LoL Patch 26.20: The Worlds Patch, Replay Lockdown and Five More Classic Champions

Bee wee woop – it’s Worlds time. Patch 26.20 is the version Summoner’s Rift will be playing its year-defining competitive games on, so Riot went after the pro staples (Ambessa, Ashe, K’Sante) and handed buffs to champions sitting on the edge of viability (Kennen, Kindred). Rocketbelt gets another tap so it stops being a purchasable Flash for immobile champions, and because this is the last shot before the tournament, its core users got instant compensation. On top of that there’s a big replay change, five more champions in League Classic and a pile of Mayhem tuning. If you want to know what exactly is at stake over the next few weeks, we’ve broken down the Worlds format in a separate article.

Replays are now yours only

Starting with this patch you can only access replays from matches you played in. Other players can no longer download your replays and third-party apps and sites lose access to replay downloads entirely.

The change comes alongside restrictions on third-party access to game memory and closes security holes that cheat developers and other bad actors had been exploiting to build unauthorized tools around League data. Riot describes the full context in its Game Memory Removed for Third Party Apps Player Support article. Your own VOD reviews stay untouched – you can still download your replays and watch them directly in the League client.

Champion nerfs on Summoner’s Rift

This is the pro-play cleanup pass. Last patch’s direction and the Nasus pass are covered in our Patch 26.19 notes, and 26.20 keeps pushing on the same names.

• Ambessa – her late game was simply too reliable for high-mastery players. Passive Drakehound’s Step damage 5–30 (+25% bonus AD) ⇒ 5–25 (+20% bonus AD).
• Ashe – the highest utility marksman in the game shouldn’t also deal this much raw damage. Attack Damage per level 3.5 ⇒ 3.
• Cassiopeia – still dominant in early laning, so her early resources take another hit: base Health 630 ⇒ 610, base Mana 480 ⇒ 450.
• K’Sante – the goal is to make him less of a safe blind pick in coordinated play. W Path Maker mana cost 40/45/50/55/60 ⇒ 45/50/55/60/65, and base/All-Out damage reduction 30/75% ⇒ 25/70%.
• Yunara – Riot wants to avoid a “handshake hyperscaler do nothing” meta at Worlds. Q Cultivation of Spirit on-hit damage (passive and active) 5/10/15/20/25 ⇒ 3/8/13/18/23 (+20% AP), and W Arc of Judgement’s slow no longer stacks with other slows.

Champion buffs on Summoner’s Rift

• Diana – her bruiser builds lag behind the assassin version, so W Pale Cascade shield bonus health ratio goes 11% ⇒ 14%.
• Kennen – E Lightning Rush bonus attack speed 40/50/60/70/80% ⇒ 50/60/70/80/90%, partly to offset the Rocketbelt change he won’t be happy about.
• Kindred – buffs that don’t make early invades more overwhelming: W Wolf’s Frenzy monster mod 150% ⇒ 165%, E Mounting Dread slow duration 1s ⇒ 1.5s, and E no longer targets small monsters.
• Lillia – last patch’s buff didn’t move her enough, so R Lilting Lullaby duration 2.5s ⇒ 2.5/2.75/3s.
• Mordekaiser – Q Obliterate scaling at levels 10–20 goes from +5 per level to +7 per level, and R Realm of Death cooldown 140/120/100s ⇒ 120/110/100s, so the gaps between ults are shorter.
• Neeko – compensation for the Rocketbelt nerf: E Tangle-Barbs base damage 70/105/140/175/210 ⇒ 80/115/150/185/220 (+65% AP), empowered root duration 1.8–3s ⇒ 2–3s.
• Smolder – crit builds get pushed closer to the bruiser version. Passive Dragon Practice: Super Scorcher bonus magic damage 25–55% ⇒ 25–60% of stacks, Flap Flap Flap 8–12.8% ⇒ 8–14%. R Mmooommmm! self heal 100/135/170 (+50% bonus AD) ⇒ 100/175/250 (+75% bonus AD).
• Swain – a mid lane buff plus a nudge to normalize mid versus bot. Base MR 31 ⇒ 34, base Armor 25 ⇒ 23, W Vision of Empire damage 70/105/140/175/210 ⇒ 70/115/160/205/250 and cooldown 22–18s ⇒ 20–16s.
• Tahm Kench – he lost out on the recent support item adjustments, so Q Tongue Lash base healing jumps from 10/13.75/17.5/21.25/25 to 10/20/30/40/50.
• Vayne – base Health per 5 goes 4 + 0.5/level ⇒ 5.5 + 0.4/level so she can weather bot lane harass, and Q Tumble’s mana cost reverts to a flat 30.
• One more champion gets a base AD buff after last patch’s mid/bot normalization landed as a bot lane nerf: Attack Damage 60 + 2.5/level ⇒ 60 + 2.9/level.

Items

• Hextech Rocketbelt – less generic value, more reward for aggressive plays. Ability Haste 20 ⇒ 10, active damage 100 (+10% AP) ⇒ 135 (+15% AP).
• The attack speed and move speed item that ranged champions have been rushing in top lane gets its ranged mod cut: 70% of value (35% Attack Speed, 14% Move Speed) ⇒ 50% of value (25% Attack Speed, 10% Move Speed). It was making them too resilient to burst and too lethal in all-ins.
• A slightly overbuffed item pulls back: Attack Damage per Bolt 65% ⇒ 60%.

Scoreboard cleanup

The recent buff-bar clarity work moved a lot of numbers from buffs onto items – and those numbers then started terrorizing the scoreboard (thanks, Death’s Dance). The scoreboard should show strategically relevant info, not momentary combat state, so most item counters are now hidden there. Strategically relevant ones, like Tear of the Goddess items and Mejai’s Soulstealer, stay.

Hidden icon counters: Death’s Dance, Haunting Guise, Liandry’s Torment, Riftmaker, Kraken Slayer, Terminus, Guinsoo’s Rageblade, Fiendhunter Bolts, Echoes of Helia, Dead Man’s Plate, Spear of Shojin, Overlord’s Bloodmail, Hullbreaker, Jak’sho the Protean and Force of Nature.

League Classic: Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma and Quinn

Another batch of new old champions lands on the Fields of Justice – an eclectic crew that has no business forming a band together. If you haven’t tried the mode yet, start with our guide to League Classic, and for picks and build orders there’s a separate piece on Classic champions and builds. One note: the Act II Battle Pass arrives with Patch 26.21.

Aatrox

Snapshotted when he was just three patches old, before his 2017 and 2018 reworks. An attack-focused fighter who damages himself for attack speed and revives when he would die.

• Passive – Blood Well: basic abilities damage him to fill the Blood Well for bonus attack speed; on death he empties it and revives on the spot.
• Q – Dark Flight: flies up and crashes down, damaging and knocking up enemies in the area.
• W – Blood Thirst / Blood Price: a toggle with bonus effects every third attack – healing (bigger at low health) or bonus damage with self-damage.
• E – Blades of Torment: two projectiles that damage and slow everything they touch.
• R – Massacre: damages all nearby enemy champions and grants bonus attack speed and attack range for several seconds.

Caitlyn

The 2011–2015 version. Fun fact: when she launched, some players complained she was too similar to Miss Fortune.

• Passive – Headshot: every few attacks she fires a bonus-damage headshot, charging faster from brush.
• Q – Piltover Peacemaker: a piercing shot that deals less damage to each subsequent target.
• W – Yordle Snap Trap: a trap that roots and damages the first enemy champion stepping on it, up to 2 at a time.
• E – 90 Caliber Net: a net that knocks her back, damaging and slowing the first enemy hit.
• R – Ace in the Hole: a channeled bullet that deals tons of damage but can be intercepted by other enemy champions.

Irelia

The 2010–2018 Irelia, the original Trinity Force poster child. She’s been Q-max, W-max and E-max at different points, so pick whatever works for you.

• Passive – Ionian Fervor: bonus Tenacity based on nearby visible enemy champions.
• Q – Bladesurge: a dash that deals damage and applies on-hit effects; a kill refunds the full cooldown and part of the mana cost.
• W – Hiten Style: passive healing on every attack; while active her attacks deal bonus true damage and heal more.
• E – Equilibrium Strike: damages and slows a nearby enemy, or stuns them if they have a higher %HP than her.
• R – Transcendent Blades: four blades fired in a line, each damaging enemies and healing her. Definitely not just a wave clear tool.

Karma

Released two patches after Caitlyn and live for barely two years before her early 2013 rework. Arguably League’s first battlemage – the lower her health, the stronger she gets.

• Passive – Inner Flame: bonus AP based on missing health.
• Q – Heavenly Wave: blades in a cone; with Mantra it also heals allies (herself included) based on their missing health.
• W – Spirit Bond: a tether that hastes allies and slows and damages enemies caught in the clothesline; with Mantra all move speed effects double.
• E – Soul Shield: a shield on a target; with Mantra it also damages enemies around them.
• R – Mantra: available from level 1, holds up to two charges, empowers her next basic ability.

Quinn and Valor

The 2013–2015 version. Quinn is a ranged, evasive auto-attacker; her ultimate sends in Valor as a blisteringly fast melee skirmisher.

• Passive – Harrier: Valor periodically marks enemies for bonus damage.
• Q – Blinding Assault: Valor damages and blinds enemies in an area.
• W – Heightened Senses: passive attack and move speed on Harrier procs, active reveals a large area.
• E – Vault: a dash that damages, knocks back and slows, then marks the target with Harrier.
• R – Tag Team: Quinn swaps out for Valor with bonus move speed, a permanently empowered attack speed buff and modified Q and E. Recast triggers Skystrike and brings Quinn back.

Classic balance and items

• Fiora – still the most dominant top laner, so W Riposte bonus AD 15–35 ⇒ 10–30 instead of touching her ultimate again.
• Graves – basic and critical attack animations sped up, but his sustained damage drops: base AD 54.1 ⇒ 50, AD per level 3.1 ⇒ 2.5, attack speed per level 2.9% ⇒ 2.5%, R Collateral Damage cone damage 140/250/360 (+120% bonus AD) ⇒ 140/230/320 (+100% bonus AD). Projectile damage unchanged.
• Fizz – nerfs skewed toward AP builds: Q Urchin Strike AP ratio 60% ⇒ 40%, W Seastone Trident active AP ratio 35% ⇒ 20%.
• Kennen – AD Kennen gets the most help: W Electrical Surge passive damage 40–80% total AD ⇒ 25/40/55/70/85 + 100% bonus AD.
• Nautilus – bug fixes (passive empowered attack was critting for too much, W shield ignored armor and MR) plus buffs: W Titan’s Wrath damage over time 40–100 ⇒ 40/65/90/115/140 (+40% AP), shield bonus health ratio 10% ⇒ 15%, shield duration 9.75s ⇒ 10s.
• Tank items – Spirit Visage Health per 5: 4 ⇒ 20, Force of Nature 20 ⇒ 40, Warmog’s Armor 10 ⇒ 30. Banshee’s Veil now shows up under the Health stat filter instead of Ability Power.

Classic also got a long bugfix list, including Shyvana’s Burnout being castable while active, Dragon’s Descent not cancelling channels, Kayle’s Reckoning applying on-hit effects, Teemo losing his Move Quick move speed after death, Sion lifestealing off enemy Inhibitors and a batch of missing splash arts, titles and texts.

Mayhem

This patch focuses on champions and Augments that needed love – stronger core play patterns and better usability. Missile Split now splits when the missile reaches its end or is recast instead of on the first target hit, and Triggered Inferno’s cooldown drops hard to deliver the real Samira fantasy. If you’re hopping between modes, we keep an overview of LoL game modes on the site.

• Bard – Meep AP ratio 50% ⇒ 67%, recharge 8s ⇒ 5s, auto damage per chime breakpoint 6 per 3 chimes ⇒ 10 per 3 chimes.
• Garen – passive regen 1.5–1.01% ⇒ 2–12%, W cooldown 22–12 ⇒ 18–12, shield 18% ⇒ 20% bonus health, passive stacks 0.4 ⇒ 0.75 per minion kill.
• K’Sante – W cooldown flat 10s, W damage reduction 30% ⇒ 45%, E shield 13.5% ⇒ 15% bonus health.
• Lee Sin – passive attack speed 40% ⇒ 50%, energy restore 20/30/40 ⇒ 30/40/50, W shield 60–240 ⇒ 80–320, Q2 damage 60–180 ⇒ 80–240.
• Swain – damage taken 105% ⇒ 100%, healing 95% ⇒ 100%, Soul Fragments restore 6% flat ⇒ 3–6% scaling with level.
• Thresh – passive soul drop 2 ⇒ 3, W cooldown 21–17s ⇒ 19–15s.
• Augments – Juiced loses Mana Drain but its damage-to-mana ratio goes 4.5% ⇒ 7% (80% of that for ranged), Leg Day slow resist 40% ⇒ 50%, Shark Tempest hits much harder with a 40% slow, Squishy Slappy Grab gets a shorter cooldown plus more damage and shielding, and Triggered Inferno’s cooldown goes 15s ⇒ 5s.

Other changes

There’s also a separate block of mode tuning: Bel’Veth goes to 100% damage dealt and 100% damage taken with Tenacity 20% ⇒ 0%, while Locke gets damage dealt 105% ⇒ 115%. Ranked 5s queue windows were extended from 4pm–2am to 4pm–4am server time.

On top of that comes a long general bugfix list – Orianna’s R hitbox desyncing on fast-moving allies, a Sylas-stolen Depth Charge fizzling, Xin Zhao’s Q going on full cooldown after a dodged first attack, Sivir’s Spell Shield not blocking Leona’s Zenith Blade or Miss Fortune’s Q, Malphite’s Flash getting disabled after Unstoppable Force, Rune page tabs clipping the editor with more than 20 pages, and more.

Where to next

This patch will be the stage for the whole competitive season, so if you want to follow the games, we’ve covered the LoL esports scene in detail.

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