Worlds. Vex. URF. But wait... there's more!
Can you believe we're just two weeks out from Worlds 2021?! In this patch, we've got the second and final round of Worlds-focused champion buffs and nerfs, plus new Dawnbringer/Nightbringer skins and Worlds 2021 Jarvan IV to celebrate. Worlds Clash is also getting into the Worlds spirit with some special Worlds-themed loot. (Oh, did I mention Worlds is coming up?)
Vex is also begrudgingly making her way to the Rift this week. Don't get too excited, though—she hates that. For rotating game modes, URF returns for some more good ol' chaotic fun. We've also introduced changes to behavioral systems and a few tweaks to the client to improve your experience!
It's going to be a battle of epic proportions. See ya on the livestream~
People banning the new champ got you vexed? Well then, come on down to the TFT patch notes where the only thing that gets banned is a bad time!
The Gloomist
Cast doom, gloom, and existential dread (or whatever) with Vex and her shadow on September 23!
W cooldown decreased.
Aatrox's W cooldown was heavily nerfed in patch 9.9 in an effort to reduce his Pro domination. He's not running over the Pro scene anymore, so we're loosening his chains a bit.
Base health regen increased.
In a rare flip of events, Akali has room for some power at all levels of play. We're taking this opportunity to make her missteps a bit more forgiving in a way that doesn't win her more fights, but instead helps her subtly throughout her games.
Q cooldown decreased.
Despite being terrifyingly tanky, Cho'Gath is still weak across the board. We're increasing his CC and zoning capabilities so that he has more influence in fights.
Passive damage reduction against basic attacks removed. W damage reduced. E cooldown decreased late. R damage increased.
The 11.18 changes were an unintentional nerf to Fizz. We overestimated the Passive and W buffs and underestimated the R nerf. Rather than trying to fine tune those changes, we're reverting them entirely and doing a simpler buff instead. Go fish!
W cooldown now decreases with rank.
Galio's nerf back in 11.10 turned out to be a bit too effective on his Elite performance. We're bringing him back to life at that skill level by partially reverting those changes.
W damage AP scaling increased.
Gragas didn't benefit much from the Predator changes last patch, so he's still pretty weak. We're helping his various AP builds pack more of a punch and speed up his mid-game clear. However, please remember to always drink responsibly.
Base health regen increased.
Gwen's E nerf in 11.15 was effective in snipping her overwhelming early lane power, especially in Pro. Now, similar to Akali's situation, there's room to weave in some more durability for Gwen players at all levels.
Q damage decreased.
Kennen's been on a dramatic rise in Pro priority since our changes in 11.15. We’re reducing his power by walking back on those changes slightly.
E cooldown decreased early.
Mordekaiser's bummed that he’s been falling behind his peers. We don’t want the god of metal to be the butt of jokes, so we’re buffing him for skilled players by granting him more access to his most flexible spell.
Passive cooldown decreased.
Poppy hasn't been looking too heroic lately, especially in top lane. We're enhancing her early lane power so that she can take greater advantage of favorable matchups, which should also make her more appealing as a Pro pick in specific situations.
E+Q combo targeting on dashing targets adjusted. Q bonus damage against monsters increased.
Before 11.18, Qiyana's E+Q auto aim combo used to be undodgeable. We changed her E+Q targeting mechanism last patch so that enemies could escape by dashing or flashing away. However, that version of the combo generously treated every enemy dash as an attempt to dodge Qiyana's combo, and it turns out this isn't always the case. A dashing enemy might be headed towards the same direction or even the exact same location as Qiyana's E. So in scenarios where the dashing enemy ends up still within Qiyana's default attack range, she'll maintain her auto aim. Lastly, Qiyana jungle is not quite playable yet, so we're bumping that up to give her a fair shot.
Base health and health growth increased. W self-lockout duration decreased and empowered animation sped up.
We over swung on Renekton's nerf last patch. We still believe reducing the stun on his empowered W was a step in the right direction to mitigate his Pro dominance, so we're improving its look and feel. We're also giving him more chances to start fights and increasing his tankiness.
Q AP ratio reduced. E cooldown increased.
Ryze has risen above the other mid laners in most regions. We're nerfing his overall output to ensure he doesn't completely dominate at Worlds.
