Patch 26.13 notes for League of Legends are here. (Source) The patch will be used for MSI and the EWC. The patch is also the first introduction of Locke.
System Changes
Last Hit Indicator
We’re going to be enabling Last Hit Indicators for Normal Draft & Ranked SR games. This feature has been live in Swiftplay & Co-op vs. AI for a while, and we’ve seen it result in new players being more successful at last-hitting than before. These players are now graduating into Normals & Ranked and are interested in continuing to use them.
We think it’s better to focus on skill expression in other parts of the game—rather than understanding exactly when you can last-hit a minion—and are also pretty confident that these don’t degrade skill expression in lane. You still need to be mindful of positioning, harassing your opponent, considering where both junglers are, understanding power spikes, and more.
We’ve seen that experienced players are disabling it, as they find it more distracting than helpful, but we believe it should be available for those who want it. Let us know what you think!
Doran’s Helm
We overshot a bit with the 26.11 Doran’s Helm buff, so we’re tapping it back down while keeping the base health high and targeting the users it’s overperforming on.
Armor and Magic Resistance: 10 ⇒ 8
Health: 140 ⇒ 150
Imperial Mandate
Imperial Mandate has landed softly, and the build path has been too awkward for many of its likely users, especially supports. We’re smoothing out the path and shifting some of its power accordingly.
Build Path: Blasting Wand (850g) + Bandleglass Mirror (900g) + 650g ⇒ Amp Tome (400g) + Bandleglass Mirror (900g) + Amp Tome (400g) + 700g
Ability Power: 65 ⇒ 60
Unique – Control: 15 AH For Immobilizing Abilities ⇒ 20 AH For Immobilizing Abilities
Unique – Command: 6% Vulnerable ⇒ 7% Vulnerable
Champion
Aphelios
See Highest Win Rate Aphelios Builds
Since his nerfs earlier this year, Aphelios has fallen in priority and win rate. With some power budget freed up, we’re pulling back on some of those earlier nerfs to highlight each gun’s unique strengths.
Passive – The Hitman and the Seer
Passive Mark Damage: 15 (10% bonus AD) ⇒ 15 (15% bonus AD)
Q – Weapon Abilites
Onslaught Damage: 19 / 24.25 / 29.5 / 34.75 / 40% Total AD Dmg per attack ⇒ 20 / 25.25 / 30.5 / 35.75 / 41% Total AD Dmg per attack
Duskwave Damage: 20 – 110 (Level 1 – 18) (10 – 16% bonus AD) ⇒ 20 – 110 (Level 1 – 18) (15 – 21% bonus AD)
Sentry Damage: 35 – 125 (Level 1 – 18) (30 – 48% bonus AD) ⇒ 35 – 125 (Level 1 – 18) (34 – 52% bonus AD)
Bard has been a tanky roaming meta staple for much of the season, so we’re trimming his damage so tank Bard doesn’t get to hit nearly as hard without investing in AP.
Damage Per Meep: 35 (+10 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP) ⇒ 30 (+6 per 5 Chimes) (+40% AP)
Passive – Traveler’s Call
Brand continues to dominate bot lane for most players, so we’re nerfing his early passive detonation damage while offsetting some of that hit for more skilled players and supports through mana tuning.
Base Mana Regeneration: 9 ⇒ 11
Passive – Blaze
Detonation Damage: 8 – 12% (Levels 1 – 17) (+2% per 100 AP) ⇒ 6 – 12% (Levels 1 – 18, scaling above 18) (+2% per 100 AP)
E – Conflagration
Mana Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 ⇒ 90
Cassiopeia
See Highest Win Rate Cassiopeia Builds
Cassiopeia has risen to the top of pro play presence, even before our 26.12 nerfs to her major competition. We would like to preserve some of her unique strengths, like her rewarding laning and slippery speed, but she should have a less gigantic health bar for when opponents actually lock her down!
Health per level: 104 ⇒ 98
As the marksman meta has evolved around crit, on-hit, and caster builds, Draven has fallen behind. We’re buffing his heavy-AD pattern instead of trying to redirect his itemization.
