League of Legends Patch 26.17: Toplane Nerfs, Melee ADC Buffs, and More

Lock in: League of Legends Patch 26.17 is here, and the update is nerfing some of your favorite toplaners while buffing up some underperforming melee champs. Here’s a recap.

What’s in League of Legends Patch 26.17?

League of Legends patch 26.17 is live now, and players can expect a fresh round of champion tuning. Melee AD carries like Irelia, Qiyana, Yasuo, and Yone get buffs meant to reward scaling instead of forcing early snowballs. Meanwhile, Nasus, Vayne, Graves, Nocturne, Thresh, and Xerath are all getting nerfed to stop them from overperforming and dominating in your Ranked games. Stormrazor gets a buff while Sundered Sky takes another hit, opening up new build paths. Patch 26.17 also marks the second major balance update for League of Legends Classic. Alongside tons of Champion changes, the game mode is welcoming two extra Rune Pages, faster progression, cheaper runes, and Champion and Role swapping in Champion Select. Let’s dive into an explainer.

League of Legends Patch 26.17 Champion Buffs

Riot is “buffing a variety of melee AD carries, like Irelia, Qiyana, Yasuo, and Yone, who’ve been forced to snowball-or-lose for a while instead of having a reliable endgame to scale towards.” Ideally, these champs will have more carry potential. Fresh build paths will also open up: for example, Yasuo and Yone can experiment with crit strategies. The devs are also letting players be silly and goofy with Irelia items.

Aurelion Sol

ASOL changes make it more efficient to max W second, while also allowing him to use the ability more often.

• Q:
• Mana Cost Per Second 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 ⇒ 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50
• W:
• Cooldown 22 / 20.5 / 19 / 17.5 / 16s ⇒ 22 / 20 / 18 / 16 / 14s

Cho’Gath

Cho’Gath buffs are improving his early-game performance.

• E:
• Base Damage (x3 attacks): 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+30% AP) (+2.5% – 3.9% (+.5% Per Feast) Target Max HP) ⇒ 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 (+30% AP) (+2.5% – 3.9% (+.5% Per Feast) Target Max HP)

Irelia

Buffs for Irelia will improve her scaling so she becomes a harder carry.

• Q:
• Damage: 5 / 25 / 45 / 65 / 85 (+70% AD) ⇒ 5 / 25 / 45 / 65 / 85 (+80% AD)
• AP Ratio buffs, new unique build paths supported
• W:
• Damage Reduction Ability Power Ratio: 7% per 100 AP (Halved for Magic Damage) (reduced to 75% value for Magic Damage in Arena) ⇒ 8% per 100 AP (Halved for Magic Damage) (reduced to 75% value for Magic Damage in Arena)
• R:
• Ability Power Ratio: 70% ⇒ 100% (It is already 100% in Arena, so this is standardizing the value)

Leblanc

Base stat buffs bring up Leblanc’s overall power level. Plus, her damage output is higher.

• Base Stats:
• Attack Speed Ratio: 0.4 ⇒ 0.625
• Attack Speed Growth: 2.35% ⇒ 1.5%
• W:
• Damage: 75 / 115 / 155 / 195 / 235 (+80% AP) ⇒ 75 / 115 / 155 / 195 / 235 (+90% AP)
• RW:
• Damage: 150 / 315 / 480 (+80% AP) ⇒ 150 / 315 / 480 (+90% AP)

Qiyana

These buffs will help Qiyana diversify her play and enable her to perform better as a jungler.

• Q:
• Damage: 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+85% bonus AD) ⇒ 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 200 (+90% bonus AD)
• Monster Damage Modifier: 175% against Monsters ⇒ 160% against Monsters

Trundle

Trundle buffs will heighten his Attack Speed, making his icy abilities quicker.

• W:
• Attack Speed: 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90% ⇒ 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110%

Yasuo

Yasuo changes open up new build paths and encourage crit items.

• Critical Strike Damage Reduction: -10% ⇒ -5%

Yone

Yone’s Passive gets similar changes to Yasuo’s.

