Riot bringing nerfs to Kai’Sa and Moonstone Renewer in patch 11.4

League of Legends’ soon-to-be-released patch 11.4 is aiming to balance out Kai’Sa and Moonstone Renewer while giving some much-needed buffs to off-meta champions. 

Season 11 feels more and more balanced for every patch, but there are still things for Riot to work on. In previous weeks, Kai’Sa has seen a lot of popularity in both solo queue and professional play, and Riot is looking to do something about that. Moonstone Renewer has also become a go-to item for several champions, to athepoint where it’s simply too strong for the game. To bring something new to the meta, Riot is looking to buff a few interesting champions like Talon and Veigar. 

Kai’Sa receives damage nerf on patch 11.4

• Q – Icathian Rain, base damage per missile 45-110 >> 40-100
• Q – Icathian Rain, max single-target damage 101.25-247.5 >> 90-225
• Q – Icathian Rain, evolved max single-target damage 168-412.5 >> 150-375

Kai’Sa has been a high-priority pick during the start of the competitive season and for good reason. The assassin marksman is able to dish out a lot of damage while kiting around safely with her mobility and the Galeforce mythic item. 

It has gotten to a point where Kai’Sa is a bit too strong, which hurts other marksmen that are trying to be viable in the current meta. To tone down Kai’Sa, Riot will be targeting her main-damage ability, Icathian Rain. By lowering the damage per missile, Kai’Sa will automatically lose some damage and likely rely more on auto attacks. 

While Kai’Sa will still be very mobile, she might not be able to assassinate targets as fast in patch 11.4. This will provide other champions to stand a better chance against her, without being deleted in an instant. Kai’Sa is still expected to be viable, but maybe not in a dominating fashion. 

Moonstone Renewer gets adjusted on patch 11.4

• Base heal 70-100 >> 50-100 (by champion level)

Moonstone Renewer has become a must-buy item on some of the strongest champions in the game. The item is great for utility champions and brings a lot of healing to the table. Seraphine especially has been enjoying the item recently, which currently puts her on the highest win rate in solo queue. 

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Riot will be nerfing the item, which will be done through toning down the healing. With the base heal nerfed, Moonstone Renewer will hopefully be less dominant on Summoner’s Rift. It doesn’t look like the nerf will be big enough to eliminate it in certain build paths, so time will tell if another nerf is needed in upcoming patches. 

Talon, Veigar, and others buffed for patch 11.4

Riot will be trying to bring back a few champions to the meta that have been watching from the sideline for quite a while. Some of the most interesting buffs will be given out to Talon and Veigar, who isn’t seen very often in solo queue or professional play.

The two champions are very different from each other but might become viable picks from patch 11.4. Furthermore, Riot is looking to buff champions like Tryndamere, Jinx, Braum, and several others. 

Talon

• W – Rake, cooldown 9 >> 9-7 seconds
• W – Rake, outgoing bonus attack damage ratio 0.4 >> 0.55 

Talon is a fun and mobile champion but hasn’t been a viable option for the mid lane due to his damage. Talon has the perfect kit to jump onto an enemy and burst it down, but his current damage isn’t allowing him to succeed without being fed right from the early game. 

To solve this, Riot will be buffing his damage ratio on Rake to allow Talon to burst enemies easier. The cooldown on the spell will also be reduced, which could help out Talon with better wave clearing and poke in the late game. 

Veigar

• Q – Baleful Strike, mana cost 40-60 >> 30-60
• R – Primordial Burst, cooldown 120-80 >> 120-60 seconds

The evil Yordle might be reintroduced into the meta, as Riot will lower the mana cost on Baleful Strike. Veigar will also see a significant reduction in the cooldown of Primordial Burst in the late game, which might set him up as a scary mage who will now scale even better. 

With a low cooldown on his ultimate, Veigar will be able to use it as a poking tool and not think too much before pressing the R button. A 60-second cooldown is almost nothing when paired up with some Ability Haste. 

When is LoL patch 11.4 being released?

LoL patch 11.4 is scheduled to hit the live servers on February 18. Before that, the patch will be tested on the Public Beta Environment (PBE) for Riot to make any last-minute changes.