Patch 26.18 Notes – League of Legends

Posted on by U.GG

Patch 26.18 notes for League of Legends are here. (Source)

Champions

Bard has been a meta staple for much of the year. Earlier we toned his damage down to what we think are reasonable levels, so this time we are going to target his durability which has also stood out as high given his mobility and long range ultimate utility.
Base Stats
Armor: 34 + 5/Level ⇒ 32 + 4.7/Level
Cassio has always scaled with skill, but this year has propelled her to new heights of pro play dominance despite being weaker for average players. These adjustments should tap down her laning power, especially in pro where defensive purchases are valued more than raw AP, while giving her back some scaling power. It will still be critical to use empowered E’s, but raising her floor lets us be a bit more flexible with tuning.

Passive – Serpentine Grace

Move Speed Bonus: 6% – 40% (based on level) ⇒ 5% – 36% (based on level)

Q – Noxious Blast

Damage: 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 ⇒ 65 / 100 / 135 / 170 / 205
Ability Power Ratio: 65% ⇒ 75%

E – Twin Fang

Mana Cost: 40 ⇒ 45
Base Ability Power Ratio: 10% ⇒ 20%
Enhanced Ability Power Ratio: 55% ⇒ 45%
Total Ability Power Ratio: 65% ⇒ 65%
Damage: 52 – 120 ⇒ 50 – 120

R – Petrifying Gaze

Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 ⇒ 125 / 225 / 325
Ability Power Ratio: 50% ⇒ 75%
As one of our assassins that offer opponents a wider mix of gameplay options, Ekko has found a slightly weak steady state since Dusk & Dawn’s update mid year. We believe he has some room for power, especially in mid where he scales slightly worse, without buffing his Hail of Blades pattern.

Q – Timewinder

Mana Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 ⇒ 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
Return Damage Ability Power Ratio: 60% ⇒ 70%
Kassadin had a strong start to 2026 but hasn’t regained his…footing…since our earlier nerfs. His Q should feel more punchy with his scaling, and we’re aiming to provide more early agency through good Riftwalk usage without touching his late game fantasy.

Q – Null Sphere

Ability Power Ratio: 70% AP ⇒ 80% AP

R – Riftwalk

Base Damage: 70 / 90 / 110 ⇒ 80 / 95 / 110
Yi drew the short end of the stick on the Rageblade bugfix from earlier this year due to his double strike interactions. While the actual impact for most Rageblade users was minor (and we are compensating Rageblade as well for that this patch), he was impacted harder than the other users. He’s also just been unable to scale as well as a melee carry compared to his normal power level, so we are also giving him a buff up.
Base Stats
Armor Growth: 33 + 4.5/Level ⇒ 33 + 5/Level

R – Highlander

Move Speed: 35 / 45 / 55% ⇒ 40 / 50 / 60%
Nautilus has been sitting near the top of the meta for the entire year, even before our work to bring other tank supports up in power, and we feel nerfing him will open up room for a more variety. That said, we know a lot of his value is in being able to lock down champions effectively, and that’ll remain a core strength.
Base Stats
Attack Damage: 61 + 3.3/Level ⇒ 58 + 3.3/Level

Q – Dredge Line

Damage: 85 / 130 / 175 / 220 / 265 (+90% AP) ⇒ 85 / 125 / 165 / 205 / 245 (+90% AP)
Seraphine bot has been a source of frustration for opponents for some time, despite a minor nerf a few patches ago. We are nerfing her E’s rank up to target this head on, as support Seraphine usually maxes it last (which basically means she never has it maxed as a support.)

E – Beat Drop

Cooldown: 11 / 10.5 / 10 / 9.5 / 9s ⇒ 11s
Our MSI changes were effective at pulling her to the forefront of pro play for the first time in years, but unfortunately she’s too performant in specific solo queue settings. Our data shows that W damage is a meaningfully larger share of damage in the tiers where she’s stronger than desired, so this should help tap her down while still preserving her core fantasies. Her passive is also now better breakpointed to increase reliance on Lost Chapter in early-mid levels, nerfing her higher winrate builds that make do with less mana investment.

