The Lead Gameplay Designer, Andrei “Meddler” van Roon posted an update via the official LoL forums outlining the buffs Riot was readying for Ornn and Janna.
As RealGear reported, Ornn, the Fire Below the Mountain, was an underwhelming champion upon its release. Riot gave him an emergency buff in an attempt to fix his abysmal win- and playrate percentages but expectations were the champ would receive more buffs in future.
Roon said that Patch 7.19 would bring a change to Ornn’s passive Living Forge & Master Craftsman. In addition, the Freljordian champion will receive “a bit of extra power in some other regards too”.
Riot explained that the team will continue monitoring Ornn, but he will be disabled during the 2017 League of Legends World Championship. The event kicks off on September 23rd and therefore, the devs do not have enough time to make sure Ornn is perfectly balanced.
The Riot representative also revealed that the next patch would bring some tweaks to Janna’s abilities. Janna excels at thwarting the other team’s engages with the tornadoes, slows and buffs to her team’s movement speed. However, her playstyle does not give players the opportunity to shine with big plays.
Meddler confirmed that the team was considering the addition of “more skill expression for Janna and counterplay opportunities for her opponents.” Faster tornadoes and more auto attack potential were also among the possible tweaks. Meddler mentioned that the things that are currently being tested include longer AA range, E (Eye of the Storm) having a longer CD, and Q (Howling Gale) uncharged being weaker/ charged being stronger, but emphasized that none of these changes was final.
In previous Quick Gameplay Thoughts updates, Meddler informed LoL players that Patch 7.19 will bring some changes to Xin Zhao and Azir, too. The former will receive some mild tweaks to his skills and stats. The latter will not get a replacement of any of his abilities. Riot team was focused on reducing his ranges to create better counterplay. LoL’s Lead Gameplay Designer confirmed that Riot has taken into account players’ feedback, but said that neither leaving Azir’s range unchanged nor removing mobility would effectively resolve the issues and lead to a flatter playstyle.
In the latest Quick Gameplay Thoughts update, Meddler also highlighted that the numbers previewed for the Runes Reforged program were not final and advised players against planning their runes of choice until a final announcement is made.
