Patch 11.3 notes
Welcome to February and another big ol’ patch!
This time around, we took a large sweep across items to tweak what's hitting too hard and what's needing some love, categorized into 6 sections: tank, enchanter, marksman, fighter, mage, and sustain items. For sustain, we’re continuing to reassess systemic healing by adjusting stats around Omnivamp on powerful items like Goredrinker and Sterak’s Gage. The intent here is to balance the stat’s strength while keeping items viable and, you guessed it, sustainable.
Then it’s the usual champ balancing, with some sizzle for Jinx, who’s been wanting to crash back onto the scene for a while now, and some more for AP Shyv. As for outliers, we’re tamping down champs like Rammus and Elise who have been consistent hot shots in the jungle.
All that aside, ARURF is back and better than ever! We've made a few changes in light of the new item landscape, so take a quick peek below and get ultra ready. See ya in the next one.
Party-goers galore, festivities continue in the TFT world with our first patch of the Festival of Beasts! Take this portal to TFT patch notes to uncover where the real party is at!
Mid-Patch Updates
2/5/2021 ARURF Balance Changes
11.3 General
11.3 Buffs
11.3 Nerfs
2/3/2021 Viego Balance Change and Fizz Bugfix
Fizz
Viego
Patch Highlights
Lunar Beast Fiora, Lunar Beast Fiora Prestige Edition, Lunar Beast Annie, Lunar Beast Darius, Lunar Beast Alistar, Lunar Beast Jarvan IV, and Lunar Beast Aphelios will be available on February 4th, 2021. Withered Rose Syndra, Withered Rose Talon, Crystal Rose Swain, and Crystal Rose Zyra will be available on February 11th, 2021.
Champions
Anivia
Q detonation damage decreased. R cooldown increased later.
Since her refresh in patch 10.25, Anivia's been leaving her enemies in the cold with high spell consistency and damage.
Q - Flash Frost
R - Glacial Storm
Cho'Gath
E base damage decreased later.
With the last round of tank item buffs, Cho's been feasting in top lane.
E - Vorpal Spikes
Elise
Q base damage decreased later. W active attack speed decreased later.
Elise has crept to the top of the jungle echelons despite some previous nerfs (see 11.2). We're squashing her down a bit to even out the playing field.
Q - Neurotoxin
W - Skittering Frenzy
Ezreal
Q damage ratio increased.
Ezreal hasn't been faring so well with the new item system. To give him more of a (mystic) shot, we're buffing his Q ratio to better synergize with Muramana, while also giving him more value when building heavy AD items like Hydra.
Q - Mystic Shot
Ivern
Base health growth decreased. E shield decreased later.
While it's great to see Ivern wunder-ing around outside of his usual home, he's still too effective meandering around the jungle. We can't beat around the bush any longer-we're pulling back some of his safety and shielding power.
Base Stats
E - Triggerseed
Jinx
Base health decreased. Q bonus range increased; Fishbones bonus attack speed penalty decreased. E cost increased; arm time decreased; max range cast adjusted.
The new item changes have not been kind to Jinx. We wanted to make some priority adjustments to the items in general first before tackling her, and now it's finally time. Additionally, since she's been primarily out of pro play for a while now, we're shifting some of her kit's power from raw stats to her abilities to create more room for skill expression.
Base Stats
Q - Switcheroo!
E - Flame Chompers!
Karma
Base mana regen increased. Q cost decreased.
Bringing good karma to support Karma.
Base Stats
Q - Inner Flame
Mordekaiser
E cooldown decreased.
Morde isn't grasping the new season well, so we're giving him more grasp. We're hoping this along with other system changes (Riftmaker giving more health, AD bruiser items getting nerfed) will help him navigate this strange new world.
E - Death's Grasp
Olaf
Base health decreased. Passive bonus attack speed decreased; now displays amount of attack speed on passive icon.
Olaf is dominating in the jungle. We're nerfing his clear speed and dueling slightly so he's a bit more dependent on finding successful ganks.
Base Stats
Passive - Berserker Rage
Pantheon
Q now has decreased damage against both minions and monsters; cooldown increased early.
Balancing out Pantheon's power both in mid and the jungle.
