League of Legends Patch 26.19 Buffs Ten Champions
Riot Games has detailed the first of two pre-Worlds 2026 balance updates, League of Legends Patch 26.19. The patch, releasing September 23, 2026, buffs ten champions including Aatrox and Fiora, nerfs six including Nasus and Vi, and adjusts Teleport and support items.
Riot Games has unveiled the first of two planned balance updates ahead of the 2026 League of Legends World Championship. Patch 26.19, scheduled for release on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, will buff ten champions, nerf six, and adjust Lucian's power distribution. The tournament itself will be played on the subsequent Patch 26.20, making this update a critical step in shaping the competitive meta.
According to the patch notes from Dot Esports, the update also targets two systemic issues. Teleport's cooldown from the Top Role Quest is being reduced to give top laners more map influence at higher skill levels. Support items are trading some flat health for increased health regeneration, a move intended to help melee supports survive poke and engage more effectively.
Champion Buffs
Ten champions are receiving direct power increases in this patch. Aatrox sees a shorter cooldown on his Infernal Chains (W) at early ranks and improved healing scaling on Umbral Dash (E). Aphelios gets adjustments across all five of his weapons, with buffs to damage, healing, slows, and cooldowns.
| Weapon | Change |
|---|---|
| Calibrum | Damage increased from 70-160 to 80-170. |
| Severum | Healing increased from 2-7.1% to 2-8%. Let healing increased from 5-17.75% to 6-20%. |
| Gravitum | Slow decay floor increased from 10% to 15%. |
| Infernum | Duskwave cooldown reduced from 9-6 to 8-5 seconds. |
| Crescendum | Chakram damage increased from 15% AD to 16% AD. Minimum damage now starts at the ninth Chakram instead of the eighth. |
Fiora, described as having been "irrelevant for a long time," gains more health per level and significant buffs to her ultimate, Grand Challenge. Its healing area is larger, each tick heals more, and its bonus AD ratio is higher. Kha'Zix receives increased damage from his passive and buffs to his evolved W and E abilities.
Other buffs include a simple base attack damage increase for Draven, more armor and a longer sleep duration on her ultimate for Lillia, and adjustments to Master Yi's Alpha Strike cooldown refund. Volibear's hybrid builds get a boost with improved AP scaling on his passive's attack speed and a new bonus AD ratio for its lightning damage.
Champion Nerfs
Six champions are being toned down. Nasus loses 10 base damage at every rank of his Siphoning Strike (Q), a change Riot hopes will make him easier to punish in lane before he stacks up. Nocturne's ultimate, Paranoia, sees its cooldown increased significantly at all ranks.
Poppy's jungle clear is targeted with a reduction to the maximum percent-health damage her Hammer Shock (Q) deals to monsters. Rumble loses a substantial amount of attack speed while overheated but gains compensation with a higher damage cap against monsters. Ryze's early wave clear is nerfed via a mana cost increase on Spell Flux and reduced bonus damage on Overload, though he gains more armor per level.
Vi is the final champion on the nerf list. Her Denting Blows (W) now deals less percent-health damage at later ranks, and the shield from Blast Shield (Passive) has a longer cooldown in the early game.
Lucian Adjustment and System Changes
Lucian is not receiving a straightforward buff or nerf but a power shift. His passive, Vigilance, will deal less damage, while his Q ability, Piercing Light, gets more base damage. Riot's stated goal is to reduce his reliance on specific support pairings like Nami and Milio, making solo-lane and less synergistic bot-lane combinations feel better.
The systemic changes aim to address role balance. The shorter Teleport cooldown for top laners completing their Role Quest is a direct response to the lane's perceived weakness compared to bot lane at high levels of play. For supports, items will provide less flat health but more health regeneration. Developers believe this will aid melee supports in recovering from poke while making ranged supports slightly more vulnerable if caught out of position.
The patch is set to go live globally on September 23rd. The specific rollout times, according to the source, are 3 pm CT for North America, 5 am GMT for EU West, 3 am CET for EU North East, and 8 am KR for Korea. All eyes will now be on how these changes settle before the World Championship patch arrives on October 7.
