Tanks step into the support spotlight
Riot is using League of Legends Patch 26.11 to break the year-long grip enchanters and damage-heavy mage supports have held on the bot lane. The update introduces a mix of rune tweaks, item reworks and objective buffs designed to make tank and melee supports a real option again, while top lane and a few Season 2 carries also see adjustments.
Support meta gets a hard reset
The rune triangle takes the biggest hit. Summon Aery's early shielding drops at level 1, softening enchanter trades, while Aftershock gains stronger early armor and magic resist for aggressive engage supports. Guardian's cooldown comes down significantly in the early levels and its shield now scales more off bonus HP, rewarding tankier users who actually want to soak damage in lane.
Items are getting reworked too. Moonstone Renewer no longer double-dips on heal/shield power and grievous wounds, and its bounces now prioritize lower-health allies. Dream Maker's blue and purple bubbles have been redesigned to behave more predictably against DoTs and AoE abilities. Imperial Mandate is being repositioned as a utility-caster item focused on crowd control rather than Nami's E synergy.
To encourage supports to roam, Voidgrubs hit harder this patch and summoned Voidmites now have the HP of a full melee minion.
Top lane, jungle and Season 2 follow-ups
- Heartsteel buffed; Hexplate nerfed specifically for ranged users stacking health.
- Xin Zhao healing reduced.
- Smolder base damage trimmed to discourage bruiser builds.
- Mid Role Quest bonus AD/AP reward raised from 6% to 8%.
New skins and Pride 2026
The Italian-themed skin line lands on May 28, 2026, featuring Pizza Chef Sion, Pasta Maker Illaoi, Breadsticks Irelia and Spaghetti alla Vel'Koz, alongside Eternal Aspect Leona, Eternal Aspect Diana and Eclipse Eternal Aspect Diana. Pride 2026 also goes live with two new emotes and returning icons, each available for 1 Blue Essence, plus a premade-group mission rewarding Battle Pass XP.
Client cleanup
The low-use "My Leagues" panel has been removed from the Ranked tab, though friend comparisons and Master+ ladders remain. Arena, ARAM and ARAM: Mayhem also receive bugfixes and balance tweaks in this cycle.