League of Legends Patch 26.21 brings a hefty balance update, with nerfs to popular picks like Caitlyn, Jinx, and Lee Sin, alongside buffs for Azir, Orianna, Sion, and several other champions. Marksman builds are also taking a hit through changes to Gluttonous Greaves and ranged Hubris users.
There’s plenty happening outside Summoner’s Rift, too. ARAM: Mayhem gets its music-themed Journey to Stardom update, Classic welcomes four returning champion kits, and Arena receives a long list of balance changes. True Damage Know My Name skins round out the patch as Worlds 2026 continues.
In brief:
- Caitlyn, Jinx, Lee Sin, Rammus, Viktor, and Yone receive nerfs, while several mages and frontline champions get buffs.
- Dawncore gains more AP scaling, Gluttonous Greaves becomes more expensive, and Hubris gets separate melee and ranged values.
- ARAM: Mayhem introduces Headliners, new augments, and progression through Superstar Ranks.
- Classic and Arena get substantial updates, while replay downloads become limited to 10 per hour.
League of Legends Patch 26.21 Champion Buffs
Mid lane players have several buffs to explore this patch. Azir gets more mana as he levels, Orianna gains stronger AP ratios, and Ryze receives more late-game damage and movement speed. Nunu & Willump also get a sizeable increase to Absolute Zero’s maximum base damage.
Azir
- Mana growth: 40 → 50 per level.
Darius
- Q cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5 → 9/8/7/6/4 seconds.
The change specifically improves max-rank Decimate, giving Darius more frequent casts in extended fights.
Miss Fortune
- E base damage: 70/100/130/160/190 → 90/120/150/180/210.
- R critical strike damage: 130% → 145%.
- R scaling with bonus critical strike damage: 0.3% → 0.45% per 1% bonus crit damage.
These buffs compensate for the ranged Hubris nerfs arriving in the same patch.
Nunu & Willump
- R maximum base damage: 625/925/1275 → 750/1100/1450.
- The 300% AP ratio remains unchanged.
Orianna
- Q AP ratio: 55% → 60%.
- W AP ratio: 80% → 85%.
Ryze
- Q Flux bonus damage: 15/40/65/90% → 10/40/70/100%.
- Q bonus movement speed: 28/32/36/40/44% → 30/35/40/45/50%.
- W AP ratio: 60% → 70%.
Ryze loses some damage at the earliest Flux tier, but his later scaling and movement speed improve.
Sion
- Health growth: 87 → 95.
- R damage amplification over the first three seconds: Now increases up to 200%, replacing the previous separate amplification values for base damage and ratio damage.
- R tooltip: Corrected to show the minimum and maximum bonus AD ratios of 40% and 120%.
Taliyah
- E base damage: 60/105/150/195/240 → 70/115/160/205/250.
- E AP ratio: 60% → 70%.
- E detonation base damage: 25/40/55/70/85 → 30/45/60/75/90.
- E monster damage: Listed at 225%.
Vel’Koz
- Passive base damage: 35–180 → 35–205.
- Passive AP ratio: 60% → 65%.
Xin Zhao
- Q bonus AD ratio per strike: 40% → 45%.
- E attack speed scaling: Gains 1% attack speed per 4% permanent bonus attack speed, improved from every 5%.
Zyra
- W seed recharge: 18/16/14/12/10 → 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds.
League of Legends Patch 26.21 Champion Nerfs
Caitlyn and Jinx are both being toned down after their sustained popularity, while Lee Sin loses some safety and ultimate damage. Riot is also reducing the strength of several other jungle picks.
Caitlyn
- Passive AD scaling: 60–100% → 60–80%.
- Passive scaling per 1% critical strike chance: 1% AD → 0.8% AD.
- Passive scaling per 1% bonus critical strike damage: 1% AD → 0.8% AD.
- Q base damage: 50/90/130/170/210 → 50/95/140/185/230.
Caitlyn gets stronger Q damage at later ranks, but her full-build Headshots lose a chunk of their scaling.
Jinx
- Base health: 630 → 610.
- Attack damage growth: 3.25 → 3.
Lee Sin
- W cooldown: 7 → 8 seconds.
