Patch Notes Summary Rundown
Patch 26.18: The Demacian Reunion
Patch 26.18 is the Hall of Legends patch, and Caps is the third player ever inducted. That comes with a battle pass, a Tristana skin line he helped build, and a Risen Legend Orianna to go with it. On the Rift, Riot is taking apart the pro support duo of Nautilus and Bard, trimming Seraphine bot and Zeri, and handing buffs to Viego, Zaahen, Master Yi, Ekko, and Kassadin. Cassiopeia gets the only proper adjustment of the patch, trading laning power for scaling to cut down how far ahead pro Cassiopeia sits over everyone else's. League Classic runs a Demacian reunion with five new old champions in Fiora, Galio, Poppy, Shyvana, and Xin Zhao, plus the results of the first Council vote. ARAM: Mayhem keeps cleaning up which Augments show up on which champions.
Buffs: Ekko, Kassadin, Master Yi, Viego, Zaahen
Nerfs: Bard, Nautilus, Seraphine, Syndra, Zeri
Tweaks: Cassiopeia
Hall of Legends
Rasmus "Caps" Winther is the third inductee into the Hall of Legends and the first Western player to get there. The voting panel weighs international berths, regional and international titles, role stats, and what a player did for the sport, and Caps has the most decorated career in European League history to point at.
The event pass runs 100 levels and covers his career rather than a single season. Reward highlights include the Risen Legend Orianna skin and border, its event chroma, the Freljord Taliyah, Elderwood LeBlanc and Empyrean Akali skins, 125 Mythic Essence, 11 orbs, 15 Caps icons and emotes, an Unkillable Demon Cactus ward, a Beacon of Hope banner, and the "Martin 1" title. The Risen Legend, Immortalized Legend and Signature Immortalized Legend collections carry the Tristana skins he co-developed.
Cassiopeia Adjustment
Biggest changelist of the patch
Cassiopeia, the Serpent's Embrace
Cassiopeia has always paid out more the better you are with her, and this year that gap turned into pro dominance while average players got nothing out of her. Riot's answer is to move power off her base numbers and onto her ratios, which taxes the pro build that buys defensively and hands some of it back to everyone else.
The Short Version
- Her lane is worse and her scaling is better. Noxious Blast [Q] loses 10 base damage at every rank and Petrifying Gaze [R] loses 25, while their ability power ratios climb from 65% to 75% and from 50% to 75%.
- Twin Fang [E] pays out the same in total, just differently. The base ratio doubles from 10% to 20% and the empowered ratio drops from 55% to 45%, so the total stays at 65% and the gap between a good cast and a bad one narrows. It also costs 5 more mana.
- She's slower at every level. Serpentine Grace tops out at 36% move speed instead of 40%, and starts at 5% instead of 6%.
P Serpentine Grace
- Move Speed Bonus: 6% - 40% (based on level) ⇒ 5% - 36% (based on level)
Q Noxious Blast
- Damage: 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 ⇒ 65 / 100 / 135 / 170 / 205
- Ability Power Ratio: 65% ⇒ 75%
E Twin Fang
- Mana Cost: 40 ⇒ 45
- Base Ability Power Ratio: 10% ⇒ 20%
- Enhanced Ability Power Ratio: 55% ⇒ 45%
- Total Ability Power Ratio: 65% ⇒ 65%
- Damage: 52 - 120 ⇒ 50 - 120
R Petrifying Gaze
- Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 ⇒ 125 / 225 / 325
- Ability Power Ratio: 50% ⇒ 75%
Champions
Bard (Nerf)
Bard has been a fixture in pro drafts all year. The damage nerfs from earlier patches never touched the part that actually frustrates opponents, which is how safely he gets away with roaming at his range, so his armor is what gives this time.
Base Stats
- Armor: 34 + 5/Level ⇒ 32 + 4.7/Level
Ekko (Buff)
Ekko settled a little under where Riot wants him after the Dusk and Dawn update, and mid lane is the version that scales worst. Cheaper mana and a fatter return hit are pointed at that lane without making the Hail of Blades build any better.
Q - Timewinder
- Mana Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 ⇒ 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
- Return Damage Ability Power Ratio: 60% ⇒ 70%
Kassadin (Buff)
Kassadin started 2026 strong and never came back from the nerfs that followed. These give him something to do before he hits his spike instead of farming and waiting for the game to start.
Q - Null Sphere
- Ability Power Ratio: 70% AP ⇒ 80% AP
R - Riftwalk
- Base Damage: 70 / 90 / 110 ⇒ 80 / 95 / 110
Master Yi (Buff)
The Rageblade bugfix earlier this year was minor for most of the item's users and a real loss for Yi, because his double strike interacted with it differently. He gets that back plus a little more, since he hasn't been scaling the way a melee carry should.
Base Stats
- Armor Growth: 33 + 4.5/Level ⇒ 33 + 5/Level
R - Highlander
- Move Speed: 35 / 45 / 55% ⇒ 40 / 50 / 60%
Nautilus (Nerf)
Riot spent months bringing the other tank supports up and Nautilus stayed on top anyway. Cutting his attack damage and his early rank damage makes the lane trades cost him something. Locking a carry down for four seconds still works exactly the same.
Base Stats
- Attack Damage: 61 + 3.3/Level ⇒ 58 + 3.3/Level
Q - Dredge Line
- Damage: 85 / 130 / 175 / 220 / 265 (+90% AP) ⇒ 85 / 125 / 165 / 205 / 245 (+90% AP)
Seraphine (Nerf)
This one is aimed squarely at bot lane Seraphine, and it's a clean way to do it. Flattening the rank scaling on Beat Drop [E] only costs the build that maxes it, and support Seraphine leaves it last.
E - Beat Drop
- Cooldown: 11 / 10.5 / 10 / 9.5 / 9s ⇒ 11s
Syndra (Nerf)
The MSI changes worked. They worked in solo queue too, in the brackets where she was already fine. Her mana breakpoints now lean on Lost Chapter again, so the builds that skipped it lose the most.
Passive - Transcendent
- Splinter Mana: 20 - 255 ⇒ 20 - 199
W - Force of Will
- Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8s ⇒ 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9s
Viego (Buff)
Viego's win rate has been sliding for a while and his players left before Riot moved. More attack damage per level plus a possession heal that finally scales off what he actually builds gives the bruiser version a reason to exist again.
Base Stats
- Attack Damage Growth: 3.5 ⇒ 4
Passive - Sovereign's Domination
- Heal: 2% (+…. ) ⇒ 2% (+ 2.5% per 100 bonus AD) (+ 2% per 100 AP) (+ 5% per 100% bonus attack speed) (+ 2% per 500 bonus HP) of the target's maximum health
Zaahen (Buff)
It reads like a nerf and it isn't. The Darkin Glaive [Q] used to line up with his passive so that he always came out of a resurrection with it down, and now the cooldown starts the moment he goes into one. Same fix covers Guardian Angel and a Zilean ultimate. His second cast is also a clean double of the first now.
Q - The Darkin Glaive
- New: Cooldown Behavior: If Q is active, it is now placed on Cooldown immediately upon being put in Resurrection
- Q2 Damage: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% bonus AD) ⇒ 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% bonus AD)
Zeri (Nerf)
The Runaan's Hurricane and Yun Tal Wildarrows buffs have pushed Zeri well above where she normally rests, and she's started appearing in pro on top of that. Riot would rather take her burst and waveclear down now than watch her take over the patch.
W - Ultrashock Laser
- Damage: 30 / 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 (+120% tAD) ⇒ 30 / 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 (+100% tAD)
- Wall Damage: 45 / 105 / 165 / 225 / 285 (+180% tAD) ⇒ 45 / 105 / 165 / 225 / 285 (+150% tAD)
- Critical Strike: 150% (+15% IE)
Items
Guinsoo's Rageblade (Buff)
The bugfix pushed back when the first double hit triggers, which cost the item a small amount. An extra second on the stack window hands a similar amount back, and it helps most when you're trying to hold stacks between fights rather than rebuild them.
