Riot Game’s popular MOBA, League of Legends, has its first season of 2026 rapidly approaching. As a live service game, the teams at Riot Games are often hard at work coming up with new changes to make in the game in order to keep players interested and incentivized to stick with it. Since its initial release in 2009, League of Legends has continued to evolve. The new year will be full of more changes from the teams at Riot Games.
WARNING: This article contains information that is subject to change, and players will need to wait until season one of 2026 begins in order to see what changes have been finalized and added to the game. More details regarding the changes will also be available in the January patch notes.
Season One’s Theme is: Damacia
The theme of season one will be Demacia in its prime, with the changes being reflected in Summoner’s Rift where players will be greeted with petricite, Damacia’s magic-dampening stone that Galio’s body is composed of, and gold and blue accents. Other aspects of Demacia will be visible in Summoner’s Rift. With the themes of unity, hope, and justice, players can expect the appearance of Demacian champions in the annual cinematic releasing in January. The Battle Pass will also fit the theme, awarding players with Demacia-themed skins for non-Demacian champions — and a Prestige skin for Morgana.
For those unfamiliar with Demacia, home of champions like Galio, Jarvan IV, Lux, Morgana, and Sylas, the nation was founded on the principles of justice, honor, and duty, and, in its prime, protected those within its lands and those considered allies. Due to the magic-dampening properties of petricite, the stone which its capital, the Great City of Demacia, was built upon, the nation became a refuge after the Rune Wars. Over time, the nation became more insular and isolationist, following the rise of Jarvan IV to power after his father, Jarvan III’s, death. Season one’s theme will be based upon Demacia in its golden age, before its slow descent from glory.
Fight, Split, or Siege?
Recently, the main focus of League of Legends has been teamfighting for objectives like Void Grubs or Baron Nashor. And there’s no doubt that these teamfights make for exciting games and undoubtedly allow players to show off stellar performances and flip the script, but the developers seek to make strategies like splitting and sieging alternatives that can compete with the impact of teamfights over objectives.
Other changes will reflect the developers’ aim to balance role agency and even the playing field so all roles can have significant impact in the game and hopefully bring top, mid, and bot’s impact even to that of jungle and support. One of the ways is through the introduction of role quests.
Summoner’s Rift is Changing
Objectives
There are a slew of changes coming to the gameplay in Summoner’s Rift. To begin, the most straightforward of changes: Say goodbye to Atakhan, Bloody Roses, and Feats of Strength. Player feedback pointed to Atakhan’s existence as contributing to the objective overload that teams felt. The League of Legends gameplay team tried to alleviate this by removing Atakhan’s second form and the second get of Void Grubs, but it wasn’t enough, and therefore Atakhan got the axe. However, with his departure, Baron Nashor will be spawning at 20 minutes again! The removal of Feats of Strength will also result in some changes: Specifically, first blood and first turret will again be awarded gold.
Objectives in season one of 2026 are also receiving general changes in order to incentivize players to take the risk and commit to a fight while still offering opportunities for opponents to sneak in and steal an objective. The first step to initiating this is increasing the durability of all epic monsters (Baron Nashor, Dragons, etc.) by 15% and increasing the durability that teams gain from Dragon Vengeance and its subsequent stacks as teams accumulate dragon buffs. Notably, almost all durability increases have also been paired with damage reductions with the intention of making it easier for teams that are behind to contest epic monsters or make a trade as the enemy team claims an objective.
Minion Spawns
The time it takes for a game to get rolling will also be changing: Minions will start spawning at 30 seconds instead of 65 seconds. First monster spawns will also be 35 seconds earlier. These changes don’t make it impossible for teams to invade, it simply means that if you and your team are going to invade, you need to decide quickly and commit to it. Also pertaining to minion spawns are changes in mid and late game. Starting mid game, minions will spawn every 25 seconds, with one less melee minion. Late game will see minions spawning every 20 seconds with one less caster minion. With superminions spawning every wave after destruction of an Inhibitor, teams will hopefully find the push into the enemy base more rewarding.
Homebase
Rolling into discussions surrounding homebase, a few changes will be coming. First, Nexus towers will be respawning with 40% health now instead of 100%. Additionally, the movement speed from Homeguards will persist until the outer turrets until the end of laning phase where it will extend to the farthest pushed minion. However, this movement speed will be lost should you stray from your lane into the jungle or river or encounter an enemy champion.
