League of Legends Patch 26.15: Locke nerf, Alistar buff

Riot Games released a preview of Patch 26.15 for League of Legends. The update, which arrives July 29 alongside the launch of League Classic, includes ten champion adjustments and several changes to items and gameplay systems. Full numerical values will be published in the complete patch notes before the update goes live.

The developer listed five champions receiving buffs-Alistar, Kai’Sa, Maokai, Volibear and Zac-and five champions getting nerfs-Locke, Mordekaiser, Naafiri, Riven and Sylas. Riot explained Alistar is being buffed after melee supports received recent boosts and the champion now lags behind others in the role. Locke is receiving nerfs because he continues to perform strongly in mid-to-high ELO where players can capitalize on his strengths; Riot noted he scales with player skill but requires tuning. Riot did not provide detailed reasons for every individual champion change in the preview.

Item and system changes accompany the champion tweaks. Bastionbreaker will be buffed in response to low pick rates. Jack of All Trades will be nerfed after appearing in too many builds. Riot described adjustments to Sundered Sky as an experiment to increase fighter itemization choices while keeping the role’s overall power level stable.

Riot urged players to consider the combined effect of champion adjustments and the item and system changes when assessing the patch. The developer said full patch notes with exact stat changes and numbers will be available before Patch 26.15 and the League Classic rollout on July 29.