Notes published Sept. 22, 2026, live on servers Sept. 23, 2026
Patch 26.19 is the last stop before the Worlds patch, which is why Riot's first round of pro-focused changes lands here. Fringe tournament picks get nudged up and the meta outliers get knocked down. Top lane gets a faster Teleport on top of that. League Classic adds four more champions, with Graves as the headline, and Arena picks up three Guests of Honor and a stack of new Augments.
Team Voice was meant to reach North America and Oceania in Patch 26.20. It isn't going to. Riot says testing turned up enough rough edges that shipping on schedule would have meant shipping something short of the quality bar, so the rollout slips. No replacement patch yet either.
Champions
AatroxBuff
Sundered Sky got nerfed to open up the jungle, and Aatrox paid for a change that was never really about him. He gets a faster Infernal Chains [W] at the early ranks, plus more healing per point of bonus health, which mostly shows up later anyway.
Health Heal Ratio:1.1% per 100 bonus health⇒1.3% per 100 bonus health
ApheliosBuff
An enchanter meta is supposed to be Aphelios weather, and he's been nowhere near it. So every gun in the rotation gets something, rather than one of them getting picked to carry the buff. Five weapons, five changes.
Mini-Crescendum Damage:15% AD, decreasing by 1.5% AD to a minimum of 5% AD for the 8th+ chakram⇒16% AD, decreasing by 1.5% AD to a minimum of 5% AD for the 9th+ chakram
AuroraBuff
Nobody has touched Aurora since last year. Rocketbelt got touched plenty, though, and she went down with it. The Weirding [E] hits harder now, and Between Worlds [R] stays open longer at the first two ranks.
Role quests handed every bot laner a pile of extra gold, which quietly devalued the one thing Draven's whole identity is built on. Two points of base attack damage is the compensation. Not much, really.
Base Stats
Attack Damage:62⇒64
EliseBuff
AP junglers who could build Dusk and Dawn had a great year. Elise wasn't one of them. She picks up on-hit magic damage and quite a lot of attack speed in spider form, which is clear speed more than anything else.
The payoff gets bigger while the 1v1 buttons stay exactly where they are. Grand Challenge [R] heals for more across a wider radius, and she grows six more health per level. This is still a Fiora who has to find the opening first, of course.
Kha'Zix has been living just outside the meta since the jungle stopped revolving around Sundered Sky. Riot is buffing the evolves nobody picks, so the flexible build actually has a reason to exist again.
Her pattern puts her inside range of everything that wants to kill her, so she gets armor. Lilting Lullaby [R] keeps them asleep half a second longer, and that half second is the difference between a good ultimate and a won teamfight.
Base Stats
Armor:22⇒24
R - Lilting Lullaby
Sleep Duration:2 seconds⇒2.5 seconds
LucianAdjusted
The Vigilance passive exists so that bot lane Lucian wouldn't get nerfed every time mid lane Lucian got scary. Riot is rebalancing that trade now. Less out of the passive, quite a lot more out of Piercing Light [Q]. Mid lane was always going to win this argument eventually.
Duskblade left the game a long time ago. The penalty Riot bolted onto Alpha Strike [Q] to deal with it never did. It's gone now. Summoner's Rift will barely register it, though Mayhem and Arena certainly will.
Q - Alpha Strike
Cooldown Refund on Hit:-1 second, scaling down with Ability Haste⇒1 second
NasusNerf
Nasus stacks fastest when his early stacks come easy, and easy early stacks are how he ends up unkillable by minute thirty anyway. Ten damage off Siphoning Strike [Q] at every rank buys the lane a real window.
Twenty seconds onto Paranoia [R] at rank one. Being strong in pro and solo queue at the same time is unusual, and the map pressure is really the reason he manages both.
A straight revert of the jungle clear buff. Poppy already counters too much of the roster to also be this flexible about where she does it from, and the clear is what let her sit in the jungle at all.
