LoL Patch 26.20 Preview: Rocketbelt Changes, Lillia Buffs, and Bot Lane Nerfs

Patch 26.20 arrives in League of Legends on October 7 with another round of balance changes. Riot Games' full preview includes adjustments to Hextech Rocketbelt, another Lillia buff, and changes for champions such as Diana, Neeko, Smolder, and Vayne.

Bot lane is also one of the main areas Riot is targeting this time around. Ashe and Yunara are set to receive nerfs, while Riot expects the recent Lucian buffs to help shift the meta in a healthier direction. Varus and Sylas were also initially planned for the patch, but their changes have since been pulled.

Hextech Rocketbelt Trades Ability Haste for More Damage

One of the biggest item changes in Patch 26.20 is coming to Hextech Rocketbelt. The item will lose half of its Ability Haste but gain more damage on its active, pushing it further toward engages and short burst windows.

Its current Ability Haste allows Rocketbelt to compete with items specifically designed around lower cooldowns. Riot wants to draw a clearer line between those options: items such as Cosmic Drive remain better suited to champions looking for more frequent spell casts, while Rocketbelt puts more of its power into the initial engage.

Hextech Rocketbelt Adjustments:

• Ability Haste: 20 → 10
• Active damage: 100 (+10% AP) → 135 (+15% AP)

Lillia Gets Another Buff After Patch 26.19

Lillia is receiving changes for the second patch in a row (Image: Riot Games)

The changes made to Lillia in Patch 26.19 were not the end of Riot's adjustments. This time, Lilting Lullaby is being buffed again, with longer sleep duration at ranks two and three.

The change is primarily aimed at higher-skill games, where teams are better able to coordinate around the crowd control window. Lillia lost some strength at those levels after previous changes weakened her early jungle clear, and Riot is using her ultimate to give some of that power back without directly speeding up her farming.

Lillia Buff:

• [R] Lilting Lullaby sleep duration: 2.5s → 2.5/2.75/3s

Diana Gets a Jungle-Focused Buff

Diana's buff is aimed at the more durable builds commonly used in the jungle (Image: Riot Games)

Diana is also getting a buff, but the change is primarily intended for jungle. Rather than directly increasing her damage, Riot is improving the bonus Health scaling on the shield from Pale Cascade.

This favors the tankier builds Diana tends to use as a jungler without giving the same amount of power to her mid lane version. Riot is keeping the buff relatively controlled, as Diana can become difficult to deal with when too much raw power is added to her kit.

Diana Buff:

• [W] Pale Cascade shield bonus Health ratio: 11% → 14%

Neeko and Smolder Get More Power

Neeko will get more damage and more reliable crowd control from Tangle-Barbs (Image: Riot Games)

Neeko is getting some power back after falling off in both support and mid. The drop has been more noticeable at higher levels of play following previous changes involving her clone and its interaction with vision.

In Patch 26.20, the compensation is focused on Tangle-Barbs. The ability will deal 10 more base damage at every rank, while the empowered root will also have a longer minimum duration.

Neeko Buffs:

• [E] Tangle-Barbs base damage: 70-210 (+65% AP) → 80-220 (+65% AP)
• [E] Tangle-Barbs empowered root duration: 1.8-3s → 2-3s

Smolder is also getting more power after losing strength following previous changes to some of his core tools. This time, Riot is avoiding a broad buff to his more durable builds and directing much of the added power toward Crit-focused setups instead.

Alongside stronger bonuses tied to his Q and E, Smolder's ultimate will receive a substantial self-healing buff. At max rank, the base value increases from 170 to 250, while the bonus AD ratio also goes up.

Smolder Buffs:

• [Q] Super Scorcher Breath passive bonus: 25-55% (+0-9% with Infinity Edge) → 25-60% (+0-10.5% with Infinity Edge)
• [E] Flap, Flap, Flap passive bonus: 8-12.8% (+0-1.44% with Infinity Edge) → 8-14% (+0-1.8% with Infinity Edge)
• [R] MMOOOMMMM! self-heal: 100-170 (+50% bonus AD) (+75% AP) → 100-250 (+75% bonus AD) (+75% AP)

Vayne Gets Buffed as Experimental Hexplate Is Nerfed

Vayne gets some bot lane compensation as Experimental Hexplate loses power for ranged champions (Image: Riot Games)

Vayne is getting buffed at the same time that one of the tools used by her top lane builds is being weakened. Experimental Hexplate will provide less Attack Speed and Move Speed to ranged champions.

