The 2026 season of League of Legends is finally here, and just like every year, there are a bunch of sweeping changes looking to spice up the game in new and interesting ways. Atakhan is gone, role quests are here for all, and as always, players have access to a few new items that are looking to fill in some class gaps and bolster some fringe playstyles.
League of Legends: Biggest Changes in 2026
Players can look forward to the following changes and updates for League of Legends in 2026.
For the most part, the 11 new/returning items are all pretty solid, with most of them serving a specific use case or champion rather than being generally powerful. With that said, there are still some that are better than others, providing a bunch of stat boosts and some very strong effects that will almost certainly turn some characters into absolute monsters.
Fiendhunter Bolts
Mildly Useful At Best
Stats:
- Attack Speed: 40%
- Critical Strike Chance: 25%
- Movement Speed: 4%
- Night Vigil: Gain 30 Ultimate Haste.
- Opening Barrage (45s cooldown): After casting your Ultimate, your next 3 basic attacks within 8s gain 50% attack speed and critically strike for 75% of your normal critical strike damage. If an attack would already critically strike, it deals normal critical strike damage and also deals 10% bonus true damage.
Crit ADCs have always had a fairly short list of choices in terms of items, forced into building Infinity Edge and Armor Pen to stand a chance on the Rift. This means that fringe items like Fiendhunter Bolts often feel hard to buy, as their stats aren't strong enough to warrant the purchase, and the effect isn't exactly stellar either.
Ultimate Haste is a stat that very few champions can actually make use of, virtually none of which are crit ADCs. Some champions, like Yunara, might like the bonus, and other examples like Tryndamere seem pretty interesting, but the ability is fairly lackluster, so it is probably best saved for filling out that 6th botlane item slot if players are going to build it at all.
Actualizer
A Short-Term Powerhouse
Stats:
- Ability Power: 90
- Mana: 300
- Ability Haste: 10
- [ACTIVE] Mana Made Real (60s cooldown): For 8 seconds, your mana is Empowered. While Empowered, your spells cost 100% more mana, you gain (15 +.005% bonus mana)% increased ability damage, healing, and shielding, and your basic ability cooldowns progress 30% faster.
Actualizer is an item that feels familiar yet different at the same time. Older players may remember Spellbinder, an item that gave players a nice stat steroid that they could use for a quick assassination, but in this case, the mana focus feels a bit too far out of the realm of reason.
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The problem is that the champions that build and benefit from mana, like Ryze and Anivia, already have some reliably strong items that are hard to switch out. Seraphs provide survivability, and Rod of Ages adds on every other stat a mage could need. While there may be chances for this item to shine, it is hard to see a world where it actually takes over the meta.
Whispering Circlet/Diadem Of Songs
Sona's Best Friend
Stats:
- Health: 200
- Mana: 300-1000
- Base Mana Regeneration: 75-100%
- Heal and Shield Power: 8%
- Harmony: Gain (.005% bonus mana)% Heal and Shield Power.
- Consonance: While you or any ally you've healed or shielded in the last 3 seconds is in combat with champions, each second, heal the lowest health nearby ally champion for (.008% bonus mana).
Enchanter supports have been asking for a tear item for years, and it seems like their cries have finally been answered. Circlet/Diadem functions as a kind of aura heal, providing constant sustain to the lowest ally nearby.
Sona is obviously the best user, as she is both mana-hungry and already plays the role of aura support, providing constant buffs to everyone in the area. There may be other use cases in the enchanter department, but at the end of the day, it is more of a nice addition to a specific class than a major game-changer for the role.
Hextech Gundblade
The Fan Favorite Returns
Stats:
- Ability Power: 80
- Attack Damage: 40
- Omnivamp: 10%
- [ACTIVE] Lightning Bolt (60s cooldown): Shock the target enemy champion, dealing (175-253 [level scaling] + 30% Ability Power) magic damage and slowing them by 25% for 1.5 seconds.
As if it were never gone, Gunblade is back, and while it might look a bit different, it is still the same item at its core. Back in the day, its main users were Akali, Katarina, and Kayle, all AP-centric characters with AD scaling that could benefit from the additional sustain.
Now, though, rather than being an instant rush for those characters once again, it feels more like a second or even third item choice, specifically for Akali, as without any HP, it is pretty easy to cut her down before she gets going. The build-path is pretty great, which could make it a nice choice for more champions, so time will tell whether it slots in as an extra or if it creates some terrifying fighters.
Endless Hunger
Healing Through The Pain
Stats:
- Attack Damage: 60
- Tenacity: 20%
- Omnivamp: 5%
- Famine: Gain (5 + 10% bonus AD) Ability Haste
- Feast: When a champion that you damaged within 3 seconds dies, gain 15% Omnivamp for 8 seconds.
Endless Hunger is an incredibly cool and unique item that is about as simple as it gets. It's an AD item that gives Omnivamp, Tenacity, and scaling ability haste. That all sounds great, and the extra effect is a nice bonus to let certain raid bosses pull off some even more insane plays.
