Hello everyone and welcome back to our coverage of the new Patch 11.16 Notes! This took a while due to Riot’s August break, but now we are ready to talk about the recent changes, nerfs, and buffs to champions and items. You can expect a variety of nerfs aimed at all levels of play for champions that have been a staple in the 11.15 meta, as well as some adjustments to two of our favorite enchanters!
Patch 11.16 Notes
Buffs
JARVAN IV
Passive damage increased. R bonus damage ratio increased.
The Exemplar of Demacia hasn’t been excelling in any level of play. We’re amping up Cataclysm to help him make a bigger impact while also buffing his dueling and clearing potential
PASSIVE – MARTIAL CADENCE
DAMAGE 8% of target’s current health ⇒ 10% of target’s current health
JHIN
W damage increased. R minimum damage ratio increased.
Jhin has been feeling rather lackluster, and he hasn’t been cutting into most games. With a deadlier flourish and an even deadlier finale, he’ll have a better shot at picking off enemies when playing off of allies and in key fights.
W – DEADLY FLOURISH
DAMAGE 50/85/120/155/190 ⇒ 60/95/130/165/200
R – CURTAIN CALL
MINIMUM DAMAGE RATIO 20% AD ⇒ 25% AD
NUNU
Base movement speed increased. E damage ratio per snowball increased.
Nunu & Willump have hit a slump, it’s time to give them a good ol’ bump! To get the snowball rolling, we’re reverting part of their nerf from patch 11.2 while throwing them more damage when they’re building more aggressively.
BASE STATS
MOVEMENT SPEED 340 ⇒ 345
E – SNOWBALL BARRAGE
DAMAGE RATIO PER SNOWBALL 6% AP ⇒ 10%
APTOTAL DAMAGE RATIO 54% AP ⇒ 90% AP
SHACO
Q orange smoke VFX removed. R bugfixes.
Okay, so last patch (11.15), we fixed a longstanding bug where Shaco’s smoke poof wasn’t showing up through the Fog of War. And by longstanding, we mean like, 2 years. This change also sparked a conversation around proper counterplay in League. Constantly panning around to look for orange smoke isn’t the type of gameplay we want to enforce, so we’re reverting the poof and fixing some of his goofs.
Q – DECEIVE
REMOVEDPOOF GOES THE WEASEL Shaco’s orange smoke VFX no longer appears from the enemy’s point of view when cast through Fog of War
R – HALLUCINATE
WARD CLONE PATHING BUGFIX When Shaco’s clone kills a ward, it will no longer override all commands and attempt to repeatedly path back to Shaco
IDLE CLONE PATHING BUGFIX When Shaco’s clone does not receive additional commands for ten seconds, it will no longer path back to Shaco
WARD GOLD BUGFIX Wards killed by Shaco’s clone now properly grants gold to Shaco
CLONE DEATH EXPLOSION When killed by reflected damage, Shaco’s clone now properly explodes into mini-boxes
SIVIR
W damage ratio increased later.
Sivir’s a team-shredding, boomerang mercenary, but even her crit builds have left her feeling incomplete, so we’re sharpening up her blades.
W – RICOCHET
DAMAGE RATIO 30/40/50/60/70% AD ⇒ 30/45/60/75/90% AD
VLADIMIR
Passive AP to bonus health conversion increased; bonus health to AP conversion increased.
Top Vlad has been dragging behind his mid-lane counterpart. To help him hold his own in the top lane, we’re increasing his passive bonuses, which should also let him reap the benefits of building tankier items.
PASSIVE – CRIMSON PACT
AP TO BONUS HEALTH CONVERSION 140% ⇒ 160%
BONUS HEALTH TO AP CONVERSION 2.5% ⇒ 3.3333333%
Nerfs
DIANA
Passive damage to non-epic monsters decreased.
Since our 11.8 changes, Diana’s become a popular jungle pick, and a powerful one at that, especially in competitive play. Although we’re happy that Diana’s found a second home, she’s a little too strong. To nudge down her jungle strength, we’re nerfing her jungle clear.
