Patch 11.6 notes

Xin Zhao, healing, and more!
Game Updates
mom cat, shio shoujo

11.6 and school’s in session!

But have no fear, your handy dandy cheat sheet here: the big snapshots of this patch include a refresh button for Xin Zhao and an overall reduction targeting systemic healing (i.e. from runes and items). Staying alive is one thing, but it’s a problem when certain champs start feeling invincible.

Once you’re done hitting the books, hit the rift, ace the enemy team, and school your opponents. We’ll see ya next period patch.

And for those of you who hate studying, take this portal to TFT patch notes to check in on a universe where school’s out forever.
Tricia "mom cat" Tan Hanna "shio shoujo" Woo

Mid-Patch Updates

3/18/2021 Xin Zhao Balance Changes and Liandry's Anguish and Control Ward Bugfixes

Control Wards

FOG OF WAR BUGFIX Fixed a bug where a Ward disabled by a Control Ward would appear to reveal the Fog of War around it

Liandry's Anguish

BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Liandry's Anguish's bonus magic damage amplification would apply to monsters and minions

Xin Zhao

These changes were included in the original patch deploy, but left off of the original Patch 11.6 Notes!
E - AUDACIOUS CHARGE COOLDOWN 12 seconds ⇒ 11 seconds
E - AUDACIOUS CHARGE DASH SPEED 3000 ⇒ 2500
E - AUDACIOUS CHARGE CAST RANGE Increased to 1100 on Challenged targets
R - CRESCENT GUARD DURATION 3 seconds (extended by basic attacks and abilities) ⇒ 5 seconds

Patch Highlights

Battle Academia Garen, Battle Academia Wukong, Battle Academia Caitlyn, Battle Academia Yone, Battle Academia Leona, and Battle Academia Leona Prestige Edition will be available on March 18th, 2021.

Champions

Akali

Base health decreased and health growth increased. Passive energy restore removed. Q cost increased early and decreased later; bonus damage removed. W now increases Akali’s maximum energy. E total damage increased; first hit damage ratio decreased; second hit damage ratio increased. R first dash now deals magic damage and has increased later scaling with AP.

From the start of most games, Akali is able to wield her durability to help her coast through even the most difficult early lane phases. We’re reducing her early game tankiness so that her laning success isn't always guaranteed, but in return, we’re giving her an overall net buff with later dueling payoff, so that when she strikes, it’s deadly. In addition, we're also making her energy management more intuitive so that if you’re just now picking her up, it doesn’t take so much… energy?

Base Stats

HEALTH 575 ⇒ 500
HEALTH GROWTH 95 ⇒ 105

Passive - Assassin's Mark

removedSWINGING KAMA ENERGY RESTORE Assassin's Mark no longer restores 10/15/20 energy

Q - Five Point Strike

COST 120/115/110/105/100 energy ⇒ 130/115/100/85/70 energy
removedRANK 5 BONUS DAMAGE Five Point Strike no longer deals 25% bonus magic damage to minions and monsters.

W - Twilight Shroud

newENERGIZER SHROUD Twilight Shroud now increases Akali’s maximum energy by 80 (and still restores 80 energy)

E - Shuriken Flip

TOTAL DAMAGE 100/170/240/310/380 (+70% AD) (+100% AP) ⇒ 100/187.5/275/362.5/450 (+85% AD) (+120% AP)
DAMAGE SPLIT BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND HIT 50% of the total damage, 50% of the total damage ⇒ 30% of the total damage, 70% of the total damage

R - Perfect Execution

FIRST DASH DAMAGE TYPE Physical ⇒ Magic
FIRST DASH DAMAGE 125/225/325 (+50% bonus AD) ⇒ 80/220/360 (+50% bonus AD) (+30% AP)

Gnar

W bonus base damage decreased.

Despite being mini, Gnar has been mega in Pro play, so we’re pulling back on his in-lane harass.

W - Hyper

BONUS BASE DAMAGE 10/20/30/40/50 ⇒ 0/10/20/30/40

Hecarim

Q base damage decreased later.

Hecarim has been at peak pony in the jungle for a while, especially with tankier builds. By lowering his base damage, he’ll have to sacrifice some heft to deal more harm.