Passive – Transcendent

Splinter Mana: 20 – 255 ⇒ 20 – 199

W – Force of Will

Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8s ⇒ 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9s
Viego’s winrate has been on a downward trend recently, and his players have noticed and begun dropping him. He has a fair bit of room to bring up, both just generally and for the viability of his more bruisery alt build.
Base Stats
Attack Damage Growth: 3.5 ⇒ 4

Passive – Sovereign’s Domination

Heal: 2% (+…. ) ⇒ 2% (+ 2.5% per 100 bonus AD) (+ 2% per 100 AP) (+ 5% per 100% bonus attack speed) (+ 2% per 500 bonus HP) of the target’s maximum health
We’re using a QoL change here as an opportunity to give Zaahen some love! This might read as a nerf, but Zaahen’s Q lined up with his passive in such a way that it meant he always left his resurrection (and GA, Zilean R) with Q on CD, so now he’s always happier. His Q2 is also a clean double of his Q1 base damage now.

Q – The Darkin Glaive

NEW Cooldown Behavior: If Q is active, it is now placed on Cooldown immediately upon being put in Resurrection
Q2 Damage: 25 / 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% bonus AD) ⇒ 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 (+20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% bonus AD)
Zeri has been slowly climbing in winrate with the recent Runaan’s Hurricane and Yun Tal Wildarrows buffs. She now sits very high in winrate compared to her historical resting, which is worrying for a champ that is so skill intensive. As she has also begun showing up in pro, we expect she has a high chance of becoming meta dominant, so we are pulling some power out of her burst and waveclear.

W – Ultrashock Laser

Damage: 30 / 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 (+120% tAD) ⇒ 30 / 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 (+100% tAD)
Wall Damage: 45 / 105 / 165 / 225 / 285 (+180% tAD) ⇒ 45 / 105 / 165 / 225 / 285 (+150% tAD)
Critical Strike: 150% (+15% IE)

Items

Guinsoo’s Rageblade

In light of the bugfix nerfing rageblade by a minor amount by pushing back when the first double hit triggers, we are compensating with a similarly minor QoL buff to help players get it stacked up and keep it stacked.
Seething Strike Stack Duration: 3s ⇒ 4s

Classic Patch Notes

Our third League Classic patch has our biggest content drop to date: Five brand new old champions! Do you want to remove as much gameplay as possible with Poppy’s Diplomatic Immunity? Untargetably Blade Waltz the entire enemy team as Fiora? Deliver taunt explosions as Galio? Experience the fabled early Xin Zhao kit (he’s been nerfed, don’t worry)? Shyvana’s also here.

We’ve got a smaller balance patch than before, as we’re in a much better state balance-wise. Some of our bugfixes had substantial winrate impact, so we’re returning some power we took away in a few cases. Otherwise, we’re just addressing the game’s biggest outliers.

Champions

NEWFiora

Welcome back Classic Fiora, who existed from 2012-2015. Fiora is a deadly duelist, poised to deal tons of damage to isolated targets while also excelling in short trades by Riposting their strikes back at them. You’ll probably want a Ravenous Hydra to have access to wave clear. Some things never change.
Passive – Duelist
Fiora regenerates health whenever she damages enemies. This regeneration can stack when hitting champions.
Q – Lunge
Fiora dashes to strike a nearby enemy. Lunge can be cast a second time at no additional cost..
W – Riposte
Passive: Fiora gain bonus Attack Damage
Active: Fiora parries the next attack within a short time, dealing damage back to her attacker.
E – Burst of Speed
Fiora gains Attack Speed for a few seconds. Attacks and Lunges during this time grant her a stacking Move Speed bonus.
R – Blade Waltz
This is why you’re really here. Fiora becomes untargetable and dashes around the battlefield, striking nearby enemies for (say it with me) tons of damage. All strikes apply on-hit effects and repeated hits on the same target deal reduced damage.

NEWGalio

Classic Galio existed from 2010-2017 and was one part mage, one part AP bruiser, one part tank, one part support. He still wants to build Magic Resist to scale his offense, but almost everything about him is different from the modern-day champion.
Passive – Runic Skin
Galio gains a portion of his Magic Resist as Ability Power. Hooray for one-sentence passives!
Q – Resolute Smite
Galio fires a concussive blast from his eyes that damages and slows enemies where it lands.
W – Bulwark
Galio gives a nearby allied champion bonus Armor and Magic Resist. While buffed, whenever they take damage, Galio is healed.
E – Righteous Gust
Galio unleashes a gust of wind that damages enemies in a line and leaves behind a directional draft, which gives all allies movement speed as long as they’re moving with the current.
Hwei stole this ability. What a jerk.
R – Idol of Durand
Galio channels to taunt all nearby enemies, taking reduced damage in the process. After channeling, Galio damages all enemies caught in the area, increasing based on how many times he was hit while channeling.