- Seething Strike Stack Duration: 3s ⇒ 4s
League Classic: The Demacian Reunion
Five champions join Classic at once, which makes this the mode's biggest content drop so far. Four of them are Demacian and the fifth spends her time serving one, and every kit here is the version that got deleted somewhere between 2013 and 2017. All five are in our League Classic 3-D model collection if you want to look at them properly.
New in League Classic
Fiora, the Grand Duelist
This is the 2012 to 2015 Fiora, the one who wins a fight by pressing R and becoming untargetable instead of by hitting four vitals. She sustains through trades, parries a strike back at whoever threw it, and needs a Ravenous Hydra before she can do anything to a wave.
P Duelist
- Regenerates health whenever she damages an enemy
- The regeneration stacks when the target is a champion
Q Lunge
- Dashes to a nearby enemy and strikes them
- Can be cast a second time at no extra cost
W Riposte
- Passive: grants bonus attack damage
- Active: parries the next attack within a short window and deals damage back to the attacker
E Burst of Speed
- Grants attack speed for a few seconds
- Attacks and Lunges during it stack bonus move speed
R Blade Waltz
- Becomes untargetable and dashes around the fight, striking nearby enemies
- Every strike applies on-hit effects
- Repeat hits on the same target deal reduced damage
New in League Classic
Galio, the Sentinel's Sorrow
Classic Galio ran from 2010 to 2017 and shares almost nothing with the modern one beyond the taunt. He buys magic resist and it turns into ability power, he shields an ally and heals off the damage they take, and his gust is the ability Hwei ended up with years later.
P Runic Skin
- Converts a portion of his magic resist into ability power
Q Resolute Smite
- Fires a blast from his eyes that damages and slows enemies where it lands
W Bulwark
- Gives an allied champion bonus armor and magic resist
- Galio heals whenever that ally takes damage while buffed
E Righteous Gust
- Damages enemies in a line and leaves a directional draft behind
- Allies moving with the draft gain move speed
R Idol of Durand
- Channels to taunt every nearby enemy while taking reduced damage
- Damages everyone caught in the area when the channel ends
- That damage scales with how many times he was hit during the channel
New in League Classic
Poppy, the Iron Ambassador
Available from 2010 to 2015, and the reason her ultimate got deleted. Diplomatic Immunity [R] picks one enemy and makes her immune to everyone else on the map, which is not a fight you win by playing well. Ultimate the support, kill the marksman, walk away.
P Valiant Fighter
- Any single instance of damage above 10% of her current health is cut in half
Q Devastating Blow
- Her next attack deals bonus damage based on the target's maximum health
W Paragon of Demacia
- Passive: stacks armor and attack damage up to a cap when she attacks or is attacked
- Active: jumps straight to max stacks and grants move speed for several seconds
E Heroic Charge
- Charges an enemy and knocks them back
- Collision with a wall adds damage and a stun
R Diplomatic Immunity
- Picks one enemy and deals bonus damage to them
- For the duration, nobody else can damage or affect her at all
New in League Classic
Shyvana, the Half-Dragon
The 2011 to 2013 build, which is far enough back that most people playing her have never seen it. Riot's own advice is Frozen Mallet, and it's correct: she has no gap closer outside dragon form, so the answer is making sure nothing can run.
P Fury of the Dragonborn
- Basic attacks enhance each of her abilities: they cut Q's cooldown, extend W, deal a fraction of E's initial damage, and build Fury for her ultimate
Q Twin Bite
- Her next attack strikes twice for bonus damage
- In dragon form it hits a cone in front of her
W Burnout
- Gains move speed and burns everything around her
- In dragon form it leaves a trail of fire behind her
E Flame Breath
- Fires a ball that damages the first enemy hit and shreds their armor
- In dragon form it becomes a cone that hits multiple targets
R Dragon's Descent
- Passive: bonus armor and magic resist, doubled in dragon form
- Transforms and flies forward, damaging and knocking back everything she passes through
New in League Classic
Xin Zhao, the Seneschal of Demacia
His 2012 to 2017 kit, and Riot has already nerfed it before shipping. There's no ultimate knockup ring to zone with and no sweep that leaves your target trapped with you by accident; you pick someone, you shred their armor, and you right click.
