Though his mid-scope update was revealed last, it has come surprisingly quickly. The Grand General will now do strategizing in a solo lane, on his own.
Swain has certainly made a name for himself in bot lane since his last mini rework, but as the commander of the Noxian front lines, he should also be one to strike fear in his solo lane enemies' hearts. The goal for this mid-scope update was to revive his fantasy as a master strategist and dark, demonic diplomat, rather than someone who must rely on others to execute his plans, that is being a support.
The full suite of changes to his kit are:
- Passive - Increased Healing Scaling and Health gain from Soul Fragments
- Death's Hand - Heavily buffed damage, with lower cooldown and mana cost to make it easier to spam in a solo lane
- Vision of Empire - Pinging Vision of Empire now displays a list of visible enemies within range in team chat, similar to Twisted Fate and Nocturne ults
- Nevermove - Reduced cooldown during ultimate, no longer deals damage when pulling and can now be recast to pull all affected enemies
- Demonic Ascension - New mechanic involving Demon Power and sustainability
Riot Games
In addition to mana buffs across all his abilities, of note are some changes to his crowd control capabilities. Swain can no longer pull enemies CC'd by allies, but his E now lets him pull everyone he snares, making him all the more terrifying in bottlenecks and narrow corridors. Together, these changes should help Swain players in all roles feel like the ruthless yet tactical ruler he is, especially when he unleashes Demonic Ascension, which now lasts for as long as Swain can sustain himself with his enemies' souls.
