26.20|Oct 6, 2026
View on League of Legends↗League of Legends Patch 26.20 Notes
3/5 Moderate
Worlds-defining balance arrives with major nerfs to Ambessa and K'Sante, alongside a significant security update to the Replay system.
Key Changes
- 1Private Replay restrictions: Third-party apps can no longer download match replays
- 2Ambessa Passive damage and AD ratio reduced
- 3K'Sante W mana cost increased and damage reduction nerfed
- 4Hextech Rocketbelt Ability Haste halved in exchange for higher active damage
- 5Smolder crit scaling and R self-heal significantly buffed
- 6Vayne Q mana cost reduced to a flat 30 at all ranks
- 7Ashe and Cassiopeia early game power and durability nerfed
- 8Classic mode adds five returning champions including Aatrox and Caitlyn
- 9Experimental Hexplate ranged effectiveness reduced to 50%
- 10Scoreboard UI cleaned up by hiding most item icon counters
All Changes
⚙️Systems(1)
- changePrivate Replays: Replay access is now restricted to matches you personally played in; third-party apps and sites can no longer download replays.
🛡️Champions(29)
- nerfAmbessa: Passive damage reduced from 5-30 (+25% bonus AD) to 5-25 (+20% bonus AD).
- nerfAshe: Attack Damage per level reduced from 3.5 to 3.
- nerfCassiopeia: Base Health reduced from 630 to 610.
- nerfCassiopeia: Base Mana reduced from 480 to 450.
- buffDiana: W shield bonus health ratio increased from 11% to 14%.
- buffKennen: E bonus attack speed increased from 40-80% to 50-90%.
- buffKindred: W monster damage modifier increased from 150% to 165%.
- buffKindred: E slow duration increased from 1s to 1.5s.
- removeKindred: E small monster targeting has been removed.
- nerfK'Sante: W mana cost increased from 40-60 to 45-65.
- nerfK'Sante: W Base and All-Out damage reduction decreased from 30/75% to 25/70%.
- buffLillia: R sleep duration increased from 2.5s to 2.5/2.75/3s based on rank.
- buffLucian: Attack Damage per level increased from 2.5 to 2.9.
- buffMordekaiser: Q scaling for levels 10-20 increased from +5/lvl to +7/lvl.
- buffMordekaiser: R cooldown reduced from 140/120/100s to 120/110/100s.
- buffNeeko: E base damage increased from 70-210 to 80-220.
- buffNeeko: E empowered root duration increased from 1.8-3s to 2-3s.
- buffSmolder: Passive Super Scorcher bonus magic damage increased from 25-55% (+0-9% with IE) to 25-60% (+0-10.5% with IE) of stacks.
- buffSmolder: Passive Flap Flap Flap bonus magic damage increased from 8-12.8% (+0-1.44% with IE) to 8-14% (+0-1.8% with IE) of stacks.
- buffSmolder: R self-heal increased from 100/135/170 (+50% bAD) to 100/175/250 (+75% bAD).
- buffSwain: Base Magic Resistance increased from 31 to 34.
- nerfSwain: Base Armor reduced from 25 to 23.
- buffSwain: W damage increased from 70-210 to 70-250.
- buffSwain: W cooldown reduced from 22-18s to 20-16s.
- buffTahm Kench: Q base healing increased from 10-25 to 10-50.
- buffVayne: Health per 5 increased from 4 (+0.5/lvl) to 5.5 (+0.4/lvl).
- buffVayne: Q mana cost reduced from 46-30 to a flat 30 at all ranks.
- nerfYunara: Q passive and active on-hit damage reduced by 2 at all ranks.
- nerfYunara: W slow no longer stacks with other slows.
⚔️Items(5)
- nerfExperimental Hexplate: Ranged modifier for Attack Speed and Move Speed reduced from 70% to 50% of value.
- nerfHextech Rocketbelt: Ability Haste reduced from 20 to 10.
- buffHextech Rocketbelt: Active damage increased from 100 (+10% AP) to 135 (+15% AP).
- nerfRunaan's Hurricane: Attack Damage per bolt reduced from 65% to 60%.
- changeScoreboard: Icon counters for 15 items (including Death's Dance, Liandry's, and Kraken Slayer) are now hidden on the scoreboard to reduce visual noise.
🕹️Game Modes(5)
- newAatrox: Aatrox added to the Classic roster with his original 2013-2017 kit.
- newCaitlyn: Caitlyn added to the Classic roster with her 2011-2015 kit.
- newIrelia: Irelia added to the Classic roster.
- newKarma: Karma added to the Classic roster.
- newQuinn: Quinn added to the Classic roster.
🎨Skins(1)
- newHEARTSTEEL Skins: Prestige Classic Baron Kog'Maw, Prestige HEARTSTEEL Sett, and HEARTSTEEL skins for Ezreal, Kayn, Aphelios, Yone, and K'Sante arrive October 7.
Summary
Patch 26.20 is the official update for the League of Legends World Championship, focusing on stabilizing the pro-play meta. High-priority champions like Ambessa, K'Sante, and Ashe receive nerfs to reduce their dominance in coordinated play. Conversely, champions like Smolder, Vayne, and Mordekaiser receive buffs to improve their viability.
Beyond balance, a major security update restricts Replay access to personal matches only, effectively disabling third-party replay scraping to combat cheating tools. Additionally, the Classic game mode expands its roster with five returning champions, and new HEARTSTEEL skins are set to arrive in early October.