Riot Games has released the patch notes for League of Legends Patch 26.17, a balance-focused update that targets several high-performing top lane picks while giving struggling melee carries more room to scale. The patch also includes the second round of adjustments for LoL Classic.
The headline changes are aimed at top lane. Vayne and Nasus both receive noticeable nerfs after becoming stronger than Riot wanted in that role, while champions such as Yasuo, Yone, Irelia, and Trundle get help to feel more like proper late-game threats rather than early snowball specialists.
Vayne Takes the Biggest Hit
Vayne top has been a problem at higher levels of play. Riot described her as a combination of strong laning, solid scaling, and unexpected durability when built with items such as Experimental Hexplate. The goal of this patch is to weaken her early lane without completely gutting her as a bot lane marksman.
Her health growth is reduced even as base health is slightly increased, her attack speed growth is lowered, and Tumble now costs more mana at early ranks. Silver Bolts also deal less true damage at lower ranks, dropping from 6/7/8/9/10 percent of the target’s maximum health to 4/5.5/7/8.5/10 percent. The minimum damage on the ability is reduced as well.
Riot acknowledged criticism that these changes could hurt Vayne in bot lane and said larger role-specific work may be needed later. For now the priority is bringing her top lane power in line.
Nasus Loses Sustain
Nasus is receiving a follow-up nerf after last patch’s adjustments overshot their intended effect. Soul Eater’s life steal is reduced from 12/18/24 percent to 10/15/20 percent. The change is aimed at making high Q stack counts harder to reach in top lane, where persistent healing off minions had become too reliable. Jungle Nasus is expected to feel the cut less.
Other Nerfs
Graves loses some bonus AD ratios on End of the Line after picking up too many indirect buffs in recent patches. Nocturne’s base armor and health are reduced to add more risk around his first ultimate. Thresh’s Flay damage is lowered after a quietly high win rate and rising play rate. Xerath also takes a generic durability nerf.
Buffs for Scaling Melee and Mages
Yasuo and Yone both have their critical strike damage penalty reduced from 10 percent to 5 percent. Riot wants both champions to feel more like scaling carries when they build crit early rather than relying so heavily on snowball items such as Blade of the Ruined King.
Irelia’s Bladesurge gains a higher AD ratio, and her AP ratios on Defiant Dance and Vanguard’s Edge are increased to better support alternative builds in modes such as ARAM and Arena. Trundle’s Frozen Domain attack speed is increased so he can deal more damage rather than existing purely as a utility pick.
Aurelion Sol receives mana cost and cooldown help on Breath of Light and Astral Flight after struggling with recent mage changes. Cho’Gath gets early damage back on Vorpal Spikes. LeBlanc’s attack speed ratio is restored closer to a normal baseline and her Distortion AP ratios are increased. Qiyana’s Elemental Wrath is buffed in mid while her monster damage modifier is slightly reduced to keep jungle from running away with the champion.
Classic and What Comes Next
Patch 26.17 also continues balance work on LoL Classic. The live-game changes are more focused on role health than a full meta shakeup, with Riot trying to give traditional top laners more room against ranged and stacking threats. We will cover Classic updates in a future article.
As always, the real test will come once the patch hits live servers and players start adapting builds and pick rates. Vayne top and Nasus players in particular will feel the difference first.
What are your thoughts on the patch? Do you think they are wild for buffing Yasuo and Yone or am I the only one? Let us know which champs need buffs and nerfs in the comments!