League patch 11.6 notes: Xin Zhao rework, Battle Academia skins

League of Legends patch 11.6 is here ⁠— here’s what you need to know about the update, including a hefty rework for jungle duelist Xin Zhao, changes to item life steal, and more.

• Riot takes aim at powerful “outlier” life steal items
• Five new Battle Academia skins — and a prestige edition — hit the Rift
• Xin Zhao set for mini-rework after duelist struggles in Season 11

The ever-changing balancing act continues for Riot heading into LoL patch 11.6, as they try to keep their new Season 11 items under control.

This time around, a number of life steal items are copping a hit.

This includes Blade of the Ruined King, Stridebreaker, Sterak’s Gage, and more. The popular Domination rune Ravenous Hunter is also set to get tweaked slightly, while a number of high-class ability power items are getting a boost to manage their struggling Season 11 damage numbers.

Xin Zhao has also received his hefty overhaul.

The ever-popular “Battle Academia” skins are here, too. The high school set ⁠— which channels My Hero Academia ⁠— will get five new releases.

Riot Games

Yone (pictured) is one of five LoL champs getting “Battle Academia” skins this patch.

What’s changing in League of Legends patch 11.6?

Karthus, Akali headline 11.6 changes

While a dozen champions are on Riot’s changelist for League patch 11.6, two stand out above the rest: Karthus and Akali.

• Read More: Viego’s wife “Isolde” set to be LoL champ 154

The Deathsinger has quietly reigned supreme across the Rift this season. He boasts a 53.46% win rate average across all five roles, with only support below 53%. To help tone this down, Riot have nerfed his Q damage in the later stages.

Akali, on the other hand, is getting a big buff after her win rate was down in the low-40’s. Her kit has been rejigged a little; with her Q costing less energy but doing less damage to minions, her W now grants more base energy, and her E and R do more damage.

“Struggling” Xin Zhao gets upgrade

Xin Zhao was Riot’s big ‘rework’ project for League patch 11.6, and the changes are now live. New buffs and changes to his passive and all four of his abilities should give him a “meaningful” upgrade, the devs said.

The jungler’s win rate ⁠— 50.03% off the back of a small 1.23% play rate ⁠— isn’t low in the grand scheme of things, but Riot has pulled the trigger on a rework. The new overhaul will target his passive healing (Determination), as well as his Q damage (Three Talon Strike), his W (Wind Becomes Lightning), and his E range (Audacious Charge).

His ultimate, “Crescent Guard,” will also have its numbers tweaked.

• Read More: Xin Zhao rework: full details

The objective, Yetter said on Twitter, is to build focus around his “Wind Becomes Lightning” ability, and its second activation. This should give “meaningful gameplay outputs” for those who pick the Seneschal of Demacia in Season 11.

New “Battle Academia” skins

The next LoL skin line, more entries in the super popular high school-themed “Battle Academia” set, will be added in patch 11.6. Five champions have been tipped for the new skins, including Leona, who will get a Prestige edition.

Here’s the full list of champs getting “Battle Academia” skins:

• Caitlyn ⁠(Legendary) ⁠— 1820 Riot Points
• Wukong (Epic) ⁠— 1350 Riot Points
• Garen ⁠(Epic) ⁠— 1350 Riot Points
• Yone ⁠(Epic) ⁠— 1350 Riot Points
• Leona (Epic) ⁠— 1350 Riot Points
• Leona (Prestige) ⁠— 100 Prestige Points

Each Battle Academia skin will also get a half dozen chromas.

The skin event will add emotes, summoner icons, and Battle Academia 2021 capsules. These loot boxes will have “three random skin shards” as well as a 4% chance to unlock a Durandal Bag. Gemstone and Mythic drop rates are also increased slightly in the new capsules.

The Battle Academia event will likely be tied together with the Space Groove event launching on League patch 11.7 in two weeks time.

You can find the full League of Legends patch 11.6 notes below.

League of Legends patch 11.6 early notes

Champions

Akali

Base stats

• Health: 575 ⇒ 500
• HP per level: 95 ⇒ 105

Passive: Assassin’s Mark

• Energy restore removed

Q: Five Point Strike

• Energy cost: 120-100 ⇒ 130-70
• Five Point Strike no longer deals 25% bonus magic damage to minions and monsters.

