After plummeting to one of the lowest win rates in the game, Sylas could be in for some more changes. Today, League of Legends designer Blake “Squad5” Smith posted a list of changes for the Unshackled that could be hitting the Rift in the near future.
Following the release of Patch 9.12 last week, Sylas’ win rate dropped to 41 percent—the lowest of champion win rates across all skill levels. In the patch, the mid laner saw changes across the board to each of his abilities, with nerfs to the damage on his Chain Lash (Q) and the removal of his guaranteed shield on his Abscond (E).
The changes included in Squad5’s post aren’t set in stone just yet, but they could see the mage regaining some of his power from the previous patch. For starters, Sylas’ base health per level would increase by 10, while his base attack damage would increase by 4.
Patch 9.12 reduced the minion damage on Sylas’s Petricite Burst (passive) by 70 percent, making it more difficult for Sylas players to farm in lane. With Squad5’s changes, the passive’s damage reduction would decrease from 70 to 50 percent in hopes of restoring some of the champion’s wave clear.
Related: League of Legends Patch 9.12: Full notes and updates
Additionally, the damage nerfs to Sylas’ Chain Lash (Q) would be reverted, and the damage on his Kingslayer (W) would increase from 60-180 to 65-205. The range on his point-and-click, however, would decrease from 400 to 325 to compensate for its increase in damage.
Things get interesting with Sylas’ Abscond / Abduct (E). Riot plans to completely remove the ability’s shield—a pivotal point in the champion’s kit. Additionally, the second cast’s knockup will see its duration reduce from 0.5 to 0.35 seconds, and Sylas players will no longer be able to cancel the ability’s casting animation while throwing out their chains. The skill will get a bit of break from all the nerfs, however, with a decrease in cooldown and an increase in missile and dash speeds.
Even though Sylas’ ultimate remained untouched in Patch 9.12, Riot is taking a second look at the ability this go-around. The League developer plans to increase the ability’s cooldown from 200 percent at all ranks to a decreasing 300/250/200 percent, while increasing its minimum cooldown from 20 to 60 seconds. The ultimate’s cast range would also see a nerf, with its range decreasing from 1050 to 950 units.
The changes will likely hit the League of Legends Public Beta Environment in the near future where they will remain for further testing.
