Patch 11.10 drops Tuesday, May 11 and brings changes to champions and items in League of Legends. However, the biggest change is in the jungle. After a season filled with farming junglers, and now ability-powered assassins and mages, Riot Games has decided to switch things up for the role yet again. These new changes will change the jungle meta in a significant way, while also bringing new champions to the forefront of the role.
The Arcane skins will also drop along with this patch on May 13.
Jungle changes in Patch 11.10
Respawn timers will been lengthened this patch, as Riot is pushing the jungle role into a more gank-heavy playstyle. The role has become increasingly farming-focused, as players optimize their clear around the unforgiving two-minute timers. Patch 11.10 will add 15 seconds to those timers to allow for more ganks and free time for junglers to interact with the rest of the game. This should also give players more options in the role, as champions with slower clears become more optimal.
Comeback experience is also back, but in a much less extreme sense than its previous iteration. The mechanic will only impact junglers who are massively behind, to give those players a chance at staying competitive in the game. The large and epic monsters will now grant 50 experience points per level below the average level of all players, minus one. Smite and Omnivamp from jungle items are also part of the changes in this patch.
Smite will no longer scale based on levels, meaning a level lead at drake or baron is not too big of a deal anymore. The spell will cause 450 base damage and increase to 900 after quest completion. Omnivamp has been toned down on the jungle items as well, while the healing from smite has been increased.
The jungle camps themselves have also seen changes. Their gold values, health and damage output have all changed slightly to adjust to the new timers, alongside the Smite and Omnivamp changes. The specific numbers for the changes can be found on the official Riot Games dev blog.
Champion balancing, Kayle passive buffed
This patch includes a few different champion buffs and nerfs, including changes to Darius, Jinx, Thresh, Galio, Lux, Kennen, Sejuani, Talon, Yuumi, Katarina, Zyra and Kayle. The buff highlights revolve around Kayle and Zyra, as the two champions are not in the current meta at the moment. Kayle sits at a 1.9% pick rate and Zyra is a tad better at 2.8%, according to U.GG.
In Patch 11.10, Kayle’s passive numbers and range will be buffed at all ranks. The champion will now have a little more power in the early game and scale slightly better. Zyra’s passive was also slightly buffed along with her W, Rampant Growth. The slow effect on her plants has been increased while her Rampant Growth cooldown has been decreased. Other champions that received buffs in Patch 11.10 include Lux, Yuumi, Kennen and Seguani.
As for nerfs, the champions hit hardest in this patch are Darius, Galio and Thresh. Darius’ E, Apprehend, has had its cool down increased across all ranks, making closing the distance on enemies a tad harder. Galio’s Shield of Durand has also been hit hard. The shield now has a flat 18-second cooldown across all ranks and its shield numbers are reduced as well. Thresh may have been hit the hardest this patch though. His previous nerfs did not have the desired impact according to Riot. His base health has been reduced to keep him down in the early game. Other champion nerfs include Talon, Katarina and Jinx.
Item and Rune changes
A few item and rune changes are on the cards in Patch 11.10. The changes are mainly buffs to Goredrinker, Guinsoo’s Rageblade and Riftmaker, with Phase Rush on the chopping block for nerfs this patch too. One of the more popular runes in high elo ranks, Phase Rush, is getting a sizable change to its numbers in this patch. Its cooldown now scales with levels and the movement speed increase is different for ranged and melee champions.
Introducing Arcana skins
The Arcana skin line also releases with Patch 11.10 on May 13. The series includes skins for Lucian, Tahm Kench, Camille and Xerath, with chroma versions dropping the same day too. The skins are fiery-themed with red animations that light up the screen. Each skin will cost 1350 Riot Points once patch 11.10 has dropped for League of Legends.
