should definitely have a look at our League of Legends Beginner Guide!
Patch 6.12 brings changes to Champions and Summoner Spells in ARAM
A total of 3 champions were directly changed for the ARAM mode in LoL. These changes were made because a game of ARAM usually does not last as long as a regular 5v5 game in the Summoner’s Rift. The stacking abilities of Bard, Nasus and Thresh have now been adjusted for this mode as follows:
- Bard: Passive – Traveler’s Call – The bells now spawn after 40 seconds instead of 50 seconds. The spawn of the first bells remains at a game time of 50 seconds.
- Nasus: Q – Siphoning Strike – All minions now provide 6 additional stacks. Before the patch, it was 3 stacks for a normal minion and 6 for a cannon minion.
- Thresh: Passive – Damned – To allow Thresh to collect his stacks faster and more effectively, each soul captured now counts as two souls.
Many summoner spells now have a 40% cooldown reduction in ARAM:
- Flash:
300 seconds– 180 seconds - Heal:
240 seconds– 144 seconds - Cleanse:
210 seconds– 126 seconds - Exhaust:
210 seconds– 126 seconds - Ignite:
210 seconds– 126 seconds - Barrier:
180 seconds– 108 seconds - Ghost:
180 seconds– 108 seconds
But what about Mark / Sprint (Snowball) and Clarity? For these summoner spells, not only has the cooldown been changed, but other properties have been altered as well:
Mark / Sprint (Snowball):
- The cooldown has been increased from 40 seconds to 48 seconds.
- Snowball range reduced from 100 to 80.
- New effect “Glowball” – This glowing effect aims to make the snowballs easier to see.
Clarity:
- The cooldown has been reduced from 180 to 144 seconds.
- Your mana gain has increased from 40% of maximum mana to 50% of maximum mana.
- The mana gain for allies has been reduced from 40% of maximum mana to 25% of maximum mana.
Changes to the map and items
- Home Advantage: From now on, you will receive a movement speed bonus of 50% for the first 5 game minutes when starting from the base. This bonus lasts for 10 seconds.
- Experience: To reach level 18, you now need less experience – champion kills now grant less experience.
- Gold: Overall, there is now more gold in the ARAM mode so that larger purchases can be made more quickly. Therefore, there is more: passive gold, gold per champion kill, and more gold as a reward from minion kills (this includes all types of minions) – minion gold no longer scales over time.
- Life Relics: The relics now respawn not after 40 seconds, but after 60 seconds. In addition, the mana restoration has been adjusted from
120-315 (level 3-18)to 60-158 (level 3-18). This gives non-poke teams a better chance to get back in the game. - More Space: This involves small visual changes. There is now more space between the middle bushes, outer towers have a slightly larger side area, and the side areas of both bases have been slightly enlarged.
Item Changes:
The developers were not satisfied with the Doran items because they took up too many slots in the inventory – As a replacement, there are now Guardian Items. The Seeker Items were also too good at countering various heroes, which is why they were removed. However, to still have chances against Teemo and Co., the Extract of the Oracle was adjusted.
Extract of the Oracle: Now costs 50 gold more, but remains over death and can, similar to the red trinket, portray units in the bush as silhouettes.
Guardian Items
Hammer of the Protector:
- Cost: 950 gold
- Health: 150 health points
- Damage bonus: 15 attack damage
- Life Steal: 10% life steal
Horn of the Protector:
- Cost: 950 gold
- Health: 150 health points
- Health Regeneration: 20 health per 5 seconds
- Damage Reduction: Damage from basic attacks is reduced by 12
Orb of the Protector:
- Cost: 950 gold
- Health: 150 health points
- Damage bonus: 30 ability power
- Mana Regeneration: 10 mana every 5 seconds
Potions and Snacks in ARAM
In ARAM you can now buy the Refillable Potion and its upgrade, the Corrupting Potion. When you and your team destroy the first tower, you receive an additional Poro Snack – Yay!
What do you think of the changes? Was it about time for a fresh breeze, or was everything fine as it was?