PASSIVE – MOONSILVER BLADE
DAMAGE TO NON-EPIC MONSTERS 300% ⇒ 250%
FIORA
E cooldown increased later.
Fiora’s been on the strong side for a while, especially in higher levels of play. We’re bringing down her split pushing and tower whacking power in the mid to late phases of the game.
E – BLADEWORK
COOLDOWN 11/9.5/8/6.5/5 seconds ⇒ 11/10/9/8/7 seconds
LEE SIN
W omnivamp decreased.
Lee Sin came out of our 11.13 nerfs kicking, making his way from dominating lanes straight into dominating the jungle. This time, we’re laying down a straightforward nerf that should curb his early- to mid-game dueling power.
W – IRON WILL
OMNIVAMP 10/15/20/25/30% ⇒ 5/10/15/20/25%
LULU
W cooldown increased. R cooldown increased early.
While Lulu’s power in Average play is balanced, she’s strong in Skilled and even stronger in Elite. Back in patch 11.9, we purposefully buffed Lulu, targeting these skill brackets by reducing the cooldown on her W and increasing its bonus attack speed. The increased uptime on reliable peel made her a highly frustrating champion to play against, which has been reflected in her high ban rates. We’re reverting the buff on her Skilled-skewed mechanic of instant CC and increasing her R cooldown to get her back in action.
W – WHIMSY
COOLDOWN 15/14/13/12/11 seconds ⇒ 16/15/14/13/12 seconds
R – WILD GROWTH
COOLDOWN 110/95/80 seconds ⇒ 120/100/80 seconds
TAHM KENCH
Passive base damage decreased early. Q base heal decreased.
Tahm Kench’s early game power has been especially strong in the top lane, where he’s able to issue beatdowns and heal through brawls. We’re dialing both back to give his enemies more time to lick their wounds.
PASSIVE – AN ACQUIRED TASTE
BASE DAMAGE 12-60 (level 1-18) ⇒ 8-60 (level 1-18)
Q – TONGUE LASH
BASE HEAL 15/20/25/30/35 ⇒ 10/15/20/25/30
XIN ZHAO
Base attack damage decreased.
Even after our last set of nerfs in patch 11.14, Xin Zhao is still one of the top dogs in the jungle at all levels of play. With longer ranges on his new W and E, Xin doesn’t need to be one of the best-in-class early game bullies, since he has better access to his targets than ever before. We’re trimming his base damage so that he’s still strong early, but isn’t as easily able to overwhelm other junglers.
BASE STATS
ATTACK DAMAGE 66 (level 1) ⇒ 63 (level 1)
ZIGGS
Base mana increased. E base damage per mine decreased early and increased later; slow decreased early.
Our 11.14 nerf to bot lane Ziggs seemed to fizzle out, so we’re giving back his mana and dialing back his second-max ability instead. This should curb his power more in bot lane, which should be more easily recouped in mid.
BASE STATS
MANA 420 (level 1) ⇒ 480 (level 1)
E – HEXPLOSIVE MINEFIELD
BASE DAMAGE PER MINE 40/75/110/145/180 ⇒ 30/70/110/150/190
SLOW 30/35/40/45/50% ⇒ 10/20/30/40/50%
Adjustments
KARMA
Passive on-hit cooldown reduction removed; cooldown reduction from abilities now flat. Q base damage decreased early; cooldown increased early and decreased later; cost decreased. Q2 initial damage increased. E base shield increased later; bonus movement speed now flat; Defiance now only grants allies bonus movement speed.
Karma’s been much stronger in coordinated Pro play than in solo queue for a while. Rather than continuing to make minor changes, we’re attempting to make bigger ones help Karma succeed in the hands of all players.
To do so, we’re targeting her consistent early game pressure and waveclear, along with her R-E shield-and-speed buff for her full team. In return, we’re rewarding her with more Mantras when she lands abilities on champions, which will also be helped by her Q’s lower cooldown and cost. We’re also strengthening her R-Q so that she’s still able to obliterate her foes when she’s on her own.