Turrets
Players should also be ready to engage with the turret changes coming in 2026. First, turret plating won’t be dropping. It will be sticking around for the whole game and they’ll be added to inner and inhibitor turrets. In order to maintain balance, the current gold available through taking plates will be spread out among all the plates. This will, hopefully, incentivize players to make more aggressive plays to get that gold.
The next change comes in the form of Crystalline Overgrowth. This feature will build up on towers over time and deal extra damage when hit, allowing any champion to make significant progress on a turret, regardless of role. Players may be familiar with the rune Demolish, which accumulates stacks and deals bonus physical damage to turrets scaling off maximum health and wonder what will happen to it. Put simply, Demolish will be simplified, bonus damage to towers coming after three consecutive hits.
Those familiar with League will know that minions and ranged champions deal 17% less damage to turret plates. However, as plates are now sticking around through the entire game, the team at Riot Games has changed the way that damage to turrets by different champions is calculated and will now apply to all turrets, not just the outer ones: Melee champions will deal 20% more damage to turrets. In practice, this change is fundamentally the same as the 17% less damage by minions and ranged champions. Additionally, inner turrets will not gain resists after 15 minutes while outer turrets will gain less AD in mid- and late-game if they are still up at that point in the game.
Vision
Players love their wards and are set to be rewarded for that in 2026, though it will come with some relearning of the way vision works in a game. The most notable change to vision will be through the addition of Faelights. These locations on the map will grant vision past a ward’s typical range. The Faelight locations will be predetermined with additional locations added after the Elemental Rift transformations. However, to combat how useful Faelights will be, the duration is limited. And, fear not junglers and roamers, you will be able to skirt around the extra vision. Also tied to changes in vision will be a decreased recharge time for yellow trinkets for increased accessibility and more Scryer’s Blooms.
Role Quests for Everyone
As previously mentioned, one of the goals of season one in 2026 will be to balance the impact of the different roles that each champion plays. One of the ways that the team has decided to attack this is through the addition of role quests. Players will complete quests by killing minions and champions, destroying plates and towers, or objectives; completion will also be faster in your assigned lane. The role quests you receive will be determined by your assignment in the lobby, so make sure to do an official role swap if necessary! Not all roles are created equal, so while everyone will hopefully complete them by the time support items upgrade, don’t be surprised if another role finishes theirs before you.
Also, a nice surprise: everyone’s base crit damage will be back at a cool 200%!
Each role will receive different rewards for completing their role quests. You can find information for each individual role below:
Top
There’s a marked need for role agency for Top laners in games, and the developers hope that by implementing these role quests that they will be able to increase their impact in the game. Top laners who complete their role quest will receive a version Summoner Teleport with a longer cooldown for no cost. And, not to worry, this will be in addition to whatever summoners you’ve already chosen. For those who already took Teleport, it will be buffed and provide your champion with a max-health shield when Teleport is used. Top laners will also have an up-front bonus experience, additional experience from other sources, and an increased level cap!
Mid
The variety of champions that can be played in mid lane creates a need for rewards that can be applicable to all of them. Champions will receive a free tier 3 boot upgrade (think Feats) and a 4-second recall with a cooldown. The boots should be familiar for players, and those with knowledge of what’s available to them already should be equipped with the knowledge to choose the correct pair.
Bot
Bot is the last role that will be receiving new role quests, and they should rejoice! Players will receive a lump sum along with increased gold from kills (minions, champs, assists), perfect to spend on a new item that will slide neatly into an item slot that is now opened up due to the seventh item slot that will hold onto your boots. Be ready to push your late scaling even further — even if you aren’t able to complete a seven-item build, you’ll have the ability to at least have a work in progress among your items to give you some amount of a leg up.
Jungle
While one of two roles that already have role quests, junglers do not have to lament as they will also have updates to their rewards. You’ll still have your pet upgrade and PVP Smite, but it’ll also come with increased gold and experience from large monsters and increased movement speed in the jungle. Junglers can also rejoice: Smite will be dealing more damage in 2026, making it easier to secure that objective before it can be stolen. (You should still keep an eye out for those True Damage ults, though! And an enemy jungler sneaking into the pit.)
Support
Support is the second role that already has role quests, but they are not forgotten amongst the upgrades to rewards, either, as developers sought ways to improve quality of life for supports. Players can look forward to a dedicated control ward item slot that they can fill with their now-discounted control wards that they can buy with their increased passive gold generation.
Developers will be keeping an ear out and an eye on how the role quests affect gameplay, scaling, and tempo, so players should be willing to share feedback about how these changes affect the game. Their purpose of including these role quests was to increase the agency of roles deemed less impactful and, as it requires champions to be in their assigned lane, remove the Lane Swap Detection mechanic.
New Items Inbound
Items, new and old, will be coming to League in 2026. First, will be an overview of the new items coming, and finally, the two returning items will be listed. For new items, the names are temporary placeholders, and players should be on the lookout for their final, official names when the patch notes are released in January!
New Items
- Scepter of Bonking: An AP Fighter Sheen item that doubles on-hits. Diana, Gwen, and Nunu players rejoice.
- Emblem of All-Inning: A Zeal item for ADCs. Ultimate ability haste along with attack speed and guaranteed critical strikes for three strikes post-ultimate. If your champion would’ve already crit, you’ll still receive a bonus in the form of true damage.
- Blood Sphere: Welcome back AD omnivamp! Blood Sphere will also give Tenacity and Haste, scaled with your bonus AD, alongside omnivamp. Additional omnivamp is granted after a takedown, as well, to help sustain you in teamfights.
- Assassin Item: AD assassins, this one’s for you. A takedown will grant you a buff that makes your next attack deal a large amount of damage over time to epic monsters or towers that is scaled with your lethality. This item also awards occasional true damage to your spell, also scaling off lethality.
- Mananomicon: This new AP item will be available with a new active. Champions will consume significantly more mana in exchange for empowering their spells and lowering their cooldowns. The degree to which your spells are empowered — whether that’s damage, healing, or shielding — will be scaled off your mana, so those wanting to use this item will be looking to invest in their mana, as well.
- Snowbow: ADCs, this one’s for you. Attack damage will be increased the farther away you are from your target. Additionally, you’ll be able to attack from even farther away after a takedown. This bonus range won’t last forever, but it should help you in chasing someone down and bringing the fight to an end.
- Buff Engine: This item is for the tanky melee supports like Alistar, Poppy, Blitzkrank, and Leona, just to name a few, will want to look forward to this aura item. After slowing or immobilizing an enemy, you’ll give off an aura that provides attack speed. Additionally, this aura will last longer for melee champions, so ranged might want to pass on this one.
- Mantle of the Twelfth Hour: Tanks will likely want to consider this lifeline item. You’ll receive a large heal-over-time effect that scales off your bonus armor and magic resistance when your health is low. You’ll also get movement speed and tenacity while this healing is in effect, giving you the option to continue to engage or make a run for it.
- Savior’s Manabell and Superbell: Enchanters have a new Tear item set. Savior’s Manabell gives heal and shield power based on your mana. The upgraded max-stack Superbell will additionally heal your lowest nearby ally while you’re in combat, the amount of healing scaling off your mana.
Returning Items
- Hextech Gunblade: Players rejoice, Hextech Gunblade is coming back with its AP and AD, omnivamp, slowing, and targeted active dealing damage.
- Stormrazor: Stormrazor is back, providing Attack Damage, Critical Strike Chance, and Attack speed with an Energized effect (damage, movement speed).
Changes in Ranked
Ranked has some changes coming in 2026, as well. This includes changes to Autofill, including incentivizing you to stick it out, and taking away the ability to ban an ally’s champion while they’re hovering over it.
Autofill and Aegis of Valor
Most if not all players have a favorite role in League and among those roles, some are more popular than others. As a result, Ranked has the Autofill system to keep games rolling and queues shorter than they would without. This system, while created for a specific function, is frustrating for players who end up on a role that they otherwise wouldn’t choose. In order to circumvent the frustration that can come with being put on a role and then pitted against someone who mains it, the system will do its best to pit two autofilled players against one another (i.e. autofilled jungler vs. autofilled junger). If this turns out to be impossible, then an attempt will be made to have each team contain the same number of autofilled roles.
An incentive to stay in autofilled games will also be introduced in the form of Aegis of Valor. This effect will award double LP or negate LP loss if you achieve a mastery score of at least C in an autofilled game. Players will be informed of the Aegis of Valor when entering the lobby. This benefit will also be awarded to individuals who fill priority roles like support and jungle. The rate at which those playing priority roles will receive the Aegis of Valor should be at the same rate as those who are autofilling for roles, but they will not receive the notification about it when entering the lobby like those autofilling.
Dodging
Dodging is something that plagues any game with ranked PVP, and League of Legends is no exception. Dodging lengthens the time it can take for someone to find a lobby and can serve as an inconvenience should you find yourself or your teammates becoming tilted from repeated dodging. In an attempt to address these frustrations, dodging will not reset your autofill status and instead carry over to the next game. And, at Master and higher, a dodge will also count as a full loss: so autofill status carries over and you’ve earned yourself a loss, all on top of earning yourself a dodge cooldown timer. The developers hope that these changes on top of Aegis of Valor will encourage individuals to stay in a lobby.
