LoL Patch 26.16 Notes: ADCs Buffed, Roaming Supports Nerfed

Riot shipped League of Legends patch 26.16 on August 12, 2026, and it is one of the most structural patches of the season. Instead of stacking champion tweaks, Riot went straight at the two strategies dominating solo queue — early roaming supports and bot lane mages. Every value below comes from the official patch notes published by Riot Games.

Patch 26.16 at a glance

If you only have thirty seconds, here is what actually changes for your ranked games.

• ADCs take far less magic damage in the early and mid game.
• A support who leaves bot lane before level 5 loses a lot more gold and experience.
• Jungle pets scale better with AP, armor and MR, opening the door for mage and tank junglers.
• Sundered Sky, the king of AD fighter items for a year, is nerfed; Black Cleaver, Eclipse and Sterak's Gage get power back.
• Berserker's Greaves and Runaan's Hurricane are buffed, putting AD carries back in the race.

Systems: the real core of the patch

Three systems changes matter more than every champion adjustment combined.

ADC magic resistance

• Magic Resistance (all affected ADCs): 30 + 1.3/level ⇒ 33 + 1.1/level
• Tristana Magic Resistance: 28 + 1.3/level ⇒ 33 + 1.1/level
• Affected champions: Akshan, Aphelios, Ashe, Caitlyn, Corki, Draven, Ezreal, Graves, Jhin, Jinx, Kai'Sa, Kalista, Kindred, Kog'Maw, Lucian, Miss Fortune, Quinn, Samira, Senna, Sivir, Smolder, Twitch, Varus, Vayne, Xayah, Yunara, Zeri

Support role quest

• Stack Consumption On Champion / Turret Damage: 22 Melee || 20 Ranged and 24 Melee || 22 Ranged ⇒ 18 and 21
• Stack Consumption On Creep Score: 15 and 20 ⇒ 18 and 21
• Minion CS Experience / Gold Penalty: -25% outside bot lane until level 3 ⇒ -33% outside bot lane until level 5

Jungle pets

• Jungle Pets — Damage Per Attack : (+12% Ability Power) (+20% bonus Armor) (+20% bonus Magic Resistance) (+3% bonus Health) ⇒ (+16% Ability Power) (+25% bonus Armor) (+25% bonus Magic Resistance) (+4% bonus Health)
• Base unchanged: 20 - 150 damage based on level (+10% bonus Attack Damage)

Champions: every change, value by value

Seven champions are touched. The nerfs target the profiles abusing early roaming and explosive scaling; the buffs reward champions left behind by current itemization.

Azir — buff

• Q - Conquering Sands — Damage: 60/80/100/120/140 (+35/40/45/50/55% AP) ⇒ 75/95/115/135/155 (+35/40/45/50/55% AP)

Bel'Veth — nerf

• Base Stats — Health Growth: 110 ⇒ 105
• R - Endless Banquet — True Form Total Attack Speed: 5/15/25% ⇒ 6/13/20%
• NEW — True Form Remora Indicator: the resource bar now turns purple when True Form can spawn a Remora

Camille — adjustment

• Base Stats — Mana: 339 ⇒ 375
• Passive - Adaptive Defenses — Shield: 20% Maximum Health ⇒ 10/15/20/25% Maximum Health (levels 1/7/13/19)
• Passive - Adaptive Defenses — Cooldown: 18/14/10/6s (levels 1/7/13/19) ⇒ 14/11/8s (levels 1/7/13)
• W - Tactical Sweep — Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11s ⇒ 12/11.5/11/10.5/10s
• W - Tactical Sweep — Outer Cone Bonus Damage: 6/6.5/7/7.5/8% ⇒ 7/7.5/8/8.5/9% (+2.5% per 100 bonus AD) Target Maximum Health

Gwen — buff

• Passive - A Thousand Cuts — Healing On Champions: 50% post-mitigation, capped at 10-25 (based on level) (+6.5% AP) ⇒ 67% post-mitigation, capped at 12-40 (based on level) (+7% AP)

Kennen — buff

• R - Slicing Maelstrom — Bonus Resistances: 20/40/60 ⇒ 25/50/75
• R - Slicing Maelstrom — Damage: 40/75/110 (+22.5% AP) ⇒ 40/80/120 (+25% AP)
• R - Slicing Maelstrom — Maximum Damage: 300/562.5/825 (+168.75% AP) ⇒ 300/600/900 (+187.5% AP)

Nasus — adjustment

• Q - Siphoning Strike — Stacks: 3, increased to 12 on champions / large minions / monsters ⇒ 4, increased to 10 on champions / large minions / monsters

Poppy — adjustment

• Base Stats — Attack Damage: 60 ⇒ 56
• Base Stats — Health Regeneration: 8 ⇒ 9
• Base Stats — Mana: 280 + 40/level ⇒ 300 + 45/level
• Q - Hammer Shock — Damage: (+100% bonus AD) (+9% Target Maximum Health) ⇒ (+75% bonus AD) (+7/7.5/8/8.5/9% Target Maximum Health)
• Q - Hammer Shock — Target Maximum Health Monster Cap: 75/105/135/165/195 ⇒ 85/120/155/190/225
• Q - Hammer Shock — Slow Amount: 20/25/30/35/40% ⇒ 20/23/26/29/32% (+8% per 1000 bonus Health)
• W - Steadfast Presence — Total Armor and Magic Resistance: 12% ⇒ 16% (doubled below 40% Maximum Health)

Items: AD itemization fully reshuffled

This is where the next few weeks of meta will be decided. Riot breaks the Sundered Sky monopoly and gives room back to classic fighter items and crit items alike.

• Berserker's Greaves — Attack Speed: 25% ⇒ 30% | T3: 40% ⇒ 45%
• Black Cleaver — Attack Damage: 40 ⇒ 45 | Fervor Move Speed: 20 for 2s ⇒ [20 Melee || 10 Ranged] for 2s
• Eclipse — Damage: [6% Melee || 4% Ranged] Target Maximum Health ⇒ [8% Melee || 5% Ranged] | Shield: [160 +40% bonus AD || 80 +20% bonus AD] ⇒ [150 +40% bonus AD || 75 +20% bonus AD]
• Runaan's Hurricane — Move Speed: 4% ⇒ 5% | Wind's Fury Bolt Damage: 55% Attack Damage ⇒ 65% Attack Damage
• Sterak's Gage — Bonus Attack Damage: 45% of Base Attack Damage ⇒ 50% of Base Attack Damage
• Sundered Sky — Healing: [100% Melee || 50% Ranged] Base Attack Damage + 6% Missing Health ⇒ [90% Melee || 45% Ranged] Base Attack Damage + 4% Missing Health | Health: 400 ⇒ 450 | Recipe: Tunneler + Caulfield's + Ruby Crystal + 500g ⇒ Tunneler + Caulfield's + 900g
• Sunfire Cape — Damage: 20 (+1% bonus Health) ⇒ 20 (+1.5% bonus Health) | Minion/Monster Modifier: 160%/200% ⇒ 150%/180% | Recipe: 600g ⇒ 700g
• Chainlaced Crushers — Magic Resistance: 30 ⇒ 25
• Spellslinger's Shoes — Magic Penetration: 18 + 8% ⇒ 20 + 8%
• Tiamat — Attack Damage: 20 ⇒ 25

Runes

• Fleet Footwork — Healing: 10-130 ⇒ 15-160 (AD/AP ratios unchanged)
• Hail of Blades — Attack Speed: 120% Melee || 60% Ranged ⇒ 90% Melee || 60% Ranged
• Hail of Blades — Bonus True Damage: 4-20 (+8% bonus AD) (+6% AP) ⇒ 2-20 (+12% bonus AD) (+10% AP)

Faerie Court skins and League Classic

Faerie Court Bel'Veth, Faerie Court Gwen and Faerie Court Lulu are available from August 12, 2026. On the League Classic side, this is the mode's first real content update: Akali, Kennen and Shen join the roster with their legacy kits, alongside balance passes on the mode's biggest outliers.

How to turn this patch into LP

A systems patch like 26.16 is the best possible time to climb: most players take two to three weeks to adapt their builds and roaming habits. If you want to use that window without grinding every night, the boosting and coaching services from ElevateBoost get you the divisions while the meta is still unstable. Our coaches play patch 26.16 daily and know exactly which picks punish the new meta — check the offers on ElevateBoost.

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