Season 2021 is coming to an end, but the party's just getting started.
Who will win Worlds this weekend? It all comes down to these final moments of MAKE/BREAK 2021. Along with the end of the season, we have Clash rewards, Arcane skins, and Victorious Blitzcrank. Then there’s the usual champion buffs and nerfs along with a readjustment to Goredrinker. And last—but certainly not least—Arcane will be released this weekend, and we have tons of exciting content and events to celebrate.
RIP our pick 'ems, best of luck on the final climb, and enjoy the show!
In TFT-land, the new Gizmos & Gadgets set has arrived. Read all about the changes in the TFT patch notes here!
Both Vi and Xayah have gotten a little too strong. We're making a couple of urgent balance adjustments for a fairer end-of-season climb.
For the month of November during RiotX Arcane, we’ll be diving deeper into the world of Arcane in celebration of its launch! Come join the party on Summoner’s Rift with Into the Arcane, featuring Arcane-themed map accents, free-to-earn Arcane-inspired skins, and two new interactive experiences coming later in the patch.
Check out the Into the Arcane event site for more details!
The Summoner’s Rift Ranked and Honor season will end at 11:59 PM local time on the last day of Patch 11.22. Ranked rewards will be distributed by December 16 during patch 11.23 for all regions except China, where players will receive rewards in patch 11.24. More details can be found at the Player Support page here!
The Clash season for all regions except SEA and China will also end at 11:59 PM local time on the last day of Patch 11.22. Clash rewards for those regions will be distributed by December 16 during patch 11.23.
Passive damage increased.
Akali is steel weak across the board, and considering she's still not showing up in Pro, we have some leeway to help her passive shine as an important part of her gameplay.
Passive damage reduced.
Graves' unique attacks have a generous crit ratio because, back in ye olden item system, his crit builds were risky. Season 2021's item changes made building crit super safe for him, so we're tapping down the numbers on his pellet ratios.
E damage ratio increased.
Kalista's late game payout for skewering her enemies isn't all that satisfying, so we're bringing up the damage on her signature spell. This should also open up the opportunity for her to try heavier AD builds.
Darkin Q damage ratio increased. Darkin R target max health damage ratio increased.
Red Kayn took a bigger damage hit than other fighters with last patch's Goredrinker nerfs, so we're returning some damage to his kit. Additionally, his ultimate has felt a bit lackluster early game, so we're bumping up its power.
Q damage ratio reduced.
"Change is good," he said. But this bug almost got through the entire season without any changes! Kha'Zix has been generally strong all season, and now that many competing junglers have gotten nerfed, he's become really popular. His power has recently crept up from strong to OP, so we're tuning down his damage.
Passive heal reduced early. W base damage reduced.
Maokai's tanky support builds have been excelling in solo queue and even surpassing his already powerful AP support builds. We’re pruning his early game pressure and durability, and returning it later in the game for solo lane Maokai (which is also strong, but not as popular).
Base health reduced; base health growth increased. Q damage changed. E damage changed.
Qiyana is too strong in Elite play but weak in Average play, so we're moving some power around instead of straight nerfing her. Elite players are very efficient at capitalizing on early leads and quickly snowballing their gold, so we're trading in some of Qiyana's early power and gold scaling for some level-based power that should be more available to the average Qiyana player.
W stun and lockout durations increased.
The changes to Renekton's stun in 11.18 helped lower his popularity in Pro play, but it came at way too big of a cost. We're reverting those nerfs and will be looking for other ways to make sure the croc doesn't take a bite out of the pro scene again.
W base damage increased. E shield ratio increased.
Riven was hit unusually hard by the Goredrinker nerfs and was particularly weak in patch 11.21, especially in Average play. Even with the small buffs to Goredrinker this patch, Riven still needs a bit of love, so we're redeeming her damage and shield.
E damage ratio increased.
Our nerfs to lethality Varus were a little too piercing, so we're giving him some power back to promote his lethality playstyle but at a bit shorter-range than his Q. On-hit builds continue to perform solidly on Varus, and we don't believe this buff will push them over the top.
Q and R improvements for consistency.
Vi could use some modernization to keep up with her sister, so we’re fixing some of the inconsistencies with how she acquires and CCs targets. These changes will enable Vi to reliably hit enemies she flashes on top of during her Q dash as well as knockup (and knockback) targets more consistently. Only the finest for Piltover's finest.
E heal and move speed ratio decreased.
Yuumi's been top cat at Worlds while also pawing at a very high banrate in solo queue. We're targeting her Zoomies specifically since it's one of her most frustrating aspects in longer games. It also doesn't need to be as powerful thanks to her early game buffs in patch 11.18. Overall, these changes should encourage Yuumi to be more active and helpful to her allies in lane, and not as frustrating to enemies later in the game.
We made some pretty substantial changes to Goredrinker last patch, and it turns out we overshot the nerfs. As we discussed in the last patch notes, Goredrinker is designed for outlasting enemies, so we're pushing buffs into its durability and sustain. These changes should help bring it back up, but not to its past popularity.
The following chromas will be released this patch: