LoL Patch 26.17 Preview: Roaming Support Changes, Plus Nasus, Vayne and Xerath Nerfs

League of Legends’ next patch will shake up the Rift by nerfing Vayne and Nasus, two top toplane picks. Xerath and Leblanc will also see power reductions, and the team is keeping a close eye on roaming supports. Let’s recap everything we know from the Patch 26.17 preview.

What’s Happening in League of Legends Patch 26.17?

On August 19, 2026, League of Legends‘ Lead Gameplay Designer Matt ‘RiotPhroxzon’ Leung-Harrison released a fresh Patch Preview for the 26.17 update. These dev updates don’t reveal the full patch, but they give us a great idea of which direction the game is taking next.

In Patch 26.17, players can expect more adjustments to the roaming support meta, plus some big nerfs to Champions like Xerath, Vayne, and Nasus. In addition, Yasuo, Leblanc, Cho’Gath, Nocturne, Thresh and other popular champs will also see changes.

Let’s dive into an in-depth explainer on every individual change so far. Just remember, these exact numbers could change before the full release!

Patch 26.17 Full Preview!

Roaming Supports
– For the limited number of Pro games on 26.16, we've been seeing good movement on roaming supports and expect it to trickle down to solo queue over time (especially as players find the strategy less effective over time)
– We'll still… pic.twitter.com/BmZDPglA1C

— Matt Leung-Harrison (@RiotPhroxzon) August 19, 2026

When is the League of Legends Patch 26.17 Release Date?

League of Legends Patch 26.17 should release on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. Its exact rollout time will vary depending on the player’s location and server region. Typically, Riot Games tries to send out updates during times with lower player activity.

Roaming Support Changes

Throughout the past few patches, Riot Games has kept a close eye on roaming supports. The meta became extremely popular in recent months. While it works well in some cases, some players took it too far by disappearing for most of the game, and it also resulted in plenty of instances where laners got left alone to fight against 3v1 ganks.

After significant previous nerfs, RiotPhroxzon has confirmed “we’ve been seeing good movement on roaming supports and expect it to trickle down to solo queue over time (especially as players find the strategy less effective over time).” However, the team plans to “continue to monitor this and assess whether stronger swings are necessary.”

Leung-Harrision cautions: “we don’t want to over-punish regular roaming, and a small amount of unconventional roaming strategies is reasonable, so long as they don’t become broadly optimal.”

Champion Buffs

Several popular Champions see big buffs here. Cho’Gath’s E gets a bit of a boost, and Irelia’s Q AD ration jumps by 10%. Meanwhile, Leblanc’s AS and AP potential skyrockets, plus some AP ratio power-ups for her W. Asol’s mana costs are lower, and Qiyana’s damage heightens. Yasuo and Yone changes here are key, as they will open up new build paths and encourage them to use crit items.

Cho’Gath

• E: 20 – 100 (+30% AP) (+2.5% – 3.9% (+.5% per Feast Stack) Target Max HP) → 30 – 110 (+30% AP) (+2.5% – 3.9% (+.5% per Feast Stack) Target Max HP)

Irelia

• Q AD Ratio: 70% AD → 80% AD

Leblanc

• AS Ratio: .4 → .625 — AS Growth: 2.35% → 1.5%
• W & RW AP Ratio: 80% → 90%

Qiyana

• Q Damage: 70 – 190 (+85% bonus AD) → 80 – 200 (+90% bonus AD)

Yasuo

The League team is “improving the incentives for Yone and Yasuo to build more Crit items in the short term, especially on first item so it can tip the scales in situations where they would otherwise build BORK and Kraken.”

• P Crit Damage Reduction: -10% → -5%

Yone

• P Crit Damage Reduction: -10% → -5%

Trundle

• W AS: 30% – 90% → 30% – 120%

Aurelion Sol

• Q Mana Cost/s: 35-55 → 25-45
• W CD: 22-16s → 22-14s

Champion Nerfs

Vayne recieves one of the biggest nerfs of this patch, significantly affecting her toplane and ADC potential. Xerath is also getting hit with severe nerfs, which target more “general” aspects of his kit. The goal is to make him a less frustrating Champion to play against overall. Meanwhile, Nasus lifesteal is getting slashed to make his toplane presence less threatening while leaving him relatively unchanged in the jungle.

Graves

• Q Damage: 50/75/100/125/150 (+65% bonus AD) → 50/75/100/125/150 (+55% bonus AD)
• Q Return Damage: 0/125/170/215/260 (+55/70/85/100/115% bonus AD) → 80/125/170/215/260 (+45/60/75/90/105% bonus AD)

Nasus

Riot overshot on previous Nasus buffs. Now, the team is “reducing some of the net total sustain he gets in Top lane to make hitting those high stack counts a bit more challenging.” This should not have a large affect on Nasus in jungle.

• P Life Steal: 12/18/24% → 10/15/20%

Nocturne

• Base AR: 38 → 36 — Base HP: 655 → 640

Thresh

• E Active Damage: 75-255 (+70% AP) → 65-245 (+60% AP)

Vayne

RiotPhroxzon writes that “Vayne top has been a strong champion in higher levels of play and also is a bit over the edge in terms of what we’d consider healthy types of available counterplay in many matchups.” He says “there needs to be counterplay to frustrating experiences.”

To balance out Vayne’s tankiness and scaling potential, the dev team is weakening her laning phase and maintaining her weakness to ganks. “This change hopefully results in her lane opponents having slightly more health in order to assist with gank attempts or trade back.”

• Base HP: 550 +103/Level → 580 +98/Level
• Base HP5: 3.5 +.55/Level → 4 +.5/Level
• AS Ratio: .658 +3.3%/Level → .67 +2.8%/Level
• Q Mana Cost: 30 → 46-30
• W True Damage: 6-10% Target Max HP → 4-10% Target Max HP
• W Minimum Damage: 50-110 → 40-100

Xerath

Xerath changes will be “a generic nerf across the board” to reduce his overall power levels. RiotPhroxzon writes that “while Xerath bot is a large part of the AP bot meta, we still think AP bots add to good long term variety and add a healthy frustration to the role.” However, “Xerath is performing well in both Mid and Bot, especially for average play.”

• Base AR: 22 +4.7/Level → 20 +4.7/Level
• Q Damage: 75-235 (+90% AP) → 70-230 (+90% AP)

Patch 26.17 Item and System Changes

Stormrazor is grabbing an Attack Speed buff, while Sundered Sky‘s damage and health increases decline.

Buffs

• Stormrazor: AS: 20% → 25%

Nerfs

• Sundered Sky: AD: 45 → 40, HP: 450 → 400

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