Riot Games designer David "Phreak" Turley has detailed the third patch for League of Legends Classic, the studio's throwback version of the MOBA, PCGamesN reported. Turley called it the biggest update the mode has had, with five champions added and balance changes spread across the rest of the cast.
Turley had previously said new Classic champions would arrive in themed groups rather than in the order they originally launched. Patch 3 takes that group from Demacia, and he said the five play distinctly from their counterparts in the modern live game.
- Fiora arrives on her Season 3 caster kit: Duelist grants health regeneration on hit, Lunge is a targeted dash with two casts per cooldown, Riposte reflects a single attack without locking her in place, Burst of Speed grants attack speed, and Blade Waltz strikes five targets at random.
- Galio returns on his Season 3 kit, with Runic Skin converting magic resist into ability power, Bulwark granting resistances to an ally and healing Galio when that ally is hit, Righteous Gust leaving a draft that speeds up allies, and Idol of Durand taunting nearby enemies before detonating for damage based on the attacks absorbed.
- Poppy brings back Valiant Fighter, which halves incoming damage above 10 percent of her current health, and Diplomatic Immunity, which marks one enemy and leaves every other champion unable to damage, debuff or crowd control her for the duration.
- Shyvana uses her Season 2 kit: Twin Bite, Burnout, an armor-shredding Flame Breath, and a dragon-form ultimate that dashes forward with damage and knockback while buffing her other abilities.
- Xin Zhao comes in on his first-rework Season 3 kit, with Challenge shredding the armor of his last target, Three Talon Strike ending in a knock-up, Audacious Charge dashing in with a slow, and Crescent Sweep knocking back enemies who are not marked by Challenge.
On balance, Turley said Classic is much more balanced than it was over the last few patches, and pointed to Tryndamere, whose win rate had reached 60 percent, as a case that has been brought under control. Patch 3 carries slight buffs for Gangplank, Heimerdinger, Kayle, Skarner and Teemo, and nerfs for Anivia, Malzahar, Nasus and Warwick.
Turley said the rate of champion additions will hold.
Every single patch for the foreseeable future has more than one champion in it. We are generally going to have a high rate of champion releases, much faster than League in the olden days.
Classic patches are scheduled every two weeks, which PCGamesN tied to a recent Riot decision to build out the mode's roster as quickly as possible. League of Legends Classic patch 3 is expected to release on September 9.