NEWPoppy

Do you think League of Legends has too much gameplay? Do you want your opponents to literally have no counterplay to you? No damage, no CC, nothing? We have the Demacian for you. Initially available from 2010-2015, Classic Poppy is a single-target terror with the option to become completely immune to all enemies but one.
Passive – Valiant Fighter
All damage to Poppy beyond 10% of her current health is reduced by 50%
Just in case you thought she was too easy to kill already
Q – Devastating Blow
Poppy’s next attack deals bonus damage based on her target’s max HP
W – Paragon of Demacia
Passive: Poppy gains Armor and Attack Damage (up to a cap) whenever she deals or takes Attacks herself.
Active: Immediately gain max stacks of Paragon of Demacia and gain increased Move Speed for several seconds
E – Heroic Charge
Poppy charges at an enemy, damaging and knocking this back. If they collide with a wall, they take more damage and are stunned.
R – Diplomatic Immunity
Poppy picks an enemy. For the next few seconds no one else can do anything to her and she deals bonus damage to them.
Don’t be fooled by the bonus damage. Ult Soraka and then kill the enemy ADC. There’s no counter-play.
I can’t believe they got rid of this spell during her rework.

NEWShyvana

We chose 2011-2013 for Classic Shyvana, so this is a true blast from the past. Our biggest pro tip for you is Frozen Mallet. If they’re slowed, they can’t run away.
Passive – Fury of the Dragonborn
Shyvana’s basic attacks enhance each of her basic abilities. They reduce Q’s cooldown, increase W’s duration, deal a fraction of E’s initial damage, and generate Fury for her ultimate.
Q – Twin Bite
Shyvana’s next attack strikes her target twice, dealing bonus damage.
In dragon form, Twin Bite deals damage in a cone in front of her.
W – Burnout
Shyvana gains Move Speed and continually damages enemies around her.
In dragon form, Burnout leaves a trail of fire that damages enemies who stand on it.
E – Flame Breath
Shyvana unleashes a fireball that damages the first enemy hit and reduces their armor
In dragon form, she unleashes a cone of fireballs, hitting more enemies.
R – Dragon’s Descent
Passive: Shyvana gains bonus Armor and Magic Resist. This bonus is doubled while in dragon form.
Shyvana transforms into a dragon, flying forward to damage and knock back all enemies encountered during her flight.

NEWXin Zhao

Classic Xin Zhao takes on his kit from 2012-2017. If you’re looking for some straightforward right click until they’re dead gameplay, look no further!
Passive – Challenge
Xin Zhao Challenges his most recent attack target, reducing their Armor.
Q – Three Talon Strike
Xin Zhao’s next three basic attacks deal bonus damage and reduce his other cooldowns by 1 second. The third attack knocks up his target.
W – Battle Cry
Passive: Every third basic attack heals Xin Zhao.
Active: Xin Zhao gains bonus Attack Speed for several seconds.
E – Audacious Charge
Xin Zhao dashes an enemy, Challenging them. Nearby enemies, including the target, take damage and are slowed.
R – Crescent Sweep
Xin Zhao sweeps all enemies around him, dealing damage and gaining Armor and Magic Resist for each enemy struck. Every enemy except his Challenge target are knocked back.

Anivia

Anivia is our single top performer in mid lane, so she’s been slated for nerfs. We’ve got several changes this patch, all of which are re-tuning her numbers back to 2013 accuracy.
Q – Flash Frost
Missile Speed: 950 ⇒ 850
Manual Detonation Stun Duration: 1s ⇒ 0.75s
Manual Detonation Radius: 230 ⇒ 210
Minimum Delay for Recast: 0 ⇒ 0.25s

Gangplank

Gangplank is performing worst of all conventional top laners and is deserving of a large buff. As with many of our changes on Classic, we’re reverting old nerfs from 2011 and 2012. We’re playing up his dreams of being a banker and sharing the wealth when it’s time to go all in.
Q – Parrrley
Bonus Gold on Kill: 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 ⇒ 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12
E – Raise Morale
Active Attack Damage: 12 / 19 / 26 / 33 / 40 ⇒ 14 / 22 / 30 / 38 / 46
Active Move Speed: 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20% ⇒ 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26%
Ally Bonus: Allies still gain 50% of Gangplank’s bonuses