Q - Hammer Shock
Minion/Monster Maximum Health Cap:85 / 120 / 155 / 190 / 225⇒70 / 105 / 140 / 175 / 210
RumbleNerf
Overheat loses a big slice of attack speed (that lands hardest on the players good enough to hold it for the right moment). Jungle Rumble gets a higher monster damage cap to cover the loss, so he should still clear fine.
Passive - Junkyard Titan
Overheat Attack Speed:50 - 130%⇒30 - 100%
Monster Cap:65 - 150⇒90 - 175
RyzeNerf
In expert hands Ryze roams and skirmishes better than almost anything in the game. In a bad matchup he gets shoved off the map and never recovers. This patch takes from the first and gives to the second.
A full year as a meta staple ends with her durability and early clear on the table. She swaps two base attack damage for a steeper growth curve and drops two percent off her shield, so the first clear is a real question again. Late Vi still hits like Vi, mind you.
Base Stats
Attack Damage:63 + 3.5/Level⇒61 + 3.9/Level
Passive - Blast Shield
Shield:12% Maximum Health⇒10% Maximum Health
VolibearBuff
AD Volibear has been getting careful little buffs all year and still isn't where Riot wants him. The passive now scales its attack speed harder with AP, and the lightning picks up a bonus AD ratio, so both builds walk away with something (unusual for a champion sitting this far off the pace).
Passive - The Relentless Storm
Attack Speed per Stack:5% (+3% per 100 AP)⇒5% (+4% per 100 AP)
Melee supports get paid handsomely for roaming and for all-ins, and get almost nothing for standing in a lane trading. Moving the flat health into health regen helps them more than anyone else (their base regen is already the highest in the role), so the item does the sorting on its own.
World Atlas and Runic Compass
Health:30 / 100 / 200⇒0 / 60 / 200
Health Regeneration:25% / 50% / 75%⇒50% / 75% / 75%
Systems
The top lane role quest freed the role from having to run Teleport, and Riot likes what that did to the map. Now the spell gets better for the people who take it anyway, whether that's from the quest or the upgrade. Everyone else's Unleashed Teleport stays exactly where it was, mind you.
Teleport Cooldown
Top Role Quest's Free Teleport Cooldown:420 seconds⇒390 seconds
Top Role Quest's Upgraded Unleashed Teleport Cooldown:330 - 240 seconds⇒300 - 210 seconds
Fizz can move through units and takes reduced damage from basic attacks.
Q - Urchin Strike
Fizz dashes a fixed distance through an enemy, damaging them and applying on-hit effects.
W - Seastone Trident
Passive: Fizz's basic attacks deal additional damage over time, scaling with his target's missing health.
Active: For the next few seconds, Fizz's basic attacks deal bonus damage on-hit and apply Grievous Wounds for a few seconds, reducing healing by 50%.
E - Playful/Trickster
First cast: Fizz hops up on his trident, becoming untargetable. After a short delay, he will crash down, damaging and slowing enemies around him.
Second cast: Fizz can hop off the trident early to dash farther but deal damage in a smaller area and doesn't slow.
R - Chum the Waters
Fizz throws out bait that clings onto the first enemy champion it hits. After a short delay, a mighty shark stalks its prey, dealing tons of damage, knocking up, and slowing enemies in the area.
New Graves
Passive - True Grit
While in combat, Graves gains stacking Armor and Magic Resist every second, up to a cap.
Q - Buckshot
Graves fires out three bullets that damage all enemies in a line. Multiple hits on the same target deal reduced damage.
W - Smokescreen
Graves launches a smoke grenade that damages, slows, and nearsights enemies in an area.
E - Quickdraw
Graves dashes a short distance and gains bonus attack speed for several seconds. Basic attacks reduce Quickdraw's cooldown.
R - Collateral Damage
Graves fires an explosive shell that damages enemies in a line. It explodes on the first enemy champion hit, dealing reduced damage in a cone behind them.
New Nami
Passive - Surging Tides
Allies struck by Nami's abilities briefly gain bonus move speed.
Q - Aqua Prison
Nami lobs a bubble that damages and stuns enemies where it lands.
W - Ebb and Flow
Nami unleashes a stream of water that bounces, alternating between enemies and allies. Enemies take damage while allies are healed. Each bounce is less effective than the hit before it.
E - Tidecaller's Blessing
Nami empowers an ally, causing their next three attacks to deal bonus damage and slow their target.
R - Tidal Wave
Nami unleashes a massive tidal wave that damages, knocks up, and slows all enemies it crashes into.
New Nautilus
Passive - Staggering Blow
Nautilus's basic attacks deal bonus damage and root their enemies. Each enemy can only be Staggered once every few seconds.
Q - Dredge Line
Nautilus throws out his anchor, colliding with the first enemy or piece of terrain it hits. Enemies are damaged and pulled in, while Nautilus pulls himself to his target. Hitting terrain refunds part of Dredge Line's cooldown.
W - Titan's Wrath
Nautilus gains a shield. While it holds, his attacks deal damage over time to enemies in the area.
E - Riptide
Nautilus slams the ground, sending out cascading shockwaves that damage and slow enemies. Enemies may be hit by multiple shockwaves, taking reduced damage for subsequent hits.
R - Depth Charge
Nautilus fires a shockwave into the earth that damages and knocks up enemies in its path. When it reaches his target, it damages, knocks up, and stuns all enemies in the immediate area.
Bonus Experience While Dead: No longer grants bonus XP while Zilean is dead.
Q - Time Bomb
Cast Visibility: Casting the spell now reveals Zilean if cast from fog of war.
E - Time Warp
Cast Range:550 edge to edge (around 650 in practical use)⇒700 center to center
Items
New Cloak and Dagger
Recipe: Cloak of Agility + Dagger. 1130 total cost.
Attack Speed: 20%
Critical Strike Chance: 20%
Unique Passive: 35% Tenacity, shared with Mercury's Treads, Zephyr, and Moonflair Spellblade.
New Moonflair Spellblade
Recipe: Seeker's Armguard + Negatron Cloak. 2300 total cost.
Ability Power: 50
Armor: 50
Magic Resistance: 50
Unique Passive: 35% Tenacity, shared with Mercury's Treads, Zephyr, and Cloak and Dagger.
New Zz'Rot Portal
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Recipe: Chain Vest + Negatron Cloak + Rejuvenation Bead. 2700 total cost.
Armor: 50
Magic Resistance: 50
Health Regeneration: 5 per 5 seconds
Active: Place down a void gate for 150 seconds. Voidlings with decaying health periodically spawn and march down the nearest lane, damaging enemies in their path. 150-second cooldown.
Systems
Council Vote
Miscellaneous
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Added more in-game negative behavior detections.
Updated in-game pings to use oldschool art.
Updated start-of-champion select visuals to make team and position more apparent.
Updated the loading screen to look more classic.
Improved visual clarity in The Council voting.
Added a new "Recommended" sort in the Runes store, making it easier for new players to identify good early-account runes.
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where Janna's Tailwind could persist on allies for up to 5 seconds after death.
Fixed a bug where the Overview, Abilities, and Skins tabs in Classic champion profiles were misaligned and unclickable.
Fixed a bug where purchasing Royal Guard Fiora did not grant the associated Classic chroma.
Fixed a bug where Release Date sorting did not sort Classic Store runes from newest to oldest or oldest to newest.
Fixed a bug where Recommended was missing from the Classic Store Runes sort options.
Fixed a bug where Classic homepage images loaded when logging into a non-Classic mode tab.
Fixed a bug where the Imperial Classic chroma name was missing in Champion Select for Xin Zhao.
Fixed a bug where Runaan's Hurricane Volley could trigger minions' Call for Help when hitting enemy champions near minions.
Fixed a bug where Sona's Song of Celerity description incorrectly stated that its effect applied only to champions.
Fixed a bug where rapidly pressing Recall granted Guinsoo's Rageblade stacks.
Fixed a bug where Sivir's Spell Shield did not block damage from Miss Fortune's Double Up.
Fixed a bug where Tristana's Explosive Charge did not trigger its explosion when bonus damage killed a minion.
Fixed a bug where Release Date ascending and descending sorting had the same effect in Classic Collection portraits.
ARAM: Mayhem
Mayhem gets a quiet patch. Riot is still working through which Augments show up for which champions so that every offer is one you might actually take. The exception is High Roller, which just snowballs games when it turns up early, so it's taking another hit.
Fixed a bug where Clown College used the wrong text color for true damage.
Fixed a bug where King Me had debug Augment name shoutouts, including Hellbent, Overloaded, Surge Field, and Spirit Bomb.
Fixed a bug where Mad Scientist granted both +30% Attack Damage and Ability Power instead of 30% Adaptive Force.
Fixed a bug where Multishot had extra quest step requirements for Nami's and Ezreal's ultimate abilities.
Fixed a bug where Yuumi could spam Bilgewater Cannon landing effects when she was attached to a unit.
Fixed a bug where Bursting Teeth did not trigger due to a per-target cooldown.
Fixed a bug where Bel'Veth's Q did not reset after using her ultimate when she had Ultimate Awakening.
Fixed a bug where Item Quest Progress broke when re-adding quest Augment offerings.
Fixed a bug where Vel'Koz's W did not get the correct refund with Skilled Sniper.
Fixed a bug where removing Upgrade Ravenous resulted in negative Life Steal for all your items.
Arena
Arena gets the biggest content drop of the patch outside Classic. Three Guests of Honor arrive, ten Augments come across from Mayhem, and two more (Death Dealer and Got That Dog In Em) were built with VestionOCE and SoyJamiie from Season 2's For The Win Creator Invitational. On the balance side the most consistent champions come down and the strugglers come up, while the Augments at either end of the power range get pulled toward the middle. It's a long list, even by Arena standards.
Whenever you cast an ability, refund the cooldown of another, randomly selected ability by 30% of the cast ability's cooldown.
New Crit N Cast
Gain Ability Haste equal to 40% of your Critical Strike Chance.
New Death Dealer
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Replacement: Replaces Flee.
Activate on a target champion to enter the Death Realm for 4 / 8 seconds. Entering the Death Realm causes you to become invisible for the first 2 seconds.
Cap Stone: At Max Level, killing your target grants your team another revive and delays the slain player's revive by 1 second.
New Got That Dog In Em
Every 3 seconds spawn a nearby hot dog. This can be picked up by anyone, causing them to breathe fire.
Enemies who pick this up can damage their allies.
If you die while breathing fire, you explode, dealing magic damage per stack.
New Hellbent
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Hellbent: Upon taking lethal damage, you enter resurrection for 4 seconds, during which you are invulnerable, untargetable, and unable to act. Afterwards, you revive with 35 - 75% (based on level) of your maximum health with a 90-second cooldown. Additionally, you become empowered for the next 15 seconds, granting you 15 - 120 (based on level) bonus Attack Damage or 25 - 200 (based on level) Ability Power (Adaptive), 20% - 40% (based on level) bonus Move Speed while facing toward nearby enemy champions, and 15% - 30% (based on level) Omnivamp for the duration.
New Nature Is Healing
New Rite of Ascension
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Upon consumption of the Essence, you gain 100% bonus Move Speed decaying over 2 seconds, heal yourself for 75 - 300 (based on level) (+50% bonus AD) (+25% AP), and reset the cooldowns of your basic abilities. The heal is increased by 0% - 100% (based on your missing health), for a maximum heal of 150 - 600 (based on level) (+100% bonus AD) (+50% AP).
New Shark Bait
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At the end of the duration, a massive shark emerges from beneath you that lets out a powerful chomp in a 400 radius, dealing 120 - 350 (based on level) (+10 / 30% of the target's missing health) magic damage to all enemies within the area and knocking them up for 1 second.
While under the zombie state, you are able to move and become invulnerable, untargetable, and immune to crowd control, but you are also rendered unable to declare basic attacks, cast abilities, use summoner spells, and activate items.
At Max Level, everyone on your team will turn into a shark on death.
New Sonata
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Aria of Perseverance: Heal yourself for 60 (+60% AP) and send out a tone to the most wounded allied champion within 1000 units that heals them for the same amount. Additionally, generate an aura that grants you and tagged allied champions an 80 (+40% AP) shield for 1.5 seconds.
Song of Celerity: Gain 30% bonus Move Speed for 7 seconds. If you take damage during this time, the duration ends prematurely once or if 3 seconds have elapsed. Additionally, generate an aura that grants tagged allied champions 20% bonus Move Speed for 3 seconds.
New Surge Field
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The missile effect cannot trigger from itself.
The zone lasts indefinitely as long as you stay within its radius.
If you leave the zone's radius for the first time, it moves to your current location.
Exiting the zone a second time causes it to disappear if you do not re-enter the area within 1.25 seconds.
New Titan's Resolve
Rank 1 Stacks Gained: 1
Rank 2 Stacks Gained: 2
New Warlock Juicebox
New Wee Woo Wee Woo
Angel of Retribution
Health Scaling Ratio:350⇒450
Chroma Flux
Rarity:Prismatic⇒Gold
Giant Slayer
Rank 1 Damage Bonus:10 - 30⇒5 - 25
Rank 2 Damage Bonus:15 - 35⇒10 - 30
Rank 3 Damage Bonus:20 - 40⇒15 - 35
Protein Shake
Base Health Scaling:15⇒25
Scavenger
Gold:500⇒1000
Spellcraft
Cooldown:15 seconds⇒10 seconds
Base Damage:100⇒150
Systems
Bonus Energy Regen Based on Missing Health
Maximum Bonus Energy Regeneration:Up to 100%⇒Up to 400%
Guests of Honor
New Ivern
When a team loses a round, spawn a brush at each of their locations. This brush lasts the rest of the game.
New Senna
Opens up 3 portals to the Death Realm. Anyone can enter the portal to go to the Death Realm. While in the Death Realm, you can go through any of the portals to return to the living realm.
New Thresh
While downed, throw a lantern to your allies every few (8) seconds. This grants allies near the lantern a shield. Anyone can click the lantern to be pulled to the downed player.
Bugfixes & QoL Changes
Fixed a bug where Renata's R would not amp damage caused by Berserk targets.
Updated the Practice Tool Stack Item cheat to include: Dark Seal, Mejai's, Heartsteel, Gluttonous Greaves, and Force of Nature.
Fixed a bug where Taliyah's W terrain was smaller than the hitbox.
Fixed a bug where Yone's R warning VFX was not visible in very specific circumstances.
Fixed a bug where Yunara's auto resets would not extend Hail of Blades appropriately.
Fixed a bug where Renekton would not gain 20 fury from his ult when it was cast immediately after W.
Fixed a bug where Nunu & Willump could unlock his camera during W.
Fixed a bug where clones would not receive Homeguards after running back to the fountain
Fixed a bug where Target Champions Only could be toggled on unexpectedly
Fixed a bug where Camille's W would count as two hits when triggering bone plating.
Fixed a bug where Camille's Passive would sometimes not proc Shield Bash.
Fixed a bug where Aatrox Q sweetspots use crit text instead of enhanced damage text.
Upcoming Skins & Chromas
Coven Janna, Coven Mel, Old God Anivia and Old God Urgot all land on September 23, 2026. Riot's art is a flat splash, so if you want to turn one around and look at the back of it, our library has Coven Janna in 3-D, Coven Mel in 3-D, Old God Anivia in 3-D and Old God Urgot in 3-D.
The following skins will be released in this patch
AatroxBuff
ApheliosBuff
AuroraBuff
DravenBuff
EliseBuff
FioraBuff
Kha'ZixBuff
LilliaBuff
LucianAdjusted
Master YiBuff
NasusNerf
NocturneNerf
PoppyNerf
RumbleNerf
RyzeNerf
ViNerf
VolibearBuff
New Fizz
New Graves
New Nami
New Nautilus
Akali
Galio
Kassadin
Malphite
Morgana
Nidalee
Shyvana
Twisted Fate
Zilean
New Cloak and Dagger
New Moonflair Spellblade
New Zz'Rot Portal
New Ivern
New Senna
New Thresh