P Challenge
- Challenges his most recent attack target and reduces their armor
Q Three Talon Strike
- His next three attacks deal bonus damage and cut his other cooldowns by a second each
- The third attack knocks the target up
W Battle Cry
- Passive: every third attack heals him
- Active: bonus attack speed for several seconds
E Audacious Charge
- Dashes to an enemy and Challenges them
- Damages and slows everyone nearby, target included
R Crescent Sweep
- Sweeps every enemy around him for damage
- Grants armor and magic resist per enemy struck
- Knocks back everyone except his Challenge target
League Classic: Champion Balance
A smaller balance patch than the last one. Several of the mode's bugfixes moved win rates further than Riot expected, so a few champions are getting power handed back, and the rest of the list is the outliers.
Anivia (Nerf)
Anivia is the only real outlier in Classic mid, and the fix is accuracy rather than invention. Everything here walks her back toward her 2013 numbers.
Q - Flash Frost
- Missile Speed: 950 ⇒ 850
- Manual Detonation Stun Duration: 1s ⇒ 0.75s
- Manual Detonation Radius: 230 ⇒ 210
- Minimum Delay for Recast: 0 ⇒ 0.25s
Gangplank (Buff)
Worst conventional top laner in the mode, so this is a big swing. Riot is reverting nerfs from 2011 and 2012 and leaning into the banker fantasy, which means a lot more gold when Parrrley [Q] finishes something off.
Q - Parrrley
- Bonus Gold on Kill: 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 ⇒ 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12
E - Raise Morale
- Active Attack Damage: 12 / 19 / 26 / 33 / 40 ⇒ 14 / 22 / 30 / 38 / 46
- Active Move Speed: 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20% ⇒ 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26%
- Ally Bonus: Allies still gain 50% of Gangplank's bonuses
Heimerdinger (Buff)
Last patch's double damage turret bugfix cost him far more than anyone intended, and it landed hardest in top lane. He gets most of it back here, weighted toward the lane that lost the most, plus a couple of release-day mismatches cleaned up.
Base Stats
- Base Health Regeneration: 4.5 ⇒ 5.05
Q - H-28G Evolution Turret
- Base Damage: 28 / 36 / 44 / 52 / 60 ⇒ 30 / 38 / 46 / 54 / 62
W - Hextech Micro-Rockets
- Mana Cost: 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145 ⇒ 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120
E - CH-1 Concussion Grenade
- Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10s ⇒ 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9s
- Cast Range: 920 ⇒ 925
Kayle (Buff)
One line, and it's worth roughly 17 to 32 ability power. Reading total attack damage instead of bonus means more damage and more healing at every point in the game, which is what top lane Kayle needed.
Passive - Holy Fervor
- Ability Power Gained: 30% bonus AD ⇒ 30% total AD
Malzahar (Nerf)
The AP build is what's overperforming, so that's what gets trimmed. Everything else here pushes the AD version instead: faster Voidlings, better attack speed scaling, and gold that makes them worth killing.
Base Stats
- Attack Speed Growth: 1.36% ⇒ 3%
- Attack Speed Ratio: 0.625 ⇒ 0.658
Passive - Summon Voidling
- Movement Speed: 400 ⇒ 460
- Attack Cast Frame: 12 ⇒ 9
- Gold on Kill: 2 ⇒ 12
Q - Call of the Void
- Ability Power Ratio: 80% ⇒ 70%
R - Nether Grasp
- Bugfix: R no longer continues to deal damage if the channel stops.
Nasus (Nerf)
Top dog in Classic top lane by a distance, and most of that turns out to be bugs. Stack damage could critically strike, which was a real chunk of Trinity Force builds, and Wither [W] was ramping twice as hard as designed. Tenacity works against the slow now, which it never did before.