W: Twilight Shroud

• New: Twilight Shroud now increases Akali’s maximum energy by 80 (and still restores 80 energy)

E: Shuriken Flip

• Total damage: 100/170/240/310/380 (+70% AD) (+100% AP) ⇒ 100/187.5/275/362.5/450 (+85% AD) (+120% AP)
• Percentage of total damage on initial hit: 50% ⇒ 30%
• Percentage of total damage on secondary hit: 50% ⇒ 70%

R: Perfect Execution

• R1 damage type: Physical ⇒ Magic
• R1 damage amount: 125/225/325 (+50% bonus AD) ⇒ 80/220/360 (+50% bonus AD) (+30% AP)

Gnar

W: Hyper

• Bonus base damage: 10/20/30/40/50 ⇒ 0/10/20/30/40

Hecarim

Q: Rampage

• Damage: 60/102/144/186/228 ⇒ 60/97/134/171/208

Karthus

Q: Lay Waste

• Damage: 45/65/85/105/125 (90/130/170/210/250) ⇒ 45/62.5/80/97.5/115 (90/125/160/195/230)

LeBlanc

W: Distortion

• Cost: 60/75/90/105/120 mana ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100 mana

Lillia

R: Lilting Lullaby

• Cooldown: 130/110/90 seconds ⇒ 150/130/110 seconds

Pyke

E: Phantom Undertow

• Cooldown: 15 seconds ⇒ 15/14/13/12/11 seconds

Renekton

R: Dominus

• Bonus health: 250/500/750 ⇒ 250/400/550

Sylas

Passive: Petricite Burst

• Bonus attack speed: 80% ⇒ 125%.

W: Kingslayer

• Cooldown: 13/11.5/10/8.5/7 seconds ⇒ 13/11.25/9.5/7.75/6 seconds
• Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 mana ⇒ 60/70/80/90/100 mana
• Heal ratio: 50% AP ⇒ 45% AP

Urgot

W: Purge

• On-hit damage effectiveness: 75% ⇒ 50%

Volibear

W: Frenzied Maul

• Healing from Wounded monsters is no longer halved (still reduced against minions)

E: Sky Splitter

• Damage cap: 150/300/450/600/750 ⇒ 750 at all ranks

Xin Zhao

Passive: Determination

• Heal: 10-112 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 7-92 (levels 1-18)
• Heal AP ratio: 40% ⇒ 55% AP
• Bugfix: Xin Zhao now correctly consumes his Passive – Determination stacks after basic attacking an enemy shortly after casting W – Wind Becomes Lightning

Q: Three Talon Strike

• Bonus physical damage: 20/28/36/44/52 ⇒ 16/25/34/43/52

W: Wind Becomes Lightning

• Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds ⇒ 12/10.5/9/7.5/6 seconds
• Cost: 45 mana ⇒ 60 mana
• Reduced damage against minions: 50% ⇒ 50%-0% (levels 1-16)
• Slash cast time: 0.5-0.4 seconds (based on attack speed) ⇒ 0.5 seconds
• Thrust’s damage now increases by up to 33% based on critical strike chance
• Thrust range: 900 ⇒ 1000
• Thrust missile speed: 5000 ⇒ 6250
• Thrust damage ratio: 50% AP
• Thrust now Challenges enemy champions and monsters and reveals them for 3 seconds
• Hitbox now extends slightly behind Xin Zhao for visual clarity

E: Audacious Charge

• Audacious Charge’s cast range increases to 1100 on Challenged enemies

R: Crescent Guard

• Damage ratio: 100% AD ⇒ 100% AD, 110% AP

Items

Blade of the Ruined King

• Lifesteal: 12% ⇒ 10%
• Siphon damage: 40-120 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 40-150 (levels 1-18)

Liandry’s Anguish

• Liandry’s no longer grants 5% magic penetration per second against burning targets
• Liandry’s now grants up to 12% bonus magic damage to champions based on their bonus health (maximum 1250 bonus health)

Luden’s Tempest

• Dealing ability damage to an enemy champion now also reduces Echo’s cooldown by 0.5 seconds (up to 3 seconds per ability)

Immortal Shieldbow

• Lifesteal: 12% ⇒ 10%
• Immortal Shieldbow no longer grants 15% lifesteal for 8 seconds
• Immortal Shieldbow now grants 13-35 AD when triggered
• Shield: 250-700 ⇒ 300-800

Ironspike Whip

• Total cost: 1200 gold ⇒ 1100 gold
• Cooldown: 15 seconds ⇒ 20 seconds

Rabadon’s Deathcap

• Total cost: 3800 gold ⇒ 3600 gold

Seeker’s Armguard

• Bonus armor per kill: 1 ⇒ 0.5
• Maximum armor: 30 ⇒ 15

Shureyla’s Battlesong

• Inspire cooldown: 90 seconds ⇒ 75 seconds

Sterak’s Gage

• After dealing damage to or taking damage from an enemy champion, the first stack heals you for [2% for melee | 1.2% for ranged] of maximum health, decreasing by 50% per stack afterwards, over 6 seconds.
• Bugfix: Fixed a bug where Sterak’s Gage’s Bloodlust passive would not heal the user for each champion they were in combat with

