The
League of Legends 26.10 Patch Notes are here. Following the
official schedule, Patch 26.10 is expected to drop on
Wednesday, May 13, 2026. This update focuses on refining Season 2 systems and addressing champion outliers, introducing buffs for Ambessa, Galio, Wukong, and Zeri alongside targeted nerfs for Anivia, Ashe, Naafiri, Shyvana, and Zed.
System changes highlight the patch, with buffs to starting items like Doran’s Bow and Doran’s Helm designed to offer more variety at the cost of increased vulnerability. Items and runes receive significant attention, including adjustments to Lich Bane, Stormraider’s Surge, and Gluttonous Greaves. While interactions between Deathfire Touch and Black Cleaver remain a topic for future patches due to their complexity, the current update aims to stabilize the competitive environment.
Modernization efforts are central to this patch, specifically for Lee Sin and Quinn, with the former receiving quality-of-life updates to remove outdated mobility restrictions and elevate his skill ceiling. Riot is also closely monitoring the state of Apex Ranked, maintaining a focus on MMR stability and fairness in matchmaking.
The Full Patch 26.10 Preview. Credit: @RiotPhreak on X.
Buffs
Champions: Ambessa, Galio, Wukong, Zeri
System: Lichbane, Stormraider’s Surge, Doran’s Bow, Doran’s Helm
Nerfs
Champions: Anivia, Ashe, Naafiri, Shyvana, Zed
System: Deathfire Touch, Gluttonous Greaves, Cleaver + DFT
Adjustments
Champion: Lee Sin, Quinn
Read more about
League of Legends changes on the X account of
Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison.
Systems
- New from yesterday are small buffs to Doran's Bow and Helm
- Doran's Bow at this tuning is the most efficient starting item, but the tradeoff to all of the others is opening yourself up to dying from ganks and all-ins
- We're also giving a small buff to Doran's Helm as it's predominantly a K'Sante item at this tuning and we think it can be broadened to more users
- In 26.11, we intend to make a change to Cleaver and its interaction stacking with Deathfire Touch to give it an internal cooldown
- These changes were too risky to do on this patch however
- Lich Bane changes are aimed at providing more differentiation to Dusk and Dawn on the Movespeed and Burst Damage aspect, however we don't think we can go much higher than these values - Cyclosword is looking a little strong and so we're giving it a nerf
- At the same time, we think after these changes it will still be a bit on the stronger side, but we want to give it a bit more time to stabilize and we can discover the shape of the optimized patterns and what users come out
Zed and Naafiri
- We have to talk about Zed and Naafiri if talking about Cyclosword
- As 2 of the AD Assassins with a functional poke pattern, these champs were always going to benefit from Cyclosword's new passive in the same way that if there was no AD Sheen item and we added one, it would be disproportionately powerful on those users
- We're taking care not to overly nerf these two champions, but they're also too strong with Cyclosword
- We're giving a small nerf to both champions, but they will still likely be strong after the nerfs as it seems reasonably likely that we'll need to adjust Cyclosword in the future as its true balance state becomes more known (and we don't want to Riot special these champions)
Ambessa
- Last patch, the R changes, which we think are good for the champ long term, ended up being a pretty moderate sized nerf
- We're restoring a bunch of power back to her now that we know the power level more clearly
- We're opting not to restore power in any of her mobility capabilities and instead increasing the throughput of each ability cast
Anivia
- These changes are targeted at nerfing Anivia in non-mid roles, especially Top lane where her trading patterns are a bit more oppressive to play against
Lee Sin
- This patch features some modernization changes to Lee Sin to help him feel more fluid and pull off some fancy plays without giving him more net power
- There are a few feelsbad mechanics adjustments that were added to Lee's kit over 10 years ago (like penalizing ward hops) that don't really make sense in the modern game anymore [I remember getting an interview question about these changes when I was just starting at Riot!]
- These changes are aimed at providing Lee more opportunities for incredible highlight moments and raising his skill ceiling, given that he's been out so long and many players are at the top of his mastery curve
- We'll be keeping an eye on how these changes affect Lane Lee Sin as well
Apex Ranked (reset regions)
- We're going to let Apex MMR's settle for another patch before re-evaluating whether or not duo should be re-enabled
- Have investigated several of the "Emeralds in Masters lobbies" cases, they have so far fallen into:
1. A player who didn't play much prior to the reset, so they are still starting from Emerald (as if they were playing in the early days of 2026)
2. A person who is climbing a fresh account and has a really high winrate (and close to Masters); though a reminder that this is not faster to climb than playing on your main
3. An Emerald (or multiple) duoing with another Emerald or Diamond player (especially Diamond player with a high MMR)
- So far, I haven't seen anything broken about these games; they are typically fair both MMR and LP wise, even if visual ranks look a bit off
