Patch 4.4 Notes - LoL

 Welcome to the 4.4 patch notes! Last patch, we hinted at long-term changes hitting the lab while we tackled the largest outliers in competitive play. This patch, you'll see the first results of that labor as we bring out a healthier (and hopefully less banned) rework Kassadin who still embodies the theme of a mobile anti-magic assassin.

Our other big change is to Lich Bane, as it was skewing a lot of champion power in unhealthy ways. Specifically, there are champions who have a lot of their power tied to Lich Bane - we balanced them to compensate for the changes - and then there are champions who like Lich Bane for its high burst, low cooldown properties. High burst isn't unhealthy if it's timed and executed properly, but Lich Bane was just a pile of damage for something you're already doing, and it came up much, much faster than other burst damage focused items like Deathfire Grasp. Hitting Lich Bane means we can revisit certain champions in the future and maybe buff them up. We've already begun this process for a few of them as you'll see in this patch.

Statikk, one of our designers, is going to go in-depth on power curves (as in when a champ is the strongest or weakest in the game) later on to help explain some of our changes to champs like Kassadin and Elise, so stay tuned for that. The run-down here is that when champion power curves become too extreme, the champs selected decide the outcome of the game rather than the players themselves. Success in League of Legends should always be a combination of pre-game decisions and in-game execution. We want all players to have the opportunity to meaningfully outplay their opponents at each and every phase of the game - even if there are disadvantages - and champions who automatically win those phases just by showing up negates that philosophy.

Now, less philosophy talk, more patch notes talk! Where there's more philosophy talk! Excellent! Exclamation points!