League of Legends Patch 26.20 Notes (October 6, 2026): Full Breakdown, All Buffs, Nerfs and Hextech Rocketbelt Rework

This is the patch that resets the lane bullies after Worlds. Lucian, Vayne and Smolder all climb back toward playable, Ambessa and Ashe eat the nerfs the pros called for all split, and Hextech Rocketbelt gets a rare third rework in 2026. For junglers, Kindred's W Wolf's Frenzy jump from 150% to 165% on monsters is small on paper and massive in practice — her clear speed moves her back into the S jungle tier.

The full patch breakdown, grouped by role: buffed first, nerfed next, then items, then Classic mode and ARAM. Every number is before/after. Source: Riot's official 26.20 notes, linked at the bottom.

Champions buffed on Summoner's Rift

• Diana — W Pale Cascade shield bonus-health ratio 11% → 14%. A targeted buff for her tankier mid builds. Impact: Diana AP-bruiser hybrid becomes a real option again.
• Kennen — E Lightning Rush bonus attack speed 40/50/60/70/80% → 50/60/70/80/90%. 10% more at every rank. Impact: on-hit Kennen top is viable, lethality Kennen mid gets a shove too.
• Kindred — W Wolf's Frenzy monster mod 150% → 165%, and E Mounting Dread slow duration 1 → 1.5 s (small-monster targeting removed). Faster clear, longer slow in skirmishes. Impact: S-tier jungler.
• Lillia — R Lilting Lullaby duration 2.5 → 2.5/2.75/3 s. Her sleep hits half a second longer at rank 3. Impact: late-game teamfight pick-off goes up a tier.
• Lucian — base AD 60 + 2.5/level → 60 + 2.9/level. 7 AD at level 18. Impact: ADC Lucian returns in low-elo, mid Lucian still scales with resets.
• Mordekaiser — Q Obliterate level 10-20 scaling +5/lvl → +7/lvl; R Realm of Death cooldown 140/120/100 → 120/110/100 s. 20 seconds off his R at rank 1. Impact: Mordekaiser top is back to a counter-pick against immobile carries.
• Neeko — E Tangle-Barbs base 70/105/140/175/210 → 80/115/150/185/220 (+65% AP); empowered root 1.8/2.1/2.4/2.7/3 s → 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3 s. +10 raw damage and a longer root at ranks 1-4. Impact: enchanter support meta loses a counter.
• Smolder — Passive Super Scorcher bonus magic damage 25-55% → 25-60% (IE bonus 0-9% → 0-10.5%); Flap Flap Flap 8-12.8% → 8-14% (IE bonus 0-1.44% → 0-1.8%); R Mmooommmm! self heal 100/135/170 → 100/175/250 (bonus AD scaling +50% → +75%). The scaling monster inches back toward relevance. Impact: Smolder is pickable in solo queue again.
• Swain (mixed) — base MR 31 → 34, base armor 25 → 23, W Vision of Empire damage 70/105/140/175/210 → 70/115/160/205/250, cooldown 22/21/20/19/18 → 20/19/18/17/16 s. Trades 2 armor for 3 MR and a much faster, harder-hitting W. Impact: Swain mid is a real counter-pick now.
• Tahm Kench — Q Tongue Lash base healing 10/13.75/17.5/21.25/25 → 10/20/30/40/50. Up to +25 heal at rank 5. Impact: TK support sustain lanes become oppressive.
• Vayne (mixed) — base HP/5 4 + 0.5/lvl → 5.5 + 0.4/lvl; Q Tumble mana cost 46/42/38/34/30 → 30. Flat 30 mana Tumble at every rank. Impact: Vayne lane mana issues are gone — expect a solo-queue surge.

Champions nerfed on Summoner's Rift

• Ambessa — passive Drakehound's Step damage 5-30 (+25% bonus AD) → 5-25 (+20% bonus AD). Her early-game trades lose a tick of damage. Impact: still a tier-one solo-lane pick, but 2v2 skirmishes get less brutal.
• Ashe — AD per level 3.5 → 3. 9 AD at level 18. Impact: late-game Ashe no longer out-scales marksmen she used to lose to; Worlds nerf.
• Cassiopeia — base HP 630 → 610, base mana 480 → 450. 20 less HP and 30 less mana at level 1. Impact: aggressive mid matchups get easier against her.
• K'Sante — W Path Maker mana 40/45/50/55/60 → 45/50/55/60/65, damage reduction 30/75% → 25/70%. 5% less reduction in both tap and charged forms. Impact: pros still pick him but amateurs lose a crutch.
• Yunara — Q Cultivation of Spirit passive and active on-hit 5/10/15/20/25 → 3/8/13/18/23 (+20% AP). 2 damage per on-hit at every rank, AP ratio removed from the headline but kept at 20%. W Arc of Judgement — slows no longer stack with other slows. Impact: she stops oppressing enchanter supports.

Champions adjusted (not pure buffs or nerfs)

• Kindred — E Mounting Dread slow duration 1 → 1.5 s; small-monster targeting removed. The small-monster removal is a jungle-pathing tightening more than a nerf.
• Yunara — W Arc of Judgement slows no longer stack with other slows. Addresses a chain-slow interaction the pro scene flagged all September.

Item changes

• Experimental Hexplate — ranged mod 70% → 50% of value: attack speed 35% → 25%, movement speed 14% → 10%. Marksmen lose a chunk of what made the item broken on them.
• Hextech Rocketbelt (reworked) — ability haste 20 → 10; active damage 100 (+10% AP) → 135 (+15% AP). Half the haste but 35% more damage on the active. It becomes an assassination tool, not a utility stat-stick.
• Runaan's Hurricane — attack damage per bolt 65% → 60%. 5% less splash AD per bolt. Impact: Twitch, Varus and Kog'Maw lose late-game clear speed.
• Spirit Visage — HP/5 4 → 20. A massive 400% buff on the regen stat.
• Force of Nature — HP/5 20 → 40. Doubled regen.
• Warmog's Armor — HP/5 10 → 30. Tripled regen; combined with the Spirit Visage change, bruisers get a top-lane sustain rework by stealth.
• Banshee's Veil — shop stat filter Ability Power → Health. Reclassified; the item itself is unchanged.

Scoreboard cleanup

Item icon counters are now hidden for a long list of items that cluttered the HUD: 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, and Force of Nature. Tear items (Archangel's, Seraph's, Manamune, Muramana, Winter's Approach, Fimbulwinter) and Mejai's Soulstealer keep their counters.

Classic mode — champions added

Five new champions enter Classic: Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma, Quinn (with Valor). The Act II Battle Pass arrives with Patch 26.21.

Classic buffs

• Kennen (W Electrical Surge) — passive damage 40/50/60/70/80% total AD → 25/40/55/70/85 + 100% bonus AD.
• Nautilus — W Titan's Wrath DoT 40/55/70/85/100 (+40% AP) → 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP); shield ratio 10% → 15%; shield duration 9.75 → 10 s; empowered Staggering Blow crit damage bugfix and shield now factoring armor/MR.

Classic nerfs

• Fiora (W Riposte) — bonus AD 15/20/25/30/35 → 10/15/20/25/30.
• Graves — base AD 54.1 → 50; AD/level 3.1 → 2.5; AS/level 2.9% → 2.5%; R Collateral Damage cone 140/250/360 (+120% bonus AD) → 140/230/320 (+100% bonus AD); basic and crit animations sped up; projectile damage unchanged.
• Fizz — Q Urchin Strike AP ratio 60% → 40%; W Seastone Trident active AP ratio 35% → 20%.

Mayhem (ARAM) champion changes

• Bard — Meep AP ratio 50% → 67%; Meep recharge 8 → 5 s; Meep auto damage per chime breakpoint 6 → 10.
• Garen — passive regen 1.5%-1.01% → 2%-12%; W cooldown 22-12 → 18-12 s; W shield 18% → 20% bonus health; W passive stacks 0.4 → 0.75 per minion kill.
• K'Sante — W cooldown 14-10 → 10 s; W damage reduction 30% → 45%; E shield 13.5% → 15% bonus health.
• Lee Sin — passive attack speed 40% → 50%; passive energy restore 20/30/40 → 30/40/50; W shield 60-240 → 80-320; Q2 damage 60-180 → 80-240.
• Swain — damage taken 105% → 100%; healing 95% → 100%; soul fragment restore 6% flat → 3%-6% scaling with level.
• Thresh — passive soul drop 2 → 3; W cooldown 21/20/19/18/17 → 19/18/17/16/15 s.

Mayhem augments

• Juiced — Mana Drain removed; damage-to-mana ratio 4.5% → 7%; new Ranged Mod at 80% of the 7%.
• Leg Day — slow resist 40% → 50%.
• Missile Split — split trigger changed from first unit hit to end of missile or recast.
• Shark Tempest — slow 30% → 40% for 3 s; base AoE damage 50-100 → 100-200; attached damage over 3 s 75-225 (+0.6 bonus AD, +0.36 AP) → 90-270 (+0.75 bonus AD, +0.45 AP).
• Squishy Slappy Grab — cooldown 35 → 30 s; damage 30-100 (+10% bonus health) → 50-150 (+15% bonus health); shield 35-150 → 50-200.
• Triggered Inferno — cooldown 15 → 5 s.

Standard ARAM

• Bel'Veth — damage dealt 105% → 100%; damage taken 95% → 100%; tenacity 20% → 0%.
• Locke — damage dealt 105% → 115%.

Systems — private replays and ranked 5s

Starting with Patch 26.20, players can access only replays from their own matches. Other players can no longer download them, and third-party apps lose replay download access. Riot ties this to restricting third-party access to game memory — the same families of apps that enabled scripts and cheats. Reviewing your own replays in the client is unaffected. For content creators, this means pulling pro-level VODs will need official partner access.

Ranked 5s — queue window extended from 4pm-2am to 4pm-4am server time. Two more hours of queue every night.

Notable bugfixes

• Orianna R hitbox and VFX misalignment with fast allies — the R finally hits where the ring shows.
• Xin Zhao Q cooldown bug when the first attack is dodged.
• Shyvana R failing to cancel enemy teleports.
• Kayle Q applying Spellblade effects from Sheen, Lich Bane, Trinity Force, and Iceborne Gauntlet.
• Sivir E failing to block Leona Zenith Blade and Miss Fortune Q.
• Malphite Flash disabled after R.
• Recall stacking Guinsoo's Rageblade.
• Rune page overflow, Classic Store sorting, and multiple Classic icon issues.

Skins and chromas — October 7, 2026

Prestige Classic Baron Kog'Maw, Prestige HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Sett, and HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Ezreal, Kayn, Aphelios, Yone, K'Sante. Chromas: SKT T1 Jax, Lee Sin, Vayne, Zyra, Zed (Elite), plus chromas for the Prestige Kog'Maw and HEARTSTEEL Live My Life skins.

Climb this patch with the new meta

Mordekaiser top, Kindred jungle, Swain mid, Vayne bot and Tahm Kench support are the five lanes that gained the most this patch — if you were already playing any of them, you have free LP to grab in the next two weeks. Our coaches are already running 26.20 games in Diamond and above; see LoL elo boost if you want to translate the patch window into a rank climb.

FAQ — LoL Patch 26.20

FAQ