League of Legends Patch 26.6: Shyvana Rework, Balance Changes, and New Content

A major update has arrived in League of Legends with the release of Patch 26.6 on March 17. The update introduces a complete rework for Shyvana, numerous champion balance adjustments, new skins, and several gameplay updates across modes such as Arena and ARAM: Mayhem.

The patch also arrives just as Riot prepares for the start of First Stand 2026, the first major international tournament of the competitive season.

Shyvana Receives Full Gameplay Rework

The centerpiece of Patch 26.6 is the complete overhaul of Shyvana. Riot has redesigned the champion with a new model, updated visual effects, fresh voiceover, and redesigned abilities, alongside new skins launching with the update.

Passive – Scalemail

Takedowns against champions, large minions, and monsters grant Scalemail stacks, permanently increasing Shyvana’s defenses.

• Each stack provides 0.4 Armor and 0.4 Magic Resist
• Large monsters and siege minions: 1 stack
• Champions and Epic monsters: 3 stacks

Q – Emberstrike

Cooldown: 6 seconds

Passive: Shyvana’s attacks deal 1.0% of the target’s maximum health as magic damage on-hit and reduce Emberstrike’s cooldown by 1.25 seconds.

Active: Her next attack strikes both the target and nearby enemies, dealing 154 physical damage. The ability can be recast within 4 seconds after an attack or brief delay.

Dragon Form: Shyvana gains an additional recast that causes her to bite the target, dealing 231 true damage.

W – Inferno Aegis

Cooldown: 12 seconds

Shyvana surrounds herself with flames for 2.5 seconds, gaining:

• 256 shield
• An additional 77 shield for each nearby enemy champion
• 25% movement speed, increased to 44% when moving toward enemy champions

When the effect ends, the shield breaks, or the ability is recast, the flames detonate, dealing 160 magic damage.

Dragon Form:If the detonation hits an enemy champion, Shyvana heals for 250–500 health depending on missing health.

E – Molten Burst

Cooldown: 10 seconds

Shyvana launches a fireball at a target location dealing 240 magic damage and slowing enemies by 50% for 2 seconds.

Dragon Form:The fireball becomes larger and pierces enemies. When it hits a champion or large monster, it releases a pulse that deals 300 magic damage and slows enemies by 50% for 2 seconds. The projectile also leaves behind a fire trail lasting 2 seconds, dealing 25 magic damage per second.

R – Dragon’s Descent

Requires 100 Fury

Passive: Shyvana generates 1.25 Dragon Fury when striking enemies with attacks and abilities.

• Fury generation is increased by 200% in Dragon Form
• Fury gain is reduced by 75% when hitting non-champions in an area

Active:Shyvana becomes Unstoppable, transforming into her dragon form and flying to a target location. She breathes fire on enemies below, dealing 350 magic damage and causing them to Flee for 1 second.

While transformed, Shyvana gains:

• 350 bonus health
• Increased size and attack range
• Upgraded basic abilities

The transformation lasts until her Dragon Fury is depleted.

First Stand 2026 Tournament Begins

The patch launches alongside the opening week of First Stand 2026, currently taking place in São Paulo, Brazil. Teams from every major region will compete for the first international title of the year, with the grand finals scheduled for March 22.

Riot also introduced Warhound Senna, the official esports revenue-sharing skin for this tournament. A portion of proceeds from the skin and its bundles will be shared with professional teams.

Champion Balance Changes

Patch 26.6 also includes adjustments for multiple champions across different roles.

Ahri

• Q – Orb of Deception damage per pass reduced from 40/ 65/ 90/ 115/ 140 to 35/ 60/ 85/ 110/ 135.

Azir

• Q AP ratio increased from 35% to 35/ 40/ 45/ 50/ 55% AP.
• W damage scaling increased from 0–45 (5 per level starting at level 10) to 0–72 (7 per level starting at level 10), with AP ratios also improved.

Cassiopeia

• Base mana increased from 450 to 480.E bonus magic damage vs poisoned targets increased from 20/ 43/ 66/ 89/ 112 to 20/ 45/ 70/ 90/ 120.

Lissandra

• Armor growth reduced from 4.9 to 4.2, but Ice Shard cooldown lowered to 7.5/ 6.5/ 5.5/ 4.5/ 3.5 seconds, restoring much of her previous spell uptime.

Olaf

• Base attack speed increased from 0.694 to 0.72, while Undertow slow effects and bug fixes improve reliability.
• Reckless Swing self-damage increased from 30% to 40% of damage dealt.

Other champions receiving adjustments include Pyke, Shen, Skarner, Tryndamere, and Zaahen.

Item Updates

Two items received adjustments in Patch 26.6.

Chempunk Chainsword

• Combine cost reduced from 350 → 250 gold
• Total cost reduced from 3100 → 3000 gold

Sunfire Aegis

• Build path updated to Bami’s Cinder + Chain Vest + Ruby Crystal + 600 gold, replacing the previous 1000 gold component.

These changes aim to improve accessibility for tanks and fighters.

Support Farming System Changes

Riot has relaxed penalties for supports who accidentally last-hit minions.

• Minion kills before gold penalty (before 5 minutes): 7 → 24
• Minion kills per 5 minutes before penalty (after 5 minutes): 20 → 30

This adjustment reduces punishment for mage supports while preventing abuse of support income mechanics.

Noxus Cup Clash Tournament

The Noxus Cup Clash tournament also launches with Patch 26.6.

• Registration begins: March 16 at 11:00 AM local time
• Tournament dates: March 21–22

Players can form teams of five and compete in the in-game Clash system.

Arena Mode Updates

Arena received several changes to augments and items, including a special augment designed specifically for Shyvana.

Big Dragon Energy (New Augment)

• Shyvana gains maximum Fury permanently without decay
• The final recast of Emberstrike (Q) deals 200% damage

Other Arena item adjustments include buffs to Divine Sunderer, Night Harvester, Goredrinker, and several others.

ARAM: Mayhem Changes

Patch 26.6 continues to refine the ARAM: Mayhem experience by improving the performance of tanks and melee champions while rebalancing movement-heavy augments.

Several champions such as Illaoi, Sett, Shyvana, Swain, Urgot, and Vladimir received adjustments to damage taken, healing, or damage dealt to bring them closer to their intended power levels.

Numerous augment updates also modify movement speed effects, damage values, and gold rewards to create more consistent gameplay.

Bug Fixes and Quality-of-Life Improvements

Patch 26.6 includes a large list of bug fixes and stability improvements, addressing issues with abilities, augments, UI behavior, and several gameplay systems across different modes.

Additional fixes resolved problems affecting champions such as Mel, Samira, Ivern, Zac, and Senna, as well as improvements to ranked restrictions and audio effects.

The full list of updates and fixes can be found on the official website.