Patch 26.22 full preview: Viktor gets scaling back instead of a revert, Locke's Q and W trimmed, Thresh and Yasuo lightly nerfed, Doran's Bow down to 7 AD — patch 4 November

What Phroxzon posted

Phroxzon posted the full preview for patch 26.22 at 05:34 UTC on 28 October, a day after the first list: a table with every number and a text explaining seven of the changes. It is the last step before the notes, which Riot usually publishes the day before the patch, so expect them around 3 November; the patch itself lands on Wednesday 4 November. Ranked keeps playing on 26.21 until then, and Worlds stays on 26.20 through the final on 14 November.

Viktor: no revert, scaling back

In 26.21 Riot cut Viktor's base move speed from 335 to 330 and his Q shield from 40–140 (+25 % AP) to 30–130 (+20 % AP). Phroxzon now says the pair overshot a bit, but Riot likes what the move-speed cut does: it leans on Viktor's weakness of walking around the map unassisted and pays for his strong laning and good scaling. So neither change is reverted; instead 26.22 raises the AP ratio on R's conjure damage from 50 to 60 % (base 100/175/250 unchanged) and his health growth from 100 to 105 per level. The compensation Phroxzon had promised to decide on by 28 October therefore arrives as a 26.22 buff, not as a hotfix — the 26.21 notes still carry only the 22 October Varus entry.

The nerfs

• Locke: Q stack bonus damage 18/26/34/42/50 to 15/22/29/36/43. The bonus stacks three times and is increased by 40 % at three stacks, so Phroxzon puts the real loss at about 30 damage at max; the target is how much early damage the Q gives. W duration 6 to 5 s, making the speed more windowed and costlier to spam while running around the map.
• Thresh: base AD 56 to 54; R damage 250–550 (+100 % AP) to 200–500 (+100 % AP).
• Yasuo: Q damage 20–120 (+105 % total AD) to 20–120 (+100 % total AD).

The buffs

• Aurelion Sol: E total magic damage 50–150 (+60 % AP) to 50–170 (+70 % AP) over 5 s. Most players max E second even though W second was stronger; Riot wants both orders to feel powerful.
• Corki: R damage 90–250 (+85 % bonus AD) to 100–280 (+90 % bonus AD); Big One 180–500 (+170 % bonus AD) to 200–560 (+180 % bonus AD).
• Kayle: Q cooldown 12–8 to 10–8 s; R cooldown 160/120/80 to 140/110/80 s.
• Maokai: Q damage 75–255 (+2–4 % target max health)(+50 % AP) to 75–255 (+2.5–4.5 % target max health)(+50 % AP).
• Naafiri: Q heal 45–105 (+40 % bonus AD) to 55–115 (+45 % bonus AD); W bonus AD 20 to 22 %. A mid-lane buff, where the heal matters more than in jungle clears; Riot thinks she is close to right.
• Rumble: R damage-per-second AP ratio 35 to 40 %. One of the strongest champions in pro play, but the pro patches are over and he is not overly strong in high-elo solo queue.
• Shen: Q monster modifier 100/125/150/175/200 to 120/140/160/180/200 %. Top and support are already strong; jungle gets the bone because players find it fun.
• Smolder: W explosion damage 10–110 (+50 % bonus AD)(+80 % AP) to 25–125 with the same ratios. The previous buff landed lighter than intended, and he has been weaker since the Deathfire Touch adjustments.
• Viktor: R conjure damage ratio 50 to 60 % AP; health growth 100 to 105 per level (see above).
• Zaahen: Q cooldown 10–6 to 8–6 s.

Items, Mel, and what dropped out

Overlord's Bloodmail goes from 30 to 40 AD while Retribution's missing-health bonus drops from 0–12 % to 0–10 % total AD — more of the item's power in the flat stat and less in the execute that skewed it towards Sett, as Phroxzon framed it on 27 October. Doran's Bow loses one AD (8 to 7) and Doran's Blade is untouched: the Bow-versus-Blade trade-off the first preview promised to rebalance resolves as a Bow trim. Mel is listed as a midscope update with no numbers in the table; the kit is in Riot's /dev post (our item from 20 October). Two names from the 27 October list are missing: Aurora and Renekton, both filed as adjustments a day earlier, do not appear in the full preview, and Phroxzon had not commented on either as of 10:30 UTC.

What it means for your climb

• Nothing changes before 4 November: ranked is on 26.21, Worlds on 26.20.
• Viktor orders: he stays a slower, more exposed laner but scales harder from 26.22 — a late-game pick again rather than a lane bully; the early game still needs the jungler's attention.
• Locke and Thresh lose a little early pressure; on paper neither nerf is large, so expect both to stay in the pool at high elo until the notes say otherwise.
• Shen jungle and mid Naafiri become real options; Smolder and Corki bot get more late-game damage; marksmen who start Doran's Bow lose one AD, which nudges some back to a Doran's Blade start.
• Mel: from 4 November there is no reflect to play around; our /dev item has the new W.

What we are watching

The 26.22 notes around 3 November and any difference between them and this preview — Riot occasionally adds or pulls a change in between — whether Aurora or Renekton return in the notes, a 26.21 mid-patch entry in the meantime, and Riot's word on the ranked season end, which stays an estimate on our calendar (early January 2027).