League of Legends Patch 25.16: Worlds calibration begins

Highlights

• Worlds 2026 calibration patch. Riot's first balance pass

with the international meta in mind. Three mid-lane mages who were buried in the 25.14-25.15 jungle-heavy meta return to viability.

• Ranked decay grace period. Players can now opt into a

7-day decay grace period twice per season. The "I went on vacation and lost my Diamond" complaint has been the most- discussed ranked feedback of 2026; Riot's compromise is a bounded opt-in rather than a global change.

• Jungle item QoL. All jungle items now refund 50% of their

gold cost on completion, down from 30% in 25.15. The change is small but should reduce the "I'm 200 gold short of my third item" frustration that dominated jungle mains' feedback in 25.14.

• New ARAM balance pass. Twenty-two champions received

ARAM-specific tuning. The full list is in the ARAM section below.

Champion balance

Buffs

• Ahri — base mana regen increased from 6 to 8.5. Charm

cooldown reduced from 14/13/12/11/10 to 12/11.5/11/10.5/10 seconds. Ahri has been below 47% winrate in mid for two patches; the buff is conservative but should push her back into the 49-50% range.

• LeBlanc — Q damage increased from 65/90/115/140/165 to

75/100/125/150/175. Distortion (W) cooldown reduced at ranks 1-3. The community concern was that LeBlanc's high-skill floor wasn't matching her pro-pickrate; the buff is aimed at solo queue.

• Orianna — Command: Protect (E) shield increased from

60/100/140/180/220 to 70/110/150/190/230. The ball's auto- attack range increased from 525 to 540. Orianna has been niche since the 25.10 durability patch; this is the threshold buff she needed.

• Lee Sin — base attack damage increased from 66 to 70. The

"max-Q1-flash-Q2" combo timing has been slightly tightened; Riot's stated goal is to make the early gank window more forgiving for one-trick players without buffing pro play.

• Jinx — base attack speed increased from 0.625 to 0.65.

Mini-gun (Q) attack speed bonus increased from 25/35/45/55/65% to 30/40/50/60/70%. Jinx has been a "win lane, lose game" outlier since 25.12; the late-game scaling is finally there.

Nerfs

• Vi — base armor reduced from 35 to 30. Vault Breaker (Q)

cooldown increased from 18/16/14/12/10 to 20/18/16/14/12 seconds. Vi has been S+ tier jungle for three consecutive patches; this is the nerf Riot held off on for too long.

• Smolder — base HP per level reduced from 110 to 100. Q

damage growth per level reduced from 4 to 3. The community sentiment is that Smolder is balanced in isolation but oppressive in coordinated 5-stack play; the nerf is aimed at the latter.

• K'Sante — base HP reduced from 600 to 570. W cooldown

increased at all ranks. The "mini rework" promised for 25.17 is on track; this is a stopgap nerf.

• Yuumi — W mana cost increased from 60/65/70/75/80 to

80/85/90/95/100. The Yuumi nerf cycle continues; the book attachment is still the most-hated mechanic in the game.

Adjustments

• Aurelion Sol — passive star generation rate increased

from 8 per second to 10 per second. The passive cap reduced from 200 to 180. Net effect: Asol players hit the "good passive zone" 25 seconds earlier at level 1, but the maximum combat power is unchanged.

• Senna — Mist Wraith spawn rate increased by 15%. The

Senna "support vs. ADC" identity crisis continues; Riot is leaning into support Senna for 25.16.

• Zeri — Q minimum damage increased from 12/15/18/21/24 to

15/18/21/24/27. The Q cooldown gating has been removed; Zeri can now chain Q casts without the 0.5s delay. The high-skill-floor champion is finally usable.

Item changes

• Liandry's Torment — ability power increased from 60 to

1. Burn damage per second increased from 1.5% max HP to

2% max HP. The mage itemization system has been Liandry- dominated since 25.13; this is a small buff to keep the item relevant without breaking the meta.

• Stridebreaker — base attack damage reduced from 50 to

1. The active slow duration reduced from 3 seconds to 2.5

seconds. Stridebreaker has been the bruiser starter of choice for five patches; this is a soft nerf.

• Eclipse — base attack damage increased from 55 to 60.

The shield value increased from 6% max HP to 8% max HP. Eclipse is back in the conversation for AD assassins and marksmen who need a dueling spike.

• Support item quest gold thresholds — All four tier-1

support items (Relic Shield, Spectral Sickle, Spellthief's Edge, and their upgrades) now complete their quest at 900 gold, down from 1000. The support-item quest is the most- cited "feels bad" mechanic in the game; this is a direct community-requested change.

Ranked

• Decay grace period is now opt-in, twice per season,

7 days each. Activate through the ranked tab; the timer pauses only your current rank decay, not the season timer.

• Master+ queue has been split into Master, Grandmaster,

and Challenger sub-queues for the next 14 days while Riot tests new matchmaking heuristics. The 200-game Master floor remains unchanged.

• Promo series now show a "skip if you win 3 of 4" indicator

on the promo screen. This is a QoL change — the actual promo series rules are unchanged — but the indicator should reduce the "wait, how does promo series work?" confusion that spiked after the 25.14 ranked rework.

ARAM

Twenty-two champions received ARAM-specific tuning. The headline changes:

• Sona — Q damage increased from 40/60/80/100/120 to

50/75/100/125/150 in ARAM only. Sona has been below 45% winrate in ARAM since the 25.10 durability patch.

• Teemo — W movement speed bonus reduced from 14/22/30/38/46%

to 10/16/22/28/34% in ARAM only. Teemo is the most-picked ARAM champion by a wide margin; the nerf is targeted at the most-hated matchup in the queue.

• Sett — R (The Show Stopper) damage reduced from 200/300/400

to 150/250/350 in ARAM only. The "Sett ult into your team" combo has been the highest-impact ARAM play since his release.

• Yuumi — ZOMM! passive heal-over-time increased by 25% in

ARAM only. The Yuumi nerf cycle has been brutal in Summoner's Rift; ARAM is her best mode and Riot wants to keep it viable.

Known issues

• The new "decay grace period" UI doesn't display the

remaining-time countdown on the ranked tab. Will be fixed in next week's hotfix.

• The Worlds 2026 ranked badge has a typo in the Korean

localization ("워즈" instead of "월드"). Cosmetic only; will be fixed in 25.16b.

• ARAM balance changes sometimes take 30-60 minutes to

propagate to all shards after the patch goes live.

What Riot is signalling

Patch 25.16 is the first of three "Worlds calibration" balance passes (25.16, 25.17, 25.18) that will shape the meta for the international tournament. The buffed mid-lane mages (Ahri, LeBlanc, Orianna) and the buffed ADC options (Jinx, Zeri) are both signals about what Riot wants the meta to look like in October. The jungle item QoL is a small but meaningful signal that Riot heard the jungle-mains feedback from the 25.14 ranked rework.

The 25.17 mid-patch will land in two weeks. Expect the K'Sante mini-rework, the promised Aurelion Sol Q mechanic revert, and the first of the Worlds 2026 balance passes for pro play.