League of Legends developer outlines item damage nerfs for upcoming patch 11.1 update

With patch 10.25 going live a couple of days ago, Riot Games’ League of Legends will finally be entering Season 11 in 2021.

And according to Mark Yetter, League of Legends’ Gameplay Design Director, the first patch of the year will bring in many changes to some mythic items.

With the item system overhaul that came with the 10.23 preseason update, the devs sought to change how items in League of Legends work. As it’s a new system, there needs to be a lot of tweaks and balances that Riot needs to implement to iron out some overpowered items in-game.

Items like Duskblade of Draktharr, Night Harvester, and Goredrinker have been providing more bang for the buck than the other mythic items in League of Legends.

For 11.1 we're doing a burst damage pass across a bunch of items. Shifting pure upfront burst into stats (overall not nerfs or buffs, just adjustments)We still have a small balance hotfix patch coming next week (10.25b) pic.twitter.com/Ff9jcrAbfn

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) December 11, 2020

In a recent tweet, Yetter outlined that all three items, along with some others, would be receiving nerfs when it comes to the damage and impact that they create.

Yetter suggested:

“For 11.1, we’re doing a burst damage pass across a bunch of items. Shifting pure upfront burst into stats (overall not nerfs or buffs, just adjustments). We still have a small balance hotfix patch coming next week (10.25b).”

These mythic items are a core part of the build for many champions and, with patch 11.1, League of Legends will witness another significant shift in the meta.

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Upcoming item nerfs in League of Legends patch 11.1

Image via Riot Games

In the tweet, Yetter outlined the possible changes that some League of Legends mythic items will receive in the very first patch of Season 11.

1. Duskblade of Draktharr

• Nightstalker (passive) Damage: 100 (30% Bonus AD) >>> 65 (25% bonus AD)
• Attack Damage: 55 >>> 60

2. Prowler’s Claw

• Sandswipe (active) Damage: 100 (30% bonus AD) >>> 65 (25% bonus AD)
• Ability Haste: 10 >>> 20

3. Hextech Rocketbelt

• Supersonic (active) Damage: 175-250 (15% AP) >>> 125 (15% AP)
• Ability Power: 80 >>> 90
• Health: 250 >>> 350

4. Night Harvester

• Soulrend (assive) Damage: 125-200 (based on level) (15% AP) >>> 125 (15% AP)
• Ability Power: 80 >>> 90
• Health: 250 >>> 3000

5. Trinity Force

• Attack damage: 35 >>> 25
• Ability Haste : 10 >>> 20

6. Gore Drinker

• Active Damage: 110% Total AD >>> 100% Total AD
• Thirsting Slash heal (per champion hit): 20% Total AD (+12% missing health) >>>25% Total AD (12% missing health)
• Thirsting Shalsh heal is now calculated sequentially for each champion hit, meaning there are diminishing returns on hitting multiple champions as the missing health contribution is decreased by the previous heal.

7. Stridebreaker

• Attack Damage: 110% total AD >>> 100% Total AD
• Attack Damage: 50 >>> 45
• Ability Haste: 10 >>> 20

Can Kraken Slayer be retuned to actually kill tanks, and not just champs in general? Sure, it does true damage, but at the end of the day, a squishy has less chunks of true damage than a tank. Flat damage will never be a tank buster.

— Gaze (@ii_Gaze_ii) December 11, 2020

Though there are a lot more balance changes required in League of Legends, at the moment, these nerfs to some mythic items feel like the right step from Riot to stabilize many competitive aspects in the game.