League of Legends patch 11.4 PBE updates introduce massive buffs to Katarina's ultimate

League of Legends' Patch 11.4 has hit the PBE, and its notes reveal massive buffs to Katarina's ultimate - Death Lotus.

Usually, players do not get to see many champion balances in fresh patches on the PBE. However, for the latest patch, Riot Games added a few champion balances and tweaks featuring Katarina, Viego and Urgot.

Katarina is considered to be one of the most overpowered champions in League of Legends. Her build-path versatility, application of on-hit effects, and combination of abilities make her unmatchable when compared to the other in-game assassins.

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League of Legends 11.4 PBE introduces Katarina's ult buff

The 11.4 PBE cycle includes a tentative R-buff for Katarina (Image via Surrender@20 - League of Legends)

According to Surrender@20, the 11.4 PBE cycle includes a tentative R-buff for Katarina. It reads:

Death Lotus (R):

• On-hit Damage Modifier increased to 25/30/35% from a flat 25%.
• Physical damage dealt for each dagger increased to 16% bAD (1 + 0.8 Bonus Attack Speed) from 15% bAD (1 + 0.666 Bonus Attack Speed).

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League of Legends fans consider the Death Lotus buff to be an unnecessary addition to the game

Katarina's Death Lotus with increased damage (Image via Eldimatrix - League of Legends)

There has been a lot of online criticism surrounding the Katarina buff. Many fans think that her buff was not needed as she is already massively overpowered. They believe that there are other champions who actually need some serious buffs to stay relevant in League of Legends.

I LITERALLY MAIN KATARINA AND I THINK THIS IS SO UNNECESSARY

— jack ♡ (@meowsy_) February 3, 2021

Why riot did you buff katarina WH Y

— Star Guardian Sona when? (@ComfortBuvelle) February 2, 2021

A lot of Katarina mains also consider the buff to be unnecessary. A Redditor named u/Kordben recently posted:

"It’s hilarious that even Kata mains thinks this buff is unnecessary and will only increase her ban rate. What about champions like Aurelion Sol, Kalista, Azir, Trundle, Amumu, Tahm Kemch, Veigar, Kog’maw, and others who need gameplay changes for a long time and getting zero love while Kata gets buffs asap when Krakenslayer interactions got fixed on her ult?"

League of Legends veterans wanted the overpowered Katarina to be nerfed for quite some time. It was believed that she won't be getting a tweak anytime soon because of her negligible screen time in pro-play over the years.

when rito actually plans to nerf viego despite his low win rate and buff katarina is absurd.

— 約束 (@adletmeyer121) February 3, 2021

However, the sudden buff in her ultimate ability has shocked the League of Legends community.

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Further updates on the upcoming patch 11.4

Based on what’s on the PBE so far, fans might not see much in the way of new stuff in this upcoming update. QA lead on skins, Katey ‘Khaos’ Anthony, tweeted:

No new skins this PBE cycle, catch y'all next time! 💫

— sweetheart katey 💘 (@moonstonesxo) February 2, 2021

However, the first set of champion balance changes has already made its way to patch 11.4 PBE. Along with Katarina, Riot has also targeted Urgot and Viego for some tweaks.

Just putting that out there since y'all are making fake PBE previews since there wasn't one. :P

— sweetheart katey 💘 (@moonstonesxo) February 2, 2021

A tentative emote of "Outplayed" also has a place on the PBE. Khaos has confirmed that neither of the revealed PBE previews was fake.

The new "Outplayed" emote (Image via Surrender@20)

According to the League of Legends 2021 patch schedule, League of Legends patch 11.4 is set to go live on Thursday, February 18, 2021. Maintenance times haven’t been confirmed by Riot yet.