Rod of Ages
The dominance of this item in the first half of season 3 is undeniable, with the insane energy regeneration effect of the Rod of Ages being the reason why team compositions like Star Guardian and Sona “the pump machine” became unstoppable. Even though Riot Games nerfed some of the strong champions afterwards, the power of the Rod of Ages remains, compelling them to completely revamp it.
Specifically, this item has been reworked into Blue Buff, and its effect will therefore change significantly compared to the current version. Instead of pure energy regeneration, Blue Buff will reduce the maximum energy of the champion holding it to just 20 after each ability cast. On the surface, this appears to be a buff, but it means that champions using Blue Buff must auto-attack to regain energy, requiring at least 2 hits, rather than receiving free mana as before.
Ekko
It can be said that Ekko has been completely reworked in the mid-season update; of course, this champion retains its stats and origin-class but the mechanics of its skill have changed entirely. Previously, when using the ability, Ekko would hit all enemy champions once and apply on-hit effects, which led to this champion being seen as more of a burst damage dealer.
However, in the upcoming update, Ekko’s skill will target enemies a certain number of times instead of hitting the entire enemy team. Therefore, you will need Ekko to use its ultimate more than once and survive long enough to do so, and the item build will also differ from before; you will need more attack damage items as this is the best way to increase this champion’s DPS.
Aurelion Sol
Unbelievably powerful is perhaps the only way to describe Aurelion Sol in the mid-season update. Currently, Aurelion Sol is purely a damage dealer and the finishing piece of the Rebel composition. To achieve this, you need at least one mana item, one AP item, and one defensive item to keep this Starship alive and constantly casting.
However, in the next patch, Aurelion Sol may not even need mana items as this champion’s skills have been upgraded, with its smaller ships now dealing damage while also gaining mana siphoning effects. Remember that healing can still be countered by Grievous Wounds, but mana siphoning has no such counters. So, if your Aurelion Sol has sufficient survivability, theoretically, it can drain your enemy team’s mana completely.
Jhin
Jhin is already a very strong champion at this point in time, simply because he is currently the strongest single-target damage dealer in the game. However, in the upcoming mid-season update, Jhin will be even more terrifying, as the critical weakness known as his base attack speed has been partially addressed by Riot Games allowing it to scale with champion levels.
It’s not surprising that Marksmen in general, and Jhin in particular, are among the hottest champions on the PBE server, as people are looking for ways to test the new patch. With beneficial updates like Infinity Edge providing a 100% critical strike chance, Jhin can deal massive damage to enemy teams with his devastating critical hits.