League of Legends Patch 11.15 is about to hit the Rift. Ashkan, The Rogue Sentinel, is also set to release on July 22nd a day after the patch. As a result, this update contains no large reworks or system changes. Instead, many champions have received single number adjustments. Here are the most impactful balance changes on League of Legends Patch 11.15. For the full patch notes, click here.
Gwen and Blitzcrank are just two of many champions to receive a balance change on Patch 11.15. (Images Credit Riot Games)
Nerfs
Annie
Q – Disintegrate
- DAMAGE RATIO 80% AP ⇒ 75% AP
Annie has been one of the simplest champions in League of Legends since her inception. Her play rate and win rate has been rising in higher levels of play, so she’s taking a small ratio hit to her first max. A 5% loss equates to losing 8 damage at a two-item spike of Luden’s and Zhonya’s.
Aurelion Sol
Q – Starsurge
- COOLDOWN 11/10/9/8/7 seconds ⇒ 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
Aurelion Sol has also been a high elo menace due to his “push wave and roam” playstyle. A one-second nerf to his Q will help pull back on his wave clear and playmaking potential slightly.
Gwen
E – Skip ‘n Slash
- BONUS ATTACK SPEED 40/50/60/70/80% ⇒ 20/35/50/65/80%
Gwen tends to win almost any lane early off of her sheer stats and combat bonuses. Cutting her E’s bonus attack speed in half for the first seven levels of the game should allow more champions to trade efficiently with her.
Irelia
W – Defiant Dance
- DAMAGE RATIO 50% AD (150% AD maximum) ⇒ 40% AD (120% AD maximum)
- DAMAGE REDUCTION 40%-80% physical damage, 20-40% magic damage (levels 1-18) ⇒ 40%-70% physical damage, 20-35% magic damage (levels 1-18)
Irelia should be a champion that rewards skilled play and proper environment management. Her recent buffs have instead made her a powerful pick at all levels of play. Taking some oomph off of her W’s damage and resistances will make her more easily punished when positioned sub-optimally.
Thresh
E – Flay
- COOLDOWN 11/10.5/10/9.5/9 seconds ⇒ 13/12.25/11.5/10.75/10 seconds
Thresh is still one of the most dominant supports in the game even after multiple nerfs all around his kit. This time, his E cooldown is being reduced by two seconds scaling to one. Since Thresh maxes this ability second or third, there should be more windows open to punish him throughout the game.
Viego
Q – Blade of the Ruined King
- BASE DAMAGE 25/40/55/70/85 ⇒ 15/30/45/60/75
- BONUS DAMAGE AGAINST MONSTERS 10 ⇒ 20
- HEALING FROM DAMAGE AGAINST MARKED MINIONS 50% ⇒ 10%
Viego is still on the strong side even after his power shifts from earlier patches. He is now losing 10 base damage on his Q, compensated by 10 damage to jungle monsters to keep his clear the same speed. Combined with the healing reduction from minions, lane Viego is being incentivized against even more.
Riot’s attempts to shift Viego into the jungle continue on Patch 11.15 (Image Credit Riot Games)
Buffs
Blitzcrank
Base Stats
- ARMOR 37 ⇒ 40
Q – Rocket Grab
- DAMAGE 70/120/170/220/270 (+100% AP) ⇒ 90/140/190/240/290 (+120% AP)
Blitzcrank as a pick requires early game playmaking and dominance. Three extra armor and a whopping 20 base damage on his Q should help him win trades and find kills much more often when he does land hook.
Caitlyn
Q – Piltover Peacemaker
- DAMAGE RATIO 130/140/150/160/170% AD ⇒ 130/145/160/175/190% AD
Caitlyn has had the issue of being a lane dominant ADC with a mediocre late game for quite a while. An extra 20% AD scaling on Q should help her pack more of a punch later. Assuming she builds the highest AD on three items that are viable, Caitlyn will be boasting about 35 extra damage.
Cassiopeia
E – Twin Fang
- BASE EMPOWERED DAMAGE 10/30/50/70/90 ⇒ 20/40/60/80/100
Cassiopeia has been given an extra 10 damage on her Twin Fang. Considering how often she ends up spamming this spell both for wave clear and fighting, this boost will add up very quickly. If the mid meta ends up shifting towards Mages, Cass could come in strong.
Kennen
Q – Thundering Shuriken
- DAMAGE 75/115/155/195/235 (+75% AP) ⇒ 85/130/175/220/265 (+80% AP)
Kennen has struggled to find a place in the meta for a while. He doesn’t win lane hard enough to be picked as a bully, nor does he scale well enough to be picked for fighting compositions. This 10 base damage buff which turns into 30 by level 9 could help him in both regards.
Mordekaiser
W – Indestructible
- COOLDOWN 14/13/12/11/10 seconds ⇒ 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
- STORED POST-MITIGATION DAMAGE FROM DAMAGE DEALT 35% ⇒ 45%
Despite being League of Legend’s resident 1v1, fight isolating juggernaut, Mordekaiser is struggling to keep up with the strong top laners of the current meta. Letting him convert 10% more damage into shields, as well as having the ability up two seconds quicker should help him hold his own in lane.
Rell
W – Ferromancy
- COOLDOWN 13 seconds ⇒ 11 seconds
Ten patches ago, Rell’s W saw its cooldown increase from 11 seconds to 13. That nerf is being reverted here now that players have gotten more used to her play pattern and hit boxes. Coincidentally, this change puts her W at a lower cooldown than Thresh’s new E, potentially shifting the matchup.
Syndra
Q – Dark Sphere
- COST 60/65/70/75/80 mana ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80 mana
Syndra is one of the traditional Mage champions who has been struggling to find a place in today’s mid meta. Her high early mana costs make it hard for Syndra to push the wave and trade without going OOM. Hopefully this cost reduction gives her some ground to stand on.
Will this buff to Syndra’s mana cost be enough to return her to the meta? (Image Credit Riot Games)
Xayah
R – Featherstorm
- COOLDOWN 160/145/130 seconds ⇒ 140/120/100 seconds
Xayah’s R cooldown has been a bit of a running joke for a while now. With this 20-30 second cooldown reduction, Xayah should be able to use her ultimate more than once per game. While it might not shoot her into relevance immediately, Xayah should get some more play rate since she’ll feel less awful.
…And those were the most important changes of League of Legends Patch 11.15. Because so many champions were given small changes that could potentially shift their gameplay patterns and matchups, this should be a very diverse patch with lots of experimentation.
