Updated on July 22, 2026 at 7:59pm: Added detailed patch notes posted by Riot Phroxzon and updated title.Bel’Veth, Terminus, and Yun Tal Wildarrows are new additions.
Riot Games is targeting a handful of standout systems and champions, making Bastionbreaker more accessible, toning down overperforming staples like Jack of All Trades, and opening the door for greater jungle diversity beyond fighter picks.
Alistar has been falling behind other melee supports in recent patches.
Riot Phroxzon noted that their broader efforts to improve melee supports relative to ranged supports have largely achieved their goal, but Alistar has yet to benefit enough from those changes and remains one of the weaker options in the role.
Despite several rounds of adjustments, Riot believes Locke is still slightly overtuned. The champion has settled into a healthier spot at both the highest and lowest skill levels, but continues to perform especially well in the Emerald-to-Diamond range, where players are skilled enough to capitalize on his strengths without consistently being punished for mistakes.
Locke naturally falls off if he fails to snowball. At higher ranks, experienced players can make the most of his early advantages but are also more likely to be punished for misplays.
Credit: Riot Games
At lower ranks, his demanding mechanics often lead to execution mistakes that cause him to lose momentum more quickly.
Overall, however, Riot said it is pleased with how Locke’s launch has landed, with the upcoming nerfs intended as a final round of tuning rather than a major overhaul.
Mordekaiser
The developer felt the changes removed much of the tension surrounding Mordekaiser’s signature 1v1 moments while leaving him feeling comparatively weaker outside of his ultimate.
“Morde’s ult changes from last patch were really cool. However, they overshot in magnitude,” wrote Riot Phroxzon.
Credit: Riot Games
To address this, Riot is shifting some of his power away from Realm of Death and into his baseline kit by buffing Death’s Grasp (E).
“One of the core concepts of the Juggernaut class is that they should have windowed moments of target access, but should have on average less continuous target access than other classes,” said Riot Phroxzon.
As a result, the team believes improving Mordekaiser’s E is a healthier way to increase his threat level without making his ultimate overwhelmingly powerful again.
Riven
Credit: Riot Games
Riven has climbed to the top of the meta following the introduction of Gluttonous Greaves and buffs to Endless Hunger, both of which significantly increased the amount of healing available in the current ecosystem.
Although the developer believes Riven’s overall play pattern remains healthy, they would like to expand her viable first-item options over the long term.
Currently, Riven is heavily incentivized to rush Axiom because of its strong synergy with her ability haste scaling. Riot says it would prefer to see her gain access to more durable build paths that allow for different playstyles instead of relying primarily on bursting down targets.Mordekaiser
Champion adjustments
Credit: Riot Games
LOL PATCH 26.15 CHAMPION ADJUSTMENTS
PATCH NOTES
Bel’Veth
Base Stats Level 1 Attack Speed: 0.85 → 0.67 Attack Speed Ratio: 0.85 → 0.67 AD: 60 → 55 Auto Attack Damage Modifier: 75% → 100% Attack Cast Time: 0.25 → 0.22 Auto attack animation adjusted to feel better at lower Attack Speeds. Armor: 32 (+4.7/lvl) → 28 (+5/lvl) HP: 610 (+105/lvl) → 580 (+110/lvl) Model size reduced by 5%
Passive Attack Speed after spell cast: 20-40% for 2 attacks → 20% for 3 seconds Attack Speed per stack: 0.28-11% → 1-2% (gains more at later levels)
E Damage: 6-10 (+8% AD) (+8% on-hits), increased up to 300% based on missing health → 10-18 (+12% AD) (+12% on-hits), increased up to 100% based on missing health Number of strikes: 6 +1 per 33% bonus AS → 6 +1 per 40% bonus AS Damage Reduction: 35-55% → 20-60% Lifesteal: 20% → 20-40% Lifesteal scaler: 100% → Removed Cooldown: 20-16 → 24-12 Monster modifier: 150% → 200%
R Passive on-hit now applies every attack instead of every other attack. Passive is no longer removed when swapping targets. Passive true damage: 6-14 (+12% bonus AD) → 2-6 (+3% bonus AD) Max stacks on Epic Monsters: 10 → 8
E and Q passive applications no longer require Bel’Veth to have attacked the target first.
A sweeping update to Bel’Veth in patch 26.15 has been added with the goal of toning down her dominant early-game power while reinforcing her identity as a late-game scaling champion.
Bel’Veth’s current strength is heavily skewed toward high-skill players who can abuse her early jungle invades, particularly thanks to the extremely low cooldown on her Q.
Her Q is being reworked to function more like a traditional dueling ability, with a cooldown that starts at four seconds and scales down to one second. Riot says this should preserve the spell’s uptime while reducing her ability to snowball games through aggressive early invades.
Credit: Riot Games
“Historically, this has caused us to repeatedly nerf her when she is particularly strong at doing this, resulting in her being balanced around this capability at a loss to many of her other more core, resonant functions,” Riot Phroxzon explained.
While some Bel’Veth players enjoy her early-game invade-heavy playstyle, the developer believes it comes at too great a cost to the champion’s broader audience.
To compensate, Bel’Veth is receiving significant base stat nerfs while gaining power in areas that better fit her scaling fantasy. The headline change is that her empowered Void Coral form will have an infinite duration at level 16.
Adaptive stats at 5 and 10 Jack stacks: 10, 25 → 8, 20
Sundered Sky
TBC
Bastionbreaker, Jack of All Trades, and Sundered Sky
Credit: Riot Games
Several system-level adjustments are present in Patch 26.13, starting with Bastionbreaker. The item has remained a niche choice largely due to its high cost, so Riot is lowering the barrier to make it a more accessible situational pickup.
The patch also includes a delayed nerf to the Jack of All Trades rune, which has been overperforming, particularly on champions that can stack strong defensive stats without sacrificing offensive power.
Meanwhile, Sundered Sky is receiving a nerf after establishing itself as one of the most influential fighter items at the highest levels of play.
With the international tournament window over, Riot believes it’s the right time to revisit the fighter item ecosystem, noting that Sundered Sky has limited overall meta diversity, especially by pushing out alternatives such as AP and tank junglers more than intended.
