Patch 26.1: Enchanters Rise and Critical Strikes Hit Harder

Season 2026 is here, and Patch 26.1 brings a wave of changes to ARAM Mayhem. The biggest story? Enchanters are back with massive buffs across the board, and every ADC just got a significant damage boost thanks to the global critical strike damage increase.

The Enchanter Renaissance

Riot has decided enchanters were underperforming in Mayhem, and they’re not being subtle about fixing it. Nearly every enchanter received buffs to their damage modifiers, healing, and shielding.

Champion	Changes
Ivern	Damage 95% → 100%, Shielding 80% → 100%
Janna	Damage 95% → 100%, Damage Taken 105% → 100%, Healing 90% → 100%, Shielding 95% → 100%
Milio	Healing 95% → 100%, Shielding 90% → 100%, Ability Haste -10 → 0
Nami	Damage 95% → 100%, Damage Taken 105% → 100%
Renata	Damage 95% → 100%, Shielding 80% → 100%

Sona gets special treatment with ratio buffs:

• W Heal Ratio: 20% → 30%
• W Shield Ratio: 20% → 25%
• Q Cooldown: 10s → 8s

Karma’s Mantra Q also received a damage buff: 40/90/140/190 → 40/100/160/220.

This is a huge shift for team compositions. Enchanters that were previously considered weak picks are now fully viable, and champions like