Riot Games has presented a preview of the upcoming League of Legends Patch 26.17. This patch will serve as a logical continuation of the changes introduced in version 26.16 and is primarily aimed at stabilizing gameplay.
Lead gameplay designer Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison noted that the previous nerfs to bot lane mages yielded the expected results—their win rate dropped to the level intended by the developers. Additionally, the team is satisfied with the impact of the adjustments to Poppy and Camille, who are now performing better in the top lane while losing ground in the support role.
Riot is also continuing to monitor how the Hail of Blades rune affects certain champions, particularly Master Yi, Tryndamere, and Shaco. Despite detailed reasoning from the developers, a portion of the community has already expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed changes.
Regarding system and item updates, the main focus in Patch 26.17 is on Sundered Sky and Stormrazor. According to Phroxzon, the direction of the changes for Sundered Sky and AP junglers was correct, but insufficient. Therefore, the item will receive another moderate nerf. The developers' goal is to reduce the dominance of Sundered Sky at high levels of play and increase the popularity of AP junglers.
Conversely, Stormrazor will receive a buff. Currently, this item is mostly used only by Jhin, and Riot aims to make it more appealing to a wider pool of champions.
As for the champions themselves, Patch 26.17 offers a standard set of adjustments to stabilize overall balance.
Planned Champion Changes:
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