Another international League of Legends tournament is on the way, and as is tradition, Riot is doing everything it can to shake up the game’s jungle meta. Just as League’s developers did ahead of this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, the game’s balance team is making an effort to buff certain champions’ jungling capabilities—especially those who haven’t seen much playing time in the professional scene at the jungle position.
In today’s extended preview of League Patch 11.18, head game designer Jeevun Sidhu broke down everything coming to League’s jungle position ahead of one of the year’s most important patches.
Notably, Talon, Zed, and Qiyana—three traditional mid lane assassins—are seeing their jungling abilities increased in Patch 11.18. Zed’s passive, Contempt for the Weak, is receiving a buff against monsters, while Talon’s Rake (W), is also seeing its damage increased against neutral enemies in the jungle.
Qiyana is getting some general balance changes, such as an increase to her attack speed. But she’ll also have her damage throughput from Audacity (E) reduced. The biggest change coming to the Empress of the Elements, though, will be a 25-percent damage increase to Edge of Ixtal (Q) when used against jungle monsters.
Other champions normally played in the jungle, such as Lillia and Taliyah, will also be receiving buffs in Patch 11.18. For Lillia, the healing she receives against large monsters from Blooming Blows (Q) is being heavily increased, while the cooldown on Swirlseed (E) is being decreased by two seconds at all ranks.
In regard to Taliyah, the radius of her Worked Ground is being decreased from 450 to 300, while the duration at which the ground will remain “worked” is being decreased from 45 to 25 seconds. These changes should make extended clears of the jungle far easier for Taliyah.
To counteract these buffs, several other jungle champions—such as Lee Sin and Trundle—are going to be nerfed in Patch 11.18. Lee Sin, who has just surged back into the professional meta, will have his base attack damage reduced from 70 to 68 in the coming patch.
League Patch 11.18 will serve as a primer patch for the game’s professional World Championship later this year. That tournament will be played on Patch 11.19, which is scheduled to release later next month, according to the official League patch schedule.
As for Patch 11.18, players will be able to sink their teeth into all of the upcoming changes when the patch launches on Sept. 9.
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