League of Legends patch 9.17 is live for testing on the PBE. The highlight so far are the Elderwood and Infernal champion skins, though those pesky Aurelion Sol and Kayle changes from the last patch cycle are still around for more testing, with no firm release date in sight (yet).
In of new balance changes to the best LoL champions however, there's plenty on offer. Garen is in line for several changes, which will increase the potency of his Perseverance ive (and maybe even turn him into something of a jungler) but take away some of the power on Judgement and his ultimate. Elsewhere, Pantheon gets a handful of changes which will prevent his E from letting him tank an entire Baron fight.
In of skins, Ahri, Nocturne, and Veigar each the whimsical Elderwood skin line, calling to mind a faerie forest. That's not all, however, as Galio, Shen, and Varus get Infernal skins. Scroll down to enjoy their artwork and pre-release trailers – we'll update with more as and when we can.
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 9.17 RELEASE DATE AND DOWNTIME
Server downtime for League of Legends patch 9.17 begins on August 28. Servers will go down at 03:00 PT in NA, 05:00 BST for EUW, and 03:00 CET for EUNE, and will be offline for around three hours.
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 9.17 BALANCE CHANGES
Champion changes
Aurelion Sol – changed

- Center of the Universe (P):
- Damage changed to 16-120 from 20-130.
- AP ratio changed to 25% from 18-35%.
- Starsurge (Q):
- Cooldown changed to 11/10/9/8/7 seconds from 10 seconds at all ranks.
- Movement speed increased to 20% from 10%.
- If Aurelion Sol is faster than his Q, the missile will speed up to keep up.
- Celestial Expansion (W):
- Now causes Aurelion Sol's stars to expand, gaining increased damage and rotating at high, but decaying. Upon reactivating or after 3 seconds, the stars retract, granting 40% movement speed, but decaying over 1.5 seconds.
- 8/6.5/5/3.5/2 seconds cooldown.
- Mana cost changed to 70/80/90/100/110 from 40 + 22/24/26/28/30 per second.
- Comet of Legend (E):
- No longer grants ive movement speed.
- Range increased to 5500/6000/6500/7000/7500 from 3000/4000/5000/6000/7000.
- Cooldown changed to 80/70/60/50/40 from 60/55/50/45/40 seconds.
- Speed increased to 600/650/700/750/800 from 600 at all ranks.
Galio – buffed

- Stats:
- Mana per 5 increased to 9.5 from 9.335.
- Winds of War (Q):
- Cooldown decreased to 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds.
- Shield of Durand (W):
- Minimum damage increased to 20/35/50/65/80 from 10/20/30/40/50.
- Maximum damage increased to 60/105/150/195/240 from 30/60/90/120/150.
Kalista – buffed

- Stats:
- Base AD increased to 69 from 67.
- Base mana increased to 250 from 231.8.
- Mana per level increased to 45 from 35.
Kayle – changed

- Stats:
- Armor increased to 29 from 26.
- Attack speed changed to 0.667 + 2.5% per level from 0.625 + 1.5% per level.
- Divine Ascent (P):
- Innate (level 1): Movement speed changed to 8% in all directions from 15% towards champions, and can now stack vs towers. Moved ranged form to rank 1 evolve. Moved AoE attacks to rank 2 evolve.
- Ranged (level 6): Range decreased to 525 from 550, and attack speed per stack while ranged decreased to 6% from 10%.
- Transcended (level 16): No longer deals true damage, but now adds 50 range (for 575 total).
- Radiant Blast (Q):
- Now refunds 50% mana cost if it hits a champion.
- Cast delay decreased to 0.25 from 0.5.
- Cast time changed to 0.25 from auto-attack timer.
- Missile speed decreased to 1600 from 2000.
- Range decreased to 900 units from 950 units.
- Shred decreased to 15% from 20%.
- Shred duration increased to 4 seconds from 3 seconds.
- Fixed a bug where Q wouldn't pierce as far if hit at point blank range.
- Starfire Spellblade (E):
- Execute damage changed to 8/9/10/11/12% + 2% per 100 AP from 8-16 + 1% per 100 AP.
- ive damage AP ratio increased to 25% from 20%.
- ive damage AD ratio increased to 120% tAD from 100% tAD.
- Divine Judgement (R):
- Mana cost decreased to 100/50/0 from 100 at all ranks.
- AoE radius increased to 500 from 475.
Leona – buffed

- Shield of Daybreak (Q):
- Cooldown decreased to 5 seconds from 6 seconds.
Lucian – buffed

- Stats:
- Base AD increased to 64 from 61.
Neeko – changed

- Inherent Glamour (P):
- Now able to cancel disguise.
Pantheon – changed

- Comet Spear (Q):
- Tap Q now crits targets below 25% health.
- Damage reduction against monsters decreased to 0% from 15%.
- Aegis Assault (E):
- No longer takes reduced damage from monsters.
Qiyana – nerfed

- Audacity (E):
- Damage decreased to 60/95/130/165/200 from 70/105/140/175/210.
- Supreme Display of Talent (R):
- Cooldown changed to 120 second at all ranks from 120/100/80 seconds.
Ryze – buffed

- Stats:
- Base MR increased to 34 from 30.
Zyra – buffed

- Stranglethorns (R):
- Mana cost changed to 100 at all ranks from 100/120/140.
- Cooldown decreased to 110/100/90 seconds from 130/120/110 seconds.
Skins
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS PATCH 9.17 SCREEN
Every League of Legends patch has its own screen. They're usually fairly excellent, and patch 9.17's is sure to be no exception. It'll likely be based on one of the new skin sets.
That's all we've got for League of Legends patch 9.17. You can stay up to date with the current version of the game via the League of Legends patch 9.18 notes in the very near future.