Heimerdinger

Heimerdinger’s bugfix last patch ended up being a massive hit to his power, well above what we expected. So we’re buffing him back up, partially reverting some of our previous nerfs. Because the double damage turret bugfix was significantly top lane skewed, we’re looking to buff his performance in top lane most of all and fix a couple of minor mismatches that escaped his release.
Base Stats
Base Health Regeneration: 4.5 ⇒ 5.05
Q – H-28G Evolution Turret
Base Damage: 28 / 36 / 44 / 52 / 60 ⇒ 30 / 38 / 46 / 54 / 62
W – Hextech Micro-Rockets
Mana Cost: 65 / 85 / 105 / 125 / 145 ⇒ 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120
E – CH-1 Concussion Grenade
Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10s ⇒ 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9s
Cast Range: 920 ⇒ 925

Kayle

Kayle isn’t performing too well in her most popular role of top lane, so we’re here to lend her a wing. We’ve got a large change to her passive, which is a boost of functionally 17-32 ability power. All in all, this should result in a Kayle with more damage, more healing, more everything.
Passive – Holy Fervor
Ability Power Gained: 30% bonus AD ⇒ 30% total AD

Malzahar

Malzahar is one of our best-performing mid laners, primarily as an AP threat, and is due for a small nerf. We completed a pass of minor differences from his 2013 form and have some changes to Voidlings as a result, which should skew toward making AD Malzahar better without affecting AP Malzahar much. Continuing on the trend of AD Malzahar, we’re raising his overall attack speed, so that he can use those potential AD items better. Meanwhile, on the AP nerf front, we have a meaningful bugfix to R, which will reduce its damage in several circumstances, plus an AP ratio nerf to bring him in line.
Base Stats
Attack Speed Growth: 1.36% ⇒ 3%
Attack Speed Ratio: 0.625 ⇒ 0.658
Passive – Summon Voidling
Movement Speed: 400 ⇒ 460
Attack Cast Frame: 12 ⇒ 9
Gold on Kill: 2 ⇒ 12
Q – Call of the Void
Ability Power Ratio: 80% ⇒ 70%
R – Nether Grasp
Bugfix: R no longer continues to deal damage if the channel stops.

Nasus

Nasus is the top dog of top lane and it’s by a lot. Thankfully, we’ve got some substantial bugfixes that should put his bark and his bite on more equal footing. First, we’re fixing a bug where his Q stacks could crit, which means for all you Trinity Force enjoyers, that’s a big hit to Q damage about 10% of the time. For Wither, there are two bugs worth noting and a single change for period-accuracy. The slow now updates every 1 second (affected by tenacity) instead of every 0.5 seconds, unaffected. So now Tenacity won’t cut off the top-end of his slow. However, it was also bugged to use the per-second update every 0.5 seconds, meaning the maximum slow was much higher than it should have been. Fixing both bugs should net out to an appropriate nerf for the ability.
Q – Siphoning Strike
Bonus Damage from stacks can no longer critically strike
W – Wither
Slow ramps every: 0.5s ⇒ 1.0s, affected by Tenacity
Bugfix: The slow no longer ramps up twice as hard as it should

Warwick

Warwick is the top dog of the jungle and it’s by a lot. With Feral Flare’s build path turning back into attack speed, Warwick’s doing even better than he ever has. Accordingly, we’re pulling back even further on how much auto-attack power he gets, mostly from historic changes in his past. We’re also pulling in part of a nerf from 4.21. He was a real terror back in the patch before then…
Base Stats
Attack Speed: 0.644 ⇒ 0.625
Passive – Eternal Thirst
Base Damage: 3 – 16, linear scaling ⇒ 3 + 0.5 per level until level 9, then +1 per level
W – Hunter’s Call
Cooldown: 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 / 16s ⇒ 30 / 27 / 24 / 21 / 18s
R – Infinite Duress
Damage: 250 / 335 / 420 + 200% bonus AD ⇒ 180 / 300 / 420 + 200% bonus AD
Cast Indicator: Updated the cast indicator to better reflect its cast range

Classic Systems

We’ve made some changes around Classic Skin Chromas and their distribution. Instead of directly selling Classic Skin Chromas, we’re unifying this product with their associated Base Skin. We’re hoping this simplifies things and removes some edge cases (where players could effectively pay double if they purchased the Classic Chroma and then the Base Skin).

For those players who have only purchased the Classic Chroma, we’ll be granting the associated Base Skin for free!

Baron Rammus will be going into the vault in 26.20. You can acquire him at a discounted price until then!”

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