The League of Legends Patch 26.15 patch notes kick off Ranked Season 3 and the nostalgia-style League Classic mode, deliver a near-total rework to Bel'Veth's early-to-late power curve, and land another round of nerfs to Locke. Track the League of Legends season countdown to Pandemonium - Act III.
TL;DR — 12 changes: 6 buffs, 5 nerfs, plus a full Bel'Veth rework. Biggest buff: Bastionbreaker (item cost cut + passive damage up). Biggest nerf: Locke (further mid-lane tuning). Meta impact: Bel'Veth shifts from an early-game skirmisher toward a true late-game scaler, while Locke, Riven, Mordekaiser and Naafiri all get pulled back from recent overperformance.
Champions
- Bel'Veth — near-total kit rework: weaker base stats and dash cadence early, permanent True Form at level 16, stronger full attacks, ability scaling and jungle damage late active
- Alistar — buff package buff
- Kai'Sa — buff package buff
- Maokai — buff package buff
- Volibear — buff package buff
- Zac — buff package buff
- Locke, the Ashen Exorcist — further mid-lane nerf, still overperforming since his June 24 release nerf
- Mordekaiser — nerf nerf
- Riven — nerf nerf
- Naafiri — nerf nerf
- Sylas — nerf nerf
Items
- Bastionbreaker — passive damage increased and total gold cost reduced buff
Mechanics
- League Classic — new permanent mode launches alongside the patch: a Season 3-inspired Summoner's Rift with 60 champions, old runes and masteries, and pre-rework kits active
- Ranked Season 3 — 2026's third ranked season begins at 12:00 local time on July 29 active
- Aegis of Valor — can now only be cashed in on games you win, removing the mixed incentive to intentionally lose active
- Duo queue — restored at Master tier active