LoL Patch 11.6: Akali Buffs and Hecarim Nerfs Heading Our Way (UPDATED)

LoL Patch 11.6 is set to change up the meta on Summoner’s Rift once more with Xin Zhao getting a mini upgrade, as well as the reduction of systemic healing. Of course, multiple outliers are also getting nerfed and buffed as is usual.

So as usual, we’re going to go over some of the potential changes coming next week and how these changes might affect the meta. Without further ado let’s jump right into the changes for LoL Patch 11.6!

Champion Nerfs in Patch 11.6 - Jungle and Top Get Targeted (UPDATED)

  • Hecarim - Hecarim has been a top pick for quite a while now and even with previous nerfs to items like Goredrinker he’s still been unstoppable in the jungle, which is why he is getting a slight Q damage decrease. Will it do anything to stop him though?

  • Karthus- His win rate just skyrocketed and Riot can’t have that. Gotta slow down that jungle clear to give others a chance. To try and slow him down his Q will be getting a damage decrease from 45 - 125 to 45 - 115

  • Urgot - The added movement speed to Black Cleaver as well as many other buffs to his items have made him one of the best top laners… so Riot has decided that his W on-hit modifier is going from 75% to 50% in Patch 11.6.

TFT Lillia
Time for Lillia to experience a Nerf (Credit: RIot Games)
  • Lillia - This is the first adjustment to the champion since her release! Wow Riot managed to release a balanced champion for once… but now her team fighting prowess has been hit with a huge increase to her ultimate cooldown going from 130 - 90 to 150 - 110.

  • Renekton - Renekton’s late game has been seriously nerfed with this patch. The extra health from his R is being reduced from 250 - 750 to 250 - 550.

  • Gnar - This Yordle has been killing it in solo queue. His outplay potential is just too big, so Riot has decided to cut his attack speed down by just a smidge.

Champion Buffs in Patch 11.6 - Akali?! Seriously? [UPDATED]

Xin Zhao Warlord
Xin is in desperate need for some adjustments (Credit: Riot Games)
  • Akali - The buff we’ve all been waiting for and afraid of at the same time. Usually when Akali gets buffed she becomes OP so let’s just wait and see what Riot has in store for her. We will outline her buffs further below in the article since Riot did quite a lot of things to her!

  • Xin Zhao - This champion is in dire need of this. Hopefully, he will have a better time against hard cc comps with the coming update, since he’s been struggling for forever now. Scroll further down for the full list of changes coming Xin’s way, since it’s quite a lot!

  • LeBlanc - Probably one of the worst mages in the game right now and that’s hard since mages just seem to be everywhere. To make her late game a little more bearable Riot decided to cut her W’s mana cost in later stages of the game going from 60 - 120 to 60 - 100.

  • Sylas - Sylas is a squishy melee mage which makes him vulnerable in later stages of the game. To give him a chance against long-ranged mages Riot has given his passive more attack speed and his W cooldown was shortened.

  • Pyke - Sure Pyke is one of the most annoying Supports to play against, but he currently sits at an abysmal 47% win rate. To try and give him a boost out of the dungeon, he will now have 15/14/13/12/11 seconds cooldown on his E instead of flat out 15 like before.

  • Volibear Jungle - Volibear just hasn’t been able to keep up with the jungle. He needs a better and faster clear, which is why his W now gives him 100% heal against wounded monsters unlike the 50% from before as well as a flat E damage cap of 750.

Item Buffs in Patch 11.6 - Didn’t We See These a Few Patches Ago Under Nerfs? [UPDATED]

  • Shurelya’s Battlesong - The active on this item is getting a cooldown reduction from 90 seconds to 75! More Inspiration here we come!

  • Luden’s Tempest - Luden’s got a little extra this patch. Hitting enemies with abilities will reduce cooldowns by 0.5 seconds. More free fire for us!

  • Sunfire Aegis - The ability haste on the item was increased from 15 to 20 and the damage per stack went from 10% to 12%.

  • Rabbadon’s Deathcap - This fancy hat was just not worth spending so much Gold on and it took way too long to be able to build this item. Price Reduction incoming? Well… guess what we were right. Instead of a whopping 3800 Gold this item is now at the discount price of 3600! Come and get it while it’s hot!

Systems Nerfs in Patch 11.6 - Runes and Items Are on the List [UPDATED]

  • Ravenous Hunter Rune - The base Omnivamp of Ravenous Hunter was set to 0, while the omnivamp per stack has been reduced from 1.7% to 1.5%. This is going to make other runes much more viable in the upcoming patch.

  • Fleet Footwork (AP) - This seems like a nerf targeted towards Kassadin without nerfing him… The heal AP ratio was reduced significantly going from 30% to 20%.

  • Blade of the Ruined King - Well the lifesteal on this item seemed to have been too much for Riot and they cut it from 12% to 10%, but they did add a little more Damage to Siphon in later stages of the game.

  • Sterak’s Gage - Bloodlust healing has been cut. The healing from each stack beyond the first is reduced by a whopping 50%.

  • Stridebreaker - The adjustment to Stridebreaker last patch was insane and caused some champions to just go ham and well now Riot has decided to reduce the extra health the item gives from 300 to 200.

Elderwood Leblanc
LeBlanc might get played again after these adjustements! (Credit: Riot Games)
  • Seeker’s Armguard - Well the armour this item gave was just a bit too strong. So Riot has decided to cut the armour given per kill from 1 to 0.5 with a max of 15 instead of 30.

  • Verdant Barrier - The magic equivalent to Seeker’s Armguard, so instead of getting 0.5 magic resist you now gain 0.3 magic resist.

  • Void Staff - Void Staff is getting more AP with an increase from 65 to 70… but at what cost? Well, a huge price hike!

System Adjustments in Patch 11.6 [UPDATED]

  • Immortal Shieldbow - Shieldbow will have an adjustment to its shield, which is going to be much stronger in the late game thanks to some added attack speed, but we have to say goodbye to the lifesteal since it has been reduced from 12% to 10%.

  • Teleport Summoner’s Spell - Well Teleport now gives players 50% movement speed after using it and the cooldown has been reduced in later stages of the game going from 420 - 240 to 420 - 210.

  • Liandry’s Anguish - Liandry’s now lets champions deal 12% bonus magic damage based on the opponents bonus health. This is going to make buying this item even more worthwhile since you can just shred opponents with ease.

Akali and Xin Zhao Buffs in Patch 11.6

Akali gained some new measures to make her into a scaling late game monster. Her early game might not be as strong as before, especially with her base health being reduced, but she now scales more health per level.

Her Q will have a shorter cooldown in the late game, while a longer one in the early game, another indicator that she will be a champion who can just pop off once you hit the 25-minute mark. Her ultimate has also gotten an AP ratio, making it much harder to itemize against her.

Xin Zhao is getting quite a few improvements in this patch. His W got the most changes added and will now have a bigger range while also adding in some added vision with his W2 when he ‘challenges’ either monsters or enemy champions. An AP ratio was also added to his W2.

His ultimate was also improved with the duration now lasting 5 instead of 3 seconds and a new ability power ratio of 110% was added. Overall, Xin is going to feel much stronger this patch, but will he be able to keep up with the Hecarim’s and Udyr’s out there?

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Sabrina Ahn

Sabrina Ahn is the League of Legends and Riftfeed Lead. During her time at Concordia University in 2014 she fell in love with LoL and is playing it since – how she hasn't lost her sanity is still unclear....