League of Legends: Syndra’s rework gives her a deadly passive and an execute

It's finally Syndra's turn for a rework! League of Legends (LoL) has been reworking many of its champions all year, giving some of its most outdated champions some much-needed love.

In January, the reworks of Janna and Tahm Kench were released. Next, Ahri’s rework in February brought her back into the meta, making her one of the most popular champions in pro play this year. Then in April, we saw Rengar, Swain and Olaf updates that gave players headaches due to their OP ultimates.

This was followed by Taliyah’s rework in May, an update that shook the mid lane meta well into the Summer Split. In June, Sivir’s update came out, making her feel like a new champion and become a favourite in the devs’ nerf list.

And most recently, in August, Udyr’s most-awaited VGU and champion kit update was released, although he needed a hotfix to be the scary top laner he is.

This time, Syndra was the chosen one to get a mid-scope update.

The Dark Sovereign was first released in 2012, when she saw better days. She used to be Lee “Faker” Sang Hyeok’s signature curveball pick in the mid lane, with an overall win rate of 76.9%, and even got a Worlds-themed skin in 2017.

However, this champion’s barely been off the bench, especially after the durability update, with a 2.13% pick rate and a problematic 46.89% win rate.

That will soon change, as Syndra's rework has given her a deadly revised kit.

The mid-scope update for Syndra will make her ultimate, Unleashed Power, an execute, bringing the champion back into the meta as a late-game monster.

Game designer Tim “Truexy” Jiang gave a preview of the upcoming changes on Sydra’s kit on Twitter.

The developers noted that they intended to maintain Syndra's fundamental gameplay while improving her passive. to provide players better chances to make an impact in the late game, all while giving that sense of a power upgrade.

Syndra's passive is getting a major overhaul, and she will now be actively accumulating Splinters of Wrath as the game progresses.

There are three ways for players to acquire these.

• One, two, or three splinters are awarded at levels 1, 11, and 18, respectively, for damaging an adversary with two abilities within four seconds of each other.

• Syndra gets five splinters when she levels up, and one each time she kills a cannon minion.

• Syndra can collect up to 120 splinters, giving her 15% more AP. At a certain splinter threshold, her abilities will also change.

Her Dark Sphere (Q) will upgrade at 40 splinters collected. At this point, she can now store two charges with a one-second cooldown between casts.

After 60 splinters are collected, her Force of Will (W) gets a boost, doing 15% more true damage plus 1.5% per 100 AP.

Then at 80 splinters, the cone of Scatter the Weak (E) gets bigger, and it slows enemies by 70% for 1.25 seconds.

Lastly, Syndra's ultimate ability will kill any champion with less than 15% of their maximum health.

As an attempt to balance things out, the devs have also lowered the damage for her Q, E and Ultimate to make sure she doesn’t turn out overtuned.

Here’s Syndra’s full updated kit:

Transcendent (Passive)

• Syndra collects up to 120 Splinters via damaging enemy champions and gaining levels. Splinters of Wrath enhance Syndra and her abilities

• Syndra restores 20-215 (based on level 1-18) mana whenever she collects a Splinter from an enemy. She can gain Splinters via:

• Damaging an enemy champion with 2 abilities within 4 seconds grants (1/2/3 at levels 1, 11, and 18) Splinters (8-second CD per target)

• Levelling up grants Syndra 5 Splinters of Wrath

• Killing a Cannon minion grants 1 Splinter of Wrath

• At 120 Splinters, Syndra gains 15% total AP

Dark Sphere (Q)

• Cooldown: 4 seconds > 7 seconds

• 40 Splinters of Wrath: Dark Sphere can store 2 charges (1 second between casts)

Force of Will (W)

• 60 Splinters of Wrath: Force of Will does an additional 15% (+1.5% per 100AP) true damage.

Scatter the Weak (E)

• 80 Splinters of Wrath: Scatter the Weak’s cone is increased (56 degrees ⇒ 84 degrees) and also slows enemies by 70% for 1.25 seconds (applies after initial CC)

Unleashed Power (R)

• Grants Dark Sphere (Q) an additional 10/20/30 Ability Haste

Syndra’s mid-scope update is now up for testing on the PBE (Public Beta Environment) and will be released on 5 October during Patch 12.19.

What do you think of her mid-scope update?

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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