If you’ve been keeping an eye on our site, you’ll know that League of Legends patch 11.18 was a big one, ushering in a raft of changes across the MOBA game’s champion roster in the run-up to the Worlds, which kick off next month. However, we can expect to see some of those changes further tweaked soon as League’s lead game designer has been mulling on how they’ve played out on live servers and noted some follow-up adjustments coming.
Jeevun Sidhu notes on Twitter that live data following 11.18’s release so far indicates that, out of the 33 champions changed, “27 hit their targets pretty cleanly”, but the dev takes some time to chat about how the remaining six have fared, and what Riot’s planning to do with them. Some, as Sidhu explains, are in for some further changes to course-correct 11.18’s adjustments – with Fizz being the first on the list.
“We misjudged the magnitude of his adjustments and he’s been nerfed overall,” the dev says. So, he’ll be getting buffed with the upcoming League of Legends patch 11.19.
As for Renekton – whose W, Ruthless Predator, saw a nerf in 11.18 – Sidhu notes he “got hit quite hard”. He explains, “I can understand the difficulties that solo queue Renekton mains are having here – it can be really rough to have your champion nerfed for reasons that you will not experience”, adding that the team has to be careful around compensating him due to the fact he’s been “pretty meta dominant in pro” of late. As a solution, we can expect to see some “safe buffs” drop for Renekton in 11.19.
That being said, we have to be cautious compensating him as he has been pretty meta dominant in pro. We'll look for safe buffs for 11.19.
(5/7)
— Jeevun Sidhu (@JeevunSidhu) September 10, 2021
The team might also “need to pull back” on Soraka’s “big buff” next patch, possibly on her R’s healing, Sidhu explains, though there’s little chance we’ll see a reversion of her recent change as the devs believe it was “right for her (for now, at least)”. Similarly, the team is happy with the big ol’ buff Singed saw right now, but it’s looking to see more games’ data to confirm this, while it’s waiting for more data on Varus’ nerf as it “did not seem effective”. If this proves true, we might well see him dialled down a tad again in 11.19.
Finally, Sidhu touches on the changes that came to Qiyana, whose stats and Q and E abilities were hit with changes last update. “We know this one is painful, but we believe in the direction and think this will be healthier for her long term,” Sidhu says. “We’re going to try to improve upon the E and Q logic for 11.19.”
5) Singed: this was a big buff. We’re okay with this for now, but we’d like to see more games with him to confirm.
6) Varus: the nerf did not seem effective. We may have to hit him again in 11.19. Waiting for more data. (7/7)
— Jeevun Sidhu (@JeevunSidhu) September 10, 2021
With the incoming patch still pretty fresh to the PBE, the balance changes getting tested so far is likely far from complete, but you can see what’s already in for tinkering in our League of Legends patch 11.19 notes – and keep checking back over its two-week cycle, as we’ll surely see more changes arrive soon. 11.19 goes live on September 22.