League of Legends Patch 26.21 Notes: Caitlyn, Jinx and Lee Sin Nerfed, Hubris Split and a Replay Cap
Patch 26.21 trims Caitlyn, Jinx and Lee Sin, buffs Sion and Miss Fortune, splits Hubris by range, caps replay downloads and adds ARAM: Mayhem headliners.
With the ranked season heading into its final stretch, Riot has shipped a packed balance patch. League of Legends Patch 26.21 went live on October 21, 2026, and it goes after some of the most dominant picks in solo queue – Caitlyn, Jinx and Lee Sin – while handing out buffs to Sion, Miss Fortune, Nunu & Willump and a long list of mages. On top of that, Hubris finally gets separate melee and ranged values, replay downloads get a cap, and ARAM: Mayhem picks up a new themed system.
TL;DR
- Nerfs: Caitlyn's Headshot, Jinx's base stats, Lee Sin's W and ultimate, Yone's Q, Qiyana, Tristana, Viktor, Rammus and Nidalee.
- Buffs: Sion, Miss Fortune, Nunu & Willump, Ryze, Taliyah, Orianna, Vel'Koz, Xin Zhao, Darius, Azir and Zyra.
- Items: Hubris now has different numbers for melee and ranged users, Bastion Breaker loses lethality, Gluttonous Greaves costs more and Dawncore gets stronger.
- Systems: replay downloads are limited to 10 per hour, with your own and friends' replays exempt.
- ARAM: Mayhem: new "headliner" themes based on in-game music groups, plus a refreshed augment pool.
- Cosmetics: True Damage "Know My Name" skins for Ekko (Prestige), Akali, Qiyana, Senna and Yasuo.
The biggest changes
Caitlyn's crit scaling is pulled back
Caitlyn has been a fixture in bot lane, and Riot is targeting the part of her kit that gets out of hand later in the game. Her Headshot damage now tops out at 60–80% AD instead of 60–100%, and the bonus she gets per point of crit chance and bonus crit damage drops from 1% to 0.8%. In return, Piltover Peacemaker (Q) hits harder early, rising from 50/90/130/170/210 to 50/95/140/185/230 base damage. The net result is a Caitlyn who still pokes well in lane but snowballs less once she completes her crit items.
Jinx and Lee Sin lose some raw power
Jinx takes a simple base-stat nerf: 610 base health instead of 630, and 3 attack damage per level instead of 3.25. It's small on paper, but it makes her early lanes and late-game damage a little less forgiving.
Lee Sin's nerfs are more noticeable. Safeguard (W) now has an 8-second cooldown instead of 7, and Dragon's Rage (R) drops from 175/400/625 to 150/350/550 base damage on both the kick and the collision. Riot also fixed a bug where Tempest (E) kept revealing enemies who went invisible after being hit.
Hubris gets split by range
Hubris has been an awkward fit for ranged champions, and Riot's answer is to separate the two versions. Melee users now get 15 base bonus AD (up from 12) and keep 3 AD per stack. Ranged users drop to 10 base bonus AD and 2 AD per stack. Expect fewer marksmen and ranged assassins rushing it – and more melee bruisers and assassins looking at it seriously.
Champion buffs and nerfs
| Champion | Change | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Sion | Health per level 87 → 95; bigger damage ramp on R during the first seconds of the charge | Buff |
| Miss Fortune | E damage 70–190 → 90–210; R crit damage 130% → 145% with better bonus-crit scaling | Buff |
| Nunu & Willump | R maximum damage raised to 750/1100/1450 | Buff |
| Ryze | Q Flux bonus 15–90% → 10–100%; Q move speed 28–44% → 30–50%; W AP ratio 60% → 70% | Buff |
| Taliyah | E damage 60–240 → 70–250, AP ratio 60% → 70%; detonation 25–85 → 30–90 | Buff |
| Orianna | Q AP ratio 55% → 60%; W AP ratio 80% → 85% | Buff |
| Vel'Koz | Passive damage 35–180 → 35–205, AP ratio 60% → 65% | Buff |
| Xin Zhao | Q bonus AD ratio 40% → 45%; E attack speed scaling 1% per 5% → 1% per 4% | Buff |
| Darius | Q cooldown at rank 5: 5s → 4s | Buff |
| Azir | Mana per level 40 → 50 | Buff |
| Zyra | W seed recharge 18–10s → 16–10s | Buff |
| Yone | Q AD ratio 110% → 105% | Nerf |
| Qiyana | Q damage 80–200 → 70–190 | Nerf |
| Tristana | Q attack speed 60–120% → 40–120% | Nerf |
| Viktor | Move speed 335 → 330; Q shield 40–140 → 30–130, AP ratio 25% → 20% | Nerf |
| Rammus | W bonus armor 27–47 → 25–45; armor and MR scaling capped at 50% instead of 60% | Nerf |
| Nidalee | Cougar W damage 55–190 → 50–170; E attack speed 30–70% → 20–60% | Nerf |
| Wukong | Base health regen 3.5 → 5.5, but passive armor per stack starts at 4.5 instead of 6 | Adjusted |
A few champions get reworked numbers rather than clean buffs or nerfs. Varus has his Piercing Arrow (Q) damage recalculated so that a fully charged arrow is stronger, with the channel's bonus rising from up to 50% to up to 70%, while Blighted Quiver's on-hit damage and missing-health burst come down. In short, Riot wants more of his power in landing charged arrows and less in auto-attack stacking. Locke gets a mix of higher mana costs on W and more damage on his E blink.
Two quality-of-life changes round things out: Twisted Fate's Destiny now reveals untargetable units, and Taric can now cast his abilities successfully when his allies are untargetable.
Item changes
- Bastion Breaker: lethality 22 → 18, and Shaped Charge damage drops to 40 (melee) / 20 (ranged) plus its lethality scaling. Its Sabotage effect now lasts for the rest of the game rather than 90 seconds.
- Gluttonous Greaves: total cost 1,000 → 1,100 gold.
- Dawncore: now grants 15 AP per 100% base mana regeneration instead of 10 – a welcome boost for enchanters and mana-hungry mages.
New content and modes
ARAM: Mayhem gets "headliners," themed setups built around League's in-game music acts: K/DA, HEARTSTEEL, True Damage, Pentakill, Disco, Cafe Cuties, Bees and Command Line, with Riot promising more later. The augment pool is refreshed too, with new augments joining and some older ones leaving.
League Classic and Arena both get their own balance passes as well, so check the official notes if you play those modes regularly.
On the cosmetics side, the True Damage line returns with "Know My Name" skins for Akali, Qiyana, Senna and Yasuo, plus a Prestige edition for Ekko.
Systems changes worth knowing
The change most players will never notice – but that has people talking – is the new replay download limit. You can now download 10 replays per hour of other players' games. Replays of your own matches and of your friends' matches stay unlimited, and Riot says the cap is aimed at mass scraping rather than regular players reviewing their games.
What it means for players
For bot laners, 26.21 is about breaking the Caitlyn-and-Jinx loop. Neither is gutted, but Miss Fortune's buffs and Varus's charged-arrow focus give players good reasons to try something else. In the jungle, Lee Sin's lower kill pressure and the Nidalee nerfs open room for Xin Zhao, Nunu and Darius, while top laners should keep an eye on Sion, who gets both more health and a scarier ultimate.
Mid lane is the big winner overall: Ryze, Taliyah, Orianna, Vel'Koz and Azir all get help, while Viktor and Qiyana are toned down. And if you're a ranged champion who built Hubris every game, it's time to look at your build again.
Sources
This article was written by AI (Claude) and checked against the sources above. Games are updated regularly, so details may change.