PASSIVE – GATHERING FIRE
REMOVED ON-HIT COOLDOWN REDUCTION No longer reduces Mantra’s cooldown by 1 second whenever she uses her basic attacks against an enemy champion
COOLDOWN REDUCTION FROM ABILITIES 2/3.5/5 seconds (level 1/6/11) ⇒ 5 seconds
Q – INNER FLAME
BASE DAMAGE 90/135/180/225/270 ⇒ 70/120/170/220/270
COOLDOWN 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds ⇒ 9/8/7/6/5 seconds
COST 55 mana ⇒ 45 mana
Q2 – SOULFLARE
INITIAL DAMAGE 25/75/125/175 ⇒ 40/100/160/220
E – INSPIRE
BASE SHIELD 80/120/160/200/240 ⇒ 80/125/170/215/260
BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED 40/45/50/55/60% ⇒ 40%
DEFIANCE BUFFS TO NEARBY ALLIED CHAMPIONS 30% of the total shield’s amount, 100% bonus movement speed ⇒ 30% of the total shield’s amount, 30% bonus movement speed
MAOKAI
Passive heal increased. E detonation damage decreased.
Top Maokai has been struggling to stay in lane even with his tank builds, so we’re increasing his sustain. On the other hand, Support Mao and his saplings have been causing a commotion in the bot lane, where AP builds offer powerful scaling. Maokai will still have a strong poke, but we’re toning it down.
One more thing: Maokai’s original passive values were bugged. He was healing for less of his maximum health (5-13% instead of 6-13%) and it wasn’t scaling properly (it was scaling linearly at every level instead of its intended breakpoints of level 1/6/9…). so the previous values of his passive’s heal reflect the bugged, in-game values. Now, the scaling has been corrected, and the heal from his maximum health has an even bigger bump than his tooltip would have you believe.
PASSIVE – SAP MAGIC
HEAL 5-65 (+5-13% maximum health) ((level 1-18) (due to healing and scaling bugs) ⇒ 5/15/25/35/45/55/65 (+7/8.5/10/11.5/13/14/15% maximum health) (level 1/6/9/11/13/15/17)
E – SAPLING TOSS
DETONATION DAMAGE 25/50/75/100/125 (+7/7.25/7.5/7.75/8% (+0.8% per 100 AP) of target’s maximum health) ⇒ 20/45/70/95/120 (+7/7.25/7.5/7.75/8% (+0.7% per 100 AP) of target’s maximum health)
SONA
New passive! Mana costs were reduced and aura mana refunds were removed. R now also hits minions and monsters.
In patch 10.4, our baby girl was given a mana refund mechanic to prevent oppressive playstyles. This wasn’t a particularly fun mechanic, and sometimes it put Sona in situations where she was punished for using her spells correctly, like rotating around the map with E by herself. We’re replacing the mechanic with a new one that should feel much more like a reward than a punishment to fix this.
Now Sona has a stacking mechanic that rewards her for using some of her abilities, eventually giving her more access to her ult, and giving you all those Crescendo plays that you definitely never miss.
PASSIVE – POWER CHORD
NEW ACCELERANDO Sona’s basic abilities grant her permanent Accelerando stacks. She gains +.5 non-ultimate ability haste per stack, up to 60 non-ultimate ability haste. Once she reaches 60 non-ultimate ability haste, instead of gaining additional Accelerando stacks, her ultimate ability’s current cooldown reduces by 1.5 seconds each time she would gain an Accelerando stack.