- R kick base damage: 175/400/625 → 150/350/550.
- R collision base damage: 175/400/625 → 150/350/550.
- E bug fix: No longer reveals enemies who become invisible after Tempest hits them.
The existing bonus AD ratios and kicked target health scaling on R remain unchanged.
Nidalee
- Cougar W base damage: 55/88.75/122.5/156.25/190 → 50/80/110/140/170.
- Human E bonus attack speed: 30/40/50/60/70% → 20/30/40/50/60%.
Qiyana
- Q base damage: 80/110/140/170/200 → 70/100/130/160/190.
Rammus
- W flat bonus armor: 27/32/37/42/47 → 25/30/35/40/45.
- W armor scaling: 30–60% → 30–50%.
- W magic resistance scaling: 30–60% → 30–50%.
- W’s flat magic resistance bonus is unchanged.
Tristana
- Q bonus attack speed: 60/75/90/105/120% → 40/60/80/100/120%.
This reduces her early attack speed boost while preserving Rapid Fire’s max-rank value.
Viktor
- Movement speed: 335 → 330.
- Q base shield: 40–140 → 30–130.
- Q shield AP ratio: 25% → 20%.
Yone
- Q total AD ratio: 110% → 105%.
Champion Adjustments and Quality-of-Life Changes
Locke, Varus, and Wukong receive changes that move power between different parts of their kits. Taric and Twisted Fate get improvements to how their abilities interact with untargetable champions.
Locke
Locke’s early sustain and mana efficiency are being reduced, with stronger scaling added elsewhere.
- Mana growth: 70 → 60.
- Q unused charge refund: 20–35% → 10–40% mana and cooldown.
- W mana cost: 50/55/60/65/70 → 60/65/70/75/80.
- W grey health store based on current health: 40–200 → 20–200.
- W current health store: 150–450 → 100–500, now with a 60% AP ratio.
- E blink base damage: 40/50/60/70/80 → 40/55/70/85/100.
- E blink AP ratio: 40% → 50%.
Varus
Riot is targeting W-max top lane Varus while putting more power into charged Q casts.
- Q minimum damage: 53.33–240 → 50–230, retaining its 80% bonus AD ratio.
- Q maximum damage: 80–360 (+120% bonus AD) → 85–391 (+136% bonus AD).
- Q maximum charge amplification: 50% → 70%.
- W on-hit base damage: 4/13/22/31/40 → 4/10/16/22/28.
- W on-hit bonus AD ratio: 15% → 20%.
- W on-hit AP ratio: 25% → 30%.
- W damage per Blight stack: 3–5% → 2.5–4.5% of the target’s maximum health.
- W stack AP scaling: 1.3% → 1.4% maximum health per 100 AP.
- W active missing health damage: 6–14% → 6–10%, with maximum Q charge amplification increasing from 50% to 70%.
- Basic ability cooldown refund per stack: 13% → 11%, with maximum charge amplification increasing from 50% to 70%.
Wukong
- Base health regeneration: 3.5 → 5.5.
- Passive armor per stack: 6–10 → 4.5–10.
The lower early armor targets his jungle strength, while extra health regeneration helps him recover in lane.
Taric
- Q, E, and R now successfully cast through bound allies who are untargetable.
- E still cannot cast from vanished allies, preserving the exception for interactions such as Master Yi disappearing during Alpha Strike.
Twisted Fate
- R now reveals untargetable units.
LoL Patch 26.21 Item Changes
Ranged Hubris builds take a direct hit, while melee users receive a stronger base AD reward. Dawncore also becomes more appealing to enchanters who can make use of additional ability power.
| Item | Changes |
|---|---|
| Bastion Breaker | Lethality decreases from 22 to 18. Shaped Charge base damage falls from 50 to 40 for melee users and 25 to 20 for ranged users. Lethality scaling is unchanged. |
| Bastion Breaker: Sabotage | The window to use its bonus objective damage changes from 90 seconds to unlimited. |
| Dawncore | AP gained per 100% base mana regeneration increases from 10 to 15. |
| Gluttonous Greaves | Total cost increases from 1,000 to 1,100 gold. |
| Hubris | Base bonus AD changes from 12 to 15 for melee users and 10 for ranged users. Bonus AD per stack remains 3 for melee champions and falls to 2 for ranged champions. |
ARAM: Mayhem Journey to Stardom Update
Journey to Stardom adds a musical twist to ARAM: Mayhem. Each match features a Headliner that changes the rules, with music from the featured act playing during the game.
