League of Legends Patch 26.10 is already shaping up to be a pretty important follow-up to Patch 26.9, especially after Riot’s latest round of system changes caused plenty of discussion across the community. According to Riot’s official patch schedule, Patch 26.10 is expected to go live on May 13, 2026.
This preview is not the full patch notes yet, so exact numbers for champion and item changes are still missing. However, Riot has now shared the early change list, and it includes champion buffs, champion nerfs, champion adjustments, system tuning, Arena updates, and another look at Apex Ranked after the regional MMR reset.
LoL Patch 26.10 Release Date
League of Legends Patch 26.10 is scheduled for May 13, 2026, based on Riot’s official 2026 patch calendar. It will arrive two weeks after Patch 26.9, which introduced several major Season 2 gameplay updates, including new runes, item changes, alternate build support, and Ranked WASD controls.
Since this is currently only a preview, Riot may still adjust the final list before the update hits live servers.
LoL Patch 26.10 Champion Buffs
Patch 26.10 currently has four champions listed for buffs: Ambessa, Galio, Wukong, and Zeri.
Ambessa getting buffed is interesting because she has been one of the newer and more closely watched champions in League. Riot has not shared the exact numbers yet, so it is unclear whether this will be a direct damage boost, survivability improvement, or a more targeted adjustment to one of her abilities.
Galio and Wukong being on the buff list also suggests Riot may be trying to give certain engage and skirmish champions a bit more room in the current meta. Zeri is another big name here, especially because even small Zeri changes can quickly affect both solo queue and pro play.
LoL Patch 26.10 Champion Nerfs
The current nerf list includes Anivia, Ashe, Naafiri, Shyvana, and Zed.
Anivia and Ashe being nerfed point toward Riot targeting champions that may be performing too well in their current roles. Ashe has often been a flexible pick because of her utility, long-range engagement, and ability to work in both carry and support-focused situations.
Naafiri, Shyvana, and Zed, also being nerfed, suggest Riot is looking at damage-heavy champions that may be overperforming after the recent system updates. Zed, in particular, is always a sensitive champion to balance, since even small buffs or nerfs can change how oppressive he feels in mid lane.
LoL Patch 26.10 Champion Adjustments
Lee Sin and Quinn are listed under champion adjustments rather than straight buffs or nerfs.
That usually means Riot is not simply trying to make them stronger or weaker overall. Instead, these changes may be aimed at shifting how they play, smoothing out certain builds, or changing where their power sits across the game.
Quinn’s adjustment also stands out because Riot previously mentioned PROJECT: Quinn as one of the skins coming during the Season 2 update cycle.
LoL Patch 26.10 System Buffs
The system buff list currently includes Lich Bane and Stormraider’s Surge.
Riot said one of its goals with the recent Dusk and Dawn changes was to better separate that item from Lich Bane. With Patch 26.10, Lich Bane is now expected to receive an upward adjustment, likely to help it feel more distinct and valuable for champions who want that spellblade burst pattern.
Stormraider’s Surge is also getting buffed after landing weaker than expected. Riot brought back Stormraider’s Surge in Season 2 as part of its wider rune and gameplay update, with the rune replacing Phase Rush as an alternative movement speed option.
LoL Patch 26.10 System Nerfs
Deathfire Touch and Gluttonous Greaves are both listed for nerfs in Patch 26.10.
Deathfire Touch has been one of the biggest talking points since Patch 26.9. Riot said the rune looked a little too strong, especially in lane, although the team also seemed happy with the type of champions using it. After the recent micropatch nerfs, Riot believes the power level is now more reasonable, so Patch 26.10 is expected to bring only a smaller follow-up adjustment.
Gluttonous Greaves is also being toned down. The boots have found a strong user base among fighters and AD assassins, especially champions that want an offensive boot option outside of Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Riot believes they are too strong in non-mid roles and also too strong in mid when upgraded.
Arena Gets 6 Teams of 3 in Patch 26.10
One of the biggest parts of Patch 26.10 is Arena moving to 6 teams of 3.
Riot previously explained that 3×6 means three players on each team with six total teams in the lobby. The goal is to open up more champion diversity in Arena, since the old 2v2 format naturally pushed certain champions and duos ahead of others.
More players per team means more team comp variety, more combo potential, and probably a lot more chaos. Riot has also said Arena Season 2 includes Events, Augment Levels, a new Petricite Grove map, changes to Ancestral Woods, over 30 new-to-Arena augments, and more than 20 new or reworked Guests of Honor.
Apex Ranked Will Stay Under Watch
Riot also addressed Apex Ranked after the regional reset. The Duo queue will not be re-enabled yet, as Riot wants to let Apex MMR settle for another patch before making another call.
The team also looked into cases where Emerald players were appearing in Masters lobbies. According to Riot, these cases generally came from players who had not played much before the reset, fresh accounts climbing with very high win rates, or Emerald players duoing with high MMR Diamond or Emerald teammates.
Riot’s current stance is that these games do not appear to be broken from an MMR or LP perspective, even if the visible ranks can look strange.
LoL Patch Notes 26.10
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Champion Changes
| Champion | Ability | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambessa | Q, R | Adjusted | Q target max health damage changed from 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6% to 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6%. Q bonus monster damage reduced from 125 to 75. R healing increased from 10 / 12.5 / 15% to 15 / 17.5 / 20%. R healing effectiveness vs monsters reduced from 40% to 25%. |
| Anivia | Base Stats | Nerf | Base armor reduced from 21 to 19. Armor growth reduced from 4.5 to 4.1. |
| Ashe | Q | Nerf | Ranger’s Focus total damage reduced from 110 / 117.5 / 125 / 132.5 / 140% AD to 110 / 115 / 120 / 125 / 130% AD. |
| Galio | Q, E, R | Buff | Q mana cost reduced from 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 to 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80. E damage adjusted from 90 / 130 / 170 / 210 / 250 plus 90% AP to 100 / 135 / 170 / 205 / 240 plus 100% AP. R now scales with 100% bonus magic resistance. |
| Lee Sin | W, E, R | Adjusted | W shield reduced from 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 to 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240. W cooldown changed to 7 seconds at all points. Lee Sin now gets his shield when jumping to minions or wards. E AD ratio reduced from 100% AD to 90% AD. R now continues knock-up and damage if the target dies mid-flight. |
| Naafiri | Q, R | Nerf | Q minimum bonus physical damage reduced at later ranks. Q maximum bonus physical damage reduced from 60 / 90 / 120 / 450 / 180 to 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160. R damage reduced at ranks 2 and 3, including packmate damage. |
| Quinn | Passive, Q, R | Buff | Passive now deals 50 bonus monster damage. Q now deals 50% increased damage to monsters. R mana cost reduced from 100 / 50 / 0 to 50 / 25 / 0. |
| Shyvana | Base Stats, W | Nerf | Health per level reduced from 100 to 95. W cooldown increased at later ranks. W shield reduced from 75 / 95 / 115 / 135 / 155 to 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140. |
| Wukong | W, E | Buff | W clone damage increased from 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% to 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60%. W clone duration increased from 3.25 to 4 seconds. E bonus attack speed increased from 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55% to 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60%. |
| Zed | Passive, E | Nerf | Passive max health damage reduced from 6 / 8 / 10% to 5 / 7.5 / 10%. E damage reduced from 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 plus 80% bonus AD to 70 / 92.5 / 115 / 137.5 / 160 plus 70% bonus AD. |
| Zeri | Q, R | Buff / Bugfix | Q base damage increased from 21 / 24 / 27 / 30 / 33 to 22 / 26 / 30 / 34 / 38. Excess attack speed conversion to AD increased from 50% to 60%. R overcharged duration extension fixed to 2.5 seconds. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Item Changes
| Item | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Doran’s Bow | Buff | Attack damage increased from 6 to 8. |
| Doran’s Helm | Buff | Health increased from 110 to 140. |
| Gluttonous Greaves / Immortal Path | Nerf | Total cost increased from 950g to 1000g. Slay omnivamp per stack changed from 1% per takedown up to 6 stacks to 0.6% per takedown up to 10 stacks. |
| Lich Bane | Buff | AP ratio increased from 40% AP to 45% AP. Movement speed increased from 4% to 6%. |
| Voltaic Cyclosword | Nerf | Total cost increased from 2900g to 3000g. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Rune Changes
| Rune | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Deathfire Touch | Nerf | Damage per second reduced from 4 to 12 by level to 3 to 12 by level. Bonus AD and AP ratios remain unchanged. |
| Stormraider’s Surge | Buff | Movement speed increased from 40% melee and 30% ranged for 3 seconds to 48% melee and 36% ranged for 4 seconds. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Game System Changes
| System | Change | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Minion Aggro | Adjusted | Enemy champions attacking allied minions no longer enter minion aggro priority. |
| Disruptive Game Termination | New / Updated | If severe disruptive behavior is detected, the affected team can vote to end the match. The disruptive player and their premade cannot vote. If the vote passes, the affected team does not lose LP or MMR, the opposing team gains LP, and the disruptive player is banned. |
| Player Behavior | Updated | Riot updated text detection models to better detect disruptive or inappropriate messages across all languages with fewer false positives. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Arena Changes
| Category | Name | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arena Mode | 3×6 Format | New | Arena now features six teams of three. |
| Augment | Bravest of the Brave | Buff | Level 2 gold increased from 750 to 1500. |
| Augment | Fan the Hammer | Adjusted | Max level reduced from 3 to 2. Cooldown per side changed from 7 / 6 / 5 to 7 / 5. |
| Augment | Juiced | Buff | Max level increased to 2. Damage increased from 4.5% to 9% of mana spent. |
| Augment | Firesale | Adjusted | When removed or replaced, grants gold equal to 30% of the gold gained by Firesale. |
| Augment | Combination Fried Rice | Buff | Max level increased from 1 to 3. Ability haste penalty improved from minus 100 to minus 50. Damage and healing now scale by level. |
| Augment | SpellCraft | Adjusted | Base slow reduced from 20% to 10%. AP and bonus AD ratios per red sticker reduced. Slow per sticker increased from 30% to 40%. |
| Augment | Chroma Flux | Buff | Movement speed per sticker increased from 20 to 30. |
| Augment | Stats On Stats On Stats | Buff | Capstone stat anvil percent amplification increased from 10% to 20%. |
| Augment | Stats On Stats | Buff | Capstone stat anvil percent amplification increased from 10% to 20%. |
| Augment | Stats | Buff | Capstone stat anvil percent amplification increased from 10% to 20%. |
| Augment | Bread Sandwich | Buff | Max level increased from 1 to 3. Ability haste now scales from 200 / 300 / 400. |
| Augment | Gamba Anvil | Adjusted | Max level reduced from 2 to 1. Legendary item anvil reduction changed from 500 to 750. Stat anvil reduction changed from 150 / 300 to 250. |
| Augment | Draw Your Sword | Nerf | Bonus HP and bonus AD reduced from 25 / 35 / 45% to 25 / 30 / 35%. Attack speed reduced from 20% to 15%. |
| Augment | Jeweled Gauntlet | Nerf | Crit damage reduced from 140 / 160 / 180% to 140 / 150 / 160%. |
| Augment | Righteous Fury | Nerf | Spell damage per stack reduced from 2 / 4 / 6% to 2 / 3 / 4%. |
| Augment | The Brutalizer | Nerf | Max level reduced from 3 to 2. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Arena Champion Changes
| Champion | Ability | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katarina | Passive | Nerf | Passive refund on takedown reduced from 75 seconds to 15 seconds. |
| Shyvana | Emberstrike | Nerf | Damage ratio reduced from 110% AD to 100% AD. |
