Locke Nerf Soon: LoL Patch 26.14 Preview

As the update approaches, League of Legends’ Lead Gameplay Designer has dropped a Patch 26.14 Preview. Let’s explore everything players can expect.

Riot Releases LoL Patch 26.14 Preview

On July 7, 2026, League of Legends‘ Lead Gameplay Designer Riot Phroxzon dropped a Patch 26.14 Preview on X.com. The update gives players some insight into what they can expect in League’s future. It also explains the reasoning behind the development team’s decisions.

Overall, Patch 26.14 will tone down Locke’s damage spikes while also affecting several items like Hextech Rocket Belt and Gluttonous Greaves. In addition, players can expect key changes to Champs like Brand, Corki, Mordekaiser, Nami, Yunara, Garen, Jayce, Senna, Seraphine, and Nasus.

Locke is Getting Nerfed

Riot Games released Locke on June 24, 2026, during Patch 26.13. He arrived as Champion 173 in the League of Legends roster. Locke, the “Ashen Exorcist”, is an AP assassin who hunts down supernatural beings. Typically, he is a mid-laner.

Locke has developed the lowest Champion win rate in the game according to u.gg, at just 42.92%. This is because he’s extremely skill-dependent: Locke rewards players who can successfully complete combos and set up engagements with his nails. In the hands of a strong competitor, he can carry and create a bit too much impact. So, just two weeks after his launch, Locke is getting a significant nerf.

Riot Phroxzon appreciates that “Locke has had a really resonant start. Players have resonated with his executes, resets, and stack into burst gameplay.” However, he notes, “[Locke is] shown to be a little skill-skewed in the same way that a Katarina, Akshan, or other resetty, roamy champions might be […] his level of early game snowballing is a bit too high right now […] he’s still a bit strong when accounting for mastery growth and true power level.“

To fix the issue, Riot is nerfing Locke’s waveclear, making it “harder to access” his damage potential. He adds: “We know that one of the things that players find confronting is his damage output right now, but we think it’s valuable to retain these types of unique edges in the game for champions.”

Gluttonous Greaves and Rocket Belt Changes

Hextech Rocket Belt has been meta for mages for months now. In the Patch 26.14 Preview, Riot Phroxzon notes that the team likes this kind of build variety and wants to keep encouraging it. The problem is that it’s giving those champions a bit too much freedom of movement, which takes away one of their natural weaknesses: how easy they normally are to catch and kill. As a result, Riot is “forcing a bit stronger of a tradeoff,” keeping the creativity the item enables while restoring some of that risk.

Gluttonous Greaves is getting a nerf too, specifically to its ‘Immortal Path’ mid lane boots upgrade. Phroxzon calls the kicks “the strongest performing boot in that lane,” noting Gluttonous Greaves “lacks clear counterplay.” As with Rocket Belt, the goal is just to dial back the power level so it doesn’t overshadow everything else.

Other Patch 26.14 Preview Changes

As per usual, several additional Champions are seeing changes in Patch 26.14. Here’s a quick list:

Champion Buffs

• Azir: Receiving a bug fix
• Brand: Jungle changes
• Corki
• Mordekaiser
• Nami
• Yunara

Champion Adjustments

• Nasus: Jungle nerf, Top buff

Champion Nerfs

• Garen
• Jayce
• Senna
• Seraphine

Blue Buff

The Blue Buff, which grants 10 Ability Haste and increases mana regen, will receive an improvement in 26.14 … the ‘Blue Buff Buff’, try saying that ten times fast!

Jack of All Trades

Jack of All Trades, a rune that stacks to grant Ability Haste, AD, and AP, will recieve an unknown nerf during the update.

League of Legends Patch 26.14 Release Date

League of Legends Patch 26.14 will release on July 15, 2026. Alongside these planned changes, the update will include T1 Worlds 2025 Skins.

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