Players can also complete band missions to earn rewards, including augments, emotes, and Orange Essence. Playing matches and finishing missions advances Superstar Ranks, unlocking more bands and missions.
Butcher’s Bridge and Koeshin’s Crossing are unavailable in Mayhem queues during Patch 26.21. They’re expected to return next patch.
All Revealed Headliners
| Headliner | Match effect |
|---|---|
| K/DA | Collect four K/DA Cards to earn an additional augment. |
| HEARTSTEEL | Augments can receive special modifiers that increase their strength. |
| True Damage | Takedowns and tower destruction can drop team Anvils. |
| Pentakill | Upgrade one ability at the start of the game and again at level 18. |
| Disco | Dancing beneath the disco ball generates gold for everyone. |
| Cafe Cuties | Health relics become more powerful. |
| Bees | Collect honey pots while avoiding bees crossing the map. |
| Command Line | Reroll one augment into a higher tier during every selection. |
New Silver Augments
- Blue Barrier: Casting abilities grants a shield based on mana cost.
- Flow of Spirit: A specific ability grants stacking attack speed.
- Fruitify: Champion takedowns create healing fruit for your team.
- Gift of the Drowned: Item bonus health converts into lethality.
- Hands Off The Talent: Attacks fired from maximum range deal extra damage.
- Lich Brain: Gain AP based on bonus health.
- Lonely Warrior: Nearby enemy champions grant armor, magic resistance, and attack speed.
- No Mana, No Problem: Item mana converts into AP.
- Sound Barrier: Your shields grant movement speed.
- Ultimate Recursion: Gain 50 ultimate ability haste.
New Gold Augments
- Arcane Axiom: Takedowns refund part of your ultimate cooldown.
- Armored Impact: Casting an ability empowers your next attack with armor-scaling damage.
- BEES!!!: Abilities occasionally launch an exploding beehive that damages, slows, and applies on-hit effects.
- Brass Blast: Gain a summoner spell that charges a damaging knockback.
- CRIMSON COBALT: One ability marks champions, allowing you to consume the mark for damage and a cooldown reduction.
- Double Time: Quickly landing two separate abilities grants permanent mana and additional damage.
- Enchanting Butterflies: Healing and shielding builds up butterflies that later damage enemies.
- Get Jinxed: Gain a summoner spell that lets you ride a rocket into enemies.
- Heavy Is The Crown: Gain AD, AP, and attack speed while losing movement speed. Takedowns strengthen the effect, while deaths reduce it.
- Jeweled Bracelet: Your ultimate can critically strike.
- Recoil: One ability launches you backward when cast.
- Salvation: Reaching low health knocks enemies back and heals allies.
- Sap Magic: Every 10 seconds, your next attack deals extra damage and heals you.
- Still Here: Gain AD, AP, and lifesteal as your health drops.
- Take’em Down Down Down: Five attack or ability hits against an enemy champion trigger healing and additional damage.
- The Boom and the Bass: Your next attack after an ability gains damage and grants movement speed.
- Tickle Monster: Item AD converts into attack speed.
- Upgrade: Stormsurge: Squall detonates in an area and applies a secondary Squall.
- Weapon Of Destiny: Your first Legendary item gains stronger stats through takedowns.
New Prismatic Augments
- Big Shot: Converts a large portion of attack speed into critical strike damage.
- Bouncing Bees: Attacks after ability casts bounce between enemies. Completing its quest grants more bounces and AD.
- Group Hug: One healing or shielding ability also affects nearby allies.
- Mosh Monster: Casting your ultimate grants health and creates a slowing zone. Takedowns increase both effects.
- Third Times The Harm: Three attacks against an enemy champion trigger damage and an attack speed burst.
- Totentanz: Gain five seconds of immortality, but die afterward if you fail to secure a takedown.
