5 things to know in League of Legends patch 8.11

Patch 8.11 is here and it’s chock full of changes. Riot’s regular 2018 cycle of big patches followed by small one has been upset recently by the balance team making several big changes as a part of the midseason update process.

Last patch it was all about the jungle changes, but this time around, Riot is shaking things up in the bottom lane. A brand new champion — Pyke, a damage happy support — is on his way to the game, along with some massive changes to ADC items and the way they work. To help balance out some of these changes, marksman champions are also getting some stat changes to compensate.

In other parts of the Rift, the jungle is getting a little more tweaking. Since some parts were entirely too powerful last patch, things needed to be toned down a bit.

For a complete look at all the changes coming in patch 8.11 you can check out our change list.

1. Pyke is coming to steal your kills

Pyke is League of Legends’ newest “support.” He’s also the game’s newest assassin, which may put him in an awkward spot, somewhere between helping his team and helping himself. Either way, this new champion looks absolutely terrifying and is going to be building full AD so all you squishy champions look out, Pyke’s coming for you.

2. Marksman items are getting a big overhaul

It’s been a while since the last time we saw marksman items get tweaked. In that time, the meta’s been dominated by scaling champions that take over the game once they get their second item. Riot is hoping to combat that in patch 8.11 with a whole bunch of item changes.

The new item, Stormrazor, is a B.F. Sword item that replaces the current Infinity Edge, while IE moves into a role as more of a tank buster than anything else. Meanwhile, Essence Reaver is going to allow caster ADCs to throw way more spells thanks to its enhanced cooldown improvements. These may be the most obvious changes when you first get into game, but the full list of changes includes a whole lot more, so be sure to check out the full patch notes.

Riot Games

3. There’s a new rune and Ultimate Hat got moved to the Domination tree

Patch 8.11 isn’t light on rune changes and the Domination tree got most of them. The biggest of these changes is the brand new rune, called Hail of Blades, which should give ADCs a little more burst damage. Meanwhile, the tree also got a new rune called Ultimate Hunter, which is a lot like Inspiration’s Ultimate Hat. Hat is being replaced with a rune that allows champions to run very quickly, right after they cast their ultimate ability.

4. Scuttle Crab is still important, she’s just not around as often

If you have played League, talked to anyone about League or even thought the word “league” in your head over the last two weeks, someone has probably yelled at you about the Scuttle Crab being OP. Well, Riot isn’t fixing that, so good luck with the yelling. They are, however, making the Scuttle Crab respawn slightly less frequently, meaning that you can do a little more on the rest of the map while you wait for the real objective to come back.

5. Vladimir and Diana are both getting new skins

It’s about time Vladimir got a new skin. After all, it’s been almost three years since Academy was released. Thankfully, the wait has been worth it since we got this excellent Dark Waters skin. Also joining in on the theme is Diana who’s last skin was just last year, but she looks awesome here, so it doesn’t really matter.

Riot Games via Surrender@20