LoL 12.9 patch notes - New Challenges system, champion buffs and nerfs

League of Legends patch 12.9 will be releasing on 11th May, and Riot has announced its complete patch notes detailing all the new content and updates coming with the update. This includes the new Challenge system, mid-scope updates for Olaf and Taliyah, champion nerfs and buffs.

In addition to this, new skins and chromas will also be a part of LoL patch 12.9 along with various bug fixes. You can find detailed information about everything below in the patch notes.

League of Legends 12.9 patch notes

Challenges

• [C] Challenges track your overall progress within League across a ton of categories. Build your legacy through over 300 unique Challenges that celebrate the champs you've mained, modes you've conquered, plays you've made, stuff you've collected, and more.
• [C] Show off the Challenges you’re most proud of with Titles and Token. You can see how you measure up in your region with regional leaderboards—now you can finally hit Challenger in something.
• [C] No matter how you play, there's a Challenge for you. 

Champions

Olaf

• AD Growth: 3.5 > 4.7
• AD at level 18: 127.5 > 148
• Health Growth: 100 > 105
• Mana Growth: 42 > 50

Passive – Berserker’s Rage

• Maximum Attack Speed Granted: 99% > 40-100% (levels 1-18)
• [NEW]: Berserker’s Rage now provides 10-30% life steal (levels 1-18), based on Olaf’s missing health
• [UPDATE]: Bonuses max out at 0% Health > 30% Health

Q – Undertow

• Cooldown: 7 seconds > 9 seconds
• Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 > 60/110/160/210/260
• Minimum Range: 300 > 425 units
• Mana Cost: 60 at all ranks > 40/45/50/55/60
• [UPDATE]: Picking up axes now fully refunds Q – Undertow’s cooldown, but axes can only be thrown a maximum of once every 3 seconds. (Note: The 3 second limit scales with Ability Haste.)
• [UPDATE]: Included a quality-of-life buff to Olaf’s Q – Undertow so that it now grants ghosting more consistently to jungle monsters who he hits or are near him when Q is cast

W – Tough It Out

• [UPDATE]: Vicious Strikes > Tough It Out
• Cooldown: 16 seconds at all ranks > 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds
• Attack Speed: 50/60/70/80/90% > 40/50/60/70/80%
• Ability Duration: 6 seconds > 4 seconds
• [NEW]: W now resets Olaf’s basic attack timer
• [NEW]: On activation Olaf now gains a 10/45/80/115/150 (+25% missing health, capped at 30% of his current HP) shield for 2.5 seconds
• [REMOVED]: No longer grants Life Steal
• [REMOVED]: No longer amplifies Olaf’s healing based on missing health

R – Ragnarok

• Bonus Attack Damage: 15/20/25 (+30% AD) > 10/20/30 (+25% AD)
• Duration: 6 seconds > 3 seconds
• Passive Resists: 20/30/40 > 10/25/40
• [REMOVED]: R – Ragnarok’s passive bonus resistances are no longer lost for the duration of the ability
• [NEW]: Hitting a champion with a basic attack or E – Reckless Swing extends the duration of Ragnarok to 2.5 seconds. Olaf can refresh Ragnarok indefinitely.

Taliyah

• Base Health: 531 > 500
• Base Health Regen: 7 > 6.5
• Health Regen Growth: 0.7 > 0.65
• Base Mana: 425 > 470
• Base Mana Regen: 9.34 > 8
• Mana Regen Growth: 0.85 > 0.8
• Base Armor: 20 > 18
• Move Speed: 335 > 330

Passive – Rock Surfing

• Out of Combat Bonus Move Speed: 20-45% (levels 1-18) > 10/20/35/55% (levels 1/9/12/15)
• Passive Fall Off Time when not near Terrain: 1 second > 2.5 seconds

