League of Legends Patch 26.10 Item, Rune, and Champion Changes

Key Takeaways

• Patch 26.10 went live May 12, 2026 (NA/EU on patch day, OCE/Asia on May 13) and lands the first balance pass of the 2026 Pandemonium Act I cycle.
• Lich Bane is the patch's headline item buff: AP ratio on Spellblade 40% to 45% and movement speed 4% to 6%, with Fizz, Katarina, Twisted Fate, and Evelynn benefiting most.
• Stormraider's Surge and Deathfire Touch are live again after returning in the 26.9 Pandemonium rune rework; both got their first balance pass this patch.
• Gluttonous Greaves nerfed: cost 950 to 1000 gold, max stacks 6 to 10, and per-stack omnivamp dropped to 0.6% (full-stack cap stays at 6%).
• Wukong, Galio, and Lee Sin head the buff list; Zed, Naafiri, Smolder, and Shyvana head the nerfs.
• Ambessa gets a mixed pass: Q max-health damage and R healing go up, but Q monster damage drops from 125 to 75 to push her out of the jungle.

With those points covered, the article continues.

Patch 26.10 Release and Scope

Patch 26.10 deployed on May 12, 2026 for NA, EU, BR, and LAS, with OCE and Asia regions rolling on May 13. It is the first major balance update inside the 2026 Pandemonium Act I cycle, following the rune-pool rework that shipped in Patch 26.9. The notes touch 18 champions, four items, two keystones, the Arena mode format, and the player-behaviour systems. There is no new champion this patch; the team's stated focus is settling the new rune pool and re-tuning the AD assassin and jungle Q items.

Item Changes That Matter

Three item adjustments will reshape build paths this patch. Lich Bane sees its Spellblade passive jump from 40% to 45% AP ratio, and its movement speed kicker goes from 4% to 6%. Both numbers reset on the same cooldown, so Fizz, Twisted Fate, Katarina, and Evelynn (the four champions who reset Spellblade most often) gain the most damage and the most chase pressure per fight.

Gluttonous Greaves moves in the opposite direction. Cost rises from 950 to 1000 gold, the combine cost is 700 instead of 650, and the per-takedown omnivamp stack drops from 1% to 0.6%. Riot expanded the max-stack ceiling from 6 to 10, but the boots still cap at the same 6% omnivamp once fully stacked, so the early-fight sustain is meaningfully worse on bruisers who used to rush them.

Doran's Bow gains 2 attack damage (6 to 8), narrowing the gap to Doran's Blade for marksmen who like the wave-clear passive. Doran's Helm gains 30 health (110 to 140) for the same opportunity-cost reason on bruiser-versus-mage matchups.

Runes: Stormraider's Surge and Deathfire Touch

Stormraider's Surge and Deathfire Touch were both removed from the live game back in Season 8 (2018). The 2026 Pandemonium rune pass brought them back in Patch 26.9, and 26.10 is their first balance pass since reintroduction. Stormraider's Surge keeps its 35% missing-health proc condition, but the movespeed buff now lasts 4 seconds (up from 3) and the speed amount moves to 48% on melee, 36% on ranged. Hecarim, Camille, and Wukong are the early Stormraider's beneficiaries on the test servers. Deathfire Touch's damage-per-second floor drops slightly at level 1 (about 4 to 3 in Riot's framing) while the level-18 cap is unchanged, a small nerf at lane phase even for lane-bully midlaners.

Champion Buffs

The buff list this patch leans toward champions who have been quietly losing presence in solo queue. Wukong picks up the cleanest gains: clone damage 30 to 50% scales to 40 to 60%, clone duration extends from 3.25 to 4 seconds, and E attack speed 35 to 55% becomes 40 to 60%. Expect Wukong to move from a B-tier jungle pick to a top-three contender, especially with Stormraider's Surge synergising on his post-R chases.

Galio's mana cost on Q drops by 10 across all ranks, his E damage scales 100 to 240 with a 100% AP ratio (up from 90%), and his R now scales 100% with bonus magic resist. The Lee Sin pass is broader than a number tweak: his W shield value drops slightly (70 to 250 becomes 60 to 240), his W now applies the shield when he jumps on minions or wards (not only on champions), and his R adds unconditional collateral damage in the cone behind the primary target. Lee Sin's E AD ratio drops 100% to 90% to balance the new utility.

Quinn gets a jungle-focused rework: her passive adds 50 bonus damage versus monsters, her Q monster-damage multiplier doubles from 100% to 150%, and her R mana cost falls from 100/50/0 to 50/25/0. Jungle Quinn is a credible build again. Zeri's 26.9 over-nerfs reverse: Burst Fire base damage moves 21 to 33 per shot up to 22 to 38, and her R duration is bug-fixed back to the intended 2.5 seconds.