Q - Rampage

BASE DAMAGE 60/102/144/186/228 ⇒ 60/97/134/171/208

Karthus

Q base damage decreased later.

Karthus is particularly temperamental to changes in the meta, so he’s become a familiar face in the patch notes. This time around, with players refining his optimal builds, he’s crept back into the spotlight in Elite play, so we’re bringing down his damage.

Q - Lay Waste

BASE DAMAGE 45/65/85/105/125 (90/130/170/210/250) ⇒ 45/62.5/80/97.5/115 (90/125/160/195/230)

LeBlanc

W cost decreased later.

LeBlanc has been feeling chained down and could use some help finding success. We’re opening up more opportunities for her to dash in and out of a kerfuffle.

W - Distortion

COST 60/75/90/105/120 mana ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100 mana

Lillia

R cooldown increased.

Since she entered the ring, Lillia has managed to prance her way out of any nerfs while still remaining a staple in professional play. With many of her competitors falling out of favor, it's time for her to get Eep!ed. Her ultimate has AoE fight-changing capabilities, so we're bumping up its cooldown to reflect its potency..

R - Lilting Lullaby

COOLDOWN 130/110/90 seconds ⇒ 150/130/110 seconds

Pyke

E cooldown now decreases.

Pyke has been in the deep end ever since we submerged mid Pyke in 11.5. Now that there isn’t a huge skew towards mid over support, it’s finally time to help him resurface by giving him a rankup that has some oomph.

E - Phantom Undertow

COOLDOWN 15 seconds ⇒ 15/14/13/12/11 seconds

Renekton

R bonus health decreased later.

As a strong pick for late-game survivability in skirmishes and teamfights, this croc has been up and down the block in Pro play. We’re cutting down his late-game tankiness so that his enemies have a fighting chance to find his Achilles’ scale.

R - Dominus

BONUS HEALTH 250/500/750 ⇒ 250/400/550

Sylas

Passive Unshackled bonus attack speed increased. W cooldown, cost, and heal ratio decreased.

Sylas has been feeling underwhelming and boxed in, and he’s at a point where we feel comfortable breaking him out. Giving him more opportunities to slip, slap, and slash, without breaking the (healing) bank.

Passive - Petricite Burst

UNSHACKLED BONUS ATTACK SPEED 80% ⇒ 125%

W - Kingslayer

COOLDOWN 13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds ⇒ 13/11.25/9.5/7.75/6 seconds
COST 70/80/90/100/110 mana ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100 mana
HEAL RATIO 50% AP ⇒ 45% AP

Urgot

W on-hit damage effectiveness decreased.

The change to Urgot in patch 11.4 was meant to make squishier Kraken Slayer off-builds more viable, but he’s veered off course, scuttling over to rush Titanic Hydra instead. We’re reverting his on-hit modification to steer him away from the off-build altogether and help him hone back in to his primary build.

W - Purge

ON-HIT DAMAGE EFFECTIVENESS 75% ⇒ 50%

Volibear

W healing from monsters is no longer halved. E capped damage now flat.

There have been reports of bears, horses, and deer running amok in the jungle, but after thorough investigation, Volibear has been deemed innocent of all jungle gap wrongdoing. If anything, he's been the victim. We're waking him out of his jungle hibernation to enjoy the new season.

W - Frenzied Maul

removedWOUNDED HEALING Healing from Wounded monsters is no longer halved (still reduced against minions)

E - Sky Splitter

CAPPED DAMAGE 150/300/450/600/750 ⇒ 750 at all ranks

Xin Zhao




AD Fighter Adjustments

Passive heal decreased; stack consumption bugfix. Q bonus base damage decreased early. W cooldown reduced; cost increased; reduced damage against minions now scales down, hitbox adjusted. W1 cast time now flat. W2 damage now scales with crit strike chance; W2 range and missile speed increased; W2 now Challenges enemies.

We're shipping two sets of changes to Xin at once: One focused on his core AD fighter build and one to open up an AP off-build. This is a long one, so to make it less of a Xin ow, we’ve broken his patch notes up accordingly.