Q – Threaded Volley

• Mana Cost: 50/60/70/80/90 > 60/65/70/75/80
• Cooldown: 7/6/5/4/3 seconds > 6.5/5.5/4.5/3.5/2.5 seconds
• Rock Damage: 70/95/120/145/170 (+45% AP) > 38/61/84/107/130 (+50% AP)
• Damage Reduction from Subsequent Stone Shards: 50% > 60%
• 5-Rock Damage: 210/285/360/435/510 (+135% AP) > 98.8/158.6/218.4/278.2/338 (+130% AP)
• Damage Reduction from Subsequent Stone Shards Against Monsters: 25% > 60%
• [NEW]: Each Stone Shard now deals an additional 30 (+10% AP) damage against monsters
• [NEW]: Stone Shards now deal damage in a 175 radius area of effect (approximately 1.6 Teemos)
• [NEW]: Q – Threaded Volley will now continue to cast while Taliyah is in Stasis
• [NEW]: Casting Q – Threaded Volley on Worked Ground now consumes the Worked Ground to fire a single Boulder that deals double damage [76/122/168/214/260 (+100% AP)] and slows all targets hit in a 225 AoE radius by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2 seconds
• Mana Cost on Worked Ground: 1 > 20
• Minimum Cooldown on Worked Ground: 1 second > 0.75 seconds
• Worked Ground Duration: 25 seconds > 30 seconds
• Worked Ground Radius: 300 > 400
• [UPDATE]: The size of Worked Ground on Howling Abyss now matches Summoner’s Rift
• [NEW]: Q – Threaded Volley casts on Worked Ground now have new VFX, SFX, animation, and icon!

W – Seismic Shove

• Mana Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 > 40/30/20/10/0
• Cooldown: 16/15/14/13/12 seconds > 14/12.5/11/9.5/8 seconds
• Knock Up Radius: 200 > 225
• Time Delay before Knock Up: 0.8 seconds > 0.75 seconds
• [REMOVED]: W – Seismic Shove no longer deals damage

E – Unraveled Earth

• Cooldown: 16/14/12/10/8 seconds > 16/15/14/13/12 seconds
• Damage on Initial Cast: 50/75/100/125/150 (+40% AP) > 60/105/150/195/240 (+60% AP)
• Slow Strength: 20% (+4% AP) > 20/22/24/26/28% (AP ratio removed)
• Boulder Detonation Damage: 50/60/70/80/90 (+30% AP) > 25/45/65/85/105 (+30% AP)
• Damage Reduction per Subsequent Boulder Hit: 15% > 25%
• Maximum Boulder Detonation Damage: 155/186/217/248/279 (+93% AP) > 62.5/112.5/162.5/212.5/262.5 (+75% AP)
• Delay Between Casting and Spawning First Row of Boulders: 0.1 seconds > 0 seconds
• Delay Between Spawning Rows of Boulders after the First Row: 0.1 seconds > 0.17 seconds
• [UPDATE]: E – Unraveled Earth now spawns 6 rows of boulders extending outwards from Taliyah with 4 boulders per row (previously spawned 4 rows of boulders with 6 boulders per row)
• [NEW]: Boulders now stun enemies that dash through them for the duration of the dash + 0.6/0.7/0.8/0.9/1 seconds. (Note: the max stun duration is 2 seconds and monsters are always stunned for the max duration).
• [REMOVED]: E – Unraveled Earth no longer detonates to deal additional damage after 4 seconds

R – Weaver’s Wall

• Range: 3000/4500/6000 > 2500/4500/6500
• Dash Range when Jumping off Wall: 400 > 700
• Dash Speed when Jumping off Wall: 1000 > 1200
• [UPDATE]: Moving Taliyah while she is riding the Weaver’s Wall now causes Taliyah to dash to the location clicked, up to the maximum dash range instead of dropping her perpendicular to the wall.
• [UPDATE]: Dashing when jumping off of the wall is now more forgiving when trying to dash through terrain
• [NEW]: Damage from enemy champions or structures now prevents Taliyah from casting R – Weaver’s Wall for 3 seconds
• [REMOVED]: Taking damage no longer knocks Taliyah off her wall

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where Taliyah would sometimes lose her passive permanently if she had a spell shield active
• Fixed a bug where Taliyah would sometimes not get reduced cooldown on her Q – Threaded Volley when cast on Worked Ground