With less power tied to that combination, Riot has more room to improve Vayne directly. Her Health regeneration will be stronger in the early levels, while Tumble will cost 30 Mana at every rank.

Vayne Buffs:

• Health regeneration: 4 + 0.5 per level → 5.5 + 0.4 per level
• [Q] Tumble Mana cost: 46-30 → 30

Ashe and Yunara Targeted With Bot Lane Nerfs

Ashe remains part of some of the strongest bot lane pairings even without relying on Runaan's Hurricane in every build (Image: Riot Games)

Ashe has been added to the nerf list after remaining part of some of the strongest bot lane pairings. The Runaan's Hurricane nerf is not expected to affect all of her builds, so the champion is also receiving a direct change.

The adjustment is straightforward: Ashe will gain less Attack Damage per level. Its impact grows as the game goes on, trimming some of her scaling without directly changing any of her abilities.

Ashe Nerf:

• Attack Damage per level: 3.5 → 3

Yunara is another marksman Riot is targeting in the role. Her nerf is focused on the early game, reducing the on-hit damage from Cultivation of Spirit by two at every rank.

The patch also fixes an interaction that allowed the slows from her W to stack with other slowing effects. Together, the changes weaken her laning phase without directly hitting every part of her late-game scaling.

Yunara Nerfs:

• [Q] Cultivation of Spirit Passive on-hit damage: 5-25 (+20% AP) → 3-23 (+20% AP)
• [Q] Cultivation of Spirit Active on-hit damage: 5-25 (+20% AP) → 3-23 (+20% AP)
• Bugfix: the slows from W and its upgraded version during Transcend One's Self no longer stack with other slows

Other Changes in LoL Patch 26.20

Here are the other changes currently planned for the patch:

Champion Buffs:

Kennen:

• [E] Lightning Rush bonus Attack Speed: 40-80% → 50-90%

Kindred:

• [E] Mounting Dread: can no longer target small monsters, a quality-of-life change
• [W] Wolf's Frenzy monster modifier: 150% → 165%
• [E] Mounting Dread slow duration: 1s → 1.5s

Lucian:

• Attack Damage growth: 2.5 per level → 2.9 per level

Mordekaiser:

• [R] Realm of Death cooldown: 140/120/100s → 120/110/100s
• [Q] Obliterate level 10-20 scaling: +5 per level → +7 per level

Tahm Kench:

• [Q] Tongue Lash base heal: 10-25 → 10-50

Swain:

• Base Magic Resist: 31 → 34
• Base Armor: 25 → 23
• [W] Vision of Empire damage: 70-210 (+60% AP) → 70-250 (+60% AP)
• [W] Vision of Empire cooldown: 22-18s → 20-16s

Champion Nerfs:

Ambessa:

• Passive, damage: 5-30 (+25% bonus AD) → 5-25 (+20% bonus AD)

Cassiopeia:

• Base Health: 630 → 610
• Base Mana: 480 → 450

K'Sante:

• [W] Path Maker Mana cost: 40-60 → 45-65
• [W] Path Maker base/All Out damage reduction: 30/75% → 25/70%

System Nerfs:

Experimental Hexplate:

• Ranged champions: 70% of the effect's value, equivalent to 35% Attack Speed and 14% Move Speed → 50% of the value, equivalent to 25% Attack Speed and 10% Move Speed

Runaan's Hurricane:

• Attack Damage per bolt: 65% → 60%

All changes are part of Riot Games' current preview and may still be adjusted before the patch officially goes live.

When Does LoL Patch 26.20 Release?

LoL Patch 26.20 is scheduled to go live on October 7, 2026.

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Featured Image Credit: Riot Games

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