League of Legends enjoys regular balance updates. In patch 11.13, Riot Games is taking care of 20 champions and is also adjusting some items.
More information about League of Legends patch 11.13 is now known and has been published by Riot’s Gameplay Design Director Mark Yetter. The update, which is scheduled to go live next Wednesday, brings a whole range of new features. In addition to changes to numerous champions, 20 items will also be revised. As announced Monday, top laner champion Ivern is among those affected by a nerf: One of his favorite items, the Staff of Flowing Water, loses 10 points of ability power. In addition, the hero only gets 85 instead of 95 health points per level up, and his shield also absorbs 20 points less at maximum level.
Since Seraphine also became a bit too powerful due to the Staff of Flowing Water and Moonstone Renewer, she is also affected by a nerf of her shield ability. Pantheon was previously playable in four positions and therefore extremely popular. His Q ability Comet Spear gets a longer cooldown at the beginning, making him weaker especially in the early game and less interesting as a jungler.
Updated 11.3 preview with almost finished changes.
Credit to the team that does these, they work tirelessly to deliver better and better patches every 2 weeks. These are really the lifeblood of League, constant attention to keep things balanced and fresh. pic.twitter.com/wlwMqaKRwG
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) January 26, 2021
Table of Contents
Ezreal and Sylas get buffs
Among the winners of patch 1.13 are two already popular champions. Both Sylas and Ezreal get a moderate boost. Mid-Laner Sylas does more damage with his Dash ability Kingslayer, which now benefits from 90% ability power instead of 85%.
Ezreal’s Mystic Shot is also a bit more powerful, now dealing 130% additional attack damage instead of 120%. Both of these buffs are likely to be seen more often in the future, if the new buffs don’t provoke a ban or two.
Shieldbow with comeback potential?
Balance boss Mark Yetter and his team have also made some adjustments to the items. The Immortal Shieldbow, which has been relatively unpopular lately, should be made more palatable to players with more damage and more attack speed.
With the Phantom Dancer, there are several new additions, but all of them are more of a buff than a nerf: The blades now also increase attack damage instead of just speed. In exchange, the latter bonus is reduced from 45% to 25%. However, the build now requires longswords instead of daggers and is thus a bit more expensive.
As previously known, particularly strong items have been hit by the nerfhammer. In addition to Staff of Flowing Water, Goredrinker and Zhonya’s Hourglass are also affected. The former grants four percent less healing, the latter becomes 100 more expensive.
Original news from January 26
In League of Legends, a strategy of playing Ivern on the top lane had recently become popular in both solo queue and professional play. In the latest patch, this and numerous items as well as champions are targeted.
Among others, G2 Esports’ top laner Martin “Wunder” Hansen played Ivern in the LEC, who is usually at home in the Jungle and even there has rarely been present in the pros lately. Streamer and analyst Nick “LS” De Cesare is an ardent advocate of the unusual strategy.
With the items Moonstone Renewer and Staff of Flowing Water, Ivern can acquire two items for small gold that drastically boost his shields for allies, offer champions ability power as well as run speed, and also heal. For Patch 11.3, however, Riot Games’ Gameplay Design Director Mark Yetter announced on Monday that both Ivern himself and the Staff of Flowing Water will receive a nerf.
The staff loses 10 points of ability strength. Riot Games will specify what the champion will face on Tuesday night. With him, other dominant picks like Pantheon, Taliyah and Seraphine are on the nerf list, while Ezreal, Riven and Sylas, among others, are buffed. Rell will also be adjusted, as we reported earlier.
11.3 Patch Preview is here. This is definitely a meaty patch.
-Took a big sweep across items to find over and underperformers
-More reductions on systemic healing (but not all nerfs just shifting)
-Lots of OP and sad champions to adjustMore tomorrow when we have full changes pic.twitter.com/qoetVOKHn4
— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) January 25, 2021
Major patch takes a close look at item popularity
First, Riot Games has revealed the planned item adjustments. As things stand, a total of 20 items and 20 champions will be adjusted in the upcoming LoL patch, which is scheduled for February 3. Thus, it is once again a very extensive update. Riot Games is still balancing the big changes for the new season and now has a lot of data from the restarted major esports leagues LEC, LCS, LCK and LPL available.
For example, Goredrinker, which is popular on robust melee champions like Renekton, will carry four percent less healing in the future. The mage item Zhonya’s Hourglass will cost 100 gold more. Banshee’s Veil will also likely cost 100 gold more on Patch 11.3, but will at least provide a strong 15 points of ability power more.
The defensive AD carry item Immortal Shieldbow has lost a lot of popularity recently and will be strengthened with more damage and attack speed in the new update. Tanks, meanwhile, can look forward to improvements to the Force of Nature and the Frozen Heart. You can read about all the planned item adjustments in detail in Mark Yetter’s tweet. However, these plans are still subject to change until the release of patch 11.3.
Rell changes – New champion before nerf? (January 25)
Rell takes too much damage. Developer Riot Games seems to have come to this realization as well. Due to the increasing popularity of the support champion thanks to her tanking qualities, Rell is supposed to receive a nerf.
Ray “RiotRayYonggi” Williams, Riot Games employee, wrote to the discussion on Reddit about the PBE changes to Rell that she will be “slightly generated.” Her utility is to be reduced, which gives her allied champions a strong boost in defense and a base shield. However, this statement should be taken with a grain of salt ahead of the upcoming patch notes. “I don’t even know if it’s final,” Williams admits.
In addition, he says it’s more likely to continue to be kept at maximum Q ability by reducing durability for each W point gained.” According to Williams, players with Rell statistically have a 52 percent win rate and even over 53 percent on Platinum or higher.
Rell could also receive a buff instead of a tank and become an AP carry with patch 11.3, which will be released on Feb. 3. The champion’s focus is on high effect damage (Ability Power). According to PBE data, most of her damage done is increased on nearly all effects – including by 40 percent on her Ultimate.
