LoL Patch 26.01: Rundown of the Biggest Changes in Season 16

New year, new season of League of Legends. And as always, the new season arrives with a myriad of changes. From the addition of role quests and new rewards, to changes to neutral objectives and several champions, LoL Patch 26.01 will kick off the new season with a bang.

Let's go over all of the biggest changes coming to LoL with Patch 26.01, set to go live on Thursday, January 8.

New Role Quests and Rewards for Every Position

The long-awaited role quests will finally be arriving to League of Legends with Patch 26.01. Now, players will have specific quests depending on their role/position, and completing your role quest will grant you a set of rewards meant to make your character considerably stronger in the mid-to-late game.

To complete your role quest, you must farm minions, secure takedowns, destroy enemy turrets, and deal damage to enemy champions, all depending on your role. As for the rewards, here's a closer look:

Top Lane Rewards:

• Level cap increased to 20
• +600 experience
• All future experience gains increased by 12.5%
• If the top laner did not select Teleport as a Summoner Spell, gain Unleashed Teleport on a 7 minute cooldown
• If the top laner did select Teleport as a Summoner Spell, they are also shielded for 30% of their maximum health on arrival, lasting for 30 seconds

Jungle Rewards:

• Gain 4% movement speed in the jungle or river, increased to 8% while out of combat
• Gain +10g and +10 XP per large monster killed

Mid Lane Rewards:

• Tier 2 boots upgrade to their corresponding Tier 3 boots. If you do not have Tier 2 boots in your inventory upon quest completion they will be upgraded on purchase
• Every 5 minutes, gain an empowered Recall, reducing the channel time from 8 to 4 seconds
• Champion takedowns reduce the cooldown on empowered Recall by 1 minute

Bot Lane Rewards:

• +300g
• +2g per minion kill for the rest of the game
• +50g per champion takedown for the rest of the game
• Boots move to the Role Quest slot, effectively opening up a 7th item slot

Support Rewards:

• Control Ward gold cost reduced to 40g
• Store up to 2 Control Wards on your Role Quest slot instead of your item inventory

For a full look at what quest progression looks like, and what Tier 3 boots you stand to gain from your Mid Lane role quest, make sure to check out the full LoL Patch 26.01 notes.

Neutral Objectives and Minions Changes

The new League of Legends season is setting out to make neutral objectives harder and riskier to take. This means that, starting with LoL Patch 26.01, Elemental Drakes, Elder Dragon, Rift Herald, Baron Nashor, and Void Grubs will all be tankier moving forward. As for Atakhan, it has been removed from the game altogether. 

While neutral objectives will be tankier overall, Junglers will deal considerably more damage to them and receive less damage from these, making the role even more important when it comes to securing leads through these objectives.

And then we have minions. The bread and butter of League of Legends, Patch 26.01 will make minions spawn earlier (30 seconds into the game), move faster, and spawn more often. If effective CS'ing was already a big part of the game, now it's all the more important. 

New Additions

That's not all, though. LoL Patch 26.01 will also introduce lots of new features into the game. Some of these new additions include:

• Crystalline Overgrowth: Enemy turrets grow crystals over time. Hitting a tower with crystals will deal additional damage to the turret.
• Faelights: Rings of glowing mushrooms spawn in strategic locations across the map. Placing a ward inside the ring will reveal a nearby area of the map, granting your team additional vision.
• Aegis of Valor: Earning a mastery C or above rating when autofilled will cause you to lose no LP from a loss, or earn double LP from a win.
• A total of 9 new items are being added to League of Legends. Another 2 past items are returning to the game as well. 
• Critical strike damage is being increased from 175% to 200%.
• New skins: Prestige Veiled Lady Morgana, Petricite Cho'Gath, Petricite Nautilus, and Durand's Legacy Taliyah skins will release during LoL Patch 26.01.

Remember to check out the full patch notes for a complete look at every change coming to League of Legends in Patch 26.01!

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Featured image credit: Riot Games

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