Removed Mayhem Augments
Combusting Interest, Crit ’n Cast, Critical Missile, Dimension Shift, DropBear, Dropkick, Fan the Hammer, Hide on Bush, High Roller, Our Healing, Poro Stampede, Spiritual Purification, and Ult Bot leave the augment pool.
League Classic Patch 26.21 Changes
Classic adds Mordekaiser, Yorick, Hecarim, and Lucian, bringing more older kits into the mode.
Mordekaiser returns with his 2010–2015 kit, including the ability to turn a defeated enemy champion into a controllable ghost. Yorick gets his original ghoul-focused abilities and ally revenant ultimate, while Lucian arrives with 550 attack range and an older version of Relentless Pursuit.
Riot also plans further champion additions in Patches 26.22 and 26.23 before Classic rotates out in January.
Classic Champion Buffs and Nerfs
| Champion | Changes |
|---|---|
| Aatrox | Passive cooldown changes from 225 seconds at every level to 225/200/175/150 at levels 1/6/11/16. |
| Irelia | Base health falls from 546 to 515, health regeneration from 8.15 to 6.5, and passive tenacity now stacks multiplicatively with tenacity items. |
| Karma | Q damage increases to 85/125/165/205/245/285. Base Mantra healing increases to 50/70/90/110/130/150. W damage changes to 100/140/180/220/260/300, while movement speed becomes 15/16/17/18/19/20%. |
| Kassadin | Q damage increases to 80/130/180/230/280, silence duration rises to 1/1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6 seconds, and R’s AP ratio increases from 70% to 80%. |
Atma’s Impaler Buffs
- Critical strike chance: 15% → 18%.
- Maximum health converted into bonus AD: 1.5% → 2%.
Classic also receives fixes involving Rammus’ lingering Q effects, Force of Nature’s icon, Quinn’s champion tagging in Valor form, Aatrox’s model outline, duplicate Brutalizer cooldown reduction, Zilean’s revive removing Baron buff, and Sivir’s spell shield interaction with Ezreal Q.
Arena Patch 26.21 Champion Changes
Arena’s changes reduce several powerful crowd-control and scaling options while opening up alternative builds. AP Briar, Lee Sin, and Skarner are among the beneficiaries.
| Champion | Arena changes |
|---|---|
| Bel’Veth | Q AD ratio: 105% → 95%. R bonus AD ratio per stack: 1% → 0.5%. |
| Briar | Q stun: 0.85 → 0.5 seconds. Fully charged E AP ratio: 100% → 150%. Wall-hit AP ratio: 240% → 350%, bringing the combined maximum to 500%. |
| Elise | Human E cooldown becomes 10 seconds. Spiderling counts increase from 2/3/4/5 to 4/6/8/10. Previous spider damage buff removed. |
| Ezreal | R bonus AD ratio: 100% → 150%. Cooldown: 50/40/30 → 40/30/20 seconds. |
| Fiora | Passive bonus AD scaling: 3% → 2% per 100 bonus AD. Q gains a 25% AP ratio. |
| Galio | W passive shield health ratio: 7.5–15% → 6–10%. Maximum W taunt and R knockup durations each fall from 1.5 to 1 second. |
| Gangplank | W AP ratio: 90% → 135%. W cooldown decreases by four seconds at every rank. R cooldown: 130/110/90 → 100/80/60 seconds. |
| Gnar | W movement speed duration: 4 → 2 seconds, with listed movement speed values doubled to 40/80/120/160. R AP ratio: 100% → 150%. |
| Kayn | Transformation progress accumulates faster. |
| Katarina | R on-hit ratio becomes a flat 25%. AP ratio per dagger: 26% → 35%. |
| Lee Sin | E gains a 75% AP ratio. |
| Malzahar | W can store up to six Voidling charges. |
| Milio | Q cooldown: 8 → 10 seconds; AP ratio: 120% → 200%. R cooldown: 160/145/130 → 180/150/130 seconds. |
| Miss Fortune | Q AP ratio: 55% → 70%. R AP ratio: 35% → 40%. |
| Morgana | Q cooldown: 12 → 14 seconds. E cooldown increases by four seconds at every rank. |
| Nidalee | Trap cooldown becomes eight seconds. Cougar ability cooldowns fall from six to four seconds. |
| Rengar | Normal and empowered W AP ratios both become 120%, up from 95% and 105%. |
| Renata Glasc | R cooldown increases by 20 seconds at every rank. W cooldown increases by four seconds at every rank. |
| Skarner | Q bonus AD ratio: 90% → 150%. W cooldown decreases by two seconds at every rank; AP ratio: 80% → 120%. |
| Teemo | E initial-hit AD ratio: 5% → 10%. Damage-over-time AD ratio: 10% → 20%. |
| Urgot | W on-hit effectiveness: 50% → 75%. |
| Varus | E cooldown decreases by four seconds at every rank and gains a 50% AP ratio. |
| Yone | R bonus AD ratio: 80% → 100%. Cooldown decreases by 10 seconds at every rank. |
| Yuumi | W heal and shield power: 10–25% → 4–8%. |
| Zaahen | Passive bonus AD per stack: 1–2% → a flat 1%. |
Arena Item Changes
- Turbo Chemtank: Health restoration increases from 4% to 20% maximum health.
