League of Legends Patch Notes Quick Breakdown 26.1: Start of Season!

League of Legends Patch Notes Quick Breakdown 26.1: Start of Season!

Overview

The 2026 League of Legends season is finally upon us, and with it comes a host of new changes to the game. The most major of these this year are Role Quests, Faelights, and the removal of Atakhan (rip). You can check out Riot's full notes here, or take a look at our TLDR and full breakdown below:

  • New Role Quests

    • Top: Gains TP, can level to 20

    • Mid: Boots upgrade (like Feats) and Empowered Recalls

    • Bot: Extra item slot (6 items + boots)

    • JG and Supp: largely unchanged

  • Aram Mayhem extended

  • Atakhan, Rose Petals, and Feats of Strength removed

  • Lots of nerfs to ADCs, but crit being improved overall so they should feel the same if not stronger

  • Lots of new and returning items

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Role Quests

  • Like how junglers and supports have had item quests, every role will now have their own quests.

  • It's tied to whatever role you enter queue as

Top

  • Universal access to TP

    • This means you can now take a combat summoner spell into lane

  • 1200 points to complete quest

    • +1 per minion kill (+2 in Top Lane)

    • +30 per epic monster takedown

    • +25 per turret takedown (+50 in Top Lane)

    • +20 per turret plate (+40 in Top Lane)

    • +15 per champion takedown

    • Starting at 1:05, +1 per 3 seconds passively, increased to +8 per 5 seconds in and around top lane (Note: roughly, past your outermost living turret in your assigned lane.)

  • Quest Rewards

    • Level cap increased to 20

    • +600 experience

    • All future experience gains increased by 12.5%.

    • If the top laner did not select Teleport as a Summoner Spell, gain Unleashed Teleport on a 7 minute cooldown.

    • If the top laner did select Teleport as a Summoner Spell, they are also shielded for 30% of their maximum health on arrival, lasting for 30 seconds.

Jungle

  • Unchanged from what it already is outside of tuning on some numbers

Mid

  • Free Upgrade to Boots and Empowered Recalls

  • 1350 points to complete quest

    • Ranged Champions gain 1.5% of damage dealt to Champions as quest progress

    • Melee Champions gain 3% of damage dealt to Champions as quest progress

    • +1 per minion kill (+2 in mid lane)

    • +30 per epic monster takedown

    • +25 per turret takedown (+50 in mid lane)

    • +20 per turret plate (+40 in mid lane)

    • +25 per champion takedown

    • Starting at 1:05, +1 per 3 seconds passively, increased to +8 per 5 seconds in and around the mid lane

  • Quest Rewards

    • Tier 2 boots upgrade to their corresponding Tier 3 boots. If you do not have Tier 2 boots in your inventory upon quest completion they will be upgraded on purchase.

    • Every 5 minutes, gain an empowered Recall, reducing the channel time from 8 to 4 seconds

    • Champion takedowns reduce the cooldown on empowered Recall by 1 minute

Bot

  • Gold and free inventory slot for 7th item

  • 1350 points to complete quest

    • +1.5 per minion kill (+3 in Bot Lane)

    • +30 per epic monster takedown

    • +25 per turret takedown (+50 in Bot Lane)

    • +20 per turret plate (+40 in Bot Lane)

    • +15 per champion takedown

    • Starting at 1:05, +1 per 3 seconds passively, increased to +8 per 5 seconds in the Bot Lane

  • Quest Rewards

    • +300g

    • +2g per minion kill for the rest of the game

    • +50g per champion takedown for the rest of the game

    • Boots move to the Role Quest slot, effectively opening up a 7th item slot

Support

  • Remains unchanged outside of some tuning on numbers


System Changes

  • Atakhan removed

  • Blood Roses removed

  • Feats of Strength removed

  • First Blood once again grants +100g to killer

  • First Turret once again grants +300g

  • Drakes have 35% more effective HP

  • Elder Dragon has 20% more effective HP

  • Void Grubs are weaker

  • Baron Spawns at 20m again; more durable and threatening

  • Global Red and Blue buffs after 25m removed

  • Minions spawn at 30 seconds now instead of 1:05

  • Jungle camps spawn at 55 seconds

  • Minions spawn faster at 14 minutes and even faster at 30 minutes

Faelights

  • New map feature that appears as rings of glowing mushrooms on the ground. Placing a ward inside of the ring will reveal a nearby area of the map, which enemies will not be alert to.

    • One near each base gate (4 total), providing vision into the nearby jungle

    • One in each island brush near top and bot (2 total), providing vision into river

    • One in each river wall brush near mid AKA banana brush (2 total), providing vision of nearby river (hugging the mid lane brush but not overlapping it)

    • [After Elemental Rift Transformation] One near side lanes in each quadrant (4 total), providing vision in the jungle path along the lane

Champions

  • Many of these changes are tentative buffs or nerfs depending on how items and builds actually pan out on champions as opposed to what is below being projections of what Riot expects to happen. For example, many ADCs have been nerfed but will feel stronger with the new season because of crit being stronger.

Buffs

  • Cassiopeia

  • Elise

  • Jax

  • Xayah

Nerfs

  • Aphelios

  • Ashe

  • Caitlin

  • Corki

  • Draven

  • Gangplank

  • Garen

  • Graves

  • Jhin

  • Jinx

  • Miss Fortune

  • Nilah

  • Quinn

  • Samira

  • Senna

  • Shaco

  • Sivir

  • Smolder

  • Tristana

  • Twitch

  • Viego

  • Yasuo

  • Yone

  • Yunara

  • Zeri

Changed

  • Akshan

  • Kindred

  • Lucian

  • Rengar

  • Tryndamere

Items

New Items

  • Dusk and Dawn

    • Sheen-like item for AP fighters

  • Fiendhunter Bolts

    • Creates moment of burst after casting ultimate. Good for ADs like Twitch

  • Endless Hunger

    • Reset-esque item for AD champions

  • Bastionbreaker

    • AD assassin item that lets them deal a lot of damage to objectives after securing a kill

  • Actualizer

    • Active that grants you immense burst at the cost of more mana

  • Hexoptics C44

    • Gain extra range after participating in a kill. For ADCs.

  • Bandlepipes

    • For tank supports -- grants movement speed after slowing or immobilizing.

  • Protoplasm Harness

    • Tank item that restores your HP but also grants movement speed and tenacity if you want to keep fighting

  • Whispering Circlet and Diadem of Songs

    • Enchanter item that improves mana regen, and once upgraded it heals nearby allies based on your bonus mana

Returning Items

  • Hextech Gunblade

  • Stormrazer

Updated Items

  • Unending Despair

  • Aegis of the Legion

  • Horizon Focus

  • Sundered Sky

  • Luden's Companion

  • Essence Reaver

  • Umbral Glaive

  • Redemption

  • Zeke's Convergence

  • Tear Items (Muramana and Fimbulwinter)

  • Mortal Reminder

  • Lord Dominik's Regard

  • Yun Tal Wildarrows

  • Infinity Edge