First, the AD Xin we all know and love: a Demacian warrior with a strong spirit and an even stronger spear. As a brawler who uniquely excels at skirmishes, we’re sharpening his distinctive strengths by giving him tools to extend combos and initiate duels. With new, creative ways to get to his enemies, he’ll feel more empowered or, dare we say, audacious, to dive into teamfights and skirmishes.

Passive - Determination

HEAL 10-112 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 7-92 (levels 1-18)
BUGFIX Xin Zhao now correctly consumes his Passive - Determination stacks after basic attacking an enemy shortly after casting W - Wind Becomes Lightning

Q - Three Talon Strike

BONUS BASE DAMAGE 20/28/36/44/52 ⇒ 16/25/34/43/52

W - Wind Becomes Lightning

COOLDOWN 12/11/10/9/8 seconds ⇒ 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds
COST 45 mana ⇒ 60 mana
REDUCED DAMAGE AGAINST MINIONS 50% ⇒ 50%-0% (levels 1-16)
SLASH CAST TIME 0.5-0.4 seconds (based on attack speed) ⇒ 0.5 seconds
newTHRUST DAMAGE MODIFIER Thrust's damage now increases by up to 33% based on critical strike chance
THRUST RANGE 900 ⇒ 1000
THRUST MISSILE SPEED 5000 ⇒ 6250
newA NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES Thrust now Challenges enemy champions and monsters and reveals them for 3 seconds
updatedVFX Hitbox now extends slightly behind Xin Zhao for visual clarity

E - Audacious Charge

newNOT MUCH OF A CHALLENGE Audacious Charge’s cast range increases to 1100 on Challenged enemies



AP Adjustments

Passive heal AP ratio increased. W2 damage ratio now scales with AP. R now scales with AP.

But wait, what if Xin wants to change things up a bit? Put down the spear and don a wizard hat instead? Before his rework, AP Xin Zhao occasionally made the rounds as a fun off-build with a distinctly different playstyle from his AD counterpart. These changes are geared towards bringing AP Xin back into play, but we still expect his AD-focused builds to come out on top.

Passive - Determination

HEAL AP RATIO 40% ⇒ 55% AP

W - Wind Becomes Lightning

newTHRUST DAMAGE RATIO 50% AP

R - Crescent Guard

newDAMAGE RATIO 100% AD ⇒ 100% AD, 110% AP

Items

Healing Items

The amount of systemic healing—or healing from runes and items—is still trending high, so we’re shifting some of the power from burst healing into other areas.

Immortal Shieldbow

LIFESTEAL 12% ⇒ 10%
removedLIFELINE LIFESTEAL Immortal Shieldbow no longer grants 15% lifesteal for 8 seconds
newLIFELINE Immortal Shieldbow now grants 13-35 AD when triggered
SHIELD 250-700 ⇒ 300-800

Blade of the Ruined King

LIFESTEAL 12% ⇒ 10%
SIPHON DAMAGE 40-120 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 40-150 (levels 1-18)

Sterak's Gage

updatedBLOODLUST After dealing damage to or taking damage from an enemy champion, the first stack heals you for [2% for melee | 1.2% for ranged] of maximum health, decreasing by 50% per stack afterwards, over 6 seconds.
BUGFIX Fixed a bug where Sterak's Gage's Bloodlust passive would not heal the user for each champion they were in combat with

Liandry's Anguish

We’re aiming to open up more potential AP Mythics by making Liandry and Luden’s more usable across mages. These changes should entice burst mages to pick it up when facing tanky team comps.
removedTORMENT MAGIC PENETRATION Liandry’s no longer grants 5% magic penetration per second against burning targets
newTORMENT BONUS DAMAGE Liandry’s now grants up to 12% bonus magic damage to champions based on their bonus health (maximum 1250 bonus health)

Luden's Tempest

Like Liandry’s above, we’re adding another AP Mythic to the mix. This should be a better option for mages who deal damage over time.
newECHO COOLDOWN Dealing ability damage to an enemy champion now also reduces Echo’s cooldown by 0.5 seconds (up to 3 seconds per ability)

