Wukong set to receive major changes on PBE
Riot Games have been promising a Wukong rework for a while and it seems like only now the rework is coming to fruition as several changes are coming to PBE, which will introduce significant buffs to the Monkey King.
The League of Legends community has been asking for Wukong buffs for quite some time now, which is only fair, considering Wukong's poor win rate (47.22%). Once a force to be reckoned with on the Rift, Wukong's outdated kit simply didn’t fit into the current meta and Riot Games are set to correct that with changes to his passive and all four of his abilities.
Wukong buffs and changes:
Crushing Blow (Q): Wukong's Q will receive increased range, armour shredding duration and bonus damage. Adding to that, Crushing Blow will also have a new effect; Whenever Wukong or his clone deals damage to an enemy with basic attacks or spells, Q's cooldown will be reduced by 0.5 seconds. The cast speed of Crushing Blow will from now on also scale with attack speed. To compensate for this huge buff, Riot Games have increased the Crushing Blow's cooldown by one second, and its mana cost from 40 to 30-50 mana.
Adding to the list of changes is Wukong's Warrior Trickster (W) ability, which will have its stealth duration reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second. The clone will no longer deal AoE damage on despawn and its cooldown has been increased by four seconds, from 18-10 seconds to 22-14 seconds. The mana cost of his W ability has been reduced from 50-70 to 50.
On the other side, Warrior Trickster will receive a new effect, similar to Kinderd's Q, giving Wukong a 300 range dash, which will allow him to go over small walls. Furthermore, Riot will introduce some changes to how his clone works. While it will no longer deal AoE damage, Wukong's clone will now mimic Wukong's attacks and ultimate but will deal only 30-70% damage.
Wukong's Nimbus Strike (E) will have its damage changed from 65-205 (+0.8 Bonus AD) physical to 80-260 (+1.0 AP) magic damage. Its attack speed buff duration will be increased by one second (from 4 to 5), while its cooldown has been changed from 8 seconds to 10-8 seconds. Mana cost of the ability will be slightly reduced from 45-65 mana to 40-60 mana.
The offset distance from unit dashed to will be changed from zero to 75, however, the dash will now follow the target – similar to Lee Sin's Q ability (Sonic Wave – Resonating Strike).
Perhaps the biggest and most impactful change made to Wukong will be to his ultimate ability – Cyclone (R). While there is a long list of changes to Cyclone, the most exciting is that Wukong will be able to cast it a second time within seven seconds, although the second cast won't knock up the enemies that have already been hit by the first cast. Its spin duration has also been reduced from 4 to 2 seconds and Wukong will now be able to cast other spells to cancel R, stopping the spin.
FULL LIST OF CHANGES:
Base stats:
Health: 577.8 to 540.
Magic Resistance: 32.1 to 28.
Stone Skin (Passive)
Armour: Changed from 4/6/8 per nearby champion to 5+1/level.
MR: 4/6/8 per nearby champion – removed.
Stone Skin now grants 1% max health regen per five seconds.
The Armour and health regen bonuses are increased by 4x when three or more enemies are nearby.
Passive will check for enemy proximity every 0.25 seconds (previously 1 second).
Crushing Blow (Q)
Bonus Damage: Changed from 10-130 (+0 to 40% AD) to 30-110 (+0.7 Bonus AD).
Bonus Range: Increased from 125 to 75-175.
Cooldown: Increased from 9-5 to 10-6 seconds.
Mana cost: Changed from 40 to 30-50 mana.
Armour Shred Duration: Increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
Cast time now scales with attack speed.
New Effect: When Wukong or his clone deals damage to enemies with basic attacks or spells, Q's cooldown is reduced by 0.5 seconds.
Warrior Trickster (W)
Stealth duration: Reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second.
Cooldown: Increased from 18-10 seconds to 22-14 seconds.
Mana cost: Reduced from 50-70 to 50 mana.
The clone no longer deals AoE damage on despawn and it mimics Wukong's attacks and ultimate – it deals 30-70% damage.
The clone will attempt to attack the same enemies Wukong recently attacked.
New Effect: Added 300 range dash, which will allow WUkong to jump over small walls.
Clone effects:
Q: Empowers clone’s next attack.
E: Clone gains attack speed buff.
R: Clone will start spinning and will knock up enemies, which have not been knocked up already.
Nimbus Strike (E)
Damage: Changed from 65-205 (+.8 Bonus AD) physical to 80-260 (+1.0 AP) magic.
Cooldown: Changed from 8 seconds to 10-8 seconds.
Mana cost: Reduced from 45-65 to 40-60 mana.
Attack Speed buff duration: Increased from 4 seconds to 5 seconds.
Offset distance from unit dashed: Increased from 0 to 75.
The dash now follows the target, similar to Lee Sin's Q ability.
Cyclone (R)
Wukong can now cast his ultimate for a second time within 7 seconds, although the second cast will not knock up enemies hit by the first.
Spin duration: Reduced from 4 seconds to 2 seconds.
Damage per second: Changed from 20-200 (+1.1 Total AD) to 1.2 Total AD +2.5-8.5% (+1 percent/100 AD) max health MS while spinning: 5-40% based on time > 20/30/40% based on skill rank.
Time before Wukong can cancel the spin: Changed from 1 second to 0.5 seconds.
Damage tick rate: Changed from every 0.5 seconds to every 0.25 seconds. Each tick will also apply Conqueror.
Attack range while spinning: reduced from 175 to 50.
Wukong can cast other spells to cancel his ultimate.
Nimbus Strike's attack speed duration is refreshed while spinning.
