Welcome to our patch notes breakdown for League of Legends Season 26.4 (Demacia Season)!
Let’s break down all the new changes in LoL coming this week.
We recommend following along with the official patch notes since we won’t be listing all the specific stat changes, but rather focusing on the impact of the changes and the champions updated place in the current meta.
If you’re wondering how these changes will affect the meta, check out our LoL champion tier list!
Buffs, Nerfs, and Changes
Champion Changes
Ambessa (Adjustment)
- Her bonus monster damage is reduced.
- This will slightly slow her jungle clear, but it shouldn’t impact her overall strength, and I think Ambessa will remain a very dominant champion in the right hands.
- Ambessa had a 47.5% win rate on patch 26.3.
Annie (Buff)
- Annie’s Q damage is increased, and her E cooldown is reduced.
- This improves her trading power and also increases her protection in the lane. I think these changes to Annie will be beneficial, but they will not make her an S-tier pick, as her Q is a target ability and not AOE.
- Annie had a 50.3% win rate on patch 26.3.
Aphelios (Nerf)
- His bonus AD is reduced.
- This slightly lowers his overall damage output and makes his late-game worse.
- While it’s not ideal, I don’t think it’s going to be that big of a difference for Aphelios.
- Aphelios had a 49.9% win rate on patch 26.3.
Brand (Buff)
- Brand’s Passive deals more damage to monsters.
- This improves his jungle clear and makes him a stronger Jungler.
- I think these changes will make Brand a more viable Jungle pick.
- Brand had a 51.2% win rate on patch 26.3.
Braum (Nerf)
- Braum’s Ultimate damage is reduced, and its cooldown is increased.
- This lowers his level 6 all-in impact and will reduce his pick potential throughout the game.
- This is the second nerf in a row for Braum, and I don’t think Riot want him as an S-tier pick anymore.
- Braum had a 52.3% win rate on patch 26.3.
Camille (Adjustment)
- Camille’s E attack speed now activates after dashing instead of on hit.
- This slightly changes how her combos/ abilities interact.
- I don’t think it’s going to make a massive difference to her pick or win rate.
- Camille had a 50% win rate on patch 26.3.
Darius (Buff)
- His passive deals more damage to monsters.
- We might start to see Darius Jungle again soon
- Darius had a 49.4% win rate on patch 26.3.
Fizz (Buff)
- His W deals more damage to monsters.
- We might start to see Fizz Jungle again soon!
- Fizz had a 51.2% win rate on patch 26.3.
Graves (Buff)
- His E now gives more armor and magic resist per stack.
- These changes will make Graves less squishy in team fights and will make him stronger in those 1v1 skirmishes.
- I think these changes will make Graves more popular moving forward.
- Graves had a 49.5% win rate on patch 26.3.
Gwen (Nerf)
- Her Q and R damage are reduced.
- This will make Gwen weaker in those 1v1 fights, which I think is good, as Gwen is stupidly strong right now. These changes will make her weaker in the Top and Jungle roles.
- Gwen had a 51.8% win rate on patch 26.3.
Hwei (Buff)
- His W shield is stronger, which will help him in those mid and late game fights, and help him survive all-ins.
- His Ultimate cooldown is reduced, which will be beneficial at levels 6 and 11.
- Do I think Hwei be better? Yes. Do I think he will be picked more often? No, he is still hard to play, and I still wouldn’t recommend him.
- Hwei had a 50.1% win rate on patch 26.3.
Illaoi (Buff)
- Her passive tentacles deal more damage.
- This will make Illaoi an even stronger laner than she currently is. If she gets picked vs a melee champion, she is going to dominate them!
- Illaoi had a 49.8% win rate on patch 26.3.
Jinx (Nerf)
- Her armor growth is reduced.
- This makes Jinx slightly squishier throughout all stages of the game. I still think she will be an S-tier ADC, though, even with these changes.
- Jinx had a 52.2% win rate on patch 26.3.
Kassadin (Nerf)
- His health growth is reduced, and his E slow is weaker.
- These Kassadin nerfs will make him weaker throughout all stages of the game.
- I think this is a good set of nerfs for Kassadin, as I think he can be incredibly strong in the late game if he gets a lead early.
- Kassadin had a 51.4% win rate on patch 26.3.
Kayle (Nerf)
- Her Q damage is reduced.
- This weakens her early and mid-game trading, and we should expect Kayle to be weaker overall, which is beneficial for melee champions as they can struggle vs her post 6.
- Kayle had a 53.2% win rate on patch 26.3.
Kennen (Nerf)
- His R cooldown is increased.
- This is going to negatively impact Kennen in the early game, but will benefit him in the mid and late game team fights.
- Kennen had a 51.6% win rate on patch 26.3.
Lee Sin (Adjustment)
- His W now grants Omnivamp, which will apply on minions, monsters and champions.
- This is a QoL change for him, which will make clearing objectives and camps easier.
- Lee Sin had a 49.5% win rate on patch 26.3.
Lux (Adjustment)
- Her base mana is reduced, but mana regen is increased.
- Her Q and W cooldowns are changed.
- These Lux changes will impact her in both the Mid and Support roles, and I think they will make her better long-term and stronger in the mid game.
- Lux had a 48.7% win rate on patch 26.3.
Maokai (Buff)
- His Q deals more damage to monsters.
- We should expect to see Maokai picked up more often in the future!
- Maokai had a 52.2% win rate on patch 26.3.
Naafiri (Adjustment)
- Naafiri’s health regen is reduced, and her mana costs on her Q and E are changed.
- The mana cost changes are going to impact her trading power in both the Mid and Jungle roles, and the health changes will make her weaker throughout the game.
- The changes to Naafiri will make her weaker, which is good, as she is super OP at the moment.
- Naafiri had a 52% win rate on patch 26.3.
Qiyana (Nerf)
- Her health growth is reduced.
- This makes her slightly weaker in the late game.
- It’s not going to make much of an impact on her pick rate.
- Qiyana had a 51.3% win rate on patch 26.3.
Rengar (Adjustment)
- His Q damage and scaling are adjusted.
- This change will make him weaker early and less snowball-heavy, which I think will be good for everyone who hates playing against Rengar.
- Rengar had a 49.1% win rate on patch 26.3.
Rumble (Nerf)
- Rumble’s base health is reduced.
- His Ultimate damage is also reduced, which makes him weaker in those team fights and in those post-6 skirmishes.
- I think these nerfs will make Rumble a less popular pick moving forward.
- Rumble had a 50.1% win rate on patch 26.3.
Ryze (Adjustment)
- His R now teleports all allies inside the portal. This makes his ultimate more reliable.
- I already thought this was a thing, so I don’t really see it making much of a difference overall.
- Ryze had a 46.7% win rate on patch 26.3.
Samira (Buff)
- Her Q and R now have full life steal effectiveness, which is going to make her get a lot of additional sustain in team fights.
- Right now, the meta is full team fight comps, so with this buff, expect there to be a lot more Samira’s benign played.
- Samira had a 50.7% win rate on patch 26.3.
Senna (Adjustment)
- Senna's Q and W base damage are reduced, but the AD ratios are increased.
- This shifts her power towards the mid/late game and takes away some of her laning phase damage and poke.
- This will impact both her ADC and Support roles, and I expect we will see her less now.
- Senna had a 50.5% win rate on patch 26.3.
Swain (Nerf)
- His E slow and R damage scaling are reduced.
- These changes will impact him in the Top, Mid, ADC, and Support roles.
- He isn’t picked that much to begin with, and I think he will remain as a low-priority pick.
- Swain had a 49.1% win rate on patch 26.3.
Syndra (Nerf)
- Her W and R damage are reduced.
- This weakens her burst damage and will make her worse in those 1v1/pick plays. With that in mind, I don’t think it will impact her pick rate as much.
- Syndra had a 50.6% win rate on patch 26.3.
Teemo (Buff)
- His E deals more damage to monsters.
- We might start to see Teemo Jungle again soon!
- Teemo had a 50.8% win rate on patch 26.3.
Twitch (Nerf)
- His health and armor growth are reduced.
- This makes him slightly squishier and more vulnerable, and this will make him easier to kill. I think this will affect Twitch, and players might not pick him as often.
- Twitch had a 51.8% win rate on patch 26.3.
Udyr (Buff)
- His Q on-hit damage and W shield are increased.
- This improves both his damage and survivability, and I expect Udyr to be picked more often now.
- Udyr had a 50.1% win rate on patch 26.3.
Xayah (Buff)
- Her Q and E mana costs are reduced, and W cooldown is lower.
- These changes will make Xayah a stronger laner, and we could see her being played a bit more now.
- Xayah had a 50.7% win rate on patch 26.3.
Zac (Adjustment)
- His Q damage is increased, but the health scaling is adjusted.
- His R damage is reduced.
- This shifts his power slightly away from burst damage, so his AP build will not be as strong.
- Zac had a 51.6% win rate on patch 26.3.
Item Changes
Hexoptics C44
- Damage and take-down duration are changed.
Thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed this patch breakdown. How do you feel about this patch? Let us know in the comments. As always, if you have any questions, find us in our Discord!