Q - Siphoning Strike
- Bonus Damage from stacks can no longer critically strike
W - Wither
- Slow ramps every: 0.5s ⇒ 1.0s, affected by Tenacity
- Bugfix: The slow no longer ramps up twice as hard as it should
Warwick (Nerf)
Same story in the jungle, and Feral Flare going back to an attack speed build path made it worse. Riot is taking auto-attack power out of him from several directions at once and reaching back to a 4.21 nerf for the rest.
Base Stats
- Attack Speed: 0.644 ⇒ 0.625
Passive - Eternal Thirst
- Base Damage: 3 - 16, linear scaling ⇒ 3 + 0.5 per level until level 9, then +1 per level
W - Hunter's Call
- Cooldown: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16s ⇒ 30 / 27 / 24 / 21 / 18s
R - Infinite Duress
- Damage: 250 / 335 / 420 + 200% bonus AD ⇒ 180 / 300 / 420 + 200% bonus AD
- Cast Indicator: Updated the cast indicator to better reflect its cast range
League Classic: Council, Systems and Bugfixes
The first Council vote is in. Three questions produced actionable results and ship in a later patch: all three proposed items come back, modern jungle timers get added, and the river critters will be a turtle at top and a duck at bottom.
Council Poll 1: Results
How does game length feel?
- Way too short: 1.87%
- Too short: 5.88%
- About right: 52.80%
- Too long: 26.21%
- Way too long: 13.24%
When is a game too long?
- 30 minutes: 16.75%
- 40 minutes: 32.68%
- 50 minutes: 29.29%
- 60 minutes: 11.64%
- No preferred maximum: 9.63%
Which of these items do you want revived in Classic? Anything above 50% is added, including "All 3."
- Zz'Rot Portal: 16.16%
- Cloak and Dagger: 3.75%
- Moonflair Spellblade: 5.11%
- All 3: 60.67%
- None: 14.32%
Should Classic add jungle timers? If the first two options combine above 50%, the higher of the two wins.
- Yes, always visible on the minimap: 45.74%
- Yes, only when the scoreboard is open: 23.46%
- No, keep the current minimap: 30.79%
Should base gates stay in the game?
- Yes: 55.03%
- No: 44.97%
How snowbally do games feel now?
- Significantly too snowbally: 8.89%
- Slightly too snowbally: 24.99%
- About right: 48.82%
- Slightly not snowbally enough: 12.24%
- Significantly not snowbally enough: 5.06%
Do ward trinkets improve Classic gameplay?
- Yes, I like them: 69.72%
- No, I don't like them: 30.28%
Two critters are being added to the river, one top and one bottom. Which pairing?
- Turtle, Turtle: 11.31%
- Turtle, Duck: 52.09%
- Duck, Turtle: 28.39%
- Duck, Duck: 8.21%
Systems
- Classic Skin Chromas stop being sold separately and get folded into their Base Skin, so nobody pays twice for buying the chroma and then the skin
- Anyone who only bought the Classic Chroma gets the associated Base Skin for free
- Baron Rammus goes into the vault in 26.20, and is discounted until then
Bugfixes
- Fixed a bug where Teemo's traps did not last the appropriate 10 minutes.
- Fixed a bug where Akali's Q cast indicator did not accurately reflect its cast range.
- Fixed a bug where Akali's W could be cast while moving.
- Fixed a bug where Akali's R cast indicator did not accurately reflect its cast range.
- Fixed a bug where Skarner's E could heal for less than the full amount.
- Fixed a bug where Nidalee's Cougar E hit range was 310 instead of 350.
- Fixed a bug where Nidalee's Human E cast range was 900 instead of 600.
ARAM: Mayhem
Another behind-the-scenes pass on which Augments get offered to which champions. The complaint Riot is answering is ability power Augments turning up on champions like Vayne, so a chunk of this patch is exclusion filters rather than numbers. A few Ultra Hydra and Ravenous Hydra interactions that were being abused are closed off too.
