After a test run in the Public Beta Environment (PBE), League of Legends patch 11.5 will hit the live servers. Though it isn't a patch with as many ramifications as 11.4, which caused quite a shift for most roles in the game, there are still some noteworthy changes that could alter the landscape.
One of the most-impacted roles seems to be the jungle role. The current king of the jungle, Udyr, will be made slightly squishier, and his Phoenix Stance's damage aura is reduced in power. As the developers state in the notes, they're essentially reverting a buff he received in patch 10.21 last year.
Where one jungler is nerfed, others are buffed: Shaco's Jack in the Box ability does more damage against jungle monsters to help him clear faster. Sejuani also gets a buff, with her Winter's Wrath dealing more damage going forward.
When it comes to the top lane, the only change that's coming is for Gragas. The professional drunkard's Barrel Roll, his primary tool for clearing waves, sees a significant increase in its mana cost: instead of starting at costing 60 mana and scaling to 80, it now will cost 80 mana from the get go across all levels.
In the support role, where the reign of Rell has ruled for weeks, changes to Rell attempt to effect a change of power. Her base armor is reduced, and the cooldown on both her Crash Down and Mount Up ability is increased by two seconds.
In the item department, the most exciting change is coming to Serpent's Fang. Though the item hasn't found a dominant position in pro play yet despite its power, Riot Games is still giving the item a buff to be more broadly applicable. Dealing damage to any enemy reduces the shields they get significantly for the next three seconds: 50% for melee champions, 25% for ranged champions. Here's the kicker: this also applies to enemies that currently have a shield.
Patch 11.5 is set to hit the live servers later today.
All new skins for Caitlyn, Garen, Wukong, Yone and Leona join the school-based Battle Academia skin line in League of Legends, first being put through their paces on the PBE.
