# Patch 26.21 League of Legends Patch 26.21 is a direct hit to early snowball junglers and early assassin kills. Lee Sin , Nidalee , and Qiyana all lose early... Canonical HTML: https://baronbuff.com/blog/patch-notes/26.21/ Markdown URL: https://baronbuff.com/blog/patch-notes/26.21.md Language: en ## Breadcrumbs - [Baron Buff](https://baronbuff.com/) - [Blog](https://baronbuff.com/blog/) - Patch 26.21 ## Page Content You are viewing an archived patch. [View latest patch notes](https://baronbuff.com/patch-notes/) Patch Notes • October 20, 2026 • Luke Pace [Official Riot Patch Notes](https://www.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/news/game-updates/league-of-legends-patch-26-21-notes/) **League of Legends Patch 26.21** is a direct hit to early snowball junglers and early assassin kills. [Lee Sin](https://baronbuff.com/champions/leesin/), [Nidalee](https://baronbuff.com/champions/nidalee/), and [Qiyana](https://baronbuff.com/champions/qiyana/) all lose early reliability, so more games reach mid game without a lane being decided at minute five. [Jinx](https://baronbuff.com/champions/jinx/) also takes a clear hit to early safety and scaling damage, so greedy late-game drafts are easier to punish. On the other side, this patch gives you stronger, clearer win conditions in teamfights. [Taliyah](https://baronbuff.com/champions/taliyah/) clears the jungle faster and hits harder when enemies dash through her E, [Miss Fortune](https://baronbuff.com/champions/missfortune/) has much stronger lane poke and crit ultimate damage, and [Nunu & Willump](https://baronbuff.com/champions/nunu/) gets a large R damage bump. [Orianna](https://baronbuff.com/champions/orianna/) also gains late-game damage, making grouped fights end faster when her combo lands. ## Biggest Buffs Taliyah BUFF Miss Fortune BUFF Nunu & Willump BUFF Orianna BUFF ## Biggest Nerfs Lee Sin NERF Jinx NERF Nidalee NERF Qiyana NERF ## What This Means for Ranked **If you want the simplest climb plan:** pick [Taliyah](https://baronbuff.com/champions/taliyah/) jungle more often. Her E now deals 225% damage to monsters, so your clears are faster, and her E base damage is higher, so ganks punish enemies who use dashes to escape. If you prefer teamfight ultimates, [Nunu & Willump](https://baronbuff.com/champions/nunu/) R now has higher maximum damage (750/1100/1450), which means a full channel is more likely to decide a fight. **If you are still first-picking early playmakers:** think twice before locking [Lee Sin](https://baronbuff.com/champions/leesin/) or [Nidalee](https://baronbuff.com/champions/nidalee/). Lee Sin’s W cooldown is longer, so he has fewer safe exits after he goes in, and his R deals less damage, so early skirmish kills are less reliable. Nidalee’s cougar W deals less damage and her E gives less attack speed, so clears and early duels are weaker. **In bot lane, adjust your expectations:** [Miss Fortune](https://baronbuff.com/champions/missfortune/) is a stronger lane bully now because her E deals more damage, and crit builds make her R hit harder. Meanwhile [Jinx](https://baronbuff.com/champions/jinx/) has less health and lower attack damage growth, so she is easier to punish in lane and her late-game damage ramps up slower. If you play mid, [Orianna](https://baronbuff.com/champions/orianna/) is a safer “scale and teamfight” pick, while [Qiyana](https://baronbuff.com/champions/qiyana/) has lower Q damage, so early all-ins fail more often. For the full context, read the patch notes [at Riot's official website](https://www.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/news/game-updates/league-of-legends-patch-26-21-notes/), and browse the per-champion breakdowns on [baronbuff.com/champions](https://baronbuff.com/champions/). _See you in the Rift — LP_ ## Affected Champions Caitlyn ADJUST Weaker crit headshots, stronger early Q Lee Sin NERF Longer W cooldown, lower R damage, E reveal removed Locke ADJUST Lower mana sustain, higher scaling damage Taliyah BUFF Higher E damage, added monster damage modifier Varus ADJUST Q charge damage increased, W on-hit and execute reduced Jinx NERF Lower base health, lower AD growth Miss Fortune BUFF Higher E damage, stronger crit ultimate Nidalee NERF Lower W damage, lower E attack speed Nunu & Willump BUFF Higher ultimate maximum damage Orianna BUFF Higher AP scaling on Q and W Qiyana NERF Lower Q base damage Rammus NERF Lower W resist bonuses Ryze BUFF Higher late scaling on Q bonus and move speed, W damage up Sion BUFF Higher health growth, higher charged ultimate damage Tristana NERF Lower early Q attack speed Vel'Koz BUFF Higher passive true damage Viktor NERF Lower move speed, weaker Q shield Wukong ADJUST Higher health regen, lower early passive armor per stack Xin Zhao BUFF Higher Q bonus AD scaling, better E attack speed scaling Azir BUFF Higher mana growth for lane spells Darius BUFF Lower late cooldown on Q Taric ADJUST Spells now cast on untargetable allies Twisted Fate ADJUST Ultimate now reveals untargetable units Yone NERF Lower Q AD scaling Zyra BUFF Lower W seed ammo cooldown ## See how these changes affect your draft Open Baron Buff for pick, ban, and matchup guidance based on the current patch. [← Home](https://baronbuff.com/) ## Machine-Readable References - [LLM index](https://baronbuff.com/llms.txt) - [Full LLM reference](https://baronbuff.com/llms-full.txt) - [Sitemap](https://baronbuff.com/sitemap.xml)