Q - Comet Spear
Rammus
E cooldown flattened.
Rammus rolled comfortably into preseason and has gained more momentum with the cheaper tank Mythic items. We're reducing some of his taunt power now that his engages have become more consistent.
E - Frenzying Taunt
Rell
W1 and W2 damage ratio increased. E damage ratio increased; unbind cooldown decreased; cooldown bug fixed; long distance pathing bug fixed. R damage ratio increased.
So far so good for Rell, so no meaningful balance adjustments here. These changes are light usability work and bugfixes, sprinkled with a bit of love for the very-much-not-a-thing AP Rell builds.
W - Ferromancy: Crash Down
W - Ferromancy: Mount Up
E - Attract and Repel
R - Magnet Storm
Riven
E cooldown decreased.
The new season put Riven in a weak spot, and with high cooldowns on her E, she's lost her mojo. Since both of her hardbound items (Goredrinker/Ravenous Hydra) are getting substantial nerfs this patch, we're looking to reforge her spirit.
E - Valor
Seraphine
Passive base note damage decreased. W shield decreased.
Seraphine is often front and center, and with her strong stage presence in mid lane (and other roles), she's in need of some tuning down.
Passive - Stage Presence
W - Surround Sound
Shyvana
Q empowered basic attack damage and second strike bonus damage increased. W bonus movement speed increased.
While AD Shyvana has been tearing up the Rift with both fighter and tank builds, AP Shyv has been dragging (dragon?) behind in the new season. We want to buff AP Shyvana in ways that aren't centered around her just spamming fireballs. These changes should help her clear speed, which is weaker with the new items.
Q - Twin Bite
W - Burnout
Singed
Q damage ratio increased.
Singed has been struggling since preseason, and even more so after the recent Imperial Mandate changes. We're adding some power back to his signature spell. Remember, always chase Singed.
Q - Poison Trail
Sylas
Q cost flattened. W damage increased.
We're unshackling Sylas while also evening out his skill ranks.
Q - Chain Lash
W - Kingslayer
Taliyah
Passive bonus movement speed increased. Q subsequent stone damage against monsters decreased.
Taliyah's jungle surfing in Elite levels of play has been seismic. We're reverting some previous changes (11.1 and partially 10.25), while narrowing in on some specific jungle clear nerfs.
Passive - Rock Surfing
Q - Threaded Volley
Udyr
R total base active aura damage decreased later.
Udyr is another dominant jungler at the moment, especially with a Phoenix max. His items are already getting hit, so this nerf is aimed to be lighter than what he would normally merit.
R - Phoenix Stance
Vladimir
R cooldown now flat.
Now that we've taken a couple stabs at balancing out preseason item changes, Vladimir has been left a little worse for wear. Instead of focusing buffs on his damage or healing, we're taking a different route and opening up access to his ult.
R - Hemoplague
Items
Mage Items
We're doing a pass on mage items to create more balance amongst their purchase rates and to stop any one item from overshadowing the others (Lich Bane, Zhonya's Hourglass, Seeker's Armguard). We're also broadening Horizon Focus by lowering its activation range so that more mages can take advantage of its specialty. Lastly, we're unifying the stacking passives between Verdant Barrier and Seeker's Armguard for consistency.
Lich Bane
Horizon Focus
Verdant Barrier
Banshee's Veil
Seeker's Armguard
Zhonya's Hourglass
Enchanter Items
Zooming in on enchanter items, it’s clear that Flowing Water is largely overperforming compared to other second item choices. On the other hand, Chemtech Putrifier is fulfilling its niche role quite well (healing reduction), but it's not purchased as often or as powerful as the other Grievous Wounds items. We’re making some changes to ensure that enchanters feel they have access to a viable Grievous Wounds option as well as the other classes.
Staff of Flowing Water
Chemtech Putrifier
Fighter Items
Silvermere Dawn isn't as efficient for an item we think is an important piece in the fighter ecosystem, so we're upping its power. Additionally, Ironspike Whip has been helping certain champions invalidate minion waves, so we're removing the empowered damage to minions to better highlight those champions' strengths and weaknesses.
