Riot rush out Volibear rework buffs in League Patch 10.11 hotfix
Riot GamesThe long-waited Volibear rework arrived with a lackluster thud in League of Legends (LoL) Patch 10.11 late last week, so Riot are responding by pushing a June 2 hotfix to “increase power” for the MOBA’s iconic juggernaut bear.
There was no doubt about it — Volibear’s big 2020 rework was less than stellar when it first landed on Summoner’s Rift last week. According to stat-tracking website U.GG, the bear debuted with an abysmal 39.37% win rate. Even worse, that was in his clear best League role up in the top lane.
Riot acted fast, cobbling together a few minor buffs for the Thunder’s Roar over the weekend, and pushed them live on June 2. The tweaks, Riot champion designer Nathan ‘Lutzburg’ Lutz said, were designed to “increase power” for the bear.
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Riot ship Volibear rework buffs in 10.11 hotfix
Volibear’s Q, Thundering Smash, will be getting a 5% increase to movement speed percentage at all ranks. This active boost will also be doubled to 10% when running towards enemy champions.
The second buff in the Patch 10.11 hotfix will target Volibear’s E (Sky Splitter). The ability will now deal 20 more base damage at all ranks, and percentage damage has been bumped from 7-13% to 11-15%. Finally, his E damage cap was increased by 50.
The Voli buff micropatch is now live! Again, we're being cautious with buffs and will reassess throughout the week.
Q- MS% increased by 5% at all ranks (10% towards champs)
E- base damage up by 20 at all ranks, % damage now 11-15% from 7-13%. Damage cap increased by 50.
— Nathan Lutz (@RiotLutzburg) June 2, 2020
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Volibear buffs in LoL Patch 10.11 hotfix to “increase power”
Volibear may have struggled on the Rift early with his total makeover, but Lutz said Riot has hopes the “small” 10.11 changes will “increase [player] satisfaction and baseline power” for the bear across all Summoner’s Rift roles.
“We’re confident we have the levers to make more changes if needed. We’re taking things slow for now (it’s only Day 5),” Lutz said on Twitter after the hotfix went live.
“His win rate is still climbing for players in the ‘skilled play’ bracket. The Q move speed buff should help players hit W2 more often. We’re still confident that the mechanic is fun, healthy, and adds good gameplay, and tension.”
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We're pushing some Voli buffs via micropatch today, targeting Q speed and E damage. Goal is to increase satisfaction and baseline power for all roles. We're confident we have the levers to make more changes if needed, but taking things slow for now (it's only day 5).
— Nathan Lutz (@RiotLutzburg) June 1, 2020
So far, the hotfix appears to be doing the job. According to regularly-updated stats website Lolalytics, the Thunder’s Roar is now sitting on a hefty 53.56% win rate. The rushed LoL Patch 10.11 hotfix seems to have worked, at least for now.
The Volibear hotfix was shipped on June 2 as part of the League of Legends Patch 10.11 update cycle. Any further changes made for the bear will be made alongside the next LoL balance changes in Patch 10.12 on June 10.
