Patch 26.5 has officially arrived, serving as the competitive foundation for First Stand, the year’s first major international tournament. Riot is sharpening the meta by trimming down mid-lane powerhouses like Orianna, Azir, and Taliyah, while putting a leash on the ever-present Kha’Zix. On the flip side, fan favorites like Garen, Lee Sin, Lillia, and Volibear are receiving much-needed buffs to bring them back into the spotlight. Think of this as a “Worlds-lite” patch—surgical, focused, and designed to ensure the highest level of play remains diverse and exciting.
Champion Changes: The Meta Shift
This patch focuses heavily on the professional mid-lane landscape and jungle dominance. While some changes are simple numbers tweaks, others address long-standing consistency issues.
Akali — W Restealth Timing Rework
Akali’s Twilight Shroud restealth timer previously scaled off game time, causing inconsistency between fast-paced modes (like ARAM) and standard matches. It now scales with champion level:
| Level | Old (Game Time) | New (Champion Level) | Restealth Time |
| 0:00 | Level 1 | 1s | 1s |
| 8:00 | Level 7 | 0.9s | 0.9s |
| 11:00 | Level 10 | 0.825s | 0.825s |
| 20:00 | Level 13 | 0.725s | 0.725s |
| 30:00 | Level 16 | 0.625s | 0.625s |
Note: While Summoner’s Rift players won’t feel a massive difference, this makes her stealth windows far more predictable in ARAM.
Azir — Health Growth Nerf
- Health Growth: 119 → 108
- Verdict: High-level Azir players were becoming too tanky to burst down. This reduction makes him more susceptible to assassins without gutting his DPS.
Garen — Q and E Buffs
Garen has been underperforming in higher brackets despite his simplicity.
- Q (Decisive Strike) Move Speed Duration: 1 / 1.65 / 2.3 / 2.95 / 3.6s → 1.4 / 1.95 / 2.5 / 3.05 / 3.6s
- E (Judgment) AD Ratio per spin: 38/41/44/47/50% → 40/43/46/49/52%
- Verdict: The Q buff helps early trades significantly, while the E ratio makes non-crit bruiser builds much more viable.
Kha’Zix — Multi-Tool Nerfs
The Voidreaver has been a solo queue terror. Riot is hitting his mobility and burst.
- Base Move Speed: 350 → 345
- Q (Taste Their Fear) Bonus AD Ratio: +110% (231% isolated) → +105% (220.5% isolated)
Lee Sin & Lillia — Jungle Adjustments
- Lee Sin Q Damage: 60-180 → 65-185 (Base Damage). A small +5 reward for landing your signature skill.
- Lillia: AP ratio on Passive monster heal increased (9% → 15%), Q AP ratio up (30% → 35%), and Ult base damage buffed (100-200 → 150-250) with a lower cooldown.
Varus — Lethality vs. On-Hit
- Q (Piercing Arrow): Max damage reduced, especially the bonus AD scaling.
- W (Blighted Quiver): Now gains a +15% bonus AD ratio on-hit.
- Verdict: Riot wants to move Varus away from the “one-shot poke” build and back toward the Guinsoo’s Rageblade on-hit playstyle.
Volibear — The Return of the Bruiser
- Q Physical Damage: +140% → +160%.
- W Mana Cost: Reduced by 10 at all ranks.
- W Wounded Bonus: +15% per 100 bonus AD → +25% per 100 bonus AD.
- Verdict: These changes push Volibear away from the “Wizard Bear” AP niche and back into a dominant AD top-lane bruiser.
Items, Systems & Features
Hubris & Locket Changes
- Hubris: Total price dropped from 3000 to 2800 gold. This allows assassins to start their snowball much earlier in the game.
- Locket of the Iron Solari: Shield value is now front-loaded (290 minimum up from 200), making it a much more attractive first-buy for tank supports.
Last Hit Indicators
Now live in Co-op vs. AI, Tutorials, and Quickplay!
- ✓ Accounts for permanent damage (items, levels).
- ❌ Does not account for Sheen procs or temporary buffs like Jax W.
- ❌ Currently does not support Azir or Graves due to unique attack patterns.
New Behavioral Systems
Riot is getting tough on toxicity. Starting this patch, severe chat violations (hate speech, threats) will result in gameplay bans, not just chat restrictions. If you can’t be civil, you won’t be playing.
Brawl, ARAM & Battle Pass
The Brawl game mode returns from March 4 to April 28, 2026. Additionally, the Season 1 Act 2 Battle Pass is live, featuring Corrupted Petricite skins for Maokai and Xerath, with a Prestige Requiem Sona as the capstone.
In ARAM, Nexus health has been slashed (5500 → 3000) while towers have been buffed (1800 → 3000). This change is designed to end stalemates faster while making tower defense more tactical.
Editor’s Take
Patch 26.5 feels like a necessary “reset” for the current meta. While the Kha’Zix nerfs might feel harsh to solo queue mains, his dominance was stifling jungle diversity. The most exciting part of this update is the shift in Varus and Volibear’s build paths—seeing more “on-hit” and “bruiser” builds adds a layer of depth that the game has lacked recently. Keep an eye on Garen top; that early Q duration buff is going to win a lot of lanes that were previously considered “unplayable.”
FAQ
Q: When does the Brawl mode end?
A: You can play Brawl until April 28, 2026. Make sure to get your games in before then!
Q: Why doesn’t the Last Hit Indicator work for my Jax W or Sheen?
A: The system only tracks permanent damage modifiers. Since Sheen is a temporary proc, you’ll still need to use your own judgment for those empowered last hits.
Q: Is “Lethality Varus” dead?
A: Not dead, but significantly weaker. With the new AD scaling on his W, the game is heavily incentivizing you to build attack speed and on-hit items instead.
Q: What happened to Neeko’s Ctrl+5?
A: It was removed as part of a technical rework for her W cooldown. While the specific clone expression is gone, the clone will still mirror your standard emotes.
Q: How do the new gameplay bans work?
A: Riot is targeting extreme cases. While minor flaming might still result in chat mutes, any form of hate speech or violence threats will now trigger a full ban from playing the game.
