Patch 26.8 — The Final Patch of Season 1

Patch 26.8 is deliberately a lighter patch. Riot confirmed in advance that major systemic changes were being held for Season 2, making 26.8 a stabilization patch focused on targeted tuning and bugfixes rather than sweeping meta shifts. That said, there are still meaningful changes worth knowing.

Shyvana received adjustments as part of her ongoing rework followup — her Dragon Form heal was reworked to scale based on missing health rather than flat values, and her E damage now has a higher AP ratio with reduced base damage, pushing her further toward AP builds in dragon form. Her E cooldown was also improved at later ranks.

Yuumi gets a quality-of-life pass: her base healing and best friend healing are both increased, and two significant bugfixes land — Final Chapter will no longer double-heal attached allies, and overhealing shields now correctly account for Heal/Shield power and Grievous Wounds. The net effect is a Yuumi that heals more reliably but more fairly.

Tahm Kench sees minor damage scaling adjustments, and Caitlyn has her Firecracker damage and movement speed nerfed in Mayhem game modes. Several other champions received small number tweaks.

On the quality of life side, Champion Specific Keybinds launch this patch — a long-requested feature that lets you configure entirely different keybind layouts for each champion. No more compromising your Zed muscle memory when you pick Lux.

New skins dropping in Patch 26.8: PsyOps Vladimir, PROJECT: Sivir, Space Groove Zac, and PROJECT: Command Line Master Yi — all available from April 15.

Season 1 Ends April 28 — Final Push Time

If you have ranked goals, the clock is ticking. Season 1 ends at midnight local server time on April 28, 2026. Ranked missions, LP thresholds, and end-of-season rewards all lock at that point. Season 1 end-of-season reward skins will be distributed when Season 2 begins. Ranked Shard transfer services will be temporarily disabled during the transition window.

Patch 26.9 — Season 2: Pandemonium Arrives April 29

The big one. Patch 26.9 drops on April 29 and kicks off Season 2: Pandemonium — the second ranked season of 2026, also referred to internally as Season 16. This is where things get genuinely exciting.

New Starting Items are the headline gameplay addition: Doran's Helm targets bruisers and tanks with a new early-game option, while Doran's Bow gives marksmen a dedicated starting alternative. These additions could meaningfully reshape laning phase dynamics in both top lane and bot lane, especially in pro play where starting item choices ripple through the entire draft philosophy.

Gluttonous Greaves — new Omnivamp boots — add a movement speed option that comes with sustain built in, opening up itemization paths for champions that want both mobility and healing without dedicating multiple item slots.

Statikk Shiv is being reworked to apply full on-hit effects through its lightning — a significant power shift that could make on-hit Marksman builds considerably more viable. Voltaic Cyclosword is also receiving changes. And in a moment that will make a certain subset of players very happy, Hextech Gunblade returns.

WASD controls go live in Ranked — after extensive testing showing that WASD has reached comparable performance to point-and-click, Riot is finally unleashing the mouse-free movement option for competitive play.

Arena returns with major changes: over 30 new Augments, some ported from ARAM Mayhem and some brand new, alongside general balance work on the mode's systems.

Season 2 Theme: Vayne Hunts Demons in Demacia

The Season 2 narrative takes players to the outskirts of Demacia, following Vayne as she hunts demons and uncovers pieces of her past. Motion comics for Vayne will release throughout the season. Season 2 will run for 6 patches — shorter than Season 1's 8 — to make room for a longer season later in the year.

The next Prestige skins will be Shaco and LeBlanc, followed by Veigar in Season 3. New skins coming in Season 2 include Rain Shepherd Ivern, PROJECT: Quinn, Breadsticks Irelia, and Spaghetti alla Vel'Koz. Non-Prestige seasonal pass skins will now be available for direct purchase — a community-requested quality of life change that replaces the old pass slot system.

What to Watch

The most important thing heading into Patch 26.9 is how the new starting items and Statikk Shiv rework affect the meta. Doran's Bow in particular could shift bot lane back toward aggressive early trading rather than scaling, while Doran's Helm gives tanks a stronger early presence that bruiser-heavy top laners will immediately try to exploit.

WASD in Ranked is a wildcard — the first few patches will reveal whether the skill ceiling difference creates meaningful advantages in Diamond+ lobbies, or whether the feature remains a niche preference.

One feature confirmed for later this season: a vote-to-end mechanic when game-ruining behavior is detected — allied team goes LP neutral, enemy team earns full LP, and the offending player's premade loses LP. It is a direct response to one of the community's longest-running frustrations with the ranked experience.

Season 2 starts April 29. Pandemonium incoming.