Riot will nerf heavy hitters in Patch 11.3 including Olaf, Ivern

League of Legends Patch 11.3 approaches with targeted adjustments to champions dominating both professional circuits and ranked ladder play. Riot’s balance team continues refining the overhauled item ecosystem while addressing specific champion performance outliers that have emerged during the early competitive season.

This update represents the third major balance pass in Season 11, shifting focus toward champion-specific tuning while maintaining item system refinements. The professional season’s resumption has highlighted several power outliers requiring immediate attention, particularly Olaf’s jungle supremacy and Ivern’s unexpected top lane viability.

Updated 11.3 preview with almost finished changes.

Credit to the team that does these, they work tirelessly to deliver better and better patches every 2 weeks. These are really the lifeblood of League, constant attention to keep things balanced and fresh. pic.twitter.com/wlwMqaKRwG

— Mark Yetter (@MarkYetter) January 26, 2021

Strategic implications extend beyond simple number changes, as these adjustments will reshape draft priorities and champion viability across multiple competitive tiers.

Olaf

• Base health 597 >> 575
• P – Berserker Rage, attack speed 0-100 >> 0-70% based on missing health

Olaf currently dominates jungle metrics with unparalleled early game pressure and snowball potential. His current state creates unhealthy jungle dynamics where few champions can contest his early skirmishing and objective control capabilities.

These calculated reductions target Olaf’s early game resilience and scaling attack speed mechanics. The base health decrease makes him more vulnerable to early invades and gank retaliation, while the passive adjustment reduces his dueling potency when at critical health thresholds.

Professional players have exploited Olaf’s early dominance to secure consistent jungle priority, often translating into uncontested early objectives and lane pressure.

Ivern

• Health per level 95 >> 85
• E – Triggerseed, shield 80-220 >> 80-200

Ivern’s recent emergence in professional top lane play surprised many analysts, given his traditional supportive jungle identity. The Green Father’s lane bullying capabilities combined with late-game utility created unexpected strategic value.

LEC teams pioneered Ivern’s top lane application, leveraging his ranged harass, shield trading patterns, and eventual teamfight utility scaling.

These targeted nerfs address Ivern’s lane sustainability without completely removing his innovative play pattern. The health per level reduction impacts his mid-game durability, while the shield value decrease affects both trading patterns and protective capabilities for allied carries.

• Active heal 12 >> 8% missing health

Goredrinker has emerged as the definitive Mythic choice for bruiser champions, creating homogeneous build patterns across multiple roles. The item’s healing potency often turned balanced engagements into unrecoverable situations for opposing teams.

Champions like Renekton and Aatrox became nearly unkillable in skirmishes when combining Goredrinker’s active with their innate sustain mechanics.

This substantial heal reduction aims to restore counterplay opportunities against bruiser compositions. The adjustment should encourage item diversity while maintaining Goredrinker’s identity as a teamfight-oriented survival tool rather than an overwhelming sustain mechanism.

Compensation buffs introduce strategic alternatives to the current meta landscape. Both Jinx and Singed represent champions with dedicated player bases who have struggled to find consistent viability in recent seasons.

Jinx

• Q – Switcheroo!, range extension 75-175 >> 100-200

The Loose Cannon receives meaningful range enhancements that could revitalize her positioning in the marksmen hierarchy. This adjustment synergizes with the Galeforce Mythic item, providing Jinx with enhanced self-peel capabilities against diving bruisers and assassins.

With the extended range, Jinx gains improved safety margins to execute her damage rotation without immediate threat elimination.

Singed

• Q – Poison Trail, ability power ratio 80-90% (over two seconds)

Singed presents unique balancing challenges due to his unconventional play patterns and potential professional disruptive capabilities.

The Mad Chemist’s AP ratio enhancement strengthens his damage scaling with item progression. This buff particularly benefits Singed players who maximize ability power builds, though his viability remains primarily concentrated in specialized solo queue scenarios rather than professional applications.

LoL Patch 11.3 is scheduled to hit the live servers on February 3, according to Riot’s patch schedule. Before that happens, the patch will be available for testing on the Public Beta Environment (PBE). The patch will likely go live on the PBE within the next few days.

Competitive teams will have approximately one week to test and adapt to these changes before the patch impacts professional competitions.

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