While the official start date of League of Legends' 2021 competitive season hasn't been announced, Riot Games is hard at work prepping the game. A new season means a new experience and Riot's always been one to ensure gameplay in League of Legends is fresh and exciting. To that effect, Riot is hard at work on a new League of Legends patch. Update 11.1 will see meaningful balance changes to a variety of items and champions.
In a patch preview shared by Riot designer Mark Yetter some weeks ago, a variety of tentative changes were shared. In terms of champion changes, ten champions in total were either nerfed, buffed, or adjusted. Nerfs were handed to Master Yi, Fiddlesticks, and Pantheon, though only through smaller numbers changes. In terms of buffs, Ryze, Qiyana, Xayah, Karma, and Gnar all improved. Gnar especially saw some significant improvements to several abilities. Yasuo and Yone received more balanced changes to some abilities.
Many items will also be adjusted in 11.1. Buffs are being handed out to Shurelia's Battlesong, Arcangel's Staff, Seraph's Embrace, and the Ionian Boots of Lucidity. A sweeping buff to all items that apply Grievous Wounds is also being made, adding an extra second of the debuff. Items receiving adjustments include Runaan's Hurricane, a change that's long been planned that drops the item's price from 3400 to 2400g, but has its power dropped accordingly. Muramana's past change is also being reverted for a smaller nerf.
One big item change worth acknowledging is what Yetter calls an adjustment to burst damage, shifting initial burst damage into stats for more sustained damage. Affected items include Duskblade of Draktharr, Prowler's Claw, Hextech Rocketbelt, Night Harvester, Trinity Force, Goredrinker, and Stridebreaker. Again, the intent is to nerf upfront damage without creating an overall nerf. Burst champions in League of Legends will just have to rely more on sustained damage.
On top of balance changes, Riot will be adding a variety of new skins to buy for League of Legends with the 11.1 patch, too. Marauder skins for Kalista, Kled, and Xin Zhao, as well as the frosty Warden skins for Gragas and Quinn are being included. Each of them will have their own set of Chromas, too, for additional customization options.
League of Legends patch 11.1 won't officially arrive until January 6, which means that Riot could still make some late additions or changes to the update. Some of these changes may already be changed, given that Yetter shared them some weeks ago. Regardless, hopefully they provide some insight into Riot's view of the current meta as the next competitive season approaches.
League of Legends is available now on PC.