NEW HOLD THAT NOTE Now persists through revives (such as Zilean’s ult and Guardian Angel)
Q – HYMN OF VALOR
COST 75/80/85/90/95 mana ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70 mana
NEW EVERY BOLT YOU TAKE Now grants a stack of Accelerando for each bolt that hits an enemy champion
REMOVED AURA MANA REFUND Granting an ally Hymn of Valor’s aura no longer refunds 30 mana per cast
W – ARIA OF PERSEVERANCE
COST 105/110/115/120/125 mana ⇒ 80/85/90/95/100 mana
NEW EVERY SHIELD YOU MAKE Aria of Perserverance’s aura now grants a stack of Accelerando each time you heal another injured ally or prevent at least 25-125 damage from another ally with the aura’s shields
REMOVED AURA MANA REFUND Granting an ally Aria of Perserverance’s aura no longer refunds 30 mana per cast
E – SONG OF CELERITY
COST 90 mana ⇒ 65 mana
REMOVE DAURA MANA REFUND Granting an ally Song of Celerity’s aura no longer refunds 30 mana per cast
R – CRESCENDO
REMOVED ABILITY COOLDOWN REDUCTION No longer reduces Sona’s basic abilities
NEW I’LL BE WATCHING YOU Hits champions ⇒ Hits champions, minions, and monsters
Items
DARK SEAL
While Dark Seal is meant to be a high-risk, high-reward item, it’s become a consistently high-value option for most AP users, even for champions that appreciate the mana on Doran’s Ring. We’re pulling back on the stacking pace of the item so that there’s more risk involved when opting into Dark Seal.
DREAD AP PER GLORY STACK 5 ⇒ 4
GLORY STACKS LOST ON DEATH 4 ⇒ 5
REDEMPTION
Redemption is being overshadowed by the other Enchanter items and has struggled to find its niche this season. We’re increasing the power and availability of its exciting moments so that it can be more effective in more team fights.
INTERVENTION HEAL 180-360 (based on ally’s level) ⇒ 200-400 (based on ally’s level)
INTERVENTION COOLDOWN 120 seconds ⇒ 90 seconds
Bandle City Clash
The second weekend of the Bandle City-themed Clash will be August 21 and 22.
Team formation for the second weekend will be open starting on August 16.
Ranked Updates
UPDATED THIRD QUEUE DODGE PENALTY A third penalty tier for queue-dodging has been added. Players that dodge three times in a 24-hour period will experience a 12-hour MOBA queue lockout and a 10 LP loss (the first two dodge penalties are unchanged). You can read more about it here.
NEW FRIENDS LEADERBOARD You always suspected you were better than your friends, but now you can find out for sure! We’ve added a new social leaderboard inside Ranked Summoner’s Rift lobbies. You can access this leaderboard by clicking on the new leaderboard button in the upper right corner of the Solo/Duo or Flex lobby.
FLEX QUEUE Master and above Flex players can no longer queue with other Flex players rated below Platinum.
Bugfixes/QOL Changes
- Fixed a bug where Warwick’s R – Infinite Duress cancels mid-jump if the target flashes
- Champions can now acquire blue buff if they kill the Blue Sentinel while in a zombie state, such as Sion’s Passive- Glory in Death (this is already true for red buff)
- Fixed a bug where players would lose their red or blue buffs when executing to non-epic jungle monsters
- Fixed a bug where a champion’s bounty value did not reset back to 0 in the scoreboard even after their bounty is claimed
- Sandshrike’s Claw’s tooltip counter for damage dealt now properly displays the amount of damage done to the enemy
- Fixed a bug where, if Steel Shoulderguards are refunded or sold before purchasing and activating Relic Shield, buffs for both items appear in the buff bar
- Fixed a bug where a champion was able to teleport to a destroyed tower if the teleport channel bar has 0.3 seconds remaining
- Fixed a bug where Tryndamere’s W – Mocking Shout would not contribute towards Eclipse’s Ever Rising Moon if the enemy champion was facing him
- Umbral Glaive is no longer able to deal bonus damage to a ward that is invulnerable (due to being teleported to)
That’s about it, folks! Expect to see two more articles regarding 11.16, one with the skins, and one with the TFT Balance changes! For now, consider checking how skins were before going live. You can also read the patch notes on the Official League of Legends website.