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Aatraox is the clear first choice, alongside Zaahen, but most of the bruiser lineup could probably make use of the item somewhere in their build. There may be a world where players can rush it and get by just fine, but if not, it will likely end up in the third or fourth item slots to give them a huge survivability boost towards the end of the game.
Protoplasm Harness
Health, Health, And More Health
Stats:
- Health: 600
- Ability Haste: 15
- Lifeline: Taking damage that would reduce your health below 30% causes you to gain 200 maximum health for 5 seconds, then heal (200-400 [level scaling] + 250% armor + 250% magic resistance) health over the duration. While regenerating health, you gain 15% increased size, 10% Movement Speed, and 25% tenacity.
Protoplasm Harness is either a decent item or a completely broken one, with basically nothing in between. Upon completion, players can expect the item to effectively give them around 1000 HP total, alongside the haste and additional stats that come from the Lifeline effect.
There are two different ways of looking at the item. One is for health-stackers like Mundo, who could make use of the low-HP boost, and the second is for supports like Leona, who can cheat a lot of extra stats, boosting a 300 HP regen all the way up to 1000 without any additional items. In either case, it seems like a nice addition to the tank lineup that can be used both by supports, thanks to the low cost, and tanks across the other roles.
Bastionbreaker
Towers Are No More
Stats:
- Attack Damage: 55
- Lethality: 22
- Ability Haste: 15
- Shaped Charge: Dealing Ability damage to a champion or epic monster deals an additional (30 + 150% lethality) true damage.
- Sabotage: Taking down a champion within 3 seconds of damaging them grants Sabotage for 90 seconds. While you have Sabotage, your next attack against an epic monster or turret deals an additional (300 + 2500% lethality) true damage over 3 seconds.
Bastionbreaker, on paper, sounds absolutely ridiculous, with all the focus going to the secondary Sabotage effect. From the item alone, players can gain access to a nearly 1000 damage hit on a turret or objective just by getting a kill, which will let them easily shred through towers and drakes at any point in the game.
Even without the abilities in mind, the actual stats of the item are pretty great, granting the most lethality of any item in the game and giving assassins every other stat they need to fight. Zed players are going to adore it, but it is easy to see how a jungler like Kha'Zix can also leverage the power, getting a quick pick and then taking out an objective the second it spawns in.
Bandlepipes
Rallying The Troops
Stats:
- Health: 200
- Armor: 20
- Magic Resistance: 20
- Ability Haste: 15
- Fanfare: Slowing or Immobilizing an enemy champion grants Fanfare for 8 (melee) / 4 (ranged) seconds. Fanfare grants 20 Movement Speed. While you have Fanfare, nearby allies, including yourself, gain 30% (melee) / 20% (ranged) attack speed.
Supports have had a long list of decent items over the years, and Bandlepipes is yet another addition to that list. Rather than coming in with an insane effect or being good at one specific thing, this item is just a generally good stat-stick that happens to bring with it a nice buff that virtually any team can make use of.
In the past, most tank supports would opt for Locket or, more recently, Redemption, but Bandlepipes gives them another option that could potentially be just as good, without sacrificing much survivability or utility in exchange.
Hexoptics C44
Keeping At A Safe Distance
Stats:
- Attack Damage: 50
- Critical Strike Chance: 25%
- Magnification: Deal up to 10% increased damage with attacks, based on how far away the enemy is (max damage at 750 range).
- Arcane Aim: When a champion that you damaged within 3 seconds dies, gain 100 additional attack range for 6 seconds.
Hexoptics C44 is a super unique item that feeds into the hypercarry fantasy in a big way. At first glance, its stats seem pretty abysmal, providing a pretty small amount of AD for the cost, but the Magnification passive manages to make up for it, boosting the power of ranged attacks by a sizable amount.
Because the seventh item slot was added for ADCs, items like this suddenly become a lot more appealing, giving players a great final choice to round out their build that focuses solely on damage. The obvious candidates are Jinx, Caitlyn, and Yunara, all of whom have insane auto-attack ranges, allowing them to make full use of the high potential output that this single item provides.
Stormrazor
Welcome Back, Speedy ADCs
Stats:
- Attack Damage: 50
- Attack Speed: 20%
- Critical Strike Chance: 25%
- Energized: Moving and Attacking generates an Energized Attack.
- Bolt: Your Energized Attack applies 100 bonus magic damage and grants 45% Movement Speed for 1.5s.
No matter how many times it gets removed, it always seems to come back. Stormrazor is showing its face on the Rift once again, and just like before, it looks to be one of the better ADC item choices that the majority of the roster will be happy to build.
There are already a few champs, like Jhin, who play a sort of weaving style, leveraging speed and high initial burst to gain advantages in trades and teamfights. With the item returning in virtually the same state it left, any character that built it before is going to be just as happy to have it back in their arms.