Riot has dropped a dev blog outlining some pretty significant changes coming to ARAM Mayhem when Season 2 Act 2 kicks off in Patch 26.12. And there’s quite a bit to unpack.
Riot also confirmed that ARAM Mayhem is staying until at least the end of 2026.
Traits are out
The biggest change is that Traits are being phased out entirely. Riot’s reasoning is fair enough when you read it. Traits were causing everyone’s builds to blur together; the bonuses were outshining the actual champions. As a result, individual Augment picks felt a bit rubbish on their own without the Trait backing them up.
Some fan-favourite Traits like Stackasaurus aren’t disappearing. Though, they’re just being converted into standalone Augments, so you get the fun stuff without needing to chase a two-piece combo.
New Augment types are taking their place
Two new categories are being introduced. First up are Ability Augments, which are exactly what they sound like. These latch onto a single ability and go absolutely feral with it. Think Multishot firing extra bolts on every spell cast, or Chain Reaction turning knockups into a chaotic chain of collisions and bonus damage. The aim is to make your Augment feel like it’s actually built around your champ rather than just slotting into a universal build.
The second type is Quest Augments, which give you a goal to work toward in-game for a payoff that fits your playstyle. Quest: Tooth Fairy rewards burst damage by making enemies drop teeth (yes, really) that stack Lethality and Magic Pen. While Quest: Support Main lets healers and shielders keep their whole team ticking with extra Health Regen. Both sound like a good time.
Riot’s take on balance
Riot also addressed the whole “these don’t look balanced” thing head-on, which is refreshing. The short version is that they’re aiming for fun over strict balance, but they want every champ to have a viable build path and no single build to just auto-win games. Expect more frequent Augment rotations and additions rather than constant number nerfs.
ARAM: Mayhem isn’t going anywhere either. Riot Games confirmed they’re already planning content for the rest of this year and into next.