The League of Legends patch 8.11 came out on May 31. It introduced a number of changes for some of the most prominent champions in the game as well as an AD carry item rework. We take a look at the most impactful buffs and nerfs that will reshape the competitive meta!
LoL patch 8.11 Champions
Pyke Released
The newest addition to the League of Legends champion pool—Pyke—has been released! According to Riot’s design team, he’s supposed to be played in the support role. This might sound all fine and dandy since he has his own versions of Thresh’s Death Sentence [Q] and Rakan’s Grand Entrance [W]. But he’s also an assassin. That’s right, Pyke is the first offensive AD champion in the support role, and his camouflage [W] and execute [R] are set to make him the bane of every AD carry.
However, we can’t help thinking that assassins don’t have a place in the bottom lane. And unless his numbers are atrocious, he might very well show up in the jungle and mid lane. The champion will become available sometime during the patch, but for now, you can read up on his kit here.
Kha’Zix Ult Nerfed
It’s no secret that Kha’Zix took over Solo Queue, and Void Assault [R] was a huge reason behind that. Well, Riot is addressing this by reducing the cooldown of his ultimate and decreasing stealth duration from 1.5 seconds to 1.25 seconds. And if Kha’Zix evolves the ability, he’ll gain access to 2 seconds of invisibility instead of 1.5 seconds.
Wait a second, aren’t these all buffs? It might seem like it, but the biggest change is that Kha’Zix no longer gains passive stealth after entering brushes. So even though Void Assault will be more consistent in skirmishes, the invisible bug won’t be able to chase you down from half a map away.
Rakan Lost Sustain
Rakan, the Charmer, took several hits to his sustainability. Gleaming Quill’s [Q] base heal was decreased from 22.5-150 to 18-120 (at levels 1-18). Meanwhile, Battle Dance shield was reduced by 10 less at all ranks. Now, this might not sound like much, but these numbers tend to add up in 2v2s. And ultimately, they will be the difference between winning and losing.
Taliyah Gutted?
On the surface, it might seem like the Stoneweaver doesn’t hate this patch. Indeed, Taliyah received some sizeable buffs, such as +15 base movement speed, + 30 base health, increased mobility on her passive, and a flat 12-second cooldown on Seismic Shove [W].
Unfortunately, these came at the cost of the AoE damage on Threaded Volley [Q]. And while the cooldown of the spell was reduced, it will not provide enough wave clear in the mid lane. In a similar fashion, Unraveled Earth [E] lost a good chunk of damage at early ranks, so the Stoneweaver will be much more exploitable in the laning phase.
Urgot Buffed
Now that’s a name we haven’t heard for a long time! Urgot is far from a staple meta pick, but the sheer number of changes to his kit might finally push him into the realm of viability. For starters, the cyborg enjoyed slight buffs to his collision radius and base attack speed.
Also, his passive—Echoing Flames—now deals more damage in the early game, and Purge [W] can be activated during other abilities. Finally, Fear Beyond Death [R] no longer roots Urgot in place. Of course, the champion still relies on lane dominance, but these buffs make it easier to press this advantage.
ADC Stats Adjustment
Every single AD carry champion became the subject of stat changes. Most of these revolve around decreasing base attack damage, increasing attack damage growth, reducing armor, and bumping up health. Overall, marksmen will be worse at pushing minion waves, but they will hit each other harder. Plus, the reduced health regen means the damage will actually stick.
Items, Runes & Game Mechanics
ADC Item Rework
New Item: Stormrazor
Stormrazor is a new addition to the AD carry item pool. It costs 2200 gold and provides 70 AD, 30% attack speed, and a unique passive that empowers auto attacks after you haven’t attacked anyone for 3 seconds. Champions like Jhin and Graves will love this, but we can’t help thinking that the item won’t find much use elsewhere.
Reworked Item: Infinity Edge
Infinity Edge was completely overhauled! The staple AD carry item now costs a whopping 3700 gold and builds out of two B.F. Swords. Moreover, it no longer grants critical strike change and bonus crit damage. Instead, Infinity Edge doubles your existing critical strike chance and turns 15% of critical strike damage into true damage. It will likely remain strong on AD carries like Tristana, Caitlyn, and Jinx, but the sheer amount of time it takes for the new IE to ramp up will push these champions out of the meta.
Reworked Item: Essence Reaver
Essence Reaver is another item that isn’t how it used to be. Unlike Infinity Edge, it became 200 gold cheaper, although it did lose its critical strike chance and old passive. In return, Essence Reaver makes your basic attacks replenish 1% of your missing mana. And if that wasn’t enough, casting your ultimate ability provides 30% attack speed and 20% basic ability CDR every time you auto attack. This item will be massive on Kai’Sa, Lucian, and Ezreal, and we fully expect it to define the AD carry meta.
Reworked Item: Last Whisper
Last Whisper was changed to provide 10% total armor penetration instead of 35% bonus armor penetration. With that, Lord Domink’s Regards grants a whopping 35% of total armor penetration, although it does come at the cost of 10 AD and the Giant Slayer passive. The same thing happened to Mortal Reminder, except the total armor amounts to 25%. And while this change won’t do much against tanks, it will definitely make it much easier to blow up other squishies.
Critical Strike Items Cost More
The inflation is strong in this one! Every remaining critical strike option (i.e. Zeal items) got 100-300 gold more expensive. That doesn’t sound like a huge amount but once it adds up, crit-based marksmen will struggle to hit their power spikes before the late game.
Lifesteal Got Cheaper
Meanwhile, Blade of the Ruined King and Bloodthirster became 200 gold cheaper. Granted, the latter option is a niche purchase, but the BotRK change will definitely be appreciated. Especially by the likes of Ezreal and Lucian.
Banner of Command Nerfed
The good ol’ Banner of Command no longer grants 100% magic damage immunity to empowered minions. Instead, it provides 70% damage reduction from all champions. That doesn’t sound too shabby on paper, but the identity of the Banner being an anti-mage purchase is effectively gone. With that, the item will inevitably fall out of the meta.
New Keystone: Hail of Blades
There’s a new keystone—Hail of Blades—in the Domination tree. It provides a 50-100% attack speed bonus for the first three auto attacks versus enemy champions, which should be great for spellcasting marksmen. And the fact that it lets you breach the attacks speed cap is the icing on the metaphorical cake, but unfortunately. Unfortunately, the keystone won’t see much use. Domination simply doesn’t offer much to marksmen, so we don’t foresee any AD carry mains taking it just to try the new keystone.
Fleet Footwork Nerfed
Fleet Footwork is losing power with every single patch. The haste movement speed bonus was reduced from 30% to 20%. Moreover, the keystone no longer grants extra healing on critical strikes, although it does provide a bit more sustainability whne you hit melee minions. Of course, this won’t be enough to push Fleet Footwork out of the meta, but we’re getting close.
Turret Changes
Inhibitor and Nexus turrets had their health decreased by 10-20%. However, the regeneration rate on Inhibitor turrets was tripled, so teams will have more incentives to protect them. Still, damaged turrets will restore a limited amount of damage, so regeneration won’t be game-breaking. Meanwhile, inner turrets will provide an increased proximity bounty (300 gold instead of 175 gold) at the cost of global income (100 instead of 125). In short, sieging and defending towers is even more important.
That’s it for top changes of the League of Legends patch 8.11! You can check the complete patch notes here, and we’ll see you on the Summoner’s Rift!