In LoL Patch 14.5, Runaan's Hurricane is getting some major changes that could impact the game pretty heavily. Will these changes hit live servers?
Every few weeks, Riot releases a new patch for League of Legends. Some are smaller than others, and sometimes the team balances more champions than items. For the upcoming LoL Patch 14.5, a new change to Runaan's Hurricane has made it onto the Public Beta Environment (PBE) and we're not sure it's going to last.
Item variation is important, but it seems like Riot might have taken it a step too far with what they've got planned for Runaan's in the upcoming patch.
LoL Patch 14.5: Runaan's Hurricane Now Works On Melee Champions
Runaan's Hurricane is known to be an item for long range fighters in the bot lane. The item shoots out two extra missiles to nearby enemies while attacking. These extra missiles also trigger on-hit effects, which has made it a staple on champions like Ashe or Twitch. With the proposed changes in Patch 14.5, we can see many more champions build this item.
There are multiple champions that will feel way too powerful with this item. Content creator Cowsep made a quick list of champions that will have some insane new effects thanks to the proposed changes.
Melee Champion Interactions With Runaan's Hurricane
Katarina
Katarina is going to be busted with the new interaction. You thought her ultimate was a pentakill machine before? Well, with Runaan's she's going to do even more damage since the extra missiles also hit during her ultimate. She is going to be even more obnoxious to play against if the enemy decides to build Runaan's.
Master Yi
Master Yi is every low elo player's bane of existence, and he's going to be even more obnoxious if Riot ships this change. His passive, Double Strike, will refresh after every strike, meaning he will hit twice all the time. His Q, Alpha Strike, is also going to have its cooldown refunded with every strike.
The conclusion? Master Yi is going to hit a lot harder, and he will have little to no cooldown for his passive and his Q.
Tryndamere And Renekton
These two champions both build up fury as they play the game. By building Runaan's they will triple the amount of fury stacks they get, meaning they build it up way faster than before. This can be pretty annoying as well when playing against them.
Gwen and Pantheon
Similar to Tryndamere and Renekton, Gwen and Pantheon also build up stacks by auto-attacking which they will do much faster and more reliably than before. In Pantheon's case he's even able to use his W, Shield Vault, to get all his stacks back since this ability counts as an auto. Balanced, right?
Sejuani And Braum
Another duo that is able to apply their passive with Runaan's. Both are able to apply their passives to 3 nearby targets. This can be good, but also unrealistic for someone like Braum. Sejuani might be able to apply the passive on multiple champions, but can only stun one champion with a stacked E, Perma Frost.
Shyvana
Shyvana is another champion who will have little to no cooldown on one ability. Her Q, Twin Bite, will proc the cooldown reduction three times in one strike. This means her Q will have almost no cooldown, and she can instantly use it once more.
Gangplank
Gangplank is also going to benefit from these changes with him applying his passive true damage on his Q, Parrley, and his E, Powder Keg. Those barrels already hurt, but now it's just unfair how much damage he can do. Though, I would love to see this in professional play. Imagine T1 Zeus with this version of Gangplank. Unstoppable.
Xin Zhao
Xin Zhao will be unkillable with Runaan's. His passive, Determination, means that every third attack deals bonus damage and heals him and well... with Runaan's every hit will be his third, so he's going to constantly be healing up during a fight.
Of course, it is important to note that the champ running Runaan's will need either three enemies in close proximity or a wave to be able to apply the ability effects efficiently. While some champions might never build Runaan's just for these small effects – looking at you Braum – it'll be interesting to see what players will do. One thing is for sure, Master Yi will be way too OP in low elo after these changes.