League of Legends Patch 26.17 Preview: Vayne Top Nerf, LeBlanc Buff, and More

Patch 26.17 is coming to League of Legends on Wednesday, August 26, bringing another wave of changes that will give players more to adapt to as the meta continues to evolve. Let's take a closer look at what Riot Games has in store for the upcoming patch.

Vayne's Top Lane Dominance Under the Microscope

Vayne is the star of this patch, although not for the best reasons if you're playing her in the top lane.

According to Riot, she has been performing particularly well at high levels of play, where her combination of a strong laning phase, a tanky build, and her scaling leaves opponents with limited options to counter her.

The goal is to weaken her laning phase while giving her opponents slightly more health to work with during trades and gank attempts.

Vayne changes:

• Base HP increased 550 >>> 580

• HP per level reduced 103 >>> 98

• Base HP Regeneration increased 3.5 >>> 4

• HP Regeneration per level reduced 0.55 >>> 0.5

• Base Attack Speed increased 0.658 >>> 0.67

• Attack Speed per level reduced 3.3% >>> 2.8%

• [Q] Tumble mana cost increased 30 >>> 46/42/38/34/30

• [W] Silver Bolts damage reduced 6/7/8/9/10% target's max HP (50/65/80/95/110 minimum) >>> 4/5.5/7/8.5/10% target's max HP (40/55/70/85/100 minimum)

Nasus Adjustments 

After the last patch's adjustments to Nasus, the League of Legends team has been closely monitoring his performance as they work to address the disparity between his roles and restore his stacking power in the top lane.

However, the changes pushed Nasus too far in the opposite direction. In this patch, Nasus will have some of his overall sustain reduced, making it more challenging for him to reach his desired stack counts by lowering his passive [Soul Eater] lifesteal.

Nasus nerfs:

• [P] Soul Eater Life Steal reduced 12/18/24% >>> 10/15/20%

LeBlanc, Yasuo, and Yone Buffs on the Way

In Patch 16.17, Yasuo and Yone will be getting more incentives to build more Crit items, especially on the first item. The goal is to help both champions scale more effectively while addressing their itemization gap in the long term.

As for LeBlanc, she has been significantly affected by the changes to Statikk Shiv, making it more difficult for her to clear waves. Now, Riot is giving her a small buff to level the playing field, while trying not to make her overpowered in any particular skill bracket.

Yasuo & Yone buffs:

• Critical Strike Damage ratio increased 90% (180% AD (+27% with Infinity Edge)) >>> 95% (190% AD (+28.5% with Infinity Edge))

LeBlanc buffs:

• Attack Speed ratio increased 0.4 >>> 0.625

• Attack Speed per level reduced 2.35% >>> 1.5%

• [W] Distortion and [W-R] Mimic: Distortion AP ratio increased 80% >>> 90%

Patch for Small Revisions

Patch 26.17 comes to adjust small things in certain champions' kits rather than changing the current meta. The AP bot meta will still be a reality as Riot Games believes it adds long-term variety to the role.

All other champions changes in LoL Patch 26.17 include:

Aurelion Sol:

• [Q] Breath of Light mana cost reduced 35/40/45/50/55 >>> 25/30/35/40/45

• [W] Astral Flight cooldown reduced 22/20.5/19/17.5/16 >>> 22/20/18/16/14 seconds

Cho'Gath:

• [E] Vorpal Spikes base damage increased 20/40/60/80/100 >>> 30/50/70/90/110

Irelia:

• [Q] Bladesurge total AD ratio increased 70% >>> 80%

Qiyana:

• [Q] Edge of Ixtal/Elemental Wrath damage increased 70/100/130/160/190 (+85% bonus AD) >>> 80/110/140/170/200 (+90% bonus AD)

Trundle:

• [W] Frozen Domain bonus Attack Speed increased 30/45/60/75/90% >>> 30/55/80/105/120%

Graves:

• [Q] End of the Line initial damage bonus AD ratio reduced 65% >>> 55%

• [Q] End of the Line detonation damage bonus AD ratio reduced 55/70/85/100/115% >>> 45/60/75/90/105%

Nocturne:

• Base HP reduced 655 >>> 640

• Base Armor reduced 38 >>> 36

Thresh:

• [E] Flay damage reduced 75/120/165/210/255 (+70% AP) >>> 65/110/155/200/245 (+60% AP)

Xerath:

• Base Armor reduced 22 >>> 20

• [Q] Arcanopulse base damage reduced 75/115/155/195/235 >>> 70/110/150/190/230

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Featured Image Credits: Riot Games // League of Legends

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