14.11 Patch Preview
Hi everyone and welcome to Patch 14.11!
Overall, the patch has landed reasonably balance wise for things that changed.
Lane Swaps
They've been a hot topic of conversation over the course of MSI
While we think some of this was teams adapting to player matchup diffs over time, in some cases, it's more optimal than we'd like (eg. double ranged bot lanes)
While a few lane swaps every now and then is favorable for the viewer experience, every game is too far
We'll be adjusting the fortification and first turret gold values as a result
K'Sante
K'Sante has also been a hot topic from MSI
While there have been some favorable matchups into him, he was generally not exploitable enough
In the short term, we're making some targeted changes to reduce just how much damage he can soak with W. We also intend to take a larger stab at some of his kit shape to give him sharper strengths and weaknesses, but that will take some time
Given that he has optionality between tanking and fighting, he probably also shouldn't be so generally durable
Marksmen Generally
Marksmen after the changes to snowballing, experience are now at similar levels of durability to the durability patch
They also seem very strong, but we're waiting on more information before acting in a significant way
We intend to tune around this rough level of durability and nerf other things like damage, etc. if they are too strong
Marksman First Items
Overall, Marksmen first items seems close
Kraken/Collector/ER/IE are all viable options of varying strength
We believe Collector and IE are a bit on the strong side and ER a little on the weak side
Shiv has struggled to find an audience, we're looking to move it further into the on-hit space and it is also pretty underpowered
Post Hotfix
Our hotfix has overall put Blackfire Torch and Ashes in a reasonable spot
It is intended that Ashes is a strong item for AP junglers, hence why it was generically nerfed, rather than nerfing the jungle specifically
Draven was slightly overnerfed, but we expect him to recoup some of this power once players fully swap over to Bloodthirster
Smolder
Smolder has landed in a bit of a weird spot; Tri Force overall is offering a bit of a better package than Essence Reaver overall
We would like Sheen items to be viable on him, and also to have some Crit builds and some non Crit builds
Arena
Post 14.10 changes, we're mainly focused on taking larger swings at nerfing healing, buffing weak champions, nerfing fighters further
We're also taking a further swing at outlier legendary and prismatic items
Buffs targeted at Ekko, Fizz, LB, Corki [he had a bunch of Arena specific nerfs that no longer make sense], Viktor, Ziggs, Akshan
Nerfs targeted at Darius, Vi, Rhaast, Gragas, Garen, Trundle, Vlad, Aatrox, Briar
ARAM
Main strategy is to remove buff/nerf modifiers that no longer make sense and followups to the 14.10 changes landing
Buffs to Corki, Ezreal, Yasuo, Yone, MF
Nerfs to Shen, Veigar, Akshan, Morgana, Nautrilus, Hwei, Skarner
PBE CHANGES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Credit to /u/FrankTheBoxMonster for PBE changes.
>>> Champion Buffs <<<
Draven
Gangplank
- Base HP increased 600 >>> 630
- Armor per level increased 4.2 >>> 4.7
Gnar
Kha'Zix
Lulu
Master Yi
Nami
Nasus
Pantheon
[Hold-Q] Comet Spear added AP ratio 0% >>> 50%
[W] Shield Vault damage changed 60/100/140/180/220 (+100% AP) physical damage >>> 5/5.5/6/6.5/7% (+0.4% per 100 bHP) (+1.5% per 100 AP) target's HP physical damage (50-200 flat against monsters)
[Empowered-E] Aegis Assault now grants 5/11.5/18/24.5/30 (+2.5% bHP) Armor and Magic Resistance for 4 seconds
Singed
Smolder
>>> Champion Nerfs <<<
Hwei
Irelia
Jinx
Karthus
Mordekaiser
Taliyah
>>> Champion Adjustments <<<
Recommended Items/Runes Sweep
- Draven, Ezreal, Gangplank, Sivir, Smolder, Xayah, Yasuo, Yone
Ornn
- [P] Living Forge changes:
- All Legendary items (sans Tear and Support Items, Mejai's, and Wardstone) can now be upgraded. Masterwork items currently no longer have unique names.
- Masterwork items grant a mostly fixed 1000 gold value amount of stats split mostly evenly. HP becomes less valuable when paired with other stats.
- The item which gets upgraded is still the first Legendary slotted in your inventory.