Rabadon's Deathcap

Looking to make Rabadon’s a more snug and budget-friendly fit as a third purchase.
TOTAL COST 3800 gold ⇒ 3600 gold

Seeker's Armguard

Seeker's Armguard and Verdant Barrier have been doing their job a bit too well, keeping AP scaling champs too safe as the laning phase progresses, which masks their intended weaknesses and contributes to a particularly dull meta. We’re adjusting the strength of these mid-tier items, while retaining the power level of the Legendary items they build into (Zhonya’s Hourglass and Banshee’s Veil).
BONUS ARMOR PER KILL 1 ⇒ 0.5
MAX ARMOR 30 ⇒ 15

Verdant Barrier

Seek up to Seeker’s! Like the above, we’re nudging down Verdant’s power while keeping its final item strength.
MAGIC RESIST PER KILL 0.5 ⇒ 0.3
MAX MAGIC RESIST 15 ⇒ 9
ABILITY POWER 25 ⇒ 20

Shurelya's Battlesong

By the numbers, Moonstone Renewer has been the dominating choice among enchanters, so we're buffing Battlesong to be an even catchier tune than it already is.
INSPIRE COOLDOWN 90 seconds ⇒ 75 seconds

Stridebreaker

It’s time for Stridebreaker to take a break.
HEALTH 300 ⇒ 200

Ironspike Whip

Strangely, Stridebreaker had a longer cooldown than Ironspike, so we’re rectifying that. We’re also bringing down its cost to account for its power loss.
TOTAL COST 1200 gold ⇒ 1100 gold
COOLDOWN 15 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds

Sunfire Aegis

Now that players are starting to realize other tank Mythics are reasonable options, we feel comfortable giving back some of Sunfire’s oomph, considering it has been the worst performing item among its peers for a while.
ABILITY HASTE 15 ⇒ 20
IMMOLATE SUBSEQUENT DAMAGE 10% per second, up to 60% ⇒ 12% per second, up to 72%

Void Staff

With a strong passive and low cost, we’re making it worse as an early rush item.
ABILITY POWER 65 ⇒ 70
COMBINE COST 400 gold ⇒ 600 gold

Jungle Camp Changes

The last set of jungle changes took a sufficient amount of experience out of the jungle, so we're refunding some of it with a buff to Smite (below) and good ol’ Gromp. This should now fix a certain route to help junglers get to level 3 after 3 camps, and keep them alive.

Gromp

HEAL 60-230 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 90-243 (levels 1-18)
XP 125/128.13/134.38/143.75/156.25/168.75 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9) ⇒ 135/138.38/145.13/155.25/168.75/182.25 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9)

Summoner Spells

Smite

Alongside Gromp’s buff and the hit to Ravenous Hunter, we’re adding an extra healing bump by giving some base healing to make it less treacherous for the junglers who are less tanky and struggle to sustain themselves.
BASE HEAL 70 ⇒ 90

Teleport

Addressing unintuitive and frustrating scenarios around Teleport, such as Teleporting and zooming right back into lane after an early death. In compensation, we’re giving it a buff to maintain its power as a playmaking tool.
updated HOME(START) ALONE Teleport now removes Homestart and respawn Homeguard
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED 30/40/50% (levels 1/6/11) ⇒ 50%
COOLDOWN 420-240 seconds (levels 1-18) ⇒ 420-210 seconds (levels 1-18)

Runes

Fleet Footwork

Although useful on a number of champions, this rune is a bit too generous with its sustain for AP champions, so we’re targeting that.
HEAL RATIO 30% AP ⇒ 20% AP

Ravenous Hunter

Another change under the umbrella of healing adjustments: Ravenous has been standing out as a strong rune of choice for secured sustain, so we’re giving it a tap down.
removedBASE OMNIVAMP Ravenous Hunter no longer has a base of 1% omnivamp
OMNIVAMP PER STACK 1.7% ⇒ 1.5%

In-Game Shop Updates

The shop is pretty certain it can hit Gold this year if it puts the hours in. In the meantime, here are some updates.
  • Components of items with deep build trees will no longer overlap. Noonquiver's children can now breathe easy.
  • Pinging the omnivamp stat will now show the correct values instead of the incorrect ones. That's probably how it should’ve started right?
  • newHOTKEY BLING When the shop is open, you can quickly select items in your inventory by pressing their number keys. Unleash your inner speed shopper!
  • More bug fixes and performance improvements.

