Since Arena was added back to League of Legends, it’s been a popular mode for players looking for something different. In recent weeks, Riot has teased some major changes to the mode, as it looks to capitalise on the popularity.
The headline change is the new Augment Levels system. Augments can now be levelled up from 1 to 3 tiers mid-match, with some reaching a Keystone effect at max level, unlocking entirely new passive abilities on top of their base kit. Over 30 augments debut with the levelling system, including fan favourites like Glass Cannon, Final Form, and Speed Demon. Once you’ve got two levelable augments, you’ll start being offered level-ups in place of new augments, fundamentally shifting how you think about the mid-game draft.
“Once you reach the maximum number of augments, you’ll only be offered augment levels or the ability to tier up an existing augment, allowing you to remove one and select another that is one tier higher.”
It’s a system that opens up a new layer of decision-making: do you spread wide with a varied augment kit, or go deep on two or three synergistic picks and push them to their Keystone potential? The answer will likely differ every game.
New Guests of Honor, maps, and a revamped schedule
Sixteen new Guests of Honor join the roster this season, including Atakhan, Kindred, Shaco, Morgana, and Taric. Each brings a unique passive effect that shapes how the entire lobby plays. Two favourites have also been reworked: Swain now rewards the last teams standing with a prismatic stat anvil at the halfway point. At the same time, Katarina now runs augment tier-ups alongside new offerings during her reign.
On the map front, the new Petricite Grove joins the rotation, a Demacian-themed arena scattered with unexploded mining bombs that roll and detonate on impact, adding an environmental hazard element to positioning. The existing Ancestral Woods and Koipond maps have also been reworked with new interactive elements.
The season’s event schedule is designed to keep Arena fresh well beyond launch:
- 26.9 Arena Season 2 Launch: No event, time to learn the new systems
- 26.10 3×6 Arena: Three players per team, six teams total, wider champion diversity
- 26.13 Bravery: Limited champion select, embrace the random, adapt and conquer
- 26.14 Swift Arena: Back to 2v2v2v2, faster games, familiar opponents
You can see a full breakdown in the Riot Arena patch notes.
ARAM and Mayhem Changes Come to the Bridge
While Arena is the focus for this patch, ARAM Mayhem remains the most popular mode outside of standard League of Legends. As such, it’s also getting some love in 26.9.
ARAM Changes:
ARAM’s changes in 26.9 are more focused than Arena’s but still carry a meaningful impact. Hubris has been a dominant component of assassin and snowball-heavy champions for some time. Both the Attack Damage (60 → 55) and Ability Haste (15 → 10) have been trimmed, nudging the item down a tier without gutting its identity.
ARAM Mayhem Changes:
Bard receives a quality-of-life boost to his Caretaker’s Shrine. Both the Move Speed bonus and its AP scaling have gone up, and the shrine’s ammo cooldown drops from 10 to 8 seconds, making him a more reliable and rewarding pick on a map that heavily punishes slow shrine placement. Ornn’s Living Forge passive cooldown now scales with level (90 down to 10 seconds at max), making him far more useful in ARAM’s shorter game times, where the default 120-second cooldown often felt punishing.
- Health Relic: The AoE heal on pickup has been increased from 16% to 22% missing health and mana
- Prom Queen: Cooldown increased from 25 to 35 seconds.
- Grandma’s Chili Oil: Base damage per second goes up (100 → 150), while the bonus damage per burn source and all healing values are reduced.
- Upgrade Sword of Blossoming Dawn: The 50% bonus damage to basic attacks against champions has been removed entirely
Overall, it’s a patch focused on Arena, while making meaningful changes to ARAM. The changes to Bard and Orn seem the most standout. Something that maybe needs looking at for other champions that struggle to adapt to the flow of ARAM’s quicker game time.