Silvermere Dawn
Ironspike Whip
Marksman Items
We're noticing that Phantom Dancer is rarely built as a second item, and almost never as a third. Not many champions need that much attack speed, so we're reshaping what the items give to marksman champions. We're also adding more oomph to Immortal Shieldbow since it's only purchased by hard-bound short ranged users that benefit from lifesteal, and even then, it loses out often to Galeforce which does the same in most situations.
Phantom Dancer
Immortal Shieldbow
Lord Dominik's Regards
Sustain Items
When building sustain, players should be feeling the effects of a real trade-off, usually in the form of damage. However, certain items with omnivamp (particularly Goredrinker and Ravenous Hydra) are feeling particularly overpowered due to less of a trade-off in damage. We're going through and making adjustments to those items, hitting their early game power specifically.
Goredrinker
Leeching Leer
Riftmaker
Eclipse
Ravenous Hydra
Sterak's Gage
Tank Items
We're addressing some tank item outliers and opening Frozen Heart as a cheaper mana and ability haste item for tank supports, top laners, and junglers alike.
Force of Nature
Dead Man's Plate
Frozen Heart
Zaun Clash
Sign-ups and team formation for the first Clash of Season 2021 will begin during 11.3 on Monday, February 15th! The tournament will officially start in patch 11.4. Check out the Clash tab in the client for specific tournament start times and details.
ARURF Balance Changes
ARURF is back in time for the Lunar festivities. Since this is the first URF since the item changes, we're changing a few things to better fit with the new system. The intent is to allow players to build the items they want to without worrying about missing out on any value. Now, even though your starting cooldowns will be ever so slightly higher than last time URF was on, you can now build ability haste and mana items without the worry of missing out on stats… and can potentially get your cooldowns even lower than you ever could before.
- ARURF (and URF) now grants 300 ability haste instead of 80% CDR. Ability haste you gain from other sources will stack with the URF bonus unlike in previous runs.
- The URF bonus ability haste also applies to Summoner Spells and item actives, similar to how the special CDR did before
- Bonus mana will now be converted to health at a 40% ratio. Bonus mana regen is converted to health regen at a 100% ratio.
- Spellthief's Edge, Steel Shoulderguards, Relic Shield, and Spectral Sickle will be disabled. The gold penalty for killing minions given by these items far exceeds any value you would normally get for building these items, especially when considering that a portion of gold is already shared with minion kills on URF.
- The runes Lethal Tempo and Ultimate Hunter will no longer be disabled
Bugfixes/QoL Changes
- LEAGUE CLIENT: Receiving a game invite will now play a sound if you have another invite pending
- When a player is flagged as AFK/Leaver at the end of any Ranked game, they will be notified that their LP will be reduced; this applies to both wins and losses. The other players in the lobby will be notified that the flagged AFK/Leaver player will receive less LP over their next several games. If a player would exceed 100 LP, but would fall back below 100 LP after the penalty is applied, they do not promote.
- Fixed a bug where Shyvana's W - Burnout would not apply the AP ratio for additional movement speed when in her dragon form
- Fixed a bug where Goredrinker and Ceaseless Hunger's Mythic Passive would not grant additional 5 ability haste for each Legendary item in the player's inventory
- Fixed a bug where an attack empowered by both Sheen and Essence Reaver would not grant mana back from Essence Reaver
- Items that do damage to enemies can now properly trigger the execute from The Collector
- The Collector's execute will now properly trigger on targets with Death's Dance
- Eclipse and Syzygy's omnivamp will now properly work even after being upgraded by Ornn's Passive - Living Forge
- The SFX that plays when a player acquires a Dragon Soul will no longer replay if that player kills a Red Brambleback or Blue Sentinel
- The Dragon Soul VFX no longer disappears on death and reappears after the player kills a Red Brambleback or Blue Sentinel
- Imperial Mandate's Coordinate Fire passive now properly goes on cooldown for 6 seconds after on-champion slows and immobilizations
- Fixed a bug where if Smite was used before jungle monsters spawned, the cooldown would be longer than intended
- Gangplank has a new interface to upgrade his ultimate with Silver Serpents! Check it out while you're in base, since no one ever forgets to buy their upgrades.
Upcoming Skins & Chromas
The following skins will be released in this patch.
The following chromas will be released this patch: