If you like to spend your time playing ARAM Mayhem and Arena, then Patch 26.16 adds a fair few changes.
While some of the shine was taken off ARAM and Arena thanks to the release of League Classic, the two modes are getting plenty of love, especially Mayhem.
ARAM: Mayhem – Fighters finally get some love
Riot’s decided fighters have been getting bullied in extended fights, so there are two new Gold Augments to help them. Upgrade Ravenous Hydra makes your spells apply cleave with no cooldown and chucks in 18% lifesteal on top.
Shark Bait got a proper glow-up (base damage 120-350 now, and it eats 30% of missing health instead of 20%). Nature is Healing has been reworked so each bush has its own cooldown and heals the second you step in.
Snowbomb’s radius is 30% chunkier with a longer knockup, which is going to feel dreadful to be on the receiving end of. Locke also gets a tidy buff across the board: more damage dealt, less taken, and 20 tenacity out of nowhere. Upgrade Sundered Sky is the other new Augment. It reduces the item’s per-target cooldown to 5 seconds (down from 8), grants an extra 9% missing health healing on empowered strikes, and immediately gives you 500 gold.
On the nerf side, Critical Missile and the Skilled Sniper snipe range both got trimmed. So don’t be shocked if your old comfort picks feel a touch weaker.
Arena: Bravery Wednesdays are back
Bravery Arena is returning, and it’s landing every Wednesday alongside Crowd Favourites. Each Wednesday, you either roll the dice with Bravery or pick from your Crowd Favourite pool (the more champs you own, the more options you’re offered).
Balance-wise, this is a “lift the strugglers” patch. Rek’Sai is the standout: her maxed tunnels now have a 0-second reuse cooldown, so she can pop in and out, plus a healthy healing buff on top. Gnar’s tired time is gone entirely, meaning you’re mega-Gnar-ing and back again constantly. LeBlanc, Volibear, Shaco, Poppy and Warwick all got meaningful bumps too, so expect to see a lot more of them.
Now You See Me got a fun upgrade as well. At level 2 it leaves a clone where you vanished from, which is exactly the kind of “wait, which one’s real” nonsense Arena lives for.
Getting tapped down, Aurelion Sol, Bel’Veth, Sona and Soraka, with Three Sacred Treasures and Nesting Doll reined in on the Augment side.
There are also a host of bug fixes across both modes, which you can read in full in the official patch notes.