| Xin Zhao | Q, E | Nerf | Q bonus AD ratio reduced from 40% to 30%. Q cooldown increased from 7 / 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5 to 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6. E attack speed AP ratio reduced from 10% per 100 AP to 5% per 100 AP. E cooldown increased from 11 to 13 seconds. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Arena System and Item Changes
| Category | Name | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Map | Petricite Grove | Adjusted player spawn locations. |
| Map Objective | Petricite Bombs | Initial spawns occur 6 to 12 seconds after combat starts. Respawn rate changed from 15 seconds to 20 seconds. |
| Map Objective | Ancestral Wood’s Bulwark Blossom | Added ticks to its health bar. |
| Map Objective | Reckoner’s Arena Pillars | Added ticks to health bars. |
| System | Baseline Durability | Damage reduction increased by 5% on Round 8. |
| Item | Black Hole Gauntlet | Black Hole size now scales more directly with champion size and is capped at 3 times base size. |
| Item | Pyromancer’s Cloak | Blaze AoE per additional burn source reduced from 40 to 30. Per champion cooldown increased from 3 to 5 seconds. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Arena Guest of Honor Changes
| Guest of Honor | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Garen: Perseverance | Tooltip Update | Tooltip now notes that players heal when at 50 health. |
| Hwei: Blank Canvas | QoL Update | Tooltips updated. Rerolling an augment level offering now has a sticker. |
| Jarvan IV: Heavy Is The Crown | Buff | Crown Thieves size adjustment increased from 20% to 25%. |
| Tahm Kench: Dark Bargain | Adjusted | Compulsion for Power stat anvils reduced from 2 to 1. Compulsion for Wealth gold reduced from 3000 to 2500. Abstain max health restored increased from 5% to 10%. All players now get the same choices instead of random rolls. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 ARAM Changes
| Category | Champion / System | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Viktor | Adjusted | Damage dealt increased from 95% to 100%. Damage taken reduced from 105% to 100%. Passive stacks per champion kill reduced from 20 to 8. Passive stacks per cannon reduced from 10 to 5. Viktor now gains 1 stack every 5 seconds in ARAM maps. |
| System | Bilgewater Cannon QoL | Buff / QoL | Movement lockout from not taking the cannon reduced from 2 seconds to 0.5 seconds. Movement lockout after landing from cannon removed. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 ARAM: Mayhem Changes
| Category | Name | Change Type | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Augment | Big Brain | Buff | Refreshes on respawn or every 70 seconds. |
| Augment | Fan the Hammer | QoL | No longer triggers on minions. |
| Augment | Outlaw’s Grit | QoL | Stacks now reset based on a 15 second duration instead of a fixed timer. Stacks now appear on the buff bar. |
| Augment | Upgrade Zhonya’s | Buff | Grants 50% bonus movement speed during Stasis. |
| Champion | Viktor | Adjusted | Same ARAM changes apply, including 100% damage dealt, 100% damage taken, reduced takedown stacks, and 1 passive stack every 5 seconds. |
| System | Bilgewater Cannon QoL | Buff / QoL | Movement lockout from not taking the cannon reduced from 2 seconds to 0.5 seconds. Movement lockout after landing removed. |
League of Legends Patch 26.10 Skins and Chromas
| Type | Content |
|---|---|
| New Skin | Rain Shepherd Ivern |
| New Skin | PROJECT: Quinn |
| New Chroma | Rain Shepherd Ivern Chroma |
| New Chroma | PROJECT: Quinn Chroma |
Patch 26.9 brought a lot of new toys to League, and Patch 26.10 looks like Riot’s first real pass at cleaning up the biggest balance outliers. Deathfire Touch and Gluttonous Greaves are clearly the headline system nerfs, while Lich Bane and Stormraider’s Surge are being pushed up to make them feel more competitive.
On the champion side, the preview is still missing exact numbers, so it is too early to call winners and losers with confidence. Still, with Zeri, Zed, Ashe, Lee Sin, Quinn, and Ambessa all on the list, Patch 26.10 already has enough names to make players pay attention.