E – Stand Aside
Cooldown: 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14s ⇒ 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12s
R – Whirling Death
Damage Reduction on Enemy Hit: -8% multiplicatively, down to 40% (at 11 hits) ⇒ -5%, down to a minimum of 50% (at 14 hits)
Kai’Sa has struggled to get through lane and find her big Killer Instinct moments, so we’re buffing her fallback W pattern early and her later-game backline dive threat.
W – Void Seeker
Cooldown: 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14 ⇒ 20 / 18.5 / 17 / 15.5 / 14
R – Killer Instinct
Shield: 70 / 90 / 110 (+90 / 135 / 180% AD) (+120% AP) ⇒ 100 / 150 / 200 (+90 / 135 / 180% AD) (+120% AP)
K’Sante has been a major beneficiary with Doran’s Helm entering the mix in Season 2, so we’re lightly tapping down his early reliability while still rewarding successful all-ins.
E – Footwork
Shield: (80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240) (+15% bonus health) ⇒ (70 / 112.5 / 155 / 197.5 / 240) (+13.5% bonus health)
Olaf used to be a staple in the jungle but has been out of favor for a while now, despite our earlier attempts this season to help him out. We are looking to give him a bit more power to entice him back into the wilderness.
Q – Undertow
Monster Bonus Physical Damage: 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 ⇒ 20 / 45 / 70 / 95 / 120
Jungle class diversity has been dominated almost exclusively by fighters for a while now, and we think Poppy is a good pick for a tankier counter option into many of the fighter junglers at the top of the meta. This buff is aimed at her jungle clear and gank windows while minimizing top and support impact.
Q – Hammer Shock
Monster Damage Cap: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 ⇒ 75 / 105 / 135 / 165 / 195
Another class that’s underrepresented in the jungle is assassins. We feel Qiyana is a great choice for a buff as she’s recently been on the lower end of balanced in the jungle, so we’re giving her a jungle-focused buff to help bring her back without meaningfully juicing mid lane.
Monster Damage: 155% ⇒ 175%
Q – Elemental Wrath / Edge of Ixtal
Rek’Sai’s combination of dueling power and mobility has made her too successful at high ranks, so we’re shaving down her early-to-mid burst windows while preserving her unique map movement and longer fight pattern.
E – Furious Bite / Tunnel
Physical Damage: 80 / 108 / 136 / 164 / 192 (64% bonus AD) ⇒ 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (60% bonus AD)
Bonus True Damage: 125% ⇒ 120%
Rumble has been an extremely reliable blind-pick top laner for a long time, so we’re lowering some of his early staying power and base damage while keeping his scaling pattern intact.
Q – Flamespitter
Damage: 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (100% AP) ⇒ 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (105% AP)
Senna players have moved over to a much stronger Bot lane farming pattern, so we’re softening her farming and Shiv synergy while also tuning her DPS around having access to more souls. The Doran’s Helm nerf should do the rest of the work necessary to get her to the right power level between roles.
Passive – Absolution
Soul Drop Chance (Senna Kill): 10% ⇒ 5%
Soul Drop Chance (Ally Kill): 28% ⇒ 32%
Crit Damage: -10% (180% / 27% with IE) ⇒ -15% (170% / 25.5% with IE)
Q – Piercing Darkness
Cooldown Refund: On Hit ⇒ On Attack
Sion has been resilient in both solo queue and pro play for a long time, so we’re weakening some of his reliable early lane power and resource access without decimating his core tank fantasy.
Q – Decimating Smash
Min Damage: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 ⇒ 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90
W – Soul Furnace
Mana: 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 ⇒ 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 / 95
We feel Vex has had less of an impact in her games than we think she should, so we’re giving her a quality of life buff that should make her reset pattern feel smoother so she can have more pop off giga plays.
E – Looming Darkness
Cooldown: 13s ⇒ 12s
R – Shadow Surge
Reset Time Window: 6s ⇒ 8s
Zaahen is already seeing more play across audiences, so we’re giving him more room to fish for his early trade patterns and engage in mid game skirmishes without raising his scaling ceiling.W – Dreaded Return
Cooldown: 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 ⇒ 14 / 13.5 / 13 / 12.5 / 12