Noxus Clash

After Zaun, the next Clash tournament will be... Noxus-themed! The first weekend will be March 20th and 21st, and the second weekend will be April 3rd and 4th. Team formation for the first weekend will be open starting on March 15th.

DX11 Support

Last year, we published an article that talked about the upcoming change and rollout for DX11, and it’s finally here! In case of issues during the rollout, we've given players the option to fallback to DX9, which can be found in the League Client settings > Game Options > Prefer DX9 Legacy Mode.

ARAM Balance Changes

11.6 Buffs:

Akali +15% damage dealt & -15% damage taken ⇒ +20% damage dealt & -20% damage taken
Camille +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ⇒ +10% damage dealt & -10% damage taken & +10% shielding
Katarina +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ⇒ +10% damage dealt & -10% damage taken
Kayn +5% damage dealt
Kha'Zix +8% damage dealt & -10% damage taken ⇒ +10% damage dealt & -15% damage taken
Kindred +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken ⇒ +10% damage dealt & -10% damage taken
Kled -5% damage taken ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -10% damage taken
Syndra +5% damage dealt
Udyr +8% damage dealt & -8% damage taken ⇒ +10% damage dealt & -10% damage taken & +10% shielding
Viego +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken
Zoe +5% damage dealt ⇒ +5% damage dealt & -5% damage taken

11.6 Nerfs:

Caitlyn -5% damage dealt
Jinx -5% damage dealt ⇒ -5% damage dealt & +5% damage taken
Karthus -5% damage dealt ⇒ -10% damage dealt
Seraphine -15% damage dealt & +15% damage taken ⇒ -15% damage dealt & +15% damage taken, -15% healing & -15% shielding
Sivir -8% damage dealt ⇒ -15% damage dealt & +5% damage taken

Bugfixes/QoL Changes

  • LEAGUE CLIENT: Rewrote the code that was responsible for constantly alerting players with multiple Key Fragment notifications (we'll also be keeping a close eye on it)
  • LEAGUE CLIENT: Fixed a player presence data issue where people in your lobby would not appear as Online and/or would not update when a player changed their Summoner Icon
  • LEAGUE CLIENT: Fixed Honor rewards image sizes
  • LEAGUE CLIENT: Fixed the missing images for some Missions tooltips
  • LEAGUE CLIENT: Players can now turn off Collection tab notifications for newly acquired content via Settings
  • Fixed the formatting and vocabulary in Teleport's tooltip
  • Kassadin's W - Netherblade now properly grants mana stacks from Tear of the Goddess
  • Serpent's Fang's Shield Reaver no longer applies to minions and turrets
  • Fixed a bug where Samira's W - Blade Whirl's second attack would sometimes not inflict damage
  • Fixed a bug where Banshee's Veil's Annul passive cooldown would not display in the player's inventory
  • Fixed two bugs where attacks from Urgot's W - Purge and Lucian's P - Lightslinger did not count as unique attack instances for Manamune stacking, Muramana on-hit, Runaan's Hurricane, and Ravenous Hydra
  • Fixed a bug where Ornn's Syzygy's Ever Rising Moon passive would not go on cooldown as long as he was basic attacking with Black Cleaver in his inventory
  • Fixed a bug where Muramana's on-hit effects would not be applied every third attack when the player has Guinsoo's Rageblade
  • Shyana now properly gains additional Fury generation from Cloud Dragons and Cloud Souls
  • Fixed a bug where right-clicking a Long Sword in Noonquiver's build path within Immortal Shieldbow, Galeforce, or Kraken Slayer's build paths would make you unintentionally purchase the Dagger next to it instead
  • Anivia's R - Glacial Storm no longer toggles off when using Hextech Rocketbelt
  • Fixed a bug where Daisy's 3rd AoE attack was accidentally using Ivern's AD instead of Daisy's AD

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