Azir on the way to changes in League of Legends
Azir’s update made its way onto the PBE, and it’s a big one.
There’s a lot to take in. His fundamental strengths and weaknesses are being shifted around, which isn’t a surprise, as that was always the primary goal of the update to begin with. He’s going to feel distinctly different than he does in the live game now.
Don’t worry though, he’s still Azir.
Despite the list of changes being rather long, Riot did well on its promise to hold onto what made Azir… Azir. His intricate sand soldier commands and the beloved Shurima Shuffle are still there, so his theme still holds up, and he’s still a blast to play. Don’t be fooled, though, things are going to be very different for the Emperor from here on out.
The changes
Q – Conquering Sands
- AP scaling lowered from 50 percent to 30
- Cast range lowered from 875 to 720
- Base damage and hitbox increased
W – Arise!
- Damage per level increased
- Cast range increased from 450 to 500 units
- Soldier attack animation delay reduced 0.25 seconds
- Soldier deactivation range decreased from 800 to 660
- Azir now gets a massive boost to attack speed if three or more soldiers are active.
E – Shifting Sands
- Shield now has 70 percent AP scaling
- Now grants a shield immediately, but lasts for 1.5 seconds, down from four seconds
- If Azir hits an enemy, the dash stops immediately and he summons another soldier.
R – Emperor’s Divide
- Wall now only interrupts enemy dashes while the soldiers are still moving. After they stop, they act as normal terrain.
Azir’s rework is pretty huge, but there are only a couple of nerfs and buffs that you really need to keep your eye on to understand it. The range of almost every single ability, most importantly the range of his soldiers, is being reduced considerably. This means that artillery-range sand soldiers are a thing of the past, and Azir will no longer be able to sit back while his soldiers do all the work for him.
It may take players a couple of months to figure him out, but these changes seem like they were the right call, at least on paper. His rework is set to be released with Patch 7.19 in a couple of weeks from now.
