Patch 26.20 Locked In as the Worlds Version: Ashe and K'Sante Nerfed, Kindred Buffed

Riot Games has released the Patch 26.20 notes and specified this patch as the version that will be used at Worlds. Ashe, Cassiopeia and K'Sante are nerfed, while Kindred, Lillia, Diana and Kennen are buffed.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

The patch notes were posted at 3 a.m. Korean time. Ashe's attack damage growth per level is reduced from 3.5 to 3. 0.5 looks like a small number. Still, because Riot specified 26.20 as the Worlds patch, this patch carries more weight than a usual regular patch.

Worlds Patch 26.20 Goes Live, 9 Days Until the Opening

Riot Games' official patch notes were released at 18:00 UTC on October 6, which was 03:00 Korean time on October 7. In the notes, Riot specified 26.20 as the patch for World Championship matches, and Mobalytics reported the same. According to the LoL Esports guide, Worlds opens at 03:00 Korean time on October 16. From the release of the notes to the opening, 9 days remain.

Server deployment is separate from the release of the notes. Riot Games Support's patch schedule sets the scheduled deployment date as October 7 Pacific time. However, this schedule is based on Pacific time and is subject to change. The date alone is not enough to calculate the exact deployment time on the Korean server. A separate announcement of the end of Korean server maintenance has not yet been confirmed.

26.20 Champion Buffs and Nerfs: Ashe Attack Damage 3.5→3

Values before and after the changes to key champions, and the size of each change

Champion	Attribute	Before	After	Change (relative to before)
Ashe	Attack damage per level	3.5	3	14% decrease
Cassiopeia	Base health / base mana	630 / 480	610 / 450	3% / 6% decrease
K'Sante	W damage reduction (base / All Out)	30% / 75%	25% / 70%	5 percentage points decrease each
Diana	W shield bonus health ratio	11%	14%	3 percentage points increase
Kennen	E bonus attack speed	40~80%	50~90%	10 percentage points increase across all ranks
Kindred	W monster damage / E slow	150% / 1 second	165% / 1.5 seconds	15 percentage points / 50% increase
Lillia	R sleep duration	Fixed at 2.5 seconds	2.5/2.75/3 seconds	20% increase at rank 3

The nerf targets in this table are Ashe, Cassiopeia and K'Sante. Ashe's attack damage per level is cut from 3.5 to 3, which reduces her growth by 14% (0.5÷3.5). Cassiopeia loses 20 base health and 30 base mana. The official notes say K'Sante's W damage reduction is lowered from 30/75% to 25/70%, but this has not yet been cross-checked with other outlets.

Kindred gets buffs to two attributes at once. W's damage coefficient against monsters rises to 165%, and E's slow grows by half, from 1 second to 1.5 seconds. Lillia's R puts targets to sleep for up to 3 seconds at rank 3, which is 20% longer than the previous 2.5 seconds. Dot Esports previewed the changes to Diana, Kennen, Kindred and Lillia in its September 30 preview. The final values are based on the official notes.

26.20 Item Changes: Rocketbelt Damage Raised to 135

Changes to 3 items

Item	Attribute	Before	After
Hextech Rocketbelt	Ability haste	20	10
Hextech Rocketbelt	Active effect damage	100 (+10% ability power)	135 (+15% ability power)
Experimental Hexplate	Efficiency on ranged champions	70%	50%
Runaan's Hurricane	Attack damage ratio per bolt	65%	60%

With the Rocketbelt, haste and damage move in opposite directions. Ability haste is cut in half from 20 to 10, but the active effect damage rose to 135 (+15% ability power). Assuming 300 ability power, the damage goes from the current 130 to 180, an increase of 50, or about 38%. Whether to keep the same build will need to be reconsidered.

Two items used by ranged champions were also nerfed. Experimental Hexplate's efficiency drops from 70% to 50% when used by ranged champions. Runaan's Hurricane's attack damage ratio per bolt is reduced from 65% to 60%. In this article, the values for the three items are organized based on the official notes. The possibility of last-minute adjustments just before the tournament should also be kept in mind.

26.20 New Skins, Additional Content and Remaining Variables

New skins and changes to separate game modes were also included in the official patch notes. However, this article focuses on Summoner's Rift balance changes, and the detailed list can be found in the official notes. Some details are also labeled differently from outlet to outlet. Hotspawn described the Kennen E change as 'bonus AD', but the official notes specify it as bonus attack speed. We followed the official wording.

The cross-check labels should also be read with their meaning in mind. Mobalytics and Dot Esports also wrote their reports based on Riot's materials. The fact that the figures from the two outlets match does not mean they were verified through direct testing.

Related Official Sites

League of Legends Korea official website — Original 26.20 patch notes and additional correction notices
LoL Esports official schedule website — 2026 World Championship match schedule and results
Riot Games official patch schedule — Scheduled date of the next patch deployment (Pacific time)

Representative image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of the current match in the article · Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Bruce Liu), CC BY-SA 3.0