Stridebreaker

• Health: 300 ⇒ 200

Sunfire Aegis

• Ability haste: 15 ⇒ 20
• Immolate damage per stack: 10% per second, up to 60% ⇒ 12% per second, up to 72%

Verdant Barrier

• Magic resist per kill: 0.5 ⇒ 0.3
• Maximum magic resist: 15 ⇒ 9
• Ability power: 25 ⇒ 20

Void Staff

• Total cost: 2500 gold ⇒ 2700 gold
• Ability power: 65 ⇒ 70

Runes

Fleet Footwork

• Heal ratio: 30% AP ⇒ 20% AP

Ravenous Hunter

• Ravenous Hunter no longer has a base of 1% omnivamp
• Omnivamp per stack: 1.7% ⇒ 1.5%

Summoner Spells

Smite

• Base heal: 70 ⇒ 90

Teleport

• Teleport now removes Homestart and respawn Homeguard
• Bonus movement speed: 30/40/50% (levels 1/6/11) ⇒ 50%
• Cooldown: 420-240 seconds (levels 1-18) ⇒ 420-210 seconds (levels 1-18)

Jungle

Gromp

• Heal: 60-230 (levels 1-18) ⇒ 90-243 (levels 1-18)
• XP: 125/128.13/134.38/143.75/156.25/168.75 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9) ⇒ 135/138.38/145.13/155.25/168.75/182.25 (levels 1/3/4/5/7/9)

Skins

Battle Academia Caitlyn

“A feared and respected second year, head of the Luminary Club, and class president of Labrys God-Weapon Academy. Caitlyn enrolled herself in the famously troubled school specifically to whip the delinquents there into prime fighting shape, hoping to one day become the greatest battlefield general in history. With her perfect record, she’s not too far off.”

Battle Academia Garen

“Brother’ to Lux, Garen is the only biological child of his family, but was neglected from an early age as his parents spent all their time developing the god-weapon fragment that would one day become their daughter. As he vented his anger in increasingly delinquent ways, Labrys sought him out for enrollment, where he eventually joined the Battle Club.”

Battle Academia Wukong

“A consummate troublemaker and prankster, Wukong has failed out of every high school in the region, eventually washing out into Labrys as an ‘enrollment of last resort’. A naturally gifted fighter in the Battle Club, he still hasn’t learned discipline, and only listens to Caitlyn because she can beat him up.”

Battle Academia Yone

“Yone is a brooding, quiet member of the Assassin Club, one whose morose and serious attitude belies the colossal chip on his shoulder. The bad blood between him and his brother is well known, and even speaking about it casually has been known to invoke Yone’s fury– something Caitlyn has picked up on for her own purposes.”

Battle Academia Leona

“An oddly cheery member of Labrys Academy’s Battle Club, Leona’s dark side comes out in combat, when her motherly, protective persona is utterly replaced by bloodlust. The change is so dramatic that even the most violent students tend to stay on her good side, hoping to avoid her wrath.”

Battle Academia Leona — Prestige Edition

Bugfixes

• Rewrote the code that was responsible for constantly alerting players with multiple Key Fragment notifications (we’ll also be keeping a close eye on it)
• Fixed a player presence data issue where people in your lobby would not appear as Online and/or would not update when a player changed their Summoner Icon
• Fixed Honor rewards image sizes
• Fixed the missing images for some Missions tooltips
• Players can now turn off Collection tab notifications for newly acquired content via Settings
• Fixed the formatting and vocabulary in Teleport’s tooltip
• Kassadin’s W – Netherblade now properly grants mana stacks from Tear of the Goddess
• Serpent’s Fang’s Shield Reaver no longer applies to minions and turrets
• Fixed a bug where Samira’s W – Blade Whirl’s second attack would sometimes not inflict damage
• Fixed a bug where Banshee’s Veil’s Annul passive cooldown would not display in the player’s inventory
• Fixed two bugs where attacks from Urgot’s W – Purge and Lucian’s P – Lightslinger did not count as unique attack instances for Manamune stacking, Muramana on-hit, Runaan’s Hurricane, and Ravenous Hydra
• Fixed a bug where Ornn’s Syzygy’s Ever Rising Moon passive would not go on cooldown as long as he was basic attacking with Black Cleaver in his inventory
• Fixed a bug where Muramana’s on-hit effects would not be applied every third attack when the player has Guinsoo’s Rageblade
• Shyvana now properly gains additional Fury generation from Cloud Dragons and Cloud Souls
• Fixed a bug where right-clicking a Long Sword in Noonquiver’s build path within Immortal Shieldbow, Galeforce, or Kraken Slayer’s build paths would make you unintentionally purchase the Dagger next to it instead
• Anivia’s R – Glacial Storm no longer toggles off when using Hextech Rocketbelt Fixed a bug where Daisy’s 3rd AoE attack was accidentally using Ivern’s AD instead of Daisy’s AD