Riot Games released League of Legends patch 26.20 notes on October 6, setting the tone for Worlds with a long list of champion changes, item adjustments and mode updates. The patch hits several picks seen as competitive staples, weakens Hextech Rocketbelt’s generic utility and introduces replay access restrictions that start with games played on this patch.
The update also brings new cosmetics for October 7, changes how scoreboard counters appear for a long list of items, and adds Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma and Quinn to Classic. Riot says the patch is being used as the stage for year-defining competitive play on Summoner’s Rift, with both pro-focused nerfs and targeted buffs for champions on the edge of viability.
Replay access is now limited to your own matches
The sharpest system change in patch 26.20 is the new replay policy. Starting with this patch, players will only be able to access replays from matches they personally played in. Other players can no longer download those replays, and third-party apps and sites will lose access to replay downloads entirely.
Riot says the change is tied to security concerns. The company says it is making the change, along with restrictions on third-party access to game memory, to close vulnerabilities that have recently been exploited by cheat developers and other bad actors to build unauthorized tools around League game data. Riot also says the change will not stop players from reviewing their own matches through the League client.
That system update follows a previous round of Worlds preparation covered in patch 26.19’s Worlds prep changes, and 26.20 continues the same push toward a tighter competitive environment.
Pro staples get trimmed, while weaker picks get help
Several of the patch’s largest balance changes are aimed at champions with clear pro play or high-rank profiles. Ambessa’s late-game damage has been reduced, with Drakehound’s Step going from 5 – 30 (+25% bonus AD) to 5 – 25 (+20% bonus AD). Riot said she had become too reliable in late-game output, especially for highly skilled players in pro play.
Ashe also takes a hit, with attack damage per level reduced from 3.5 to 3. Riot described her as one of the premier marksmen in pro play and said she was dealing too much raw damage for her role as the highest-utility marksman in the game. Cassiopeia loses base health and mana, while K’Sante’s Path Maker becomes more expensive and less forgiving, moving from 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 mana to 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 and cutting its base/all-out damage reduction.
Riot also touched multiple picks that were lagging behind. Kennen gets more attack speed on Lightning Rush, helping him in Riftbound and offsetting Rocketbelt changes. Kindred gains more power against monsters on Wolf’s Frenzy and a longer slow on Mounting Dread, while the spell no longer targets small monsters. Lillia’s Lilting Lullaby gets longer duration at higher ranks. Lucian gets more attack damage per level after last patch’s changes landed as a bot-lane nerf. Vayne receives more health growth and a much cheaper Tumble at a flat 30 mana.
Other buffs target specific build paths. Diana’s bruiser setup gets a stronger shield scaling on Pale Cascade, Mordekaiser’s later-game Obliterate scales harder and Realm of Death comes back sooner, and Swain gains base magic resistance, more damage and lower cooldown on Vision of Empire. Tahm Kench also gets stronger healing on Tongue Lash after Riot said he lost value from recent support item changes.
Yunara is one of the clearer nerf targets in the patch. Riot called her the leading candidate for a passive playstyle that could settle into the meta, especially heading into Worlds, and reduced the on-hit damage from Cultivation of Spirit while also removing the stacking interaction from Arc of Judgement with other slows.
Rocketbelt, Hexplate and other item changes
Items receive a focused round of tuning, led by Hextech Rocketbelt. Riot says the item has been used too much as an escape tool rather than a risky engage option, so it is cutting Ability Haste from 20 to 10 while increasing active damage from 100 (+10% AP) to 135 (+15% AP). Neeko gets compensation on Tangle-Barbs, since Riot expects the Rocketbelt change to be a small nerf for her. The item also gets follow-up tuning in Riot’s own framing for AP bruisers who rely on it for all-ins.
Experimental Hexplate is also reduced for ranged users, falling from 70% of value to 50% of value in its ranged modifier. Riot said it was unhappy with how the item played out as an early rush for ranged champions in top lane, where it had made them too hard to burst and too dangerous in all-ins. Runaan’s Hurricane also gets a small rollback after a previous overbuff, with attack damage per bolt moving from 65% to 60%.
Riot also cleaned up scoreboard clutter. The company says a recent round of clarity work moved many numbers from buffs onto items, and those numbers were making scoreboards noisy. From 26.20 onward, icon counters for the following items will be hidden on the scoreboard:
- Death’s Dance
- Haunting Guise
- Liandry’s Torment
- Riftmaker
- Kraken Slayer
- Terminus
- Guinsoo’s Rageblade
- Fiendhunter Bolts
- Echoes of Helia
- Dead Man’s Plate
- Spear of Shojin
- Overlord’s Bloodmail
- Hullbreaker
- Jak’sho the Protean
- Force of Nature
Riot says strategically relevant item numbers such as Tear of the Goddess items and Mejai’s Soulstealer will remain visible on the scoreboard icons.
Classic adds Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma and Quinn
Patch 26.20 expands Classic with five more old versions of champions. Riot describes the additions as Aatrox, Caitlyn, Irelia, Karma and Quinn, and says they are joining the Fields of Justice as part of a new batch of returning kits.
Aatrox arrives as an early version of the champion before his later reworks, with Blood Well, Dark Flight, Blood Thirst / Blood Price, Blades of Torment and Massacre all listed in the Classic kit. Caitlyn returns with her 2011-2015 version, including Headshot, Piltover Peacemaker, Yordle Snap Trap, 90 Caliber Net and Ace in the Hole. Irelia brings back the 2010-2018 version of the champion, and Riot says she was a Trinity Force poster child who has been Q-max, W-max and E-max at different points in time.
Karma and Quinn are also part of the update, and Riot notes that the Act II Battle Pass will arrive with patch 26.21. Separately, Prestige Classic Baron Kog’Maw, Prestige HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Sett, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Ezreal, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Kayn, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Aphelios, HEARTSTEEL Live My Life Yone and HEARTSTEEL Live My Life K’Sante are scheduled to be available on October 7, 2026.
League’s Worlds patch is doing a lot at once: tightening access to replays, trimming runaway pro staples and giving weaker picks a better chance to show up on stage. In the same patch, Riot is also using Classic to keep expanding the roster of older champion versions available for players who want a different take on the game.
The replay change is the one that stings most for me. Not being able to download other players’ games or use third-party replay tools feels like a big quality-of-life hit, even if the security reason makes sense.
yeah i get that. last week i wanted to review a jungle path from a high elo game and now that whole workflow is just gone if i did not play it myself. the client replay is fine for my own mistakes, but scouting and learning from other players was half the fun.
security stuff aside, this is gonna hit content creators and analysts harder than normal players. if they wanted to close one hole, they basically put a wall around everyone else’s replay habits too.
bit rough
Classic is the real patch
Rocketbelt changes are a buff for damage dealers, not a nerf
nice cope bro
I do not think it is cope. The extra active damage can matter for burst setups, and Riot clearly wants the item back as an engage tool instead of a free escape button.
Ashe got tagged again lol