Patch 26.15 Preview – League of Legends

Posted on by Geekmandem
Patch 26.15 Preview

The League of Legends Patch 26.15 Preview is here, as Locke gets his first round of nerfs since release. Riot Phroxzon on X.

Champions

Morde’s ult changes from last patch were really cool
However, they overshot in magnitude and we haven’t been super happy with the ult gameplay after seeing it on live, losing a lot of the tension in whether or not he will successfully 1v1 them and also making Morde feel a lot weaker outside of his R moment
One of the core concepts of the Juggernaut class is that they should have windowed moments of target access, but should have on average less continuous target access than other classes (eg. lower base movespeed for example)
We think that Morde could do with more target access broadly, but through this type of windowed access, hence buffing his E
Since the release of Gluttonous Greaves + a lot of healing from Endless Hunger buffs and the surrounding ecosystem, she has risen to the top of the pack
As a light fighter broadly, she’s having the shape that we think is reasonably healthy, though long term, giving her more choices in the first slot other than Axiom (eg. more durable paths as well) would be broadly desirable (though she synergizes very well with the ability haste there), that would allow her to have other modes of success that aren’t just one shotting her target
Alistar has been closer to the bottom of the pecking order for the melee support. That said, our meta adjustments to move melee supports up relative to ranged supports has been reasonably successful, so we’re pretty happy with how that’s played out

Locke

Locke is still pretty strong; he has been tapering off in the lowest skill brackets and the high skill brackets, but in the “skilled” skill brackets (around Emerald/Diamond), Locke is able to both take over the game and also not throw it
At the higher skill brackets, he can snowball but needs to play very well without throwing as he falls off sharply
At the lower skill brackets, the executional demands and constant throws can make him fall off faster
Overall, we feel his release has landed well

Systems

  • Bastionbreaker has been a pretty niche item and is pretty expensive to deviate for a strategic output. We’re looking to make it more accessible.
  • Jack of All Trades nerf was also pushed to this patch; it has been a bit too strong and too present, especially for users that opt into strong defenses and are able to also supplement that with strong offence.
  • Sundered Sky has been strong and meta-defining at the highest levels of play for quite a while now, so we’re looking to take a pass at the fighter item system, now that we’re out of the tournament windows.
  • Notably, we think it’s been suppressing a bit of meta diversity, especially for things like AP jungle or Tank JG. Part of that is intentional, but the magnitude is a bit off