Meta
Adapt to Nasus's New Q Stacking: Better Top, Weaker Jungle
Nasus's **Q - Siphoning Strike** stack values have shifted:
* **Standard minions**: Now grant **4 stacks** (up from 3).
* **Champions, large minions, and monsters**: Now grant **10 stacks** (down from 12).
If you are playing Nasus top, you will stack significantly faster from normal waves. If you are playing him in the jungle, your stack generation from large monsters will be slower, shifting his overall power budget back toward the laning phase.
Meta
Build Black Cleaver and Eclipse on Melee AD Fighters
If you play melee AD fighters, both Black Cleaver and Eclipse are now much stronger choices:
* **Black Cleaver**: AD increased from 40 to 45. The Fervor move speed effect is split, granting **20 MS for Melee** and only 10 MS for Ranged.
* **Eclipse**: Max health damage increased to **8% for Melee** (up from 6%), while the shield is slightly lowered to 150 (+40% bonus AD). This makes it highly effective for early-game melee dueling.
Guide
Transition Poppy from AD Fighter to HP-Scaling Tank
If you previously built Poppy as a snowball fighter with Hail of Blades and Sundered Sky, you should pivot to tank itemization. Her kit has been updated to scale with durability and sustain:
* **Q (Hammer Shock)**: Slow amount now scales by **+8% per 1000 bonus Health**, and the maximum health monster cap is increased (up to 225 at max rank).
* **W (Steadfast Presence)**: Total Armor and Magic Resistance passive increased from 12% to **16%** (still doubled below 40% maximum health).
* **Base Stats**: Attack Damage is reduced to 56, but she receives higher base mana (300) and mana growth (+45/level) to sustain long fights.
Guide
Shift Camille to Top Lane and Trade via Lower Cooldowns
Camille is less viable as an early roaming support due to her **Passive (Adaptive Defenses)** shield being nerfed to 10% maximum health at level 1. However, her top-lane dueling is stronger due to lowered cooldowns:
* **Passive Cooldown**: Reduced from 18s to 14s at level 1.
* **W (Tactical Sweep) Cooldown**: Reduced to 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10s.
* **W Outer Cone Bonus Damage**: Increased to 7 / 7.5 / 8 / 8.5 / 9% (+2.5% per 100 bonus AD) of the target's maximum health.
Focus on executing short, repeatable trades in the top lane to maximize the value of these reduced cooldowns.
Trick
Use Bel'Veth's New Purple Resource Bar to Track Void Remora Spawns
When playing Bel'Veth, watch your resource bar while in True Form. It will now **turn purple** to indicate that your True Form can spawn Void Remoras. Use this visual cue to time your lane pushes and siege objectives effectively, but keep in mind that her late-game scaling has been slightly reduced (Health Growth lowered to 105 and R total attack speed reduced to 6 / 13 / 20%).
Meta
Abuse Azir's Buffed Q and Keep Using Press the Attack
In Patch 26.16, Azir's **Q - Conquering Sands** base damage has been increased to **75 / 95 / 115 / 135 / 155** (up from 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140). This allows you to trade much more effectively in the early laning phase. Continue to run **Press the Attack** as your keystone, as it remains his optimal setup.
Tip
Adjust Nasus Stack Management for Top Lane and Jungle
Nasus's **Q (Siphoning Strike)** stack generation has been altered to bring his two main roles closer in power:
* **Base minion kills**: Stacks gained increased from 3 to **4**.
* **Large targets (champions, large minions, and large monsters)**: Stacks gained reduced from 12 to **10**.
This makes standard lane farming in the top lane more rewarding while slightly lowering his stacking speed from large jungle monsters.
Trick
Utilize Bel'Veth's New Remora UI Indicator and Adjust for Weaker Scaling
When playing Bel'Veth, expect a less explosive late game as her Health Growth is reduced to **105** (from 110) and True Form total attack speed is reduced to **6 / 13 / 20%** (down from 5 / 15 / 25%).
However, you can optimize your map pressure using her new quality-of-life feature: **her resource bar now turns purple when True Form is eligible to spawn Remoras**.
Tip
Build Black Cleaver and Eclipse on Melee Fighters for Maximum Value
Take advantage of the new melee/ranged splits implemented to buff fighters without boosting ranged abusers:
* **Black Cleaver**: Attack Damage is increased to **45** (up from 40). The Fervor movement speed effect now grants **20 MS for melee** champions, while ranged users only receive **10 MS**.
* **Eclipse**: Max health damage on hits is buffed to **8% for melee** (up from 6%) and **5% for ranged** (up from 4%). Note that its shield value is slightly lowered to **150 (+40% bonus AD) for melee** and **75 (+20% bonus AD) for ranged**.
Guide
Shift Poppy away from AD Snowball to Durability and Tank Builds
Avoid offensive fighter runes and items (such as Hail of Blades and Sundered Sky) on Poppy. Instead, transition to full tank itemization to maximize her updated kit scaling:
* **Q (Hammer Shock)**: The slow now scales with durability, granting **20 / 23 / 26 / 29 / 32% (+8% per 1000 bonus Health)**. Additionally, the AD ratio has been reduced from 100% to **75% bonus AD**.
* **W (Steadfast Presence)**: Passive Armor and Magic Resistance bonuses have been increased from 12% to **16%** (still doubled when below 40% maximum health).
* **Sustain**: Base AD is reduced to 56, but she receives improved base mana and mana growth (**300 + 45/level**) alongside improved base health regeneration (**9**) to survive longer team fights.
Tip
Leverage Camille's Faster Cooldowns for Top Lane Trades
Camille's early-game raw all-in capability is weaker due to her passive shield reduction, but she now excels at repeated, short trades in the top lane. Adjust your playstyle around these changes:
* **Passive (Adaptive Defenses)**: Cooldown is reduced early to **14 / 11 / 8 seconds** (down from 18 / 14 / 10 / 6s), though the shield value is weaker early on (10% max HP at level 1, scaling up to 25% at level 19).
* **W (Tactical Sweep)**: Cooldown is reduced to **12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10 seconds** (down from 15-11s), and the outer cone damage is increased to **7 / 7.5 / 8 / 8.5 / 9%** of the target's maximum health.
Meta
Optimize Azir with Press the Attack and Buffed Q Laning
When playing Azir, run **Press the Attack** as your keystone, which developers have highlighted as his optimal choice. Additionally, take advantage of his buffed early game trading, as the base damage of **Q (Conquering Sands)** has been increased across all ranks:
* **Q Damage**: 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 (+35-55% AP) ⇒ **75 / 95 / 115 / 135 / 155 (+35-55% AP)**
Meta
Jungle pathing: full clear into scuttle beats invades
With the current camp respawn timers, a full clear starting opposite your strongest lane arrives at scuttle with level 4 and smite up. Trading a coinflip invade for a guaranteed vision advantage is the higher win-rate line at every rank.
Tip
Ward the enemy jungle entrance, not the river
River wards tell you where the jungler was. Entrance wards tell you where they are going. Place the ward one screen deeper than feels comfortable and you get an extra 6 seconds of reaction time.
Guide
Baron power play: siege mid, never split
With Baron buff, minion empowerment makes mid the fastest tower to break. Splitting side lanes wastes the buff duration and hands the enemy a free reset.
