League of Legends Patch 26.12 Notes Overview — Buffs, Nerfs, New Events, and More

Every two weeks, a new League of Legends update launches to keep the gameplay balanced. Whether this is through buffs, nerfs, or adjustments, this is a great way to ensure that the competitive integrity continues.

Here's what you need to know about Patch 26.12!

Buffs

In Patch 26.12, there were a whopping eight buffs across the board. Here are all of the champions that got a buff:

• Aatrox: Aatrox is receiving a small damage buff to his Q - The Darkin Blade, increasing the Sweet Spot Bonus Damage to 75 from 70. This should reward players properly engaging with his mechanic.
• Gwen: Gwen has been struggling after 26.09's rework to Dusk and Dawn, so Riot Games is looking to give back some of her power, particularly in the early game, to ensure she is viable at the beginning. Her Q - Snip Snip! damage has been buffed per level, and her E - Skip 'n Slash's bonus attack speed has been buffed early, plateauing at the same 80% bonus at five points.
• Hwei: Hwei's nerfs from Patch 26.08 have hit him harder than intended, so his Q - Subject: Disaster is being buffed across all three iterations (QQ, QW, QE), and his E - Subject: Torment is receiving a buff in the form of a lower cooldown.
• Jax: Jax is being buffed slightly to ensure he's a bit more consistent in lane, as he's fallen behind as a reliable long-fight champion. To remedy this, his Q - Leap Strike is having its mana cost reduced by 15, and his E - Counter Strike's minimum and maximum damage have been adjusted to 4% and 8%, respectively.
• Sylas: After Season 2 launched, Sylas was severely affected by some of the changes, so the team is trying to ensure he's a bit more consistent. He remains a lane bully, but his scaling has been too poor to keep him consistent, so his initial Q damage is being buffed, increasing both the flat damage and the AP% scaling.
• Syndra: After Syndra's strength from W and R was taken away, she's been struggling a bit more than intended, so Riot Games is looking to buff her bread-and-butter ability. Q - Dark Sphere is getting an increase in both its base damage and +AP% scaling, and her base HP is being increased to 583 from 563.
• Tristana: A few years ago, marksmen were running wild in the mid lane, taking away from the intended gameplay fantasy, and major nerfs prevented them from continuing that route. Still, Riot Games wants some of the champions to remain viable, and Tristana is one of them — to help with this, her AD growth has been increased to 3.4, and her Q - Rapid Fire mana cost has been reduced.
• Yuumi: Everyone's least-favourite League of Legends cat was hit the hardest by the 26.09 Moonstone Renewer rework. To remedy this, her AP scalings have been upped a bit, to make enchanter items optimal for her.

Nerfs

• Lee Sin Jungle (Diamond 1 to Challenger):Recent changes to Lee Sin during patch 26.10 made him a bit stronger than intended due to his outplay potential. To balance this out a bit (and keep his high skill-expression style), his raw damage is being reduced accordingly. This mostly affects his AD growth (down to 3.4) and his Q1 - Sonic Wave and Q2 - Resonating Strike damage and scaling.
• Nocturne Jungle (Iron to Pro Leagues): Nocturne has been in a strong spot for a while, so the team is looking to bring his power down accordingly. His Q - Duskbringer is being reduced in damage in later levels to ensure he falls off appropriately.
• Orianna Mid (Pro Leagues): As the pro leagues approach, we start to see some major changes to ensure champions are working as intended. Orianna has been nerfed to ensure that she isn't strong all around, but instead, emphasises her late-game potential, shifting her power to scaling from early.
• Ryze Mid (Pro Leagues): With the introduction of Deathfire Touch, Ryze's laning has gotten a bit out of hand. He's intended to be the scaling combo mage, so his early game is being reduced accordingly, affecting his base health and base AD (from 645 to 620 and from 58 to 55, respectively).
• Varus Bot (Pro Leagues): Varus has been oppressive in top and bot late. Changes to Experimental Hexplate should affect his top-late strength, and for bot, Riot Games is looking to reduce his strength in lethality by adjusting the damage from his Passive - Living Vengeance, his Q - Piercing Arrow, and his W - Blighted Quiver. These should now favour late-game-scaling attack-speed builds instead of lethality to make him less oppressive.
• Xin Zhao Mid (Iron to Emerald 3): AP Xin Zhao has been a bit of a menace in the mid lane ever since his reintroduction to League of Legends in Patch 26.9. His healing from Passive - Determination is being nerfed across both early game and scaling, his W - Wind Becomes Lightning mana cost is being raised to a flat 60, and his E - Audacious Charge's mana cost is also being raised to 60.

Systems

The only System affected in 26.12 is Teleport, as Riot Games is trying to learn a bit from the changes after the introduction of Role Quests. Teleport is having a big of a strength shift to ensure that Top Lane is using it as intended, and incentivising the gameplay opportunities that Riot Games originally wanted.

For this change, it's not necessarily a buff or a nerf, but rather a strength shift (much like adjustments). Teleport's max health shield has been increased to 35% while its duration has been reduced to 10 seconds (from 30).

The hope is that this change will affect the top lane in the intended way, offering squirmishes and trades rather than a stalemate.