Ahri

E – Charm

• Cooldown: 12 seconds > 14 seconds

R – Spirit Rush

• Cooldown: 130/105/80 seconds > 140/115/90 seconds

Braum

Passive – Concussive Blows

• Per-Target Cooldown: 8/7/6 seconds > 8/6/4 seconds

E – Unbreakable

• Damage Reduction: 30/32.5/35/37/40% > 35/40/45/50/55%

Hecarim

Q – Rampage

• Physical Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+85% bonus AD) > 60/90/120/150/180 (+90% bonus AD)

W – Spirit of Dread

• Cooldown: 18 seconds > 14 seconds

Q – Rampage

• Physical Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+85% bonus AD) > 60/90/120/150/180 (+90% bonus AD)

W – Spirit of Dread

• Cooldown: 18 seconds > 14 seconds

Master Yi

R – Highlander

• Bonus Attack Speed: 25/45/65% > 25/35/45%

Nidalee

• Base Health: 570 > 540

Pyke

Passive – Gift of the Drowned Ones

• Damage Converted to Grey Health when near Two or more Enemies: 40% (+0.5% per Lethality) > 45% (+0.5% per Lethality)

Q – Bone Skewer

• [NEW]: Bone Skewer now refunds mana upon hitting an enemy champion
• Mana Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 > 74/78/82/86/90
• Mana Refund: 50% > 75%

R – Death From Below

• Cooldown: 120/100/80 seconds > 100/85/70 seconds
• [REMOVED]: Pyke no longer receives “Your Cut” gold upon successfully executing enemy champions with his R (last assisting ally will still receive “Your Cut”)
• [REMOVED]: Pyke no longer receives additional “Your Cut” gold when allies kill enemies within Death From Below’s execution area

Renata Glasc

• Base Armor: 29 > 27

Passive – Leverage

• Additional Magic Damage Against Marked Targets: 1-3.5% (levels 1-13) (+1% per 100 AP) > 1-2% (levels 1-9) (+2% per 100 AP) (damage against unmarked targets unchanged)

Renekton

• Health Growth: 92 > 97
• AD Growth: 3.75 > 4.15
• AD at Level 18: 132.75 > 139.55

W – Ruthless Predator

• Cooldown: 13/12/11/10/9 seconds > 16/14/12/10/8 seconds
• Total Physical Damage: 10/30/50/70/90 (+75% AD) > 10/40/70/100/130 (+75% AD)
• Total Physical Damage when Empowered: 15/45/75/105/135 (+75% AD) > 15/60/105/150/195 (+75% AD)

R – Dominus

• Magic Damage per Second: 40/80/120 (+10% AP) > 50/100/150 (+10% AP)

Rengar

W – Battle Roar

• Damage to Monsters: 85-150 (levels 1-18) > 65-130 (levels 1-18)

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where Rengar’s empowered abilities and W – Battle Roar’s heal would sometimes play through the Fog of War

Shyvana

W – Burnout

• Damage Tick Rate: 1 second > 0.5 seconds

E – Flame Breath

• [NEW] The area of effect zone from Shyvana’s E – Flame Breath now applies marks to enemies that enter the zone.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where Shyvana’s Q – Twin Bite would not attack player-created targets (like Teemo’s Mushrooms or Illaoi’s Tentacles) twice
• Fixed a bug where Shyvana’s Q – Twin Bite’s second attack would not deal damage if the enemy was running away from her
• Fixed a bug where Shyvana’s W – Burnout VFX were not correctly displaying when inside of Mordekaiser’s R – Death Realm

Sion

Passive – Glory in Death

• [NEW]: Sion now does 40% reduced damage to structures while in his reanimated frenzy form (includes runes and items)

Thresh

Passive – Damnation

• Ability Power and Bonus Armor per Soul: 0.75 > 1

W – Dark Passage

• Shield Strength: 60/90/120/150/180 (+1 per Soul) > 60/90/120/150/180 (+2 per Soul)

Varus

Passive – Living Vengeance

• Bonus Attack Speed on Non-Champion Kills: 10/15/20% (+15% bonus Attack Speed) > 10/15/20% (+20% bonus Attack Speed)
• Bonus Attack Speed on Champion Kills: 40% (+30% bonus Attack Speed) > 40% (+40% bonus Attack Speed)

W – Blighted Quiver

• Bonus Magic Damage On-Hit: 7/10.5/14/17.5/21 (+30% AP) > 7/12/17/22/27 (+30% AP)

