League of Legends Patch 25.11 Preview: Major Jungle Buffs and AP Changes

League of Legends Patch 25.11's preview is here, and it indicates big changes for Junglers and Mid-Laners. Diana, Udyr, Garen, Samira, Kassadin and more Champions are changing. Here's a full summary of the Patch and its effects on the meta.

Gabby DeSena | May 21, 2025

Noxian gunslinger Samira, vengeful warrior Kassadin and Demacian fighter Garen are some Champions seeing big adjustments in Patch 25.11. / Riot Games

League of Legends has just released its next Patch preview. The update includes plenty of Jungle buffs and AP changes. Plus, is it even a League of Legends Patch if Smolder isn't in it? Let's explore everything fans can expect in League of Legends' Patch 25.11 Preview, including its full Champion changes, meta impact, release date and more.

League of Legends Patch 25.11 Preview is Here

On May 21 2025, League of Legends' Lead Gameplay Designer Matt '@RiotPhroxzon' Leung-Harrison released a full Patch 25.11 Preview on X.com. This post demonstrates the Riot Games team's planned changes before the update actually releases. Since it is not the final product, it's important to note that Patch 25.11 may look different from the preview upon its launch.

How Will League of Legends Patch 25.11 Affect the Meta?

League of Legends Patch 25.11 will focus on the Jungle and Mid-Lane roles, though it will also affect some Top-Lane and Bot ADC Champions. Junglers Rengar, Diana and Udyr are all earning buffs after Liandry's Torment nerfs negatively affected their in-game potentials. In the top lane,

Patch 25.11 will closely monitor AP items, indirectly affecting mid-lane since it is the most common role for AP builds. In addition, Riot Games is planning direct changes to some Mid-Lane Champions, including Annie, Kassadin, Ryze and Twisted Fate. Riot Games lists Annie's alterations as "adjustments," shifting her armor and slightly reducing her W damage. Kassadin changes will make him more menacing in the early game and improve his viability in higher ELO. Meanwhile, Ryze and Twisted Fate receive small (but noticeable) buffs. Horizon Focus will become a more viable AP item since its cost will reduce, and its AP gain will increase. Twitch tweaks will shift him towards an AP farming build instead of an AP support build.

Top-Lane champs Aatrox and Garen also get adjustments. Aatrox's P damage potential has reduced, but his Q damage mod is slightly stronger. In addition, his W ability now deals Physical damage instead of Magic damage. Garen's Ultimate has taken a hit, but his E and W have shorter cooldowns. Samira's life steal, present in her Q and R abilities, will improve, but her W's power will fall off to compensate.

When Will League of Legends Patch 25.11 Release?

League of Legends Patch 25.11 Preview: Biggest Winners and Losers

Let's quickly summarize which Champions are the biggest winners (receiving buffs) and losers (receiving nerfs) of this update:

Junglers Diana, Rengar and Udyr are enjoying big buffs in 25.11. / Riot Games

Winners

Ashe
Diana
Rengar
Ryze
Sivir
Twisted Fate
Udyr

Losers

Cho'Gath
Elise
Lucian
Smolder

League of Legends Patch 25.11 Preview: Champion Changes

Patch 25.11's changes help out Junglers, who suffered from recent Liandry's Torment nerfs. AP abilities for Twitch and Udyr are buffed, and underappreciated Mid-Laner Ryze sees a minor improvement.

Champion Buffs

Ashe

"Q now stacks when attacking structures."

Diana

P monster mod: 2.25x > 2.6x

Rengar

R cooldown: 110/100/90 > 100/90/80

Ryze

Q increased damage against Flux targets (based on R rank): 10/40/70/100% > 25/50/75/100%
W damage: 80-200 > 70-190

Sivir

W total AD ratio: 30-50% > 40-50%

Twisted Fate

Q damage: 60-240 > 70-250

Twitch

E AP ratio / stack: 30% > 35%

Udyr

R bonus damage on attack: 10-30 + 30% AP > 10-40 + 35% AP
R total damage: 80-360 > 80-400

Champion Nerfs

Smolder is a powerful champion in TFT Set 12

Smolder is a familiar face in League of Legends Patch Notes. / Riot Games

Versatile Champion Elise sees an AP ratio nerf. Meanwhile, Cho'Gath's armor growth and Lucian's E cooldown take a hit. Smolder also receives more fine-tuning after previous Patches have tweaked his kit. He is not as survivable as before with less HP regen and armor.

Cho'Gath

Armor growth: 5.0 > 4.5

Elise

P on-hit AP ratio: .2 > .15

Lucian

E cooldown: 14 -12 > 16 -12

Smolder

HP regen: 4.5 > 3.75
Armor: 26 > 24

Champion Adjustments

Garen is one of the few champions getting buffed in Patch TFT13.4

Patch 25.11 Garen changes will affect nearly his entire kit. / Riot Games

Many Champions are adjusting in Patch 25.11, but Garen, Kassadin and Samira mains will definitely feel the difference after its launch. Almost all aspects of Garen's kit are changing, with shorter E and W cooldowns but a worse Ultimate. In addition, Kassadin's early game will be much easier at the cost of less power later on. The team's Samira change targets her life steal abilities.

Aatrox

P damage: 4-12% max HP > 4-8% max HP
Q sweet spot damage mod: 1.6x > 1.7x
W damage type: Magic > Physical

Annie

Armor: 19 + 4.7 > 23+ 4.0
W damage: 70-270 + .85 > 70-250 + .8

Garen

E CD: 9 > 9-6
E damage: 4-20 + 0-8.2 + 36-40% total AD > 4-20 + 36-44% total AD
E crit mod: 1.5x > 1.4x
W CD: 23-15 > 22-12
W DR: 30% > 25-41%
W quest capstone (10% total armor/mr) removed
R damage: 150/300/450 + 25/30/35% missing HP > 150/250/350 + 25/30/35% missing HP
Other minor changes, bugfixes, and tooltip updates

Kassadin

Riot Games Note: "We're giving Kassadin a tad more early game power so that he can contribute more in the early and mid game while taking a little out of his late game to compensate
. This will hopefully make him more viable in more situations especially in higher levels of play that punish early games a lot harder."

Armor: 19 > 21
E damage: 60-180 > 70-190
R AP ratio/stack: 10% (max 90%) > 7% (max 78%)

Samira

Riot Games Note: "This changelist is positioned to make Lifesteal more effective on [Samira], which may make the difference between her surviving and getting that Pentakill off or not and may make certain builds like BT first (similar to Draven) more viable."

Q life steal effectiveness: 66% > 80%
R life steal effectiveness: 50% > 80%
W bonus AD ratio: .6 > .5

League of Legends Patch 25.11 Preview: Item and System Changes

Horizon Focus will receive some buffs so it can compete with other AP items.

Item and System Buffs

Horizon Focus

Price: 2900 > 2800
Ability power: 110 > 115