League of Legends Patch 26.5 notes and champion changes

Season 16 -- Act 2 / First Stand

Patch 26.5: The Pro Play Tune-Up

Q: Is Patch 26.5 a big patch?

No. After the 32-champion shakeup in 26.4, Patch 26.5 is intentionally small with 6 buffs, 5 nerfs, 3 adjustments, and 2 item changes. It's a pro-play stabilization patch.

Q: What are last hit indicators in LoL?

New visual indicators showing when a minion is low enough to last hit. Available in Co-op vs AI, Tutorials, Swiftplay, Custom Games, Practice Tool, and RGM queues.

Live on March 4, 2026. Mid lane gets humbled, junglers get love, Samira gets QoL fixes, and Riot finally adds last hit indicators so you can stop pretending you know when to auto the cannon.

After the 32-champion bloodbath that was Patch 26.4, Riot is pulling back. Patch 26.5 is a surgical patch -- small, deliberate, and clearly built around First Stand 2026 (the first international tournament of the year, kicking off March 16). The goal is obvious: trim the mid lane picks that have been warping pro drafts and give junglers some breathing room.

This is not a meta-defining patch. It's a meta-stabilizing one. If you were climbing fine on 26.4, you're probably still climbing fine. But there are a few changes worth knowing about.

The Buffs

Six champions getting stronger. Four of them are junglers. Riot is not being subtle about what role they think needs help.

Buffed

Lee Sin

Lee Sin26.4 WR: ~47.5%

Q base damage: 60-180 → 65-185 (both Q1 and Q2)

+5 base damage per Q cast doesn't sound like much until you remember Lee hits Q twice. That's +10 per combo at every rank. Good Lee Sin players who actually land their Q's benefit the most, which is exactly how you should buff a high-skill champion.

Lillia

P monster heal AP ratio: 9% → 15% | Q AP ratio: 30% → 35% | R damage: 150-250 + 45% → 100-200 + 40% | R CD: 140/120/100 → 150/130/110

This is a power shift, not a straight buff. Lillia's jungle clear and Q damage go up, but her ult hits softer and comes up less often. Riot wants her farming and skirmishing, not just pressing R in teamfights and winning. Smart change. She'll feel better in the jungle but less oppressive in 5v5s.

Nocturne

P cooldown: 13s → 12s | Q bonus MS: 15-35% → 20-40%

Faster passive means faster clears. More Q movement speed means he sticks to targets better after ulting in. Nocturne has been quietly mediocre for a while -- this could push him back into "actually scary" territory. The Q MS buff is the real one here.

Garen

Q MS duration: 1-3.6s → 1.4-3.6s | E damage: 38-50% total AD → 40-52% total AD

Early Q MS lasts 0.4 seconds longer. Doesn't sound like much, but that's the difference between catching someone and watching them walk away at level 1-3. E scaling bump is nice for mid-game trades. Garen mains will take it.

Mel

Q bolt damage: 5-9 → 5-13 | R base: 100/150/200 → 125/200/275 | P minion mod: 0.6x → 0.5x

Mel's ult base damage goes up by 25/50/75. That's a lot. Her Q multi-bolt damage also scales harder into late game. The passive minion mod nerf is there to keep her waveclear in check so she doesn't just shove and roam for free. If you've been sleeping on Mel, maybe stop.

Volibear

AP vs AD build rebalancing (shifting Q scaling from AD to AP)

AP Volibear has been the dominant build for a while. Riot wants AD Volibear to be a real option again. The exact numbers are still being finalized, but the direction is clear: less AP one-shot, more bruiser bear.

Quick take: Four jungle buffs in one patch. Lee Sin, Lillia, Nocturne, and Volibear all getting love. If you're a jungle main who's been feeling like the role doesn't matter, Riot heard you. If you're a mid laner who's been getting away with murder for two patches... keep reading.

The Nerfs: Mid Lane Gets Humbled

Five nerfs, and four of them are mid laners. Orianna, Azir, Taliyah, and Neeko have been running pro play drafts for weeks. Kha'Zix rounds it out as the solo queue menace getting tapped.

Nerfed

Orianna

Orianna26.4 WR: ~52%

Q cooldown: 6/5.25/4.5/3.75/3 → 7/6/5/4/3

One extra second on Q at rank 1. Sounds small, but Orianna's entire laning phase revolves around Q spam. She can't zone you as aggressively at levels 1-5 now. By max rank it's the same cooldown, so late game Ori is untouched. This is a "stop being unbeatable in lane" nerf, not a "stop playing Ori" nerf.

Azir

Azir26.4 WR: ~49%

Health growth: 119 → 108

-11 health per level. By level 18 that's about 187 less HP. Assassins can actually threaten him in the mid-to-late game now. Azir's whole thing is "I scale and you can't kill me" -- this makes the "you can't kill me" part slightly less true. Still a monster in coordinated play, just a bit more punishable.

Taliyah

Q per-rock damage: 55-125 → 50-120 | Q monster bonus: 20-40 → 23-43

Taliyah has been first-rotating scuttle fights because she shoves wave faster than anyone. -5 damage per rock across 5 rocks is -25 damage per full Q. That's real. The monster damage compensation means jungle Taliyah doesn't get collateral damage from a mid lane nerf. Thoughtful balancing.

Neeko

W cooldown now starts on clone expiration (was on cast) | Ctrl+5 clone trick removed

This is the vision control nerf. Neeko players have been parking clones in bushes on repeat to scout for free. Now you have to wait for the clone to expire before the cooldown starts ticking. The Ctrl+5 removal is a minor fun tax -- you can't make your clone do the joke animation anymore. Sad, but fair.

Kha'Zix

Kha'Zix26.4 WR: ~52.5%

MS: 350 → 345 | Q bonus AD: 110% → 105% (isolated: 231% → 220.5%)

The bug king has been the best solo queue jungler for a while now, and even showed up in LCK with T1 Oner playing it. -5 MS is the kind of nerf that doesn't feel like anything until you barely miss a kill you would've gotten last patch. The Q scaling nerf hits isolated targets specifically -- less overkill on the people he catches alone, same teamfight damage (which was already bad).

The Adjustments

Adjusted

Akali

W re-stealth timer: now scales with champion level (1/7/10/13/16) instead of game time (0:00/8:00/11:00/20:00/30:00)

Modernization change. The old system scaled with game clock, which made no sense across different game modes with different start times. Now it scales with your actual level. Functionally similar in most SR games, but way more consistent in Swiftplay, ARAM, and Arena.

Varus

Q max damage: 80-400 + 130-170% bAD → 80-360 + 150% bAD | W on-hit: 8-44 + 25% AP → 8-44 + 25% AP + 15% bAD

Lethality Varus Q poke gets weaker (less base, flat scaling instead of scaling scaling). On-hit Varus gets a new 15% bonus AD ratio on W. Riot is clearly trying to push him away from "sit back and Q from fog" and toward actually auto-attacking people. On-hit Varus players win, lethality Varus players lose.

Samira

Q targeting logic improved (better sword vs gun detection) | Q no longer goes on CD during passive | Q checks if target is walking away

Not a damage change -- this is pure QoL. Samira's Q has been frustrating because it sometimes uses the wrong form (sword when you want gun, gun when you want sword). The new logic checks for units on both sides, whether the target is walking away, and prevents Q from going on cooldown during passive animation. If you play Samira, this is going to feel way better.

System Changes

System

Hubris: 3000g → 2800g

The weakest AD assassin item just got 200 gold cheaper. That's a meaningful spike timing change -- you're completing it a full wave or two earlier. Talon, Zed, Qiyana, and anyone else who builds lethality will appreciate getting their snowball item faster. This won't make Hubris the default rush, but it makes it a real option when you're ahead.

Locket of the Iron Solari: Front-Loaded Shield

Shield changed from 200-360 (scaling from level 1) to 290-360 (scaling from level 8). Translation: Locket is way stronger as a first buy now. At level 8 you're getting 290 shield instead of ~265. Riot wants Locket to compete with Bandlepipes as a first support tank item, and this should do it.

Last Hit Indicators

This is the sleeper addition of the patch. Riot added CS indicators that show you when a minion is low enough to last hit. They're on by default for new accounts, off for existing ones. Available in Co-op vs AI, Tutorials, Swiftplay, Custom Games, Practice Tool, and RGM queues.

