League of Legends Patch 26.21: Buffs, Nerfs and New Skins

Riot Games pushed League of Legends Patch 26.21 live on October 21, the first major update since the 2026 World Championship wrapped. Riot calls it "a pretty chunky patch," and the notes back that up: a dozen-plus champion changes, four item reworks, a new ARAM Mayhem mode, and a full skin line tied to the Worlds anthem. Here's what actually changed and why it matters if you're still grinding ranked before the season ends.

01What Changed and Why

Patch 26.21 is built around two goals, according to Riot. The first is cooling off champions that dominated pick and ban rates in the back half of the season — Caitlyn, Jinx, Lee Sin, Qiyana, Nidalee, Rammus and Yone all lose power here. The second is giving a handful of underperforming picks room to breathe, with Azir, Orianna and Ryze singled out by name in the patch notes as champions Riot wants back in the mix. The authors listed on the official notes are Riot designers Austin "Riot wroadie" Wright, Erika "Riot Cashmiir" Haas and Steven "Riot sternest" Earnest.

02Champion Nerfs: Caitlyn, Jinx, Lee Sin and Yone Rebalanced

Caitlyn's rework is the headline change. Her passive Headshot damage drops from 60–100% AD (plus 1% per 1% crit chance and crit damage) to 60–80% AD, while her Q, Piltover Peacemaker, gets a bigger base damage bump at later ranks. Riot frames this as moving her power out of late-game headshot resets and into early Q trading. Jinx loses flat attack damage growth (3.25 to 3 per level) and 20 base health, a straightforward dial-back after a strong stretch on the Rift.

In the jungle, Lee Sin's Safeguard cooldown rises from 7 to 8 seconds and his ultimate's kick and collision damage both drop at every rank. Qiyana's Q partially reverts the buff she received back in Patch 26.17. Nidalee's Pounce and Primal Surge both lost scaling, and Rammus' Defensive Ball Curl gives less bonus armor and magic resist. Yone's Mortal Steel AD ratio ticks down from 110% to 105%, a small but real nerf to his poke damage.

03Champion Buffs: Azir, Orianna, Ryze and More Gain Power

Azir's mana growth jumps from 40 to 50 per level, giving him more sustained shurima-soldier pressure in the mid and late game. Orianna's ball gets stronger on both Q and W, with AP ratios rising from 55% to 60% and 80% to 85% respectively. Ryze, meanwhile, picks up bonus damage and move speed on his Q and a higher AP ratio on his W — a meaningful push for a champion that's struggled since the preseason.

Elsewhere, Sion's health regen and ultimate damage both scale up, Taliyah's Unraveled Earth hits harder, Vel'Koz's passive gets more AP scaling, Wukong's base regen nearly doubles, and Zyra's seed cooldowns come down across the board. Miss Fortune and Varus both pick up bot-lane damage buffs, and Xin Zhao gets more AD ratio on his Q and faster attack-speed scaling on his E.

04Item Changes: Bastion Breaker, Dawncore and Gluttonous Greaves

Four items move this patch. Bastion Breaker loses 4 Lethality (22 to 18) but its Sabotage effect now lasts indefinitely instead of 90 seconds, which Riot describes as a quality-of-life trade against raw stat power. Dawncore's AP-per-mana-regen conversion rises from 10 to 15, a straight buff for mana-hungry mages. On the other side, Gluttonous Greaves' total cost climbs from 1,000 to 1,100 gold and Hubris' bonus AD split by champion type (melee versus ranged), both aimed at reining in marksmen who build lifesteal and crit together.

05New Content: True Damage Skins and ARAM Mayhem

Cosmetically, Patch 26.21 launches the full Riot Games True Damage: Know My Name lineup — standard and Prestige editions for Ekko, Akali, Qiyana, Senna and Yasuo, tied to the virtual group's Worlds 2026 anthem, plus matching chromas.

In ARAM Mayhem, Riot is rolling out "Journey to Stardom," a rotating Headliner system themed around its in-universe music groups. Each game now draws a Headliner — K/DA, HEARTSTEEL, True Damage, Pentakill, Disco, Café Cuties, Bees or Command Line — that changes the rules for that match, with more bands promised later. Butcher's Bridge and Koeshin's Crossing are both sitting out of the Mayhem rotation this patch and return next time. Riot also added roughly 45 new silver, gold and Prismatic augments to the mode while cutting a dozen underused ones, including Fan the Hammer and Poro Stampede.

06Smaller Systems Changes Worth Knowing

Riot also capped replay downloads at 10 per hour, citing abuse from what it calls "vibecoded apps" scraping match data — you can still download your own replays and friends' replays without the new limit applying as harshly. Classic mode brings back several old champion kits, including 2010–2015 Mordekaiser and 2011–2016 Yorick, alongside full nerf reverts for Kassadin. Arena gets its own balance pass, with buffs to Briar, Ezreal, Gangplank and Gnar augment interactions and nerfs to Bel'Veth and Elise.

07What This Means for Your Climb

If you've been riding Caitlyn, Jinx, Lee Sin or Qiyana to climb this split, expect those picks to feel noticeably weaker in lane and jungle pathing until you adjust your build or ban priorities. Azir, Orianna and Ryze players, on the other hand, finally have real buffs to lean on heading into the final ranked push before the season resets. Check Riot's official patch notes for the complete Arena and bugfix list before you queue up.