Patch 26.22 preview: Mel loses the reflect for good, Viktor and Smolder among ten buffs, Locke, Thresh and Yasuo nerfed, Doran's Bow trimmed — the patch lands 4 November

What Phroxzon posted

Riot's Matt "Phroxzon" Leung-Harrison, who posts the balance previews for each patch, put the patch 26.22 preview on X at 07:44 UTC on 27 October, one week before the patch is due on 4 November. As usual the first preview is a list — ten champion buffs, three nerfs, three adjustments, one item buff and one item adjustment — with written reasoning only for Mel and the two item changes. The numbers follow in the full preview and then in the patch notes.

The list

• Buffs: Aurelion Sol, Corki, Kayle, Maokai, Naafiri, Rumble, Shen, Smolder, Viktor and Zaahen.
• Nerfs: Locke, Thresh and Yasuo.
• Adjustments: Aurora, Mel and Renekton.
• Systems: Overlord's Bloodmail buffed; Doran's Bow rebalanced against Doran's Blade.

Three names connect back to 26.21. Viktor lost five move speed and part of his Q shield in that patch; in his 24 October rundown Phroxzon said the move-speed cut had landed harder than intended and that Riot would decide on a compensation by 28 October — no mid-patch entry has appeared in the 26.21 notes, and Viktor now sits on the 26.22 buff list. Locke was adjusted in 26.21 (more mana, a weaker early W) and is nerfed this time. Yasuo was explicitly spared when Yone was nerfed in 26.21 and gets his turn now.

Mel: the reflect is gone

Mel's mini-update, announced in Riot's /dev post on 20 October, ships with this patch. Phroxzon's explanation runs longer than usual. Riot deliberately built an ambitious new ability when Mel launched, because new puzzles are part of what a new champion brings — but after a long stretch on live it is clear that many players find being reflected too frustrating to play against. Some frustration is allowed in League, he writes, because overcoming it is part of the triumph and every champion has something opponents dislike; this one crossed the line. Riot tried several versions of the W that kept a reflect and found none that satisfied both Mel players and their opponents, so the new W keeps the feeling of destroying projectiles without hard-countering parts of the roster. Phroxzon apologised to Mel players for not keeping that promise and expects the change to let Mel be balanced at a higher resting power level.

Items: Bloodmail and the Doran's trade-off

Overlord's Bloodmail has been weak overall and, as tuned, is close to a Sett-only item. Riot wants it to work for other champions that convert health into damage, naming Dr. Mundo and Sion, and says parts of the item — the missing-health portion is the example given — currently skew it towards Sett. Doran's Bow has been a bit too strong relative to Doran's Blade, especially at higher levels of play; Riot is happy with how the trade-off between the two starting items plays out and is adjusting only its size.

What it means for your climb

• Nothing moves before 4 November: ranked stays on 26.21, so the Lee Sin, Qiyana and Tristana nerfs hold and bot-lane Varus keeps the 22 October hotfix buff.
• From 26.22, Viktor, Smolder and Aurelion Sol are the names to expect more of in mid and bot; Yasuo and Thresh get weaker, and Locke comes down after one patch of adjustments.
• Marksmen and their boosters should re-check the starting item once the numbers land — the Doran's Bow start is exactly what Riot is trimming relative to Doran's Blade at higher levels of play.
• Mel orders get simpler: without the reflect she no longer hard-counters or gets picked against on the projectile axis, and Riot intends to hold her at a higher power level.

What we are watching

Phroxzon's full preview with numbers (usually within a day or two), the 26.22 notes before 4 November, any late change to the list, and whether the Viktor buff is sized as a compensation for 26.21 or as a plain buff. We also keep checking the 26.21 notes for a mid-patch entry in the meantime.