League of Legends Patch 26.10 Notes: Lee Sin Modernized, Arena 3v3 Launches, Quinn Jungles

Patch 26.10 hit live servers on May 12, and it is one of the busier mid-season updates we have seen in a while. Riot Games is following up on Season 2’s first wave of changes with a Lee Sin modernization pass, a full Arena overhaul into a six-team 3v3 format, Quinn entering the jungle, and a long list of item and rune adjustments aimed at trimming back the strongest picks from Patch 26.9.

If you played a single ranked game last week, you already know what is on the chopping block. Deathfire Touch, Gluttonous Greaves, Voltaic Cyclosword, Naafiri, Zed, Ashe. All of them are sitting in the nerf pile. Galio, Wukong, Zeri, and Quinn are the headline winners.

Here is what actually matters in LoL Patch 26.10.

When does League of Legends Patch 26.10 go live?

Patch 26.10 deployed to live servers on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. The new Rain Shepherd Ivern and PROJECT: Quinn skins released alongside it on May 13.

Lee Sin gets his long-awaited modernization

This is the big one. Lee Sin originally launched in 2011, and Riot finally admits he has been left behind by the rest of the cast in terms of flair and movement options. Patch 26.10 does not rework Lee Sin. It modernizes him.

Three things stand out:

• W Safeguard now has a flat 7-second cooldown at all ranks, instead of 12s on minions and 6s on champions. Shield values come down slightly to 60/105/150/195/240 (+80% AP), but here is the kicker: he now gets the shield when jumping to a minion or ward. Insec setups just got smoother.
• E Tempest takes a small AD ratio nerf, dropping from 100% to 90% bonus AD.
• R Dragon’s Rage gains “Unconditional Collateral.” If the target dies mid-flight, the body keeps flying, keeps knocking up, and keeps doing damage. No more whiffed Insec kicks because someone else snuck the kill at the last second.

The W shield-on-wards interaction is going to change Lee Sin gameplay at every tier. Expect to see ward-jump combos showing up everywhere from solo queue to LEC scrims.

Quinn finally gets the jungle treatment

Riot is pushing Quinn into the jungle and making her ult cheaper to spam as a laner too:

• P Harrier: Now deals 50 bonus damage to monsters.
• Q Blinding Assault: 50% increased damage to monsters.
• R Behind Enemy Lines mana cost drops from 100/50/0 to 50/25/0.

Riot specifically called out the matchup with new jungler Fizz (birds eat fish, apparently). Combined with the Galio buffs, the mid-jungle map state could look very different by next weekend.

Galio gets a real damage profile back

Our favorite Demacian colossus has been hurting since Phase Rush left the runes screen and the mid lane quest got reworked. Patch 26.10 hands him a clear path back:

• Q Winds of War mana cost drops by 10 at every rank.
• E Justice Punch hits harder at early ranks and now scales with 100% AP (up from 90%).
• R Hero’s Entrance now scales with 100% bonus magic resistance. Tank Galio mid is back on the menu.

Naafiri, Zed, Ashe, Smolder, Anivia all get the hammer

Riot has been clear about Season 2: anyone abusing the new items goes on the list. The nerf list this patch is heavy.

• Naafiri: Q damage drops at all ranks past one, R Hounds’ Pursuit scaling cut. She has been dominant in mid and jungle.
• Zed: Passive max health damage cut at lower ranks, E Shadow Slash damage and AD ratio both reduced.
• Ashe: Q Ranger’s Focus damage scaling cut. Still a top utility ADC, but the damage upside comes down.
• Smolder: Base AD drops from 60 to 58, Q damage cut at higher ranks, ultimate damage reduced. Deathfire Touch was carrying him.
• Anivia: Base armor and armor growth both nerfed. Ice Birb top is meant to get easier to all-in.
• Shyvana: Health-per-level and W shield values both reduced.

On the buff side, Wukong gets clone damage and duration upgrades that finally reward the trickster playstyle, Zeri gets a Q damage buff plus a 60% attack-speed-to-AD conversion (up from 50%), and Ambessa trades some jungle damage for stronger early laning numbers.

Item changes: Deathfire Touch, Gluttonous Greaves, Voltaic Cyclosword all touched

The big item story is the same story as the previous patch: Riot is still chasing the runaway picks from the Season 2 rune and item overhaul.

• Deathfire Touch: Early-level damage cut from 4-12 DPS to 3-12 DPS. Still strong at 18, less oppressive in lane.
• Gluttonous Greaves / Immortal Path: Cost goes from 950g to 1000g. Omnivamp stacking changes from 1% per takedown (6 max) to 0.6% per takedown (10 max). Same ceiling, longer ramp.
• Voltaic Cyclosword: Total cost up 100g to 3000g. Direct response to Zed and Naafiri abuse.
• Lich Bane: AP ratio buffed from 40% to 45%, movement speed bonus from 4% to 6%. Riot wants this in the hands of poke mages who kite into their proc.
• Doran’s Bow: AD up from 6 to 8. The no-health starting item now has a real damage upside.
• Doran’s Helm: Health up from 110 to 140. Should survive the early game more often now.

Rune adjustments

• Stormraider’s Surge: Move speed buffed to 48% melee / 36% ranged for 4 seconds (was 40/30 for 3s). It launched soft and Riot is correcting course.
• Deathfire Touch: See above. Lane-phase nerf only.

Minion aggro just changed

This one is small in the patch notes and huge in practice. Previously, attacking an enemy minion put you on the minions’ aggro priority list, which sometimes caused the entire wave to randomly rotate onto you. That mechanic is gone. Minions only aggro through the normal rules now.

If you have ever gotten chunked under tower because the wave just decided you looked tasty, this patch fixes that.

Arena goes 3v3 with the new 3×6 format

Patch 26.10 is also the patch that finally launches the long-rumored Arena 3v3 format. Six teams. Three players each. Brand new strategies.

The full augment list shifts heavily. Stat anvil augments now amp at 20% instead of 10% at capstone. Stat anvil max power rolls go up to 100% (from 80%). Tahm Kench’s Guest of Honor gets reworked, with Compulsion choices nerfed and Abstain rewards buffed.

Petricite Grove gets adjusted spawn locations, longer Petricite Bomb respawns (15s to 20s), and a new round 8 durability layer that adds 5% damage reduction across the board. If you only play Arena casually, the practical effect is this: the meta restarts from zero this week.

Disruptive Game Termination arrives

Riot is launching a system where the team with a confirmed griefer can vote to end the match early. If the vote passes, no LP loss for the affected team, the other team gets a normal win, and the griefer gets banned. The disruptive player and their premade cannot vote.

The bar is “severely disruptive” only, not “your jungler is having a bad game.” Most punishments still come post-game.

Essence Emporium and new skins

The Essence Emporium runs May 13 to June 10. New title for this run is “Big Serious Gamer” for players with absurd Blue Essence stockpiles.

Rain Shepherd Ivern and PROJECT: Quinn launched May 13. Both get the full eight-color chroma set (Catseye, Obsidian, Pearl, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sapphire, Tanzanite, Turquoise).

What’s coming in Patch 26.11

Riot already flagged that the 26.11 cycle will look at Black Cleaver and how it stacks with Deathfire Touch. The current interaction is producing some unintended damage spikes, and a rework of that interaction is in the pipeline.

For now though, Patch 26.10 is the patch that closes out Season 2’s launch phase and resets the meta hard. New Lee Sin, new Quinn jungle, new Arena format, cleaner item economy. The LEC Spring Playoffs run their opening round this weekend on the previous patch, but solo queue is going to feel completely different starting today.