Patch 26.8 went live on April 14, 2026, and it is the last major update before League of Legends Season 2 kicks off on April 29. This patch focuses on targeted balance adjustments: Hwei and Lucian receive meaningful buffs that push them back into viability, while Mel and Karma take nerfs that pull them off the priority pick list. Dr. Mundo's dominant jungle clear is capped once again, and Yuumi's ultimate healing gets a significant boost. With Season 1 ending on April 28, every LP you can gain this week matters. Here is everything you need to know about Patch 26.8.
Champion Buffs — Who Got Stronger
Hwei — More Damage and Better Slow Stacking
After several quiet patches, Hwei finally receives the numbers he needed. His passive base damage climbs from 35–230 to 40–285 across levels 1 to 18, a meaningful increase that improves his early-game poke and late-game burst. Riot also reworked how his slows interact: his QE and R slows now stack with diminishing returns instead of being blocked by external slows, which should feel much smoother in actual gameplay. A bug causing his slows to improperly stack with champion and item slows has been fixed at the same time. His recommended build path remains Lost Chapter into Shadowflame or Luden's Companion, with Dark Harvest or Arcane Comet depending on the matchup. With this buff, Hwei is an excellent choice for the final grind before the Season 2 reset.
Lucian — Dash Becomes More Spammable
Lucian's E, Relentless Pursuit, sees its cooldown reduced from 18/17/16/15/14 to 16/15.5/15/14.5/14 seconds, and its mana cost drops from 40/30/20/10/0 to 32/24/16/8/0. These changes lower the barrier to using his dash aggressively in lane and in skirmishes. His core build of Kraken Slayer into Navori Quickblades — or Trinity Force for a more bruiser-oriented path — benefits directly from the extra mobility this E reduction provides. Both ADC and mid-lane Lucian are strong options to climb with before Season 2 resets.
Yuumi — Ultimate Healing Significantly Improved
Yuumi's R heal per wave rises from 30/40/50 to 30/50/70 (AP scaling from 10% to 12%), and her Best Friend enhanced heal improves from a flat 30% bonus to 30–60% scaling from levels 6 to 12. Two long-standing bugs where her ultimate was double-healing or miscalculating shields have also been corrected. The result is a Yuumi who heals more consistently and scales far better into the mid-game. In a coordinated duo, her buffed ultimate makes extended teamfights very difficult for opponents to win.
Lillia — Improved Jungle Scaling
Lillia's passive Monster Damage Cap increases from a flat 65 to a level-scaling 70–180, improving her camp clear efficiency as the game progresses. This does not change her build path — she continues to prefer Night Harvester or Riftmaker into Shadowflame — but gives her better jungle tempo without altering her late-game identity.
Want to see how top Hwei and Lucian players are building after Patch 26.8? Search any summoner on LeagueBuildFast to see their full item builds and rune pages from real ranked games.
Champion Nerfs — Who to Avoid
Mel — Burst and Mobility Reduced
Mel, the newest champion, has dominated since her release. Patch 26.8 trims her Q initial explosion damage from 60/90/120/150/180 to 60/85/110/135/160 (AP scaling from 60% to 55%) and pushes her W cooldown out from 35/32/29/26/23 to 38/35/32/29/26 seconds. Most significantly, her W bonus movement speed duration is halved from 1.5 to 0.75 seconds, cutting her escape and repositioning window in half. If you have been playing Mel heavily in mid-lane or flex bot-lane, expect a noticeable drop in how effortlessly she avoids punishment after Q. Her win rate will likely fall several percentage points this patch.
Karma — Laning Phase Weakened
Karma loses 2 base AD (51 to 49) and her AD growth is trimmed from 3.3 to 3.0. Her E mana cost also rises by 10 across all ranks. The AD reductions weaken her auto-attack trading pattern, a tool she used to efficiently deny minions and poke opponents. The mana cost increase punishes players who repeatedly shield allies in extended laning phases. Karma support is most affected — expect her to run out of mana more quickly in long trades.
Dr. Mundo — Jungle Clear Capped Again
Mundo's Q Monster Damage Cap drops from 300/375/450/525/600 to 250/325/400/475/550, and his E Monster Damage Cap is reduced from 200% to 140%. These two consecutive nerfs significantly slow his camp-clearing speed. He remains viable as a tanky bruiser at all stages, but expect his jungle pick rate to fall. Top-lane Mundo is less affected and may absorb some migration from the jungle role.
Tahm Kench — Passive Scaling Adjusted
Tahm Kench's passive damage changes from 6–48 to 5–60 (Levels 1–12), with AP scaling per 100 bonus HP reduced from 1.5% to 1.25% and bonus HP scaling from 4.5% to 4%. The practical effect is reduced early poke at levels 1–5 in exchange for marginally more late-game damage. Tahm Kench support loses some of his level 1–3 threat.
Season 2 Ranked Reset — April 29
Season 1 ends April 28, 2026 at midnight (regional time). Season 2 begins April 29 at noon. Ranked missions reset alongside the new season, and Season 1 rewards will be distributed in Patch 26.09. Shard transfer services will be temporarily disabled during the transition. You have roughly two weeks of Patch 26.8 before the LP reset and Season 2 begin — use Lucian and Hwei while their buffs are fresh and their win rates are climbing.
New Feature — Champion-Specific Keybinds
One of the most-requested quality-of-life improvements arrives in Patch 26.8: champion-specific keybinds. You can now override ability keybinds and smartcast toggles on a per-champion basis. Karthus players who prefer smartcast on Q but standard cast on W, or Ezreal players who want entirely different bindings for each ability — this feature is tailor-made for you. The configuration must be set up in the Practice Tool before it carries over to ranked play.
LeagueBuildFast's in-game overlay shows you recommended builds and rune pages without alt-tabbing. Download the overlay app and keep your build notes and item timings accessible during champ select.
Best Champions to Climb With Before Season 2
- Lucian (ADC / Mid) — E buff makes him fluid and aggressive; strong in both roles right now
- Hwei (Mid / Support) — Passive damage boost improves his ability to punish every mistake
- Gnar (Top) — Unaffected by 26.8 nerfs; remains one of the highest win-rate top laners
- Tryndamere (Top) — Continues to leverage Stormrazor for dominant split-push pressure
- Lillia (Jungle) — Improved camp scaling rewards mechanical jungle players
- Yuumi (Support) — With a coordinated duo partner, her buffed healing is genuinely oppressive
ARAM Mayhem Item Changes
Patch 26.8 also reduces ARAM Mayhem item cooldowns to improve pacing. Immortal Shieldbow, Maw of Malmortius, and Sterak's Gage drop from 75 to 60 seconds. Protoplasm Harness and Randuin's Omen fall from 90 to 60 seconds. Shurelya's Battlesong drops from 75 to 60 seconds. These reductions make Mayhem faster and more rewarding for players who use item actives consistently. Locket of the Iron Solari drops to 75 seconds in both standard ARAM and Mayhem.
Patch 26.8 is a measured patch with clear intent: reduce dominant new-champion power (Mel), trim over-performing jungle tanks (Dr. Mundo), and reinvigorate underplayed carries (Lucian, Hwei). With Season 2 right around the corner, this is the moment to lock in a polished champion pool, study optimized builds, and go into the reset with momentum.