Look, if you're reading patch notes breakdowns you probably don't need last hit indicators. But for new players? This is huge. No more guessing when to auto the cannon. The indicators only account for permanent damage modifiers (items, levels) not procs like Sheen, so they're conservative -- you'll never miss a CS the indicator says you'll get.

Disruptive Comms = Gameplay Bans

Riot is escalating punishments for toxic chat. Starting this patch, severely disruptive comms (hate speech, threats, extreme aggression) will result in gameplay bans, not just chat restrictions. They're clear that mild flame like "idiot jungler" isn't the target -- it's the genuinely awful stuff.

About time. Chat restrictions never stopped anyone. A gameplay ban might.

Autofill Matchmaking Improvements

Rolling out on EUW first: the matchmaker will now try to match autofilled players against each other. So if you get autofilled jungle, the enemy jungler is more likely to also be autofilled. This has been requested for years. If it works well on EUW, expect a global rollout.

Patch 26.5 Winners and Losers

Winners

Lee Sin -- +10 damage per Q combo at every rank. Skilled Lee players will feel this immediately.
Nocturne -- Faster clears, stickier ganks. Could re-enter pro play as a tempo jungler.
Mel -- +75 base damage on R at rank 3 is no joke. She's going to surprise people.
On-hit Varus -- New 15% bonus AD ratio on W makes auto-attack builds competitive again.
Samira mains -- QoL fixes that make Q actually do what you want. No damage changes, just less frustration.
Lethality assassins -- Hubris at 2800g means earlier snowball spikes.
Support tanks -- Locket first buy is actually good now.

Losers

Orianna -- Q cooldown nerf makes her early lane less oppressive. Still strong, just not unbeatable.
Kha'Zix -- -5 MS and less isolated Q damage. He was the best jungler, now he's just a very good jungler.
Lethality Varus -- Q poke build takes a hit. Time to learn how to right-click.
Neeko -- Clone vision control nerfed. No more infinite bush scouting.
Azir -- 187 less HP at level 18. Assassins can actually kill him now. Probably.
Toxic players -- Gameplay bans for hate speech. Play nice or don't play.

Other Stuff

Brawl is back from March 4 through April 28. If you like the mode, go have fun.

Demacia Rising Act 2 continues with Chapters 5 and 6, new settlements, Noxian enemies, and Garen + Sona as playable champions in the mode.

ARAM: Mayhem gets a bunch of tank augment buffs (Celestial Body, Courage of the Colossus, Perseverance, etc.) and Nexus HP changes to prevent games from ending too abruptly.

New skins: Corrupted Petricite Maokai, Corrupted Petricite Xerath, and Prestige Requiem Sona.

Aegis of Valor rewards now get voided if you're reported for disruptive behavior and the reports are validated. Don't be toxic and then expect your honor rewards.

New patch, new meta

Test the 26.5 changes on a smurf before risking LP on your main.

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FAQ

When does LoL Patch 26.5 go live?

Patch 26.5 went live on March 4, 2026. It's the official patch for First Stand 2026, the first international tournament of the season (starting March 16).

Which champions are buffed in Patch 26.5?

Garen, Lee Sin, Lillia, Mel, Nocturne, and Volibear all received buffs. The jungle role got the most attention with four of the six buffs targeting junglers.

Which champions are nerfed in Patch 26.5?

Azir, Kha'Zix, Neeko, Orianna, and Taliyah. Four mid laners and one jungler. Riot is clearly targeting the champions that have been dominating pro play drafts.

Is Patch 26.5 a big patch?

No. After the 32-champion shakeup in 26.4, this is intentionally small. 6 buffs, 5 nerfs, 3 adjustments, 2 item changes. It's a pro-play stabilization patch, not a meta overhaul.

What are last hit indicators in LoL?

New visual indicators that show when a minion is low enough to last hit. Available in Co-op vs AI, Tutorials, Swiftplay, Custom Games, Practice Tool, and RGM queues. On by default for new accounts, off for existing ones.

LoL Patch 26.5 Notes: All Buffs, Nerfs, and Changes (2026)