Patch timing and focus

League of Legends Patch 26.4 (also written as 26.04) is scheduled for Thursday, February 19. It is a balance update aimed at smoothing out the early 2026 metagame with conservative changes. The plan is to give help to weaker or ignored champions, reduce the power of overperformers, and adjust a few systems. The patch centers on jungle health and speed, lane feel, and ranked queue experience rather than sweeping reworks.

Patch goals and context

Riot’s stated goal is to stabilize play after earlier updates that shortened game times, including changes to turret plates. Player feedback suggests top and bot lanes feel better, while jungle, mid, and support still need attention. Vision changes to Faelights and early bounty tuning are still being reviewed and are not seeing full follow-up here. With ranked seasons and events on the horizon, the developers are targeting outliers rather than overhauling roles or items. Expect measured adjustments intended to nudge picks into healthier spots without large mechanical rewrites.

Champion buffs

Several champions receive direct power ups, with special attention to durability and jungle clearing:

Graves gains more armor and magic resist per stack of Grit from E (Quickdraw). This increases his toughness in longer fights and skirmishes, especially after chaining dashes. Annie gets higher damage on Q (Disintegrate) when it is maxed, with about +20 damage at rank 5, and her E (Molten Shield) is strengthened to improve laning safety and trade reliability.

A wide set of champions receive jungle-specific help through improved monster damage modifiers or clear health. Brand, Camille, Darius, Fizz, Maokai, Teemo, and Udyr are included, aiming to make their clears faster or less punishing. Camille also benefits from extra attack speed when using E (Hookshot) after connecting to a wall, improving her engage follow-up and DPS windows.

Hwei’s defensive and early teamfight tools are tuned up with a stronger WW shield and a shorter early cooldown on his ultimate, improving his survivability and first rotation impact. Lux sees refinements that trade some base mana for better mana regeneration and cooldown adjustments, leaving her casting pattern more consistent over time despite the lower base pool. Samira receives partial lifesteal reverts on Q and her ultimate, returning some sustain that rewards aggressive all-ins. Zoe gets lower mana costs and a shorter W cooldown, making her ability usage less taxing and her pickup windows more frequent.

Other listed buffs affect Xayah and a range of less popular jungle picks through the same monster tuning approach. Together, these changes should broaden viable options for farming paths and open up more counterpick space in draft.

Champion nerfs

Several strong performers are trimmed to curb snowballing and reduce low-counterplay spikes. Naafiri is targeted with specific nerfs called out in the official preview. ADCs Jinx and Twitch, who have hovered around or above a 52% win rate, receive base or scaling reductions to rein in their late-game reliability and early access to key breakpoints.

Aphelios, Gwen, Kassadin, Qiyana, Syndra, and Zac are also toned down to reduce overperformance across ranks. Ambessa’s Q deals less damage to monsters, slowing early clears and early objective pressure. Braum’s R (Glacial Fissure) is weakened; he has been near the top of support win rates at about 52.04%, and this should lower his reliability in disengage and peel. Rengar, Rumble, and Swain see power pulled back in areas where they have been too consistent.

There are targeted adjustments to Ryze, with a simplified R intended to reduce edge-case complexity while keeping core team utility. Senna receives focused tuning to address pain points without removing her identity as a flexible marksman-support hybrid. Mel and Zed, both touched by recent hotfixes, get follow-up changes to place them on steadier footing.

Systems and ranked updates

Hexoptics, an item effect that amplifies damage, is adjusted so it is less spiky and can be used more broadly without overwhelming fights. This pass lowers its peak impact, with a later follow-up buff already noted by the developers once data comes in. The aim is to keep it appealing without dictating builds or causing burst breakpoints that are too hard to answer.

Ranked queues receive a partial revert to earlier Challenger changes. The goal is to shorten long matchmaking times while keeping match quality in an acceptable range. This is not a return to the old system wholesale; it is a middle ground that preserves competitive integrity while easing queue friction for high MMR players.

Role impact and practical takeaways

Jungle should feel healthier for champions that previously struggled to clear. Faster and safer clears for Brand, Darius, Fizz, Maokai, Teemo, Udyr, and others may shift early objective contests. Expect more variety in first clears and potentially earlier level spikes for these picks. At the same time, nerfs to Ambessa’s monster damage and trims to high-tempo assassins and bruisers reduce oppressive early invades.

In mid lane, Annie, Hwei, and Zoe benefit from smoother mana curves or stronger shields and cooldowns. These changes make laning more manageable, with extra tools to survive ganks and set up roams. Ryze’s simplified ultimate lowers execution overhead in coordinated play while keeping map utility intact.

Bot lane power is cooled. Jinx and Twitch losing some efficiency should reduce runaway leads from a single early fight. Samira and Xayah get measured help that rewards proactive play without restoring past extremes. Supports face a small shake-up with Braum’s ultimate toned down, opening space for alternatives when peel comps are common.

What to watch after release

Keep an eye on jungle pick rates and win rates, as the clear-speed and durability tweaks could quickly reshape early objectives and gank timings. ADC performance may flatten, with fewer matches decided by a fast two-item spike from Jinx or Twitch. Mid lane mages and artillery picks with mana or cooldown improvements may enjoy stronger early lane control.

Because Faelights vision and early bounty updates are still pending full evaluation, additional system changes may arrive in later patches. Riot’s lead gameplay designer, Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison, outlined the details in the official preview, so expect follow-up tuning if outliers remain. As always, data from the first week will guide hotfixes or the next patch’s shortlist.