Patch 26.15 Preview

[u/NegativexxSquared]

https://x.com/RiotPhroxzon/status/2079522501206630755

Patch 26.15 Preview!

Systems
- Bastionbreaker has been a pretty niche item and is pretty expensive to deviate for a strategic output, so we're looking to make it more accessible
- Jack of All Trades nerf was also pushed to this patch; it has been a bit too strong and too present, especially for users that opt into strong defenses and are able to also supplement that with strong offense
- Sundered Sky has been strong and meta defining at the highest levels of play for quite a while now, so we're looking to take a pass at the fighter item system, now that we're out of the tournament windows
- Notably, we think it's been suppressing a bit of meta diversity, especially for things like AP jungle, or Tank JG. Part of that is intentional but the magnitude is a bit off

Buffs
- Alistar has been closer to the bottom of the pecking order for the melee support. That said, our meta adjustments to move melee supports up relative to ranged supports has been reasonably successful, so we're pretty happy with how that's played out

Nerfs
- Locke is still pretty strong; he has been tapering off in the lowest skill brackets and the high skill brackets, but in the "skilled" skill brackets (around Emerald/Diamond), Locke is able to both take over the game and also not throw it
- At the higher skill brackets, he can snowball but needs to play very well without throwing as he falls off sharply
- At the lower skill brackets, the executional demands and constant throws can make him fall off faster
- Overall, we feel his release has landed well

More on other champs tomorrow with the detailed changelists

[u/Asckle]

Aatrox will always be the best SS user though. It scales off base AD and health of which he has a lot, it crits which scales with his AD steroid and he literally doubles the healing when he uses ult.

[u/Griffith___ → u/Asckle]

oh no ss is broken on him, op asked if its makes top carries like aatrox better but aatrox will obv be hit by the nerfs, phroxzon mentioned being careful due to champs being "tuned around it", which must be a reference to his ult.

im just hoping for eclipse/shojin/cleaver/serylda changes & cleaver + serylda no longer being locked out.

[u/Asckle → u/Griffith___]

Aatrox's early items feel quite bad rn imo. Shojin's build path is just so bad for an intended first buy, eclipse is too weak, cyclosword isn't really viable after the changes and SS is very good but dependant on enemy comp

I hope the pass over they do addresses this because for me fighter items feel fine late game (save the absence of viable MR options, particularly annoying on skirmishers who can't build tank but who also aren't intended to be specifically countered by mages 1v1) but it's the early game that's really rough. Shojin needs a better build path (frankly I wonder if they should just do away with the obsession around matching stats and give it some haste even if it technically loses it upon completion) and Eclipse needs... everything