Champion Nerfs

Zed loses early-game pressure (passive max-HP damage drops to 5 to 10% from 6 to 10%, E base damage 70 to 170 becomes 70 to 160, E bonus AD ratio 80% to 70%). Naafiri loses Q damage against bleeding targets (30 to 90 becomes 30 to 80) and R damage drops (150 to 350 becomes 150 to 300, per-packmate 15 to 35 becomes 15 to 30).

Shyvana sees her HP growth fall from 100 to 95, her W cooldown go to 13 to 10 (was 13 to 9), and her W shield drop 75 to 155 down to 60 to 140. Smolder, described in many third-party trackers as untouched, actually loses base AD 60 to 58, Q damage 60 to 120 to 60 to 100, and R damage 200 to 400 to 150 to 350. The R crit increase moves from 50% to 75% as a soft compensation, but the net is still a clear nerf.

Anivia's defensive layer thins: base armor 21 to 19, growth 4.5 to 4.1. Ashe loses Q AD ratio scaling (110 to 140% becomes 110 to 130%). Ambessa's jungle clear takes the heaviest single-line cut: her Q monster damage drops from 125 to 75. The same patch buffs her teamfighting (Q max-health damage moves from 2 to 6% to 4 to 6%, R healing 10 to 15% to 15 to 20%), so the expectation is a clear pivot from jungle to top-lane.

System Changes

Arena is the headline mode change: the format moves from 2v2 (eight teams of two) to 3v3 (six teams of three), and the stat anvil's max-power cap rises from 80% to 100%. The Tahm Kench Guest of Honor event also gets adjusted to feel less round-binary. Disruptive Game Termination — a new team-vote feature that ends games where a player has gone AFK or is intentionally feeding — rolls live on Patch 26.10. Voltaic Cyclosword's price goes from 2900 to 3000 gold, which lands a small nerf on AD assassin first-back power across the patch.

What To Play This Patch

Lich Bane buyers (Fizz, Katarina, Twisted Fate, Evelynn) and the buffed jungle / solo-lane bruisers (Wukong, Galio, Lee Sin, Quinn) are the highest-ceiling picks heading into the first weekend. Smolder, Zed, and Naafiri lose more than they gain — pull them out of the rotation unless you're a one-trick. Players switching mains around the patch can request a coaching session with a Diamond-plus coach to lock in the new builds faster than learning by deaths.

FAQ

When did Patch 26.10 go live?

May 12, 2026 for NA, EU, BR, and LAS. OCE, Asia, and the smaller server clusters rolled on May 13. The patch follows Riot's two-week cadence after the 26.9 rune-pool rework.

Is Stormraider's Surge actually back?

Yes. Stormraider's Surge and Deathfire Touch were removed in the Season 8 rune rework back in 2018, and both returned to the live keystone pool in Patch 26.9 as part of the 2026 Pandemonium rune pass. Patch 26.10 is their first balance pass after re-introduction.

Who benefits most from the Lich Bane buff?

Champions who reset Spellblade off short-cooldown spells. Fizz (E reset), Twisted Fate (W proc), Katarina (R reset), and Evelynn (Q reset) gain the most damage per fight. Mid-AP champions with a single proc per fight (Veigar, Annie) gain less than the headline 5% AP ratio number suggests.

Should I rush Gluttonous Greaves this patch?

Less often than before. The cost is now 1000 gold and the per-stack omnivamp dropped to 0.6%, so the boots only reach their cap at 10 takedowns instead of 6. On bruisers who used to first-back with them in lane, Plated Steelcaps or Mercury's Treads are usually the better second-back call now.

Is Ambessa still a jungle pick?

The patch pushes her toward top lane. Q monster damage dropped from 125 to 75, which gutts her clear speed, while the Q max-health buff (4 to 6%) and R healing buff (15 to 20%) help her in lane-vs-bruiser matchups. Expect a top-lane pivot in solo queue and pro play.

What happened to Arena?

The mode moved from 2v2 (eight teams of two) to 3v3 (six teams of three) on Patch 26.10. The stat anvil cap moved from 80% to 100% max power per stat, and Tahm Kench Guest of Honor adjustments reduce the round-deciding swing he caused in 26.9.

Is it worth buying ranked carries this patch?

Tier shifts after rune-pool patches are usually larger than after standard champion balance, so the first week of 26.10 will have an unusually wide skill gap between players who have adapted to the new rune pool and those who haven't. A coached ranked carry can lock in the meta-correct champion and rune combos for your role faster than playing the learning curve solo.

Last Reviewed

Last reviewed 2026-05-15 against Patch 26.10 (Pandemonium Act I rune-rework follow-up). Maintained by WowCarry's League of Legends team.