Skill Distribution
Those familiar with League know that it’s not only LP that determines your rank. Your MMR (Match Making Rank) is just as large of a factor. The hidden rank is what places you in games that are appropriate given your performance in the game, but due to it being hidden, how do you determine whether that Silver player actually belongs in your Plat lobby? In some cases, that player may have the appropriate MMR to be in the lobby, they just began their climb through the ranks later than you. In order to help communicate this information, a Climb Indicator will be implemented in 2026 which indicates that someone’s rank isn’t caught up to their MMR. Some lower tiers of Ranked will also be re-calibrated in the coming year in order to have them accurately reflect the skills of the players, as the baseline skill level of players has increased since Ranked was first introduced.
(Those unfamiliar with how LP, MMR, and Rank work in League can check out this article from Riot Games, though if you’re here reading about the upcoming changes to Ranked, perhaps you don’t need it!)
And Other Ranked Changes
Rejoice, everyone, as in 2026, you will no longer be able to ban an ally’s hovered champion. Hopefully gone will be the days of tilting when you hover to pick your favorite champion, only to have your teammate ban it. Players will also be in the games faster, as animations and timers in Champion Select will be shorter by ~30 seconds. This decrease in timing has been tested for the past few patches in NA and OCE, and will officially be implemented world wide in 16.1.
Those who like climbing Ranked with a friend will be happy to know that duoing will be re-enabled at all ranks — including Challenger! — in 2026 for most regions. The developers hope that the recent efforts they’ve put into detecting boosting and the changes made in matchmaking will help mitigate any possible rank manipulation.
And, the final change to Ranked will be changes in how Flex and Solo MMR will be determined. As in, they will be more in-line with one another. Your Flex rank will not pull your Solo/Duo rank up, but this should make games feel more fair in the future. Of course, all changes to Ranked are subject to change, so those who seek to climb the ranks should feel out these changes as they are released in their final form come January and be ready to give feedback should they feel that anything skews the Ranked experience.
Swiftplay Adjustments
The final set of changes that will be mentioned are those related to the Swiftplay gamemode. Part of Swiftplay’s intended role in the League ecosystem is to give players a chance to try new champions or, for those new to the game, to get a footing in Summoner’s Rift. In order to keep the games swift but still provide a learning opportunity, there will be a change to the objectives present in a Swiftplay game. Atakhan and Feats of Strength have been permanently removed from the Rift, but Swiftplay also lacks Void Grubs and the Rift Herald. In 2026, dragons will spawn no more than twice and both will be necessary for the team to claim Dragon Soul. Additionally, Baron Nashor will be spawning at 12:00 and the Elder Dragon will spawn at 15:00, and then every subsequent six minutes, even if there is already a dragon in the pit.
These changes to the objectives should help keep the games shorter and will still provide players the opportunity to engage with objectives and initiate teamfights. Less objectives will also lessen the burden on the team’s jungler, who will be happy to know that everyone will be beginning the game at level three with 1400 gold, like in ARAM. Additionally, Doran’s Blade, Shield, and Ring will be replaced with Guardian’s Horn, Orb, Blade, and Hammer. Another update for junglers will be in the form of camps respawning 15 seconds faster. The treats necessary to upgrade your pet will drop to 15 for the first and 25 for the second.
Minions will begin spawning 30 seconds into the game as they will be in Normals and Ranked, but they will also have a cannon minion starting the fourth wave. A new Swiftplay-only mechanic will also accompany this change. Minion Frenzy, which will trigger when you kill an enemy champion nearby, will increase their movement and attack speeds, bump up their damage to enemy minions and turrets, and share their minion kill gold with nearby champions! Swiftplay will also receive the Crystalline Overgrowth mechanic. All of this along with a reduced Death Timer and the Homeguard increase being furthered in Swiftplay will hopefully increase the likelihood of teams choosing to siege or split and bring the duration of the games down.
Also, while not particularly fitting in anywhere in this post but still big news, WASD should be coming to live servers in a few days, so keep a look out!
These are the main changes coming in January for League of Legends. As noted at the beginning, all changes are subject to change as they finalize their decisions before releasing the full patch notes in January 2026. Until then, everything is subject to change. The developers will also be keeping their eyes out for any changes necessary for balancing in the future.