- Galeforce: Maximum dash range increases from 600 to 900.
- Night Harvester: Cooldown falls from 10 to eight seconds. Movement speed increases from 40% to 60%, while its duration falls from 1.5 to one second.
- Mirage Blade: Cooldown refund decreases from 20% to 15%.
- Moonflair Spellblade: Cooldown refund per attack decreases from 0.5 to 0.3, while enhanced attacks increase from two to three.
Arena Augment Changes
| Augment | Change |
|---|---|
| Big Brain | Out-of-combat timer: 3 → 5 seconds. |
| Castle | Cooldown: 12 → 10 seconds. |
| Chroma Flux | Cooldown: 10 → 8 seconds. |
| Courage of the Colossus | Cooldown: 5 → 6 seconds. |
| Dawnbringer’s Resolve | Healing: 25/30 → 35/40. |
| Dual Wield | On-hit effectiveness: 40/50/60% → 40/45/50%. |
| Flashy | Charges: 2/3 → 4/6. |
| Hive Mind | Starting bees: 2/4/6 → 3/6/9. |
| Minionmancer | Increased minion power: 40/55 → 55/70. |
| Nesting Doll | Maximum revives: 1/2/3 → 0/1/2. |
| Rite of the Forge God | Item stat amplification: 40% → 60%. |
| Spin to Win | Damage amplification: 25/35% → 35/45%. |
| Trueshot Prodigy | Base damage: 175/350/525 → 175/275/375. AD ratio: 100% → 50%. Cooldown: 10/8/6 → 12/10/8 seconds. |
True Damage Know My Name Skins
The following skins become available on October 21, 2026:
- Prestige True Damage Know My Name Ekko
- True Damage Know My Name Akali
- True Damage Know My Name Qiyana
- True Damage Know My Name Senna
- True Damage Know My Name Yasuo
Replay Download Limits, Mythic Shop, and System Requirements
Replay downloads become limited to 10 per hour during Patch 26.21. Players can still download their own matches and replays belonging to friends or other players. Riot says the restriction targets mass scraping while keeping the feature accessible for regular use.
The Mythic Shop’s daily, weekly, and biweekly rotation timings are also being aligned. This prepares for personalized shop offerings in Patch 26.22, so players should check the displayed timers before waiting on a purchase.
An update to the patch launcher introduces an SSE 4.2 requirement, increasing Riot’s minimum AMD specification by one version.
Patch 26.21 Bug Fixes and Clarity Improvements
The patch also addresses several gameplay and visual issues:
- Zaahen’s Q now completes correctly when he enters his revive during an attack.
- Teleport’s channel effects no longer incorrectly reveal casts made in brush to enemies.
- Titanic Hydra’s cooldown timer displays correctly after use.
- Zoe can no longer receive a 1,000-damage Smite from a minion drop earlier than intended.
- Hail of Blades correctly activates on attack resets after a canceled first attack.
- Nidalee’s maximum-range spear no longer incorrectly damages targets through spell shields.
- Enemy Briar, Kled, and Sion use their base skin ultimate sound effects for clearer audio cues.
All in all, this one is a hefty patch.
