League of Legends Patch 26.20 is the Worlds patch, bringing important competitive balance changes, champion buffs and nerfs, item adjustments, and new content for League Classic and ARAM: Mayhem. Riot Games is focusing on professional-play balance while improving several champions that have struggled to find a place in the current meta.
The update adjusts champions such as Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, K’Sante, and Fiora, while giving buffs to Kennen, Kindred, Diana, Lillia, Lucian, Mordekaiser, and Neeko. Riot has also changed Hextech Rocketbelt, Experimental Hexplate, and Runaan’s Hurricane.
League Classic receives five additional champions: Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma, and Quinn. Meanwhile, ARAM: Mayhem gets champion-specific improvements and adjustments to several Augments.
Here is a detailed breakdown of the major changes in League of Legends Patch 26.20, including champion balance, items, Classic content, Arena-related updates, skins, and frequently asked questions.
League of Legends Patch 26.20 Release Date
League of Legends Patch 26.20 was released on October 6, 2026. Riot identifies it as the Worlds patch—the update used for the season’s major international competitive event. The patch also introduces new skins, Classic champions, and gameplay adjustments across multiple modes.
Official patch notes: League of Legends Patch 26.20 Notes.
Patch 26.20 Highlights
The biggest changes in this update include:
- Competitive-focused champion adjustments ahead of Worlds.
- Buffs for Diana, Kennen, Kindred, Lillia, Lucian, Mordekaiser, and Neeko.
- Nerfs or adjustments to Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, K’Sante, and other champions.
- Changes to Hextech Rocketbelt, Experimental Hexplate, and Runaan’s Hurricane.
- Five new League Classic champions: Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma, and Quinn.
- Classic item changes affecting Spirit Visage, Force of Nature, Warmog’s Armor, and Banshee’s Veil.
- New champion-specific buffs and Augment adjustments in ARAM: Mayhem.
- New HEARTSTEEL and Prestige skins.
- Extended Ranked 5s queue hours.
These changes affect different types of players, from professional competitors and ranked climbers to players who prefer Classic or ARAM: Mayhem.
Patch 26.20 Champion Changes
Riot’s Summoner’s Rift adjustments focus on competitive balance and improving the viability of selected champions. Some changes reduce reliable damage or defensive power, while others improve underperforming abilities.
Ambessa Nerf
Ambessa has been particularly reliable in the late game for experienced players. Riot is reducing part of her damage output to limit how consistently she can dominate fights.
Passive – Drakehound’s Step
- Damage: 5–30 (+25% bonus AD) → 5–25 (+20% bonus AD)
This reduces the passive’s damage at higher levels and lowers its bonus AD scaling. Ambessa can still use her mobility and combat tools, but her passive contributes less damage during extended engagements.
Ashe Nerf
Ashe provides substantial utility through slows, vision, and crowd control while also dealing considerable damage. Riot is reducing her late-game damage scaling.
Base Stats
- Attack damage growth: 3.5 → 3 per level
The change lowers the additional attack damage Ashe gains as she levels up. It targets her sustained damage without removing her value as a utility-focused marksman.
Cassiopeia Adjustment
Cassiopeia remains strong during the early laning phase, particularly in highly coordinated play. Riot is reducing her starting resources to make it more difficult to establish an early advantage.
Base Stats
- Base health: 630 → 610
- Base mana: 480 → 450
The health reduction makes early trades riskier, while the mana reduction limits how freely Cassiopeia can repeatedly cast spells. Players will need to manage their positioning and resources more carefully.
Diana Buff
Diana’s assassin build has performed better than her bruiser-oriented builds. Patch 26.20 strengthens the defensive side of her W to improve the bruiser playstyle.
W – Pale Cascade
- Bonus health shield ratio: 11% → 14%
Diana players building bonus health receive a stronger shield. This can improve her durability when entering close-range fights, especially against teams that can punish her after she commits to a target.
Kennen Buff
Kennen receives a buff to his attack speed, with Riot specifically looking to improve the viability of his AD-focused build.
E – Lightning Rush
- Bonus attack speed: 40/50/60/70/80% → 50/60/70/80/90%
The increase provides more attack speed at every rank. It can make Kennen’s basic attacks more effective during trades and help players who want to explore an AD-oriented setup rather than relying exclusively on ability power.
Kindred Buff
Kindred is receiving jungle-focused improvements designed to help the champion without making early invades significantly more oppressive.
W – Wolf’s Frenzy
- Monster damage modifier: 150% → 165%
E – Mounting Dread
- Slow duration: 1 second → 1.5 seconds
- Small-monster targeting: Enabled → Removed
The W change helps Kindred deal more damage to jungle monsters. The longer E slow gives Kindred more time to follow up on a target, while the targeting adjustment changes how the ability interacts with small monsters.
K’Sante Nerf
K’Sante’s reliability in coordinated play is a concern for Riot, particularly when he can absorb damage while consistently disrupting opponents.
W – Path Maker
- Mana cost: 40/45/50/55/60 → 45/50/55/60/65
- Base and All Out damage reduction: 30%/75% → 25%/70%
The increased mana cost limits repeated use of W during the laning phase. The lower damage reduction also makes his defensive windows less powerful, giving opponents more opportunities to punish mistakes.
Lillia Buff
Riot previously buffed Lillia but did not see the desired improvement. Patch 26.20 therefore increases the duration of her ultimate’s crowd control.
R – Lilting Lullaby
- Sleep duration: 2.5 seconds → 2.5/2.75/3 seconds
The duration now scales with ultimate rank. At maximum rank, Lillia can keep affected enemies asleep for three seconds, potentially giving her team more time to coordinate follow-up damage.
Lucian Buff
Lucian’s previous adjustment was intended to balance his performance between mid lane and bot lane, but Riot says the result weakened his bot-lane performance too much.
Base Stats
- Attack damage: 60 + 2.5 per level → 60 + 2.9 per level
The higher AD growth restores some of Lucian’s scaling damage, helping his traditional marksman role without reversing every part of the previous adjustment.
Mordekaiser Buff
Mordekaiser can struggle to keep pace with opponents when his ultimate is unavailable. Riot is improving his Q scaling and reducing the cooldown on Realm of Death at its earlier ranks.
Q – Obliterate
- Scaling from levels 10–20: +5 damage per level → +7 damage per level
R – Realm of Death
- Cooldown: 140/120/100 seconds → 120/110/100 seconds
The Q change gives Mordekaiser stronger damage scaling as the game progresses. The shorter ultimate cooldown at ranks one and two also lets him create more opportunities to isolate an opponent.
Neeko Buff
Neeko receives compensation for the expected impact of the Hextech Rocketbelt changes.
E – Tangle-Barbs
- Base damage: 70/105/140/175/210 (+65% AP) → 80/115/150/185/220 (+65% AP)
- Empowered root duration: 1.8/2.1/2.4/2.7/3 seconds → 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3 seconds
The extra base damage improves Neeko’s ability to punish enemies with E. The longer root at early ranks can also help her land follow-up abilities and coordinate ganks.
Smolder Buff
Smolder has lost power through recent changes and shifts in the bot-lane meta. Riot is strengthening his critical-strike-oriented builds to bring them closer to his alternative setups.
Passive – Dragon Practice
- Super Scorcher bonus magic damage scaling: 25–55% (+0–9% with Infinity Edge) → 25–60% (+0–10.5% with Infinity Edge) of Dragon Practice stacks, scaling with critical-strike chance.
- Flap Flap Flap bonus magic damage scaling: 8–12.8% (+0–1.44% with Infinity Edge) → 8–14% (+0–1.8% with Infinity Edge) of Dragon Practice stacks, scaling with critical-strike chance.
These changes reward critical-strike investment and aim to make Smolder’s crit builds more competitive with bruiser-style options.
Patch 26.20 Item Changes
Several items receive adjustments to address their effectiveness and how they influence champion builds.
Experimental Hexplate Nerf
Experimental Hexplate has been particularly effective on ranged champions, especially when purchased early in top lane. Riot is reducing the value ranged users receive from the item.
Ranged modifier
- 70% of item value, providing 35% attack speed and 14% movement speed → 50% of item value, providing 25% attack speed and 10% movement speed
This makes the item less attractive as a way for ranged champions to combine durability with strong all-in potential.
Hextech Rocketbelt Adjustment
Rocketbelt has been used too frequently as a general escape tool rather than an aggressive engagement item. Riot is reducing its generic utility while increasing the damage of its active.
- Ability haste: 20 → 10
- Active damage: 100 (+10% AP) → 135 (+15% AP)
The lower ability haste reduces some of Rocketbelt’s general value. The stronger active encourages champions to use it offensively when committing to a fight.
Runaan’s Hurricane Nerf
Runaan’s Hurricane is receiving a small reduction after its previous buff.
- Attack damage per bolt: 65% → 60%
The reduction lowers the damage contributed by its additional bolts, particularly when hitting multiple targets. It is a targeted adjustment rather than a complete change to the item’s role.
Scoreboard Item Counter Changes
Riot is cleaning up the scoreboard by hiding counters from several item icons. Recent improvements to buff-bar clarity had moved many item values onto the scoreboard, creating too much visual noise during matches.
The counters being hidden include:
- Death’s Dance
- Haunting Guise
- Liandry’s Torment
- Riftmaker
- Kraken Slayer
- Terminus
- Guinsoo’s Rageblade
- Fiendhunter Bolts
- Echoes of Helia
- Dead Man’s Plate
- Spear of Shojin
- Overlord’s Bloodmail
- Hullbreaker
- Jak’Sho, The Protean
- Force of Nature
Strategically useful counters, including those associated with Tear of the Goddess items and Mejai’s Soulstealer, remain visible.
League Classic Patch 26.20: Five New Champions
League Classic continues expanding with five champions based on older versions of their kits:
- Aatrox
- Caitlyn
- Irelia
- Karma
- Quinn and Valor
These additions bring back older mechanics and playstyles that differ from the champions’ modern versions. For players who enjoy League’s history, Classic offers an opportunity to experience these designs in a dedicated mode.
Riot also notes that the Act II Battle Pass will arrive with Patch 26.21.
Classic Irelia
Classic Irelia is a fast fighter who combines mobility, sustained damage, and defensive tools.
Her abilities include:
- Passive – Ionian Fervor: Grants bonus Tenacity based on the number of visible enemy champions nearby.
- Q – Bladesurge: Dashes to an enemy, deals damage, and applies on-hit effects. If it kills the target, the ability’s cooldown and part of its mana cost are refunded.
- W – Hiten Style: Provides health restoration on attacks, with additional true damage and healing while active.
- E – Equilibrium Strike: Damages and slows an enemy, but stuns the target if they have a higher percentage of health than Irelia.
- R – Transcendent Blades: Fires four blades in a line, damaging enemies and restoring health to Irelia.
Her Q resets make minion-wave management especially important. Players can use low-health minions to reposition and create opportunities to reach enemy champions.
Classic Karma
Karma joins Classic with her earlier design, which existed before her 2013 rework. Players interested in the older version can explore her original gameplay identity rather than the mechanics of her modern kit.
Her inclusion continues the Classic mode’s focus on preserving historically distinct champion designs.
Classic Quinn and Valor
Classic Quinn is a ranged champion who can transform into a fast-moving melee skirmisher through her ultimate.
Her abilities include:
- Passive – Harrier: Valor marks nearby enemies, allowing Quinn to deal bonus damage when attacking marked targets.
- Q – Blinding Assault: Valor attacks an area, dealing damage and blinding enemies.
- W – Heightened Senses: Grants attack and movement speed when Quinn triggers Harrier; activating it briefly reveals a large area.
- E – Vault: Quinn dashes to an enemy, damages them, knocks them back, and applies a slow.
- R – Tag Team: Quinn leaves the battlefield while Valor takes over with increased movement speed and modified abilities. Recasting the ultimate triggers Skystrike and returns Quinn to the battlefield.
This version of Quinn emphasizes the contrast between ranged attacks and Valor’s high-speed movement.
Classic Aatrox and Caitlyn
Aatrox and Caitlyn are also part of the new Classic champion group. Their older versions join the growing selection of champions available in the mode.
Players should expect historical abilities and interactions rather than a direct copy of their current Summoner’s Rift kits.
League Classic Champion Balance Changes
Patch 26.20 also includes several balance changes to champions and items in Classic.
Fiora Nerf
Classic Fiora remains a dominant top-lane pick. Riot is reducing her damage without further weakening the explosive nature of her ultimate.
W – Riposte
- Bonus attack damage: 15/20/25/30/35 → 10/15/20/25/30
This lowers the bonus attack damage from Riposte while leaving its core defensive and counterattack identity intact.
Graves Nerf and Animation Improvements
Classic Graves arrived as a powerful and popular champion. Riot is preserving his burst and distinctive shotgun playstyle while reducing his sustained damage.
Base Stats
- Basic attack and critical attack animations: sped up
- Base attack damage: 54.1 → 50
- Attack damage growth: 3.1 → 2.5 per level
- Attack speed growth: 2.9% → 2.5% per level
R – Collateral Damage
- Cone damage: 140/250/360 (+120% bonus AD) → 140/230/320 (+100% bonus AD)
- Projectile damage: unchanged
The faster attack animations improve how Graves feels to play, while the reduced stats and ultimate cone damage limit his overall damage output.
Fizz Nerf
Classic Fizz performed particularly well as an AP assassin. Riot is reducing the scaling on two abilities to limit guaranteed burst damage.
Q – Urchin Strike
- AP ratio: 60% → 40%
W – Seastone Trident
- Active AP ratio: 35% → 20%
The changes are aimed more heavily at high-AP builds while preserving room for Fizz’s alternative fighter playstyle.
Kennen Classic Adjustment
Classic Kennen’s W is being changed to provide more support for AD-oriented builds.
W – Electrical Surge
- Passive damage: 40/50/60/70/80% total AD → 25/40/55/70/85 + 100% bonus AD
This changes the way his passive damage scales, making bonus AD a more important part of the ability’s damage calculation.
Nautilus Classic Buffs and Bug Fixes
Nautilus was underperforming across his support, jungle, and top roles. Riot is fixing bugs and improving his shield and damage.
Passive – Staggering Blow
- Fixed an issue where the empowered attack dealt excessive critical-strike damage.
W – Titan’s Wrath
- Fixed a bug where the shield failed to account for armor and magic resistance.
- Damage over time: 40/55/70/85/100 (+40% AP) → 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP)
- Bonus health shield ratio: 10% → 15%
- Shield duration: 9.75 → 10 seconds
These changes improve Nautilus’s durability and damage, especially when he can obtain more experience and bonus health.
Classic Tank Item Changes
Three tank items receive increased health regeneration:
| Item | Before | Patch 26.20 |
|---|---|---|
| Spirit Visage | 4 health per 5 seconds | 20 health per 5 seconds |
| Force of Nature | 20 health per 5 seconds | 40 health per 5 seconds |
| Warmog’s Armor | 10 health per 5 seconds | 30 health per 5 seconds |
Banshee’s Veil also receives a shop filter correction: its stat filter changes from Ability Power to Health.
The tank-item changes are intended to improve items that were underperforming and make health regeneration a more meaningful part of their value.
ARAM: Mayhem Patch 26.20 Changes
ARAM: Mayhem receives champion-specific buffs and usability improvements to Augments. Riot’s stated goal is to strengthen important champion patterns while making some characters more accessible and satisfying to play in the mode.
Bard Buffs
- Meep AP ratio: 50% → 67%
- Meep recharge: 8 seconds → 5 seconds
- Meep attack damage per chime breakpoint: 6 per 3 chimes → 10 per 3 chimes
The faster recharge and stronger scaling make Bard’s meeps more impactful throughout a Mayhem match.
Garen Buffs
- Passive regeneration: 1.5%–10.1% → 2%–12%
- W cooldown: 22–12 seconds → 18–12 seconds
- W shield strength: 18% bonus health → 20% bonus health
- W passive stacks per minion kill: 0.4 → 0.75
These changes improve Garen’s sustain and durability, especially when he can repeatedly use W during fights.
K’Sante Buffs
- W cooldown: 14–10 seconds → 10 seconds
- W damage reduction: 30% → 45%
- E shield strength: 13.5% bonus health → 15% bonus health
These are Mayhem-specific changes and should not be confused with K’Sante’s Summoner’s Rift nerfs.
Lee Sin Buffs
- Passive attack speed: 40% bonus attack speed → 50% bonus attack speed
- Passive energy restoration: 20/30/40 → 30/40/50
- W shield: 60–240 → 80–320
- Q2 damage: 60–180 → 80–240
The changes increase Lee Sin’s damage, energy restoration, and shielding in Mayhem.
Swain Adjustment
- Damage taken modifier: 105% → 100%
- Healing modifier: 95% → 100%
- Soul fragment restoration: 6% flat → 3%–6%, scaling with level
Swain becomes less vulnerable and receives improved healing, with soul-fragment restoration scaling as he levels.
Thresh Buffs
- Passive soul drops: 2 → 3
- W cooldown: 21/20/19/18/17 seconds → 19/18/17/16/15 seconds
More souls improve Thresh’s scaling, while the lower W cooldown gives his team more frequent access to the lantern’s utility.
ARAM: Mayhem Augment Changes
Several Augments are adjusted to improve usability and balance.
Juiced
- Mana Drain: removed
- Damage-to-mana ratio: 4.5% → 7%
- New ranged modifier: 80% of the 7% value
Leg Day
- Slow resistance: 40% → 50%
Missile Split
- Split trigger: first unit hit → when the missile reaches its end or is recast
This change allows the Augment to behave more consistently when players want to split a missile after its initial travel.
Shark Tempest
- Slow: 30% for 3 seconds → 40% for 3 seconds
- Base area damage: 50–100 → 100–200
- Attached damage over 3 seconds: 75–225 (+0.6 bonus AD + 0.36 AP) → 90–270 (+0.75 bonus AD + 0.45 AP)
The higher slow and damage values make Shark Tempest more impactful when it connects.
ARAM Champion Adjustments
Patch 26.20 also changes two champions in standard ARAM.
Bel’Veth
- Damage dealt: 105% → 100%
- Damage taken: 95% → 100%
- Tenacity: 20% → 0%
These changes reduce Bel’Veth’s special damage and durability advantages in ARAM.
Locke
- Damage dealt: 105% → 115%
Locke receives a damage increase to improve his performance in the mode.
Ranked 5s Queue Hours Extended
Riot has extended the available queue hours for Ranked 5s.
The previous queue window ran from 4 PM to 2 AM server time. Under the updated schedule, it runs from 4 PM to 4 AM server time.
This gives organized teams an additional two hours to queue, potentially making it easier for players with different schedules to find time for coordinated matches. The schedule is based on server time, so players should check their regional client for the applicable hours.
Patch 26.20 Skins and Chromas
Riot lists the following skins as available starting October 7, 2026:
- Prestige Classic Baron Kog’Maw
- Prestige HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Sett
- HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Ezreal
- HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Kayn
- HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Aphelios
- HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Yone
- HEARTSTEEL Live My Life K’Sante
These releases combine Prestige content with the HEARTSTEEL-themed lineup. Availability, pricing, and any event-specific requirements should be checked in the in-game store.
Patch 26.20 Bug Fixes and Quality-of-Life Changes
The update also resolves several gameplay issues.
Notable fixes include:
- Fixed an issue where Orianna’s ultimate visual effects and actual hitbox could become misaligned after casting it before the ball reached a fast-moving ally.
- Fixed an issue where Sylas’s stolen Nautilus ultimate could fail after losing vision of its target.
- Fixed an issue where Xin Zhao’s Q could go on full cooldown if its first attack was dodged by certain abilities.
- Fixed an issue where Shyvana’s ultimate failed to cancel enemy Teleports.
- Fixed an issue where Kayle’s Q applied the on-hit Spellblade effect from several items.
These fixes improve consistency in champion interactions and reduce situations where an ability behaves differently from what players expect.
What Patch 26.20 Means for the League of Legends Meta
Patch 26.20 is designed around the competitive environment, but its changes also matter to regular ranked players.
1. Worlds Preparation Takes Priority
The patch is being used for the season’s major competitive event. Changes to champions such as Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, and K’Sante reduce aspects of their reliability or power, while buffs to selected champions could create additional options for competitive teams.
These adjustments do not guarantee that every buffed champion will become a tournament pick. Professional teams will still consider team compositions, matchups, player proficiency, and the wider item meta.
2. Rocketbelt Encourages More Aggressive Use
The Rocketbelt adjustment reduces ability haste but increases active damage. Players who rely on it for quick escapes may find it less valuable, while champions that use the active to initiate fights can benefit from the higher damage.
3. Classic Is Becoming a Bigger Experience
The addition of Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma, and Quinn expands the roster of historical champion designs available in League Classic. The Classic balance changes also show that Riot is continuing to tune the mode rather than simply leaving older versions untouched.
4. ARAM: Mayhem Gets More Specialized Builds
Champion-specific buffs to Bard, Garen, K’Sante, Lee Sin, Swain, and Thresh strengthen their core patterns in Mayhem. Augment adjustments such as the Missile Split change also focus on how the mode feels to play, not just on numerical balance.
Overall, Patch 26.20 balances competitive preparation with ongoing support for League’s alternative modes.
League of Legends Patch 26.20 Changes at a Glance
| Category | Major Changes |
|---|---|
| Release date | October 6, 2026 |
| Competitive focus | Worlds patch |
| Champion changes | Buffs and nerfs across Summoner’s Rift |
| Major item updates | Experimental Hexplate, Hextech Rocketbelt, Runaan’s Hurricane |
| Classic additions | Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma, Quinn |
| Classic item changes | Spirit Visage, Force of Nature, Warmog’s Armor, Banshee’s Veil |
| ARAM: Mayhem | Champion buffs and Augment updates |
| Standard ARAM | Bel’Veth and Locke adjustments |
| Ranked 5s | Queue window extended to 4 AM server time |
| Skins | Prestige Classic Baron Kog’Maw and HEARTSTEEL lineup |
Frequently Asked Questions
When did League of Legends Patch 26.20 release?
League of Legends Patch 26.20 was released on October 6, 2026. It is Riot’s Worlds patch for the season.
Which champions are buffed in Patch 26.20?
Notable Summoner’s Rift buffs include Diana, Kennen, Kindred, Lillia, Lucian, Mordekaiser, and Neeko. Smolder also receives changes intended to improve critical-strike builds.
Which champions are nerfed in Patch 26.20?
Notable changes include nerfs to Ambessa, Ashe, Cassiopeia, and K’Sante. Fiora, Graves, and Fizz also receive nerfs in League Classic.
What items changed in Patch 26.20?
Experimental Hexplate has reduced value for ranged users, Hextech Rocketbelt loses ability haste but gains active damage, and Runaan’s Hurricane receives a reduction to its attack damage per bolt. Classic also receives health regeneration changes to several tank items.
Which champions are new in League Classic Patch 26.20?
Five champions join League Classic: Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma, and Quinn.
What changed in ARAM: Mayhem?
Bard, Garen, K’Sante, Lee Sin, Swain, and Thresh receive champion-specific changes. Several Augments, including Juiced, Leg Day, Missile Split, and Shark Tempest, are also adjusted.
What skins are included in Patch 26.20?
The patch highlights Prestige Classic Baron Kog’Maw and the HEARTSTEEL Live My Life skins for Sett, Ezreal, Kayn, Aphelios, Yone, and K’Sante. Riot lists them for October 7, 2026.
Did Riot change Ranked 5s queue hours?
Yes. The queue window was extended from 4 PM–2 AM to 4 PM–4 AM server time.
Where can I read the official Patch 26.20 notes?
You can read the complete update on Riot Games’ official website: League of Legends Patch 26.20 Notes.
Final Thoughts
League of Legends Patch 26.20 is an important update because it establishes the balance environment for Worlds while continuing to develop League Classic and ARAM: Mayhem.
The Summoner’s Rift changes target competitive reliability, champion scaling, and item effectiveness. Rocketbelt’s adjustment encourages a more aggressive use of its active, while the new Classic champions bring additional historical gameplay options to the mode.
For players who prefer alternative modes, ARAM: Mayhem receives a set of champion and Augment improvements designed to make builds more satisfying and abilities more consistent.
As always, balance changes can affect matchups and build choices differently depending on rank, team composition, and playstyle. Players should use the patch notes as a starting point and adapt their champion selections and item builds as the meta develops.
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