LoL Patch 26.19: Pre-Worlds Balance Pass, Nasus Nerf and Graves Back in Classic

Patch 26.19 is the calm before the storm – the Worlds patch is the one right after this. Riot is using this update for its first round of pro-focused Summoner’s Rift changes: nudging up potential fringe picks that could show up at the tournament (and add some variety to normal play), while knocking down individual meta outliers. And also Nasus. Systemically, the top lane role quest has worked well at freeing top laners from taking Teleport, so Riot is increasing the role’s map influence through that exact spell.

If you want the full context of what came before, we covered the previous update in our Patch 26.18 notes.

Team Voice is delayed

Before the balance list, one piece of news: Team Voice – the planned expansion of party voice chat that lets you talk to your whole team – was originally announced for North America and Oceania in Patch 26.20. After extensive testing, Riot decided to postpone it to hit the quality bar the feature deserves. There’s no target patch yet, but ironing out the kinks is a priority, since it’s a long-awaited feature they want to get right.

Champion buffs

Aatrox

The Darkin Blade lost a fair bit of power with the Sundered Sky nerfs that were aimed more at opening up the jungle meta, so he’s getting a bump to stay a world-ending threat.

• W – Infernal Chains cooldown: 20/18/16/14/12s ⇒ 18/16.5/15/13.5/12s
• E – Umbral Dash health heal ratio: 1.1% per 100 bonus health ⇒ 1.3%

Aphelios

He’s a hypercarry in an enchanter meta that should favor him, yet he’s been kiting the spotlight. A small boost across the board should get him out of his comfort zone.

• Calibrum Moonshot damage: 70-160 ⇒ 80-170 (+42-60% bonus AD) (+100% AP)
• Severum healing: 2-7.1%, increased to 5-17.75% ⇒ 2-8%, increased to 5-20%
• Gravitum slow: decays to 10% after 0.7s ⇒ decays to 15%
• Infernum Duskwave cooldown: 9/8.25/7.5/6.75/6s ⇒ 8/7.25/6.5/5.75/5s
• Crescendum mini-chakram damage: 15% AD ⇒ 16% AD, minimum 5% AD from the 9th chakram (previously 8th)

Aurora

She hasn’t been touched since last year, but Rocketbelt nerfs dragged her down with them. She’s getting more waveclear and outplay potential on her ultimate.

• E – The Weirding base damage: 70/110/150/190/230 ⇒ 80/120/160/200/240
• R – Between Worlds rift duration: 1.75/2.5/3.25s ⇒ 2.25/2.75/3.25s

Draven

Since all bot laners got significantly more gold income from role quests, Draven’s Adoration stacks lost some of their edge. He gets a helping axe in the early game.

• Base attack damage: 62 ⇒ 64

Elise

AP junglers with Dusk and Dawn started the year strong, but Elise has been in a weak spot. Better clear speed and damage should fix that.

• Passive – Spider Queen magic damage on-hit: 12/22/32/42 ⇒ 14/24/34/44
• W – Skittering Frenzy bonus attack speed: 60/75/90/105/120% ⇒ 70/85/100/115/130%

Fiora

The Grand Duelist gets room to shine more after she finds her opening – without sharper 1v1 tools.

• Health growth: 99 ⇒ 105
• R – Grand Challenge heal range: 550 ⇒ 600
• Heal per tick: 18.75/25/31.25 (+15% bonus AD) ⇒ 20/26.25/32.5 (+17.5% bonus AD)
• Maximum heal: 375/500/625 (+300% bonus AD) ⇒ 400/525/650 (+350% bonus AD)

Kha’Zix

With the jungle no longer dominated by Sundered Sky users, Kha’Zix sits on the fringe of the meta. His weaker evolves are getting buffed so he has more flexibility to adapt.

• Passive – Unseen Threat damage: 17-136 ⇒ 22-141 (+50% bonus AD)
• W – Void Spike evolved slow duration: 2s ⇒ 2.25s
• E – Leap evolved range bonus: +200 ⇒ +300

Lillia

Her pattern forces her into danger, so she gets durability – plus a longer lullaby to let her be a real playmaker.

• Armor: 22 ⇒ 24
• R – Lilting Lullaby sleep duration: 2s ⇒ 2.5s

Lucian

The Vigilance passive was added years ago so bot lane Lucian players didn’t feel nerfed because of mid laners – and it worked almost too well. Riot is now rebalancing power between the two roles.

• Passive – Vigilance empowered on-hit damage: 15 (+20% AD) ⇒ 5 (+15% AD)
• Q – Piercing Light base damage: 80/115/150/185/220 ⇒ 90/130/170/210/250 (+100% bonus AD)

Master Yi

Somewhat overdue: since Duskblade was removed a while ago, the Ability Haste penalty on his Q cooldown refund is gone. Minimal impact on Summoner’s Rift, but Mayhem and Arena players should notice.

• Q – Alpha Strike cooldown refund on hit: -1s, scaling down with Ability Haste ⇒ 1s

Volibear

AD Volibear has been carefully buffed all year and still sits on the weak side, so both the fringe AD build and the core AP build get help.

• Passive attack speed per stack: 5% (+3% per 100 AP) ⇒ 5% (+4% per 100 AP)
• Lightning on-hit damage: 11-60 (+45% AP) ⇒ 11-60 (+45% AP) (+20% bonus AD)

Shyvana (League Classic)

• W – Burnout maximum duration extension: 4 ⇒ 6
• R – Dragon’s Descent bonus resistances: 10/15/20 ⇒ 15/20/25, still doubled in dragon form

Champion nerfs

Nasus

Nasus is hard to keep down, partly because fast early stacks snowball into even more reliable stacking. His highs stay high, but he’ll be more vulnerable early with less damage and less lifesteal sustain in lane.

• Q – Siphoning Strike bonus damage: 40/60/80/100/120 ⇒ 30/50/70/90/110

Nocturne

A popular and powerful jungler in both pro play and solo queue – his map presence and dueling power take the hit.

• R – Paranoia cooldown: 140/115/90s ⇒ 160/130/100s

Poppy

Her flex potential and jungle presence suppressed too many champions as a strong counterpick, so an old jungle clear buff is being reverted.

• Q – Hammer Shock minion/monster max health cap: 85/120/155/190/225 ⇒ 70/105/140/175/210

Rumble

Rumble keeps taking over high-level games, so his passive gets an elite-skewed cut – with compensation for Rumble in the Jungle.

• Passive Overheat attack speed: 50-130% ⇒ 30-100%
• Monster cap: 65-150 ⇒ 90-175

Ryze

Strong itemization plus best-in-class skirmishing and roaming in expert hands means it’s time to restrain the archmage – while helping him with rough solo queue matchups.

• Armor growth: 4.2 ⇒ 4.7
• Q – Overload Flux bonus damage: 25/50/75/100% ⇒ 15/40/65/90%
• E – Spell Flux mana cost: 35/45/55/65/75 ⇒ 40/50/60/70/80

Vi

A meta staple for the entire year. Now that Sundered Sky is in a better spot, her durability and early clear speed take a hit – she becomes a riskier pick that can still hurt if you build for it.

• Attack damage: 63 + 3.5/level ⇒ 61 + 3.9/level
• Passive – Blast Shield: 12% max health ⇒ 10% max health

Items and systems: support items and Teleport

Melee supports have too much power in roaming and all-ins and too little in sustained laning, so World Atlas and Runic Compass trade flat health for health regen – which melee supports benefit from more thanks to higher base regen.

• Health: 30/100/200 ⇒ 0/60/200
• Health regeneration: 25%/50%/75% ⇒ 50%/75%/75%

Top lane is slightly weak in the role quest meta, especially for split pushing, so Teleport cooldowns are coming down:

• Top role quest’s free Teleport cooldown: 420s ⇒ 390s
• Top role quest’s upgraded Unleashed Teleport cooldown: 330-240s ⇒ 300-210s
• Non-top Unleashed Teleport cooldown: unchanged

League Classic: Graves, Fizz, Nami and Nautilus

The third big water-themed champion drop adds four faces, and the headliner is a long-lost favorite – Graves. If you haven’t tried the mode yet, start with our guide to League Classic, and the build side is covered in our overview of Classic champions and builds.

New champions

• Fizz – the 2011 version before his late-2016 rework. Most buttons are where you remember them, but the W passive has a missing-HP bleed, so a Sunfire Cape or two might be in order. Seastone Trident’s active also applies Grievous Wounds for 50% healing reduction.
• Graves – pre-rework Graves from 2011-2015, a true bot lane ADC rewarded for long fights and deadly burst against short-range enemies. True Grit stacks Armor and Magic Resist over time, so assassins can still jump you in the jungle.
• Nami – not much has changed since her 2013 release. Watch out: Tidecaller’s Blessing is attack-only, so the modern Nami-Karthus synergy is gone.
• Nautilus – the 2012 kit has aged well. You can buy multiple Doran’s Rings for the laning phase, he used to be a solid jungler, and the travelling part of Depth Charge is far less disruptive than today.

Classic balance highlights

• Akali – Crescent Slash energy cost 60 flat ⇒ 60/55/50/45/40, cooldown 7-3s ⇒ 5-1s, AP ratio 30% ⇒ 40%.
• Fiora – arguably the strongest champion in the mode. Blade Waltz damage 160/330/500 (+115% bonus AD) ⇒ 125/255/385 (+85% bonus AD), cooldown 130/120/110s ⇒ 150/130/110s, damage starts 0.25s later, it now prioritizes unstruck enemies and the maximum return range goes from 1500 to 2500. Single-target damage stays roughly the same; AoE teamfighting gets weaker. Riposte reflected damage can no longer be blocked by enemies in the way.
• Galio – arguably the weakest champion, so he gets a big package: Righteous Gust cast time 0.4s ⇒ 0.25s, missile speed 1200 ⇒ 1300, width 60 ⇒ 160, range 1100 ⇒ 1175, plus bug and VFX fixes. Bulwark’s first heal no longer suffers the -20% heal reduction.
• Kassadin – the worst-performing mid laner gets his full Summoner’s Rift Riftwalk range back (600 ⇒ 700), Null Sphere AP ratio 60% ⇒ 70%, Force Pulse damage 60-300 (+80% AP) ⇒ 80-280 (+70% AP) and slow 20-60% ⇒ 30-50%.
• Malphite – Brutal Strikes splash now crits if the main attack does and no longer interrupts his attack mid-swing. Ground Slam can no longer slow Epic Monster attack speed. Infinity Edge is calling.
• Morgana – one of the strongest mid laners: Tormented Soil mana cost up, cooldown 10s ⇒ 12s, Black Shield 95-355 ⇒ 100-300, Soul Shackles cooldown a flat 120s.
• Nidalee – Bushwhack now grants 250 units of vision for 0.5s on cast and its damage duration drops to 2.5s with total damage unchanged; Aspect of the Cougar resets her attack timer.
• Poppy – Devastating Blow now crits her total AD ratio and converts all Spellblade damage to magic.
• Twisted Fate – too good in mid and support: Gate cooldown 120-60s ⇒ 135-75s, Destiny cooldown 130/110/90s ⇒ 180/150/120s with mana cost 150 ⇒ 150/125/100, and Loaded Dice no longer gives allies bonus gold while he’s dead.
• Zilean – no bonus XP while dead, Time Bomb now reveals him when cast from fog of war, Time Warp range 550 edge to edge ⇒ 700 center to center.

Returning items

The first Council poll results are going live – Cloak and Dagger, Moonflair Spellblade and Zz’Rot Portal are back:

• Cloak and Dagger – Cloak of Agility + Dagger, 1130 gold, 20% attack speed, 20% crit chance, 35% Tenacity shared with Mercury’s Treads, Zephyr and Moonflair Spellblade.
• Moonflair Spellblade – Seeker’s Armguard + Negatron Cloak, 2300 gold, 50 AP, 50 Armor, 50 MR, 35% Tenacity.
• Zz’Rot Portal – Chain Vest + Negatron Cloak + Rejuvenation Bead, 2700 gold, 50 Armor, 50 MR, 5 HP5, and an active void gate lasting 150 seconds that periodically spawns Voidlings marching down the nearest lane.

The second Council poll is live in “The Council” tab in the client for seven days – six areas including which champion’s kit gets restored next. You can change your answers while voting is open, and results will show up in the next patch notes. On top of that: oldschool in-game ping art, a more classic loading screen, clearer champion select visuals, a new “Recommended” sort in the Runes store, more in-game negative behavior detections and a long list of bugfixes (Janna’s Tailwind lingering after death, Sivir’s Spell Shield vs. Miss Fortune’s Double Up, Tristana’s Explosive Charge not detonating on a bonus-damage minion kill and more).

Mayhem

This patch is mostly bugfixes and quality-of-life tweaks. Augment offerings are still being assessed so each option feels meaningful for your champion, and High Roller gets another nerf – its drop rate is further reduced to cut down early snowballing. Fixes include Mad Scientist finally granting 30% Adaptive Force instead of both +30% AD and AP, Multishot’s extra quest steps on Nami’s and Ezreal’s ultimates, Bursting Teeth not triggering, and Bel’Veth’s Q not resetting after her ultimate with Ultimate Awakening.

Arena

Arena gets something special: three Guests of Honor, ten Augments imported from Mayhem, and two brand-new Augments – Death Dealer and Got That Dog In Em – created with VestionOCE and SoyJamiie from the For The Win Creator Invitational held in Season 2. If you’re not sure how the mode fits among the rest, we break them all down in our overview of LoL game modes.

Guests of Honor

• Ivern – when a team loses a round, a brush spawns at each of their locations and lasts the rest of the game.
• Senna – opens 3 portals to the Death Realm that anyone can enter and exit through any portal.
• Thresh – while downed, he throws a lantern to allies every 8 seconds, shielding nearby allies and letting anyone click it to be pulled to the downed player.

New Augments

• Archmage – casting an ability refunds 30% of that ability’s cooldown on another random ability.
• Crit N Cast – Ability Haste equal to 40% of your crit chance.
• Death Dealer – replaces Flee; enter the Death Realm on a target champion for 4/8 seconds, invisible for the first 2. At Max Level, killing your target grants your team another revive and delays the slain player’s revive.
• Got That Dog In Em – spawns a hot dog every 3 seconds that makes whoever picks it up breathe fire. Enemies who grab it can damage their own allies, and dying while breathing fire makes you explode.
• Hellbent – stack Revivemaxxing on hits up to 10 times; at max stacks lethal damage puts you into a 4-second invulnerable resurrection, then you revive with 35-75% health and get empowered for 15 seconds (90-second cooldown).
• Nature Is Healing – entering brush heals you for 40-300 (+15% missing health) over 1.5 seconds, 10-second cooldown per brush.
• Rite of Ascension – takedowns within 3 seconds of your damage leave behind Essence; consuming it blinks you there, heals you and resets your basic ability cooldowns.
• Shark Bait – fatal damage turns you into a 3.5-second zombie with 400 move speed and a 40% slow aura, ending with a shark chomp that damages and knocks up. At Max Level your whole team turns into sharks on death.
• Sonata – automatically alternates modified Aria of Perseverance and Song of Celerity on a 7.5-second cooldown.
• Surge Field – your ultimate spawns a 300-radius zone granting 50 Ability Haste, 40% move speed and bonus magic damage missiles while you stay inside.
• Titan’s Resolve – Juggernauting stacks from dealing and taking champion damage; every 10 stacks give Adaptive Force, resistances, Size and Tenacity.
• Warlock Juicebox – Omnivamp based on your Ability Power.
• Wee Woo Wee Woo – up to 50% move speed toward hurt allies and up to 50% stronger healing and shielding based on their missing health.

Arena balance

Buffs go to Aphelios (health growth 102 ⇒ 114, AD growth 2.3 ⇒ 3.3, move speed 325 ⇒ 330), Elise (Cocoon and Skittering Frenzy cooldowns down), Ezreal, Lee Sin, Locke, Neeko and Zeri. Nerfs hit Bard, Bel’Veth, Dr. Mundo, Lillia, Ornn, Rammus, Rell, Sion, Veigar and Zed. On the Augment side, Giant Slayer is toned down, while Angel of Retribution, Protein Shake, Scavenger and Spellcraft get buffed, Chroma Flux drops from Prismatic to Gold, and bonus energy regen based on missing health jumps from up to 100% to up to 400%.

What it means for you

If you play top lane, this is your patch – cheaper Teleport cooldowns push split pushing back into the plan, while Nasus, Rumble and Poppy lose ground. Junglers get a shakeup too: Vi and Nocturne take hits, while Elise, Kha’Zix, Lillia and Aatrox come back into range. And since these are the first pro-focused changes before the actual Worlds patch, expect the picks that show up on stage to shift again – you can find the tournament structure explained in our guide to Worlds format.

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