Augments
- Clown College: New: Re-enabled
- Spin to Win: R Abilities Damage Increase: 30% ⇒ 50%
- Ultra Hydra: New: You cannot sell Hydra items while you have this Augment
Augment Pool Changes
- New: Augment Exclusion Pool: a pool of Augments that can be excluded from being randomly granted. Currently affects Transmute Augments, Pandora's Box and King Me. Excluded Augments: ADAPt, Back to Basics, Devil on Your Shoulder (currently disabled), Draw Your Sword, EscAPADe, Overflow, Purist - Caster, Ult Bot, Vampirism (currently disabled)
- New: Sharp Late Game Scaling Pool: removed Phenomenal Evil, Tank Engine and Tooth Fairy. Still contains From Beginning to End, High Roller, Infinite Recursion, Multishot, Quest: Urf's Champion and Stackosaurus Rex
- New: Exclusion Filter "Not AP Ratio-less", which excludes champions without ability power ratios. Applied to ADAPt, escAPADe and Phenomenal Evil. Included champions: Aatrox, Ambessa, Camille, Darius, Dr.Mundo, Draven, Garen, K'Sante, Kayn, Kled, Naafiri, Nilah, Olaf, Pyke, Riven, Samira, Sett, Talon, Turgot, Xayah, Yone, Zaahen, Zed
- CC Pool: removed Squishy Slappy Grab
- Health Pool: removed from Anivia, ASol, Cassiopeia, Lilia, Nidalee; Bard moves Low ⇒ Very Low; Morgana and Ryze move Medium ⇒ Low
- Jeweled Gauntlet: removed from Ranged Attacker AD, Ranged Attacker Burst, Melee Attacker AD and Melee Attacker Burst pools
- Tank Engine and Dropkick: excluding Ryze, Morgana, Orianna, Karthus, Rumble
- Outlaw's Grit and Earthwake: excluding low-frequency ult-exclusive dashers Vex, Fiddlesticks, Evelynn, Hecarim, Malphite, Ornn and Warwick
- Triggered Inferno: excluding Zilean
- Windspeaker's Blessing: excluding Bel'Veth
- Stackosaurus: excluding Gangplank
Bugfixes
- Fixed a bug where item damage triggers the cleave effect when you have Upgrade Ravenous Hydra.
- Fixed a bug where En Passant fail to function when two or more players have it on the same team.
- Fixed a bug where Viego can get multiple Tiamat when possessing others while having Ultra Hydra.
- Fixed a bug where extra gold can be gained by selling and re-purchasing a Hydra item with Ultra Hydra augment equipped.
- Fixed a bug where players can purchase multiple Ravenous Hydra and gain Upgrade Ravenous Hydra lifesteal on all three when paired with Quest: Ultra Hydra.
- Fixed a bug where Clown College's Deceive dealt incorrect damage with critical strike ratio.
- Fixed a bug where Rite of Ascension may seal enhanced abilities.
Bugfixes and QoL Changes
- Fixed a bug where Baron Nashor's max stacks of Void Corruption was higher than intended.
- Fixed a bug where Serpent's Fang's Shield Reaver damage applied Omnivamp.
- Fixed a bug where Diana's R VFX may not play properly around different areas of the map.
- Fixed a bug where Viego possessing Kled could result in an infinite looping sound effect.
Upcoming Skins and Chromas
Immortalized Legend Tristana, Risen Legend Orianna and Risen Legend Tristana arrive September 10, 2026. All three are already loaded in our skin library, so you can turn them around and look at the details before you buy: Immortalized Legend Tristana, Risen Legend Orianna and Risen Legend Tristana.
Chromas land in the same patch for Risen Legend Orianna in both Paragon and Mythclimber, plus Paragon chromas for Elderwood LeBlanc, Empyrean Akali and Freljord Taliyah. Riot shows one shared graphic for the two Orianna chromas.
Read next
Buffs on a page and buffs in a game aren't the same thing. Our solo queue tier list is where Viego and Zeri actually settle once the games are played.
Curious how many times Nautilus has been through this? The champion patch history page tracks every buff and nerf a champion has taken, going back years.
And if Cassiopeia's adjustment lands the way Riot hopes, the ban list tells you whether she's worth a ban in your division.














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