Riot Games is rolling out League of Legends patch 26.16 on August 12, 2026, targeting the recent dominance of mages in the bottom lane. To combat the mage bot meta where pro players and regular competitors alike have favored wave-clearing mages over traditional marksmen, developers are implementing across-the-board magic resistance buffs for the entire ADC roster.

Quick Facts

  • Release Date: August 12, 2026 (PC)
  • Core Goal: Curb the bottom lane mage meta by increasing ADC base magic resistance
  • Champion Focus: Buffs for Kennen, Gwen, and Azir; nerfs for Poppy, Camille, and Bel'Veth; adjustments for Nasus

Champion Changes and Buffs

Alongside general bot lane adjustments, several champions are receiving direct balance updates on PC:

  • Kennen: Ultimate ability armor and magic resistance increased to 25–75 (up from 20–60), and damage increased to 40–120 with a 25% AP ratio.
  • Gwen: Healing against champions on her passive increased from 50% to 66% of post-mitigation damage.
  • Azir: Q damage increased to 70–150 with a 35–55% AP scaling ratio, supporting shifts toward the Press the Attack rune.
  • Poppy: Base AD reduced from 60 to 56, base mana adjusted, and Q damage and slow scaling lowered.
  • Camille: Base mana increased to 375, passive shield scaling adjusted, and W outer damage bonus lowered alongside a reduced cooldown.
  • Bel'Veth: HP growth reduced from 110 to 105, and ultimate bonus attack speed decreased.
  • Nasus: Jungle stacking mechanics adjusted to 4 base stacks, scaling up to 10 on champions, large minions, and monsters.

System and Item Adjustments

Patch 26.16 also brings sweeping changes to items, runes, and boots:

  • ADC Base MR: All marksman champions receive +3 base magic resistance and -0.2 per level scaling, affecting champions like Ashe, Caitlyn, Jinx, Kai'Sa, and Vayne.
  • Boots: T3 Sorcerer's Shoes magic penetration increased to 20, T3 Berserker's Greaves attack speed increased to 45%, and base Berserker's Greaves attack speed increased to 30%. T3 Mercury's Treads magic resistance decreased to 25.
  • Items: Sunfire, Eclipse, Tiamat, Runaan's Hurricane, Sterak's Gage, and Black Cleaver receive various stat adjustments, while Sundered Sky sees reduced healing and increased health.
  • Runes: Fleet Footwork healing is increased, Hail of Blades attack speed and true damage are adjusted, and several support quest rewards are rebalanced.

Players do not need to take any manual action beyond downloading the update through the Riot client when it goes live on August 12, 2026.