League of Legends Patch 11.6 was applied in the early hours of the morning (5am UK time for EUW, 3am PT for NA).
Patch 11.6 should be released next week (March 16), bringing some changes to Xin Zhao and Akali
You can read more about the changes in the Patch Preview.
The TL;DR is that her Passive - Assassin's Mark no longer refunds Energy, but her W - Twilight Shroud increases the maximum Energy; giving more resources for fights.
She is also gaining more AP scaling on her E - Shuriken Flip and R - Perfect Execution, which should allow for more optimal builds. To reflect the Energy changes, the Q - Five Point Strike is having the Energy cost reduced later in the game; although it will cost 10 more at rank one.
W - Hyper is having the base damage decreased by 10 at all levels.
This might encourage more on-hit builds to make up for it, or we may find that it narrows his favourable matchups.
Q - Rampage base damage being reduced at later levels.
The idea is that Hecarim is dealing too much damage with tanky builds. By reducing the base damages, players will be forced to put damage into their build instead of just tank items.
Q - Lay Waste base damage decreased later.
Due to optimal builds being refined, Karthus has crept back up in power. Reducing the base damage over the game should hold him in a balanced place.
W - Distortion mana costs reduced at later level. This should give her more opportunities to find picks later in the game.
R - Lilting Lullaby is having the cooldown increased by 20 seconds at every level.
Due to her competitors falling out of favour, changing Lillia's fight-changing Ultimate should hold her in place.
E - Phantom Undertow will not longer be a flat 15 second cooldown. Every rank from now on will decrease the cooldown by 1, down to 11 seconds at maximum rank.
Renekton has been a prominent pick recently. His strong early game used to be offset by a weaker late game, but it seems the new items have covered the weaknesses.
Decreasing the bonus health from R - Dominus in the late game will help to reduce the survivability of the croc.
Sylas received heavy nerfs over the past year, now he's being unshackled to help bring him some power back. We've seen him appear in professional play recently, so I feel these buffs might be short lived.
The bonus Attack Speed from his Passive - Petricite Burst is being increased, allowing for quicker bursts and better weaving with his abilities.
The cooldown and cost of W - Kingslayer is also being reduced, but the heal ratio is being nerfed to keep it in check.
Previous changes to Urgot created a troublesome result. The changes are being reverted.
The on-hit damage effectiveness from W - Purge is being reduced to 50%
Volibear will likely be finding his way back to the Jungle after these changes.
The healing from W - Frenzied Maul will no longer be halved against Wounded Monsters (will stay reduced against Minions). The damage cap for E - Sky Splitter is also being raised at all ranks; now equalling what it was at maximum rank. This means an increased cap from 150 to 750.
Xin Zhao is having multiple changes, you can read about them more here.
Most of the changes are going to his W - Wind Becomes Lightning, with slightly different casts times and speeds Mostly, it now challenges enemy champions and monsters it hits, also revealing them. Following this, E - Audacious Charge is having the range increased against Challenged targets.
There are also more AP changes, allowing for different builds. While the healing from his Passive - Determination is being reduced, the AP ratio on the healing is being increased to 55%. The W - Wind Becomes Lightning and R - Crescent Guard will now also gain AP scaling; 50% and 110% respectively.
To go with this are a handful of item changes.
Firstly is healing, Immortal Shieldbow is losing the bonus lifesteal from Lifeline; replacing it with a larger shield and bonus AD. Blade of the Ruined King is also getting reduction on its lifesteal, while Sterak's Gage's Bloodlust will heal for less per stack after the first.
These healing changes are reflected with a lower AP scaling on Fleet Footwork, as well as less Omnivamp coming from Ravenous Hunter. Smite is having the healing increased to help offset these changes.
The next changes are to Magic Damage items. Liandry's Anguish is swapping Torment's Magic Penetration for percentage bonus Magic Damage based on the target's maximum health. Dealing damage with abilities will also lower Luden's Tempest's Echo cooldown by 0.5 seconds.
Rabadon's Deathcap is having the cost reduced, in the hopes to make it more budget-friendly and a better third item. Meanwhile, the early defensive items of Seeker's Armguard and Verdant Barrier are being nerfed slightly.
Shurelya's Battlesong may also come back, with a lower cooldown on it's active - Inspire.
To finish off the patch is the new additions to the Battle Academia line!
Featuring Garen, Wukong, Caitlyn, Yone, Leona, and Prestige Leona.
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.
