For League of Legends players who fear laning against a Darius, just wait until you see him sprinting out of the jungle.
Gameplay design director Mark “Scruffy” Yetter detailed the precise changes hitting the jungle champ pool soon, previewing the tentative Patch 11.8 adjustments today. And five champs will get a few minor tweaks to help them clear jungle camps quicker, including Darius, Zed, Mordekaiser, Morgana, and Diana.
Zed’s Contempt for the Weak passive is being maneuvered around to provide better jungle clear. The ability lets the Master of Shadows deal bonus damage on targets below 50-percent health. It will no longer have a cooldown for monsters and its damage to epic monsters will be capped at 300 for all levels.
Darius’ passive, which gives bonus damage to monsters, is increasing from 175 percent to 300 percent. This is less than the 500 percent that was being tested on the PBE last week, which allowed the champ to solo dragon at level one without Smite. But it should still make him a viable pick in the jungle.
Mordekaiser gets a new passive ability that grants stacks and refreshes them when dealing damage to monsters, capping at 180 at all levels. The monster damage bonus on Morgana’s Tormented Shadow (W) is jumping from 150 to 200 percent. And Diana’s Moonsilver Blade passive is getting rearranged to deal 300 percent amplified damage to monsters, also increasing the level one bonus attack speed to 20 percent instead of 10.
Riot likely hopes these changes will widen the jungle champ pool a bit, while also persuading more players to queue for the position. Scruffy discussed the role’s low play rate last February, believing that adding well-liked champs to the jungle pool might increase its popularity. But its complexity can sometimes be a deterrent for players, especially at lower ranks.
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