Items

Hullbreaker

• Champion Bonus Resists While Hunting Alone (Melee): 20-60 (levels 1-18) > 10 (levels 1-11), then 20/35/43/51/59/67/75 (levels 12-18)
• Champion Bonus Resists While Hunting Alone (Ranged): 10-30 (levels 1-18) > 5 (levels 1-11), then 10/17.5/21.5/25.5/29.5/33.5/37.5 (levels 12-18)
• [UPDATE]: Deal 20% bonus damage from all sources against structures > ONLY attacks deal 20% bonus damage against structures

Client Update

• [c] We have removed the self-repair button from the League of Legends client settings menu as it was a redundant feature. Client self-repair can still be accessed through the Riot Games client settings menu.

Bugfixes & QoL Changes

• Fixed a bug where Swain’s old ability descriptions were displaying in the Champion Details Page
• Fixed a bug where Swain could reactivate his E - Nevermove to pull enemies closer to him even if they had cleansed the Root effect
• Fixed a bug where Rengar could still deal damage with his Q - Savagery when blinded by Teemo’s Q - Blinding Dart
• Fixed a bug where Chaos (Red) side inhibitors would display blue icons when selected
• Fixed a bug where Kayle’s movement and attack VO lines were not playing correctly while Ascended
• Fixed a bug where Elise’s W - Volatile Spiderling was ignoring Baron and not exploding
• Fixed a bug where Nocturne’s R - Paranoia VO line would play louder than intended if players had visibility of more than 1 champion affected by nearsightedness
• Fixed a bug where Black Belt Udyr’s Bear Stance was not displaying the correct visual textures
• Fixed a bug where Irelia would only receive stacks of her Passive - Ionian Fervor for Champions hit when hitting Champions and minions/monsters simultaneously
• Fixed a bug where Lillia was not receiving the correct among of healing from her Passive - Laden Bough
• Fixed a bug where the sound effects for Ashe’s W - Volley would stop playing if it was leveled up to Rank 2 on-cast
• Fixed a bug where Gangplank’s R- Cannon Barrage would cancel allies’ auto attacks if it was upgraded with Raise Morale
• Fixed a bug where Ekko’s Q - Timewinder tooltip was displaying the incorrect AP ratio
• Fixed a bug where the damage from Janna’s Q - Howling Gale was not correctly factoring in the ability’s base AP ratio
• Fixed a bug where Wukong’s E - Nimbus Strike into Q - Crushing Blow combo would fail to stack Conqueror
• Fixed a bug where Turrets would prioritize and target enemies damaged by Kog’Maw’s Passive - Icathian Surprise
• Fixed a bug where Master Yi’s Q - Alpha Strike sound effects would sometimes be audible to the enemy team in the Fog of War
• Fixed a bug where Shaco’s Passive - Backstab was sometimes audible to the enemy team from the Fog of War
• Fixed a bug where Aphelios’ gun swapping and ability sound effects would sometimes be audible from the Fog of War
• Fixed a bug where the sound of Scuttle’s shield breaking would play through the Fog of War

Upcoming Skins & Chromas

The following skins will be released in this patch: 

• High Noon Katarina
• High Noon Leona
• High Noon Mordekaiser
• High Noon Varus
• High Noon Talon
• Prestige High Noon Talon
• EDG Aphelios
• EDG Graves
• EDG Viego
• EDG Yuumi
• EDG Zoe

The following chromas will be released this patch:

• High Noon Katarina
• High Noon Leona
• High Noon Mordekaiser
• High Noon Varus
• High Noon Talon
• EDG Aphelios
• EDG Graves
• EDG Viego
• EDG Yuumi
• EDG Zoe

That is everything you needed to know about LoL patch 12.9.

• LoL 12.9 patch notes - New Challenges system, champion buffs and nerfs
• League of Legends MSI 2022 - Dates, location, teams, and more
• Valorant 4.09 patch notes - Chamber nerf, Fade updates, and more
• Riot announces Valorant esports plans for 2023

For more on the game, please make sure to check our section dedicated to League of Legends guides, news, tips, and more.

Featured image via Riot Games.