LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch landed on January 9, 2026, as a quick follow‑up to the big Season 2026 update. Riot Games tucked the changes into the official 26.1 notes under a dated Mid‑Patch Updates section so players can see exactly what shifted before the first weekend rush. The update targets a tight list of champions—Aphelios, Nilah, Graves, Kayle, Quinn, Tryndamere, and Rammus—plus the Essence Reaver crit item and several ARAM augments. League of Legends players on PC will feel these tweaks in standard ranked games on Summoner’s Rift and in the ARAM Mayhem mode that launched with the Demacia‑themed season.
| Subject | Status | Key Change |
|---|---|---|
| Aphelios | Nerf | Less lethality on passive |
| Graves | Buff | Crit damage scaling increased to 50% |
| Kayle | Nerf | Passive AP ratio removed, Q mana up |
| Nilah | Nerf | Lower AS growth & Q crit scaling |
| Quinn | Buff | Faster passive CD, more base AD |
| Rammus | Nerf | Less health & W magic resist |
| Tryndamere | Buff | Stronger W slow & E damage |
| Essence Reaver | Nerf | Cost up to 3050g, AD down to 50 |
LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch intent and timing
LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch exists to smooth out early Season 2026 balance without waiting for 26.2. Riot’s notes call out “early balance changes” and “quick fixes to ARAM Mayhem,” which fits how the first days of the patch played out in solo queue and one‑off Mayhem sessions. Crit damage returned to 200 percent baseline, several items changed, and a few champions instantly rose or fell in win‑rate charts on sites that track live data.
The developers shipped this as a micropatch, not a full client update, so players only had to log in after the server change. In the 26.1 notes, it sits under a clear “1/9/2026 Mid‑Patch Updates” header, which makes it easy to link back when discussing these tweaks in guides or tier lists. A tier‑list creator on YouTube even split their 26.1 video into pre‑ and post‑mid‑patch sections because of how much these specific champs show up in ranked.
Q: Is LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch separate from patch 26.1?
A: No. It is part of the 26.1 patch notes and is labeled as a dated Mid‑Patch Updates section.
Q: Which platforms get LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch?
A: The changes apply to League of Legends on PC, covering ranked and ARAM Mayhem queues.
Champion buffs and nerfs in LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch
On the nerf side, Aphelios loses lethality per rank on his passive, The Hitman and the Seer. Riot explains that many of his abilities can now crit and that he became “one of the strongest champions in the game,” so this change cuts his burst while leaving his weaker AD‑AS lines intact. Nilah drops from 2 percent to 1.25 percent attack speed growth and her Q crit scaling moves from 80 percent to 70 percent bonus crit damage, which tones down her late‑game all‑ins after she emerged as the “biggest winner” of bot‑lane systemic changes.
Kayle loses the AP‑scaling attack speed from her passive and her Q picks up a slightly higher mana cost and weaker slow at several ranks. This hits the Q‑max builds that used lane XP buffs and new AP items to bully melee tops in early levels. Rammus loses 30 base health and a chunk of magic resist on W, which makes him easier to kill for AP picks that leaned on the new vision and map tools to control jungles.
For buffs, Graves gets his crit scaling on New Destiny raised from 35 to 50 percent bonus crit damage and the maximum crit damage relative to non‑crit increased from 1.8x to 2x. That means a full‑pellet crit now truly doubles his non‑crit damage when everything connects. Quinn gains more attack damage per level and a shorter cooldown on Harrier, helping her win short trades and roam, while Tryndamere receives a longer W slow and higher E base damage so he can pressure lanes without relying only on crit luck.
Patch 26.1 Notes – ARAM Mayhem Changes (nothing for normal ARAM)
byu/eleana_be_happy inARAM
LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch changes for ranked PC and ARAM Mayhem
LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch hits both ranked and ARAM Mayhem, but in different ways. Ranked players care most about how crit users and scaling picks feel in Season 2026 on Summoner’s Rift, while Mayhem players deal with augments and item interactions that can break one‑lane chaos. A high‑upvoted post on r/ARAM highlighted augments like Flashy and items like Bastionbreaker as problems, especially when stacked with already strong kits.
Riot responded by disabling Bastionbreaker in ARAM and ARAM Mayhem, turning off the Executioner augment for Gangplank, and disabling the Flashy augment entirely while bugs are addressed. The mid‑patch also fixes a bug that allowed players to roll the same augment multiple times and stack it, which could decide games before they started. A developer post on X mentions these disables as part of a live micropatch focused specifically on Mayhem.
Q: Can Bastionbreaker still be built in ranked Summoner’s Rift?
A: Yes. Bastionbreaker is only disabled in ARAM and ARAM Mayhem according to Riot’s micropatch notes.
Q: Why is Executioner disabled for Gangplank?
A: Riot disabled the augment for Gangplank due to an unhealthy interaction in Mayhem and ARAM, which they flagged in the live update posts.
Items, crit system, and known issues in LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch
Essence Reaver is the only item with direct changes in LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch. Its total cost goes from 2900 to 3050 gold, its attack damage drops from 55 to 50, and the combine cost increases as well. These tweaks sit on top of the Season 2026 crit overhaul, where base crit damage returned to 200 percent and several legendary items shifted stats to keep builds in check. EGamersWorld and other patch breakdowns point out that this package makes crit itemization more about specific synergies instead of generic power spikes.
The mid‑patch notes also call out a Zeri bug fix that shipped with 26.1 but was missing from the first publication: she could exceed the attack speed cap before this fix, which has now been corrected. Riot lists known issues as well, including missing settings in ranked games, towers that appear alive for spectators after time skips, and the Winter Rift Baron model remaining even though the event has ended. These notes help players understand which problems are on Riot’s radar while they queue.
Q: What item did LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch change?
A: Essence Reaver received a higher cost and lower AD to reduce its efficiency with the new crit system.
Q: Does LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch change the global crit damage again?
A: No. Base crit damage stays at 200 percent; the patch only adjusts specific champions and crit items.
LoL Patch 26.1 mid‑patch works as a small but important balance pass that steadies ranked and ARAM Mayhem for the rest of Season 2026’s opening stretch.