Q cooldown decreased and damage increased.
Sejuani has been a bit of a boar lately. We’re slightly boosting her damage and giving her more access to her Q so she can stir up some more action!
R cooldown decreased.
Seraphine's been weak across the board, so we're giving her some more chances to make sickbeatsplays instead of just sitting backstage to scale.
W shield increased.
Sion isn't doing so hot right now, so we're carefully buffing his shield to help him lane more stably.
Base armor reduced. Passive damage bug fixed. Q can no longer target hidden enemies. Power Chord E bug fixed.
Sona's songs have been a bit too powerful, especially in Skilled play. In addition to a few bugfixes, we're nerfing her base defenses a bit, all of which should add up to an appropriate nerf for the virtuoso.
R healing decreased.
Soraka got a bit too powerful with her new ability to cleanse Grievous Wounds before applying her buffed ult's heal. We still think this strategy works to help her against heal reduction, so we're just tapping down the numbers.
Base mana and mana regen increased.
Our 11.15 nerfs to Sylas's Q and W restrained him more than intended. We're offering him back some power by easing up on his mana constraints in lane, allowing him to be more proactive with his spells earlier in the game.
Q cooldown increased.
Varus' last nerf missed the mark, so we're going a bit harder with a pointed focus on his Lethality builds, which are more reliant on his Q. (As a reminder, his Q cooldown can get partial refunds with stacks from W - Blighted Quiver's passive.)
Sharpen your spatulas, because URF returns with 11.19, just in time for Worlds! It's time to stretch those fingers and get ready to mash those keyboards. We've also made some important updates to URF below.
In this run of URF, we’re using a new balancing strategy for mode-specific champion adjustments. Historically, we've aimed for 50% ideal winrate without incorporating how champions were balanced on classic Summoner's Rift (SR). We realized it didn't quite make sense for us to be toiling at something that already has a great solution, so we're choosing to align closer to existing numbers in classic SR. Instead of aiming for 50% winrates for across the board, our new strategy is to adjust champions in URF (and future game modes) to be closer to their SR winrates. This better accommodates the varied circumstances for why champions don't sit at 50% on normal SR, such as low playrate or niche gameplay.
Since this direction can imply a number of changes, most* of the URF regular champion adjustments will be removed for the first couple of days of patch 11.19. This includes the percentage modifiers to damage dealt, damage received, healing, and shielding. Individual mechanical changes, like Aurelion Sol getting more than three stars, are staying in place. A mid-patch update will occur part of the way into 11.19 that will then balance champions on URF to our new targets.
In past versions of URF, we nerfed shielding only on champion ability shield ratios. To make sure we don’t miss new champions, champion VGUs, and heftier patch changes, we’re nerfing all shields across all champions consistently—just like we already do for healing.
When we last updated the gold values for minions on SR waaay back, URF was not adjusted to match. We’re fixing that and basing the new values on a simple percentage increase relative to SR. This'll make the differences easier to understand and less likely to diverge in the future while only slightly reducing the overall gold in URF in the early game.
Team formation for the first weekend of Worlds Clash opens on September 27, with matches taking place on October 2 and 3. In addition to the standard trophy, banner, and logo Clash rewards, Worlds Clash grants an additional Loot Capsule containing:
We're adding new AFK penalty tiers to take stronger action against serial AFKers and ensure a healthier game experience. Players who progress through AFK penalty tiers will now be subject to a new queue lockout penalty at higher tiers in addition to queue delays. Queue delays reset if an AFK is detected during any of the five queue-delayed games. These delays and lockouts apply to all queues except for Clash and TFT.
Penalties will roll out in NA and LAS this patch for initial testing, and everywhere else next patch.
For a longer write-up, check out our recent blog.
Since updating the client's version of CEF (Chromium Embedded Framework) in patch 11.17, we've seen significant improvements in the performance, reliability, and stability of the League client. Check out the latest update of the Client Cleanup Campaign for more details!
However, we've also noticed that the upgrade doesn't play nice with outdated drivers, so please check if your video card drivers and OS are up to date if you're experiencing new issues with the client.
The following skins will be released in this patch:
The following chromas will be released this patch: