March 3, 2026

Patch 26.5 Notes

Champions Summary

Items Summary

Hubris BUFF

Locket of the Iron Solari BUFF

Patch Overview

Patch Highlights

Patch 26.5 is the First Stand patch, with a lighter pro-facing balance pass than a major tournament patch.
Corrupted Petricite Maokai, Corrupted Petricite Xerath, and Prestige Requiem Sona arrive on March 4, 2026.

Brawl Returns

Brawl returns as a limited-time mode from March 4, 2026 through April 28, 2026.
The queue gives groups another low-commitment mode alongside the main First Stand patch cycle.

Act 2 Battle Pass

The Season 1 Act 2 Battle Pass launches with Corrupted Petricite Maokai and Corrupted Petricite Xerath as track rewards.
Prestige Requiem Sona is the paid Pass capstone reward.

Champions

The Summoner's Rift balance pass hits 14 champions, trimming pro-skewed mid picks while buffing several underperformers.
Taliyah and Varus are mixed role/build shifts rather than clean buffs or nerfs.

Items

Hubris gets a clear cost buff so AD assassins can reach its snowball point sooner.
Locket of the Iron Solari moves more shield value into early levels to compete as a first tank-support item.

Ranked and Matchmaking

Aegis of Valor rewards are voided when eligible players receive validated disruptive-behavior reports.
Autofill and secondary-role matchup improvements begin rolling out on EUW before Riot considers a wider release.

ARAM: Mayhem

ARAM: Mayhem focuses on tank durability, support sustain options, and longer late-game pacing.
Tank-oriented augments receive broad buffs, Nexus and turret health are adjusted, and a large bugfix pass cleans up augment interactions.

Arena

Arena receives a focused bugfix pass covering Guest of Honor behavior, item tooltips, Multitool inventory cases, and between-round cleanup.

Demacia Rising

Demacia Rising Act 2 adds chapters 5 and 6, new settlements, Noxian enemies, and Garen and Sona as champions.
Progression expands through level 4 settlements, added structure upgrades, 22 new events, and 19 new research options.

Last Hit Indicators

Last hit indicators go live in beginner-focused, custom, practice, and RGM Summoner's Rift queues.
The indicators are on by default for newly created accounts and off by default for existing accounts.

Gameplay Bans for Severely Disruptive Chat

Severely disruptive chat can now lead to gameplay bans instead of only chat restrictions.
Riot frames the change around hate speech, threats, and severe aggression rather than ordinary low-level flame.

Skins

Peacemaker High Noon Yone returns to The Sanctum.
Prestige Requiem Sona, Corrupted Petricite Maokai, and Corrupted Petricite Xerath release with this patch.

Champions

Summoner's Rift champion balance centers on pro-facing mid and bot pressure while sweeping several solo queue outliers.

ADJUSTED

Akali

Twilight Shroud now scales its restealth timing by champion level instead of game time, making the timing consistent across modes and match pacing.

W - Twilight Shroud

Restealth Timer: 1s /.9s /.825s /.725s /.625s after your last attack or ability (at game times 0:00 / 8:00 / 11:00 / 20:00 / 30:00) ⇒ 1s /.9s /.825s /.725s /.625s (at levels 1 / 7 / 10 / 13 / 16)

NERF

Azir

Azir loses late-game durability through lower health growth, giving assassins and burst champions more room to punish him.

Base Stats

Health Growth: 119 ⇒ 108

BUFF

Garen

Garen gets stronger early trading and higher Judgment AD scaling, especially before completed move-speed items come online.

Q - Decisive Strike

Move speed duration: 1 / 1.65 / 2.3 / 2.95 / 3.6 ⇒ 1.4 / 1.95 / 2.5 / 3.05 / 3.6

E - Judgment

Damage per spin: 4 / 7 / 10 / 13 / 16 (+ 38 / 41 / 44 / 47 / 50% AD) ⇒ 4 / 7 / 10 / 13 / 16 (+ 40 / 43 / 46 / 49 / 52% AD)

NERF

Kha’Zix

Kha’Zix loses movement speed and Q scaling, trimming clear speed, chase power, and isolated burst.

Base Stats

Move Speed: 350 ⇒ 345

Q - Taste Their Fear

Bonus AD: + 110% (231% isolated bonus) ⇒ + 105% (220.5% isolated bonus)

BUFF

Lee Sin

Sonic Wave and Resonating Strike get a flat damage bump, rewarding Lee Sin players who connect Q in skirmishes.

Base Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 ⇒ 65 / 95 / 125 / 155 / 185

BUFF

Lillia

Lillia gets a net buff aimed at sustained fights, with stronger monster healing, higher Q AP scaling, and a lower-cooldown ultimate.

Passive - Dream-Laden Bough

Monster heal bonus AP ratio: 9% ⇒ 15%

Q - Blooming Blows

Bonus AP ratio: 30% ⇒ 35%

R - Lilting Lullaby

Base damage: 100 / 150 / 200 ⇒ 150 / 200 / 250
AP ratio: 45% ⇒ 40%
Cooldown: 150 / 130 / 110 ⇒ 140 / 120 / 100

BUFF

Mel

Mel's champion-facing damage rises through Q and R, while her passive minion modifier reins in extra waveclear.

Passive - Searing Brilliance

Minion Damage Modifier: 0.6x ⇒ 0.5x

Q - Radiant Volley

Base Damage per Bolt: 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 ⇒ 5 / 7 / 9 / 11 / 13
Total Q Base Damage: 90 / 132 / 176 / 222 / 270 ⇒ 90 / 145 / 200 / 255 / 310

R - Golden Eclipse

Initial Base Damage: 100 / 150 / 200 ⇒ 125 / 200 / 275

NERF

Neeko

Neeko loses some clone uptime and clone-only expression tricks, cutting back repeat vision-control patterns.

W - Shapeshifter

Slightly-Less-Tricksy-Neekoses: Cooldown now starts on clone expiration, instead of on cast
Fun Eliminated: Neeko can no longer use Ctrl+5, which plays the joke expression for clone only. Neeko can still joke, dance, recall, to make their clone initiate said actions.

BUFF

Nocturne

Nocturne's passive and Duskbringer buffs improve stickiness and repeated fighting under Q trail.

Passive - Umbra Blades

Cooldown: 13 ⇒ 12

Q - Duskbringer

Bonus move speed: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35% ⇒ 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40%

NERF

Orianna

Command: Attack is slower early, opening clearer windows to contest Orianna before rank-five Q.

Q - Command: Attack

Cooldown: 6 / 5.25 / 4.5 / 3.75 / 3 ⇒ 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3

ADJUSTED

Samira

Samira's Q targeting and lockout rules get cleaned up, making Sword and Gun decisions less punishing in edge cases.

Q - Flair

The Right Tool for the Job: Samira Q will now do multiple additional checks to see if there are units on both the right and left of her. If there are, and importantly if there are no units far in front of her, she will use Sword Q. If a unit is far in front of her, she will still use Gun Q regardless of units on the right and left.
Itchy Trigger Finger: Samira Q is now properly sealed during her passive. This resolves a case where Samira Q can go on cooldown despite not being used if pressed during her passive’s animation. This also applies to an instance where her ultimate was cast after her W.
Can’t Out-Walk Me: Samira Q will now do a check to see if the enemy is walking away from her and in the very last part of her Sword Q’s range. If so, she will instead use Gun Q. This should resolve the extreme cases where champions can simply walk away from her Q at very low move speed (higher move speeds will still likely be able to do so, rightfully.)

ADJUSTED

Taliyah

Threaded Volley loses lane push but gains monster damage, moving power away from mid priority and toward jungle clearing.

Q - Threaded Volley

Base Damage: 55 / 72.5 / 90 / 107.5 / 125 ⇒ 50 / 67.5 / 85 / 102.5 / 120
Bonus Monster Damage: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 ⇒ 23 / 28 / 33 / 38 / 43

ADJUSTED

Varus

Lethality Q gets toned down while W adds bonus AD on-hit scaling, protecting the weaker on-hit bot build.

Q - Piercing Arrow

Maximum damage: 80 / 160 / 240 / 320 / 400 (+ 130 / 140 / 150 / 160 / 170% bonus AD) ⇒ 80 / 150 / 220 / 290 / 360 (+ 150% bonus AD)

W - Blighted Quiver

On-hit damage: 8 / 17 / 26 / 35 / 44 (+ 25% AP) ⇒ 8 / 17 / 26 / 35 / 44 (+ 25% AP + 15% bonus AD)

BUFF

Volibear

Volibear receives stronger AD bruiser incentives and lower mana costs, especially for top-lane trading.

Q - Thundering Smash

Bonus physical damage: +140% ⇒ +160%

W- Frenzied Maul

Mana cost: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 ⇒ 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40
Wounded bonus: + 15% per 100 bonus AD ⇒ + 25% per 100 bonus AD

E - Sky Splitter

Mana cost: 60 ⇒ 50

Items

Two first-item options get earlier spikes through a cheaper assassin item and stronger early support shielding.

BUFF

Hubris

Hubris is cheaper to combine and complete, giving AD assassins an earlier snowball spike.

Combine cost: 950 gold ⇒ 750 gold
Total price: 3000 gold ⇒ 2800 gold

BUFF

Locket of the Iron Solari

Locket shifts shield value forward, making the first-purchase support tank option stronger before level eight.

SHIELD: 200 - 360, scaling after level 1 ⇒ 290 - 360, scaling after level 8
Functional Shield Level 8-18: 265 - 360 ⇒ 290 - 360