• Critical Strike Damage Reduction: -10% ⇒ -5%

League of Legends Patch 26.17 Champion Nerfs

This Patch’s Champion Nerfs prioritize toplaners. Nasus and Vayne, who were both particularly oppressive to play against, are the hardest hit. The changes will lower their top potential while leaving their secondary roles less affected. Meanwhile, damage-heavy Champs like Graves and Xerath also get nerfs to stop them from singlehandedly dominating the game.

Graves

Incoming nerfs will stop Graves from snowballing too hard with damage-heavy builds.

• Q:
• Initial Damage: 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+65% bonus AD) ⇒ 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+55% bonus AD)
• Return Damage: 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+55 / 70 / 85 / 100 / 115% bonus AD) ⇒ 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+45 / 60 / 75 / 90 / 105% bonus AD)

Nasus

Lifesteal nerfs weaken Nasus top while maintaining his Jungle power.

• Q:
• Life Steal: 12 / 18 / 24% ⇒ 10 / 15 / 20%

Nocturne

Nocturne is giving nightmares to players across the Rift, so the best way to reduce his overall power baseline is to drop his original stats.

• Base Stats:
• Armor: 38 ⇒ 36
• Health: 655 ⇒ 640

Thresh

After climbing to a too-high win percentage, Thresh grabs a damage nerf.

• E:
• Active Damage: 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 / 255 (+70% AP) ⇒ 65 / 110 / 155 / 200 / 245 (+60% AP)

Vayne

One of the biggest losers in this patch, Vayne is taking a severe power tumble. Though these changes will still have an impact on botlane, they mainly target top.

• Base Stats:
• Health: 550 + 103/Level ⇒ 580 + 98/Level
• Health Regeneration: 3.5 + .55/Level ⇒ 4 + .5/Level
• Attack Speed Ratio: .658 + 3.3%/Level ⇒ .67 + 2.8%/Level
• Q:
• Mana Cost: 30 ⇒ 46 / 42 / 38 / 34 / 30
• W:
• True Damage: 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10% Target Max HP ⇒ 4 / 5.5 / 7 / 8.5 / 10% Target Max HP
• Minimum Damage: 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 ⇒ 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 / 100

Xerath

Xerath receives a “light nerf” that will impact his base stats and his Q. Recent mage changes overshot to give him an advantage in high-level play.

• Base Stats:
• Health: 596 ⇒ 575
• Q:
• Damage: 75 / 115 / 155 / 195 / 235 (+90% AP) ⇒ 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 (+90% AP)

League of Legends Patch 26.17 Item and System Changes

t

Buffs

• Stormrazor: Attack Speed 20% ⇒ 25%

Nerfs

• Sundered Sky:
• Health 450 ⇒ 400
• Attack Damage 45 ⇒ 40

League Classic Changes

There are a ton of League Classic Champion buffs and nerfs. It’s important to note that these will only apply to this game mode, so they won’t affect the normal Summoner’s Rift queue. Here’s a quick buff and nerf summary, but for a full list, feel free to check out the official Patch Notes.

Buffs

• Annie
• Ashe
• Dr. Mundo
• Garen
• Kayle
• Lux
• Miss Fortune
• Sivir

Nerfs

• Ahri
• Blitzcrank
• Evelyn
• Ezreal
• Gragas
• Tristana
• Tryndamere
• Twitch

Other System Adjustments

• League Classic now has more accurate art.
• Removed Ranked borders from the League Classic loading screen.
• Added a voting feature to the client. Players can vote on potential changes to the game mode.
• Players can now swap roles and Champions in the League Classic Champion Select screen.

Updated System Requirements

League now requires different system requirements for the game to run correctly. This will only affect MacOS users. Riot released a full list of the specifications.

New Skins: Heartsong Seraphine, Ocean Song Soraka, and Ocean Song Jinx

Several new skins are coming to the Rift in this patch. The first is Heartsong Seraphine, which is a charity skin to benefit good causes. 100% of proceeds will go towards the Riot Games Social Impact fund, which assists various nonprofits. (Here’s our full guide to the skin and what charities it benefits if you’re interested in buying!)

Ocean Song Soraka and Ocean Song Jinx are also popping up. These cosmetics are colorful, with pastel rainbow themes. Jinx’s rocket launcher turns into a guitar, and Soraka’s staff becomes a microphone.

Stay tuned for more League of Legends esports and in-game news!