The big ARAM: Mayhem Augment overhaul is officially live, and Arena 3×6 hands AD assassins some long-overdue love.
Patch 26.12 has landed, and it has brought a double dose of chaos. The big ARAM Mayhem overhaul we previewed from Riot’s dev blog is officially live on the Bridge, and Arena 3×6 has had a proper going-over too. Plenty to dig into, so let’s get stuck in.
The Mayhem Augment Shake-Up is Finally Here
Remember all that stuff Riot teased about Ability and Quest Augments? It is here now. Ability Augments do exactly what the name promises: they latch onto one of your champion’s abilities and crank it right up, and you will only ever be offered ones that actually work on your champ. Quick Step, for instance, makes you dash forward whenever you cast a self-targeted AoE ability
Quest Augments got an upgrade too. They now come in multi-tier flavours, so instead of one unlock and done, they can evolve several times into beefier versions as you tick off objectives. Older ones like Quest: Steel Your Heart have also been cleaned up with clearer visuals and proper tracking, so you actually know how close you are to the payoff.
So, a fun example. Blirzcrank Q can fire three hooks once it’s fully powered up. So have fun trying to avoid that.
Traits Are Officially Gone
The Trait System has been pulled for the season. Riot found that while a few Traits like High Roller and Archmage were genuine crowd favourites, the system as a whole was quietly squashing build variety.
The fix is a tidy one: a bunch of the best Trait fantasies have been reborn as standalone Augments, so you can still chase the likes of Archmage, High Roller, Snowday, Wee Woo Wee Woo and Stackosaurus Rex without committing to a full two-piece. Make it Rain has also had a glow-up into the wonderfully named Yowch, My Coins!
Arena 3×6: AD Assassins Get the Spotlight
Over in Arena, Riot reckons 3×6 is in a good spot, so this is more of a fine-tune than a teardown. The headline goal is propping up the under-performers, and AD assassins in particular are getting some help they have been crying out for.
On the champion front, Talon is the big winner. His E per-wall cooldown drops from 26s-6s all the way down to 16s-0s, which is borderline terrifying. Nocturne, Pyke and Quinn all get their cooldowns shaved too, and Akali’s R picks up a chunkier ratio and a lower cooldown. On the flip side, Brand, Lillia and Karthus are coming back down, with Karthus’ Q reverted to match its Summoner’s Rift values.
The Item List is Where the Assassin’s Love Really Shows
A whole pile of lethality items got their cooldowns slashed, including Edge of Night, Youmu’s Ghostblade, Prowler’s Claw, Voltaic Cyclosword and Spectral Cutlass. Serylda’s Grudge in particular got a big glow-up across its damage, haste and slow. Bruisers are not left out either, with Trinity Force and Sterak’s Gage both getting buffed.
The quiet MVP, though, might be a defensive tweak. Guardian Angel, Zhonya’s Hourglass and Wooglet’s Witchcap no longer share a lockout, so you can finally grab a GA alongside a Stasis item. Banshee’s Veil and Iceborn Gauntlet also got friendlier numbers.
There are also a host of bug fixes packed into this one. You can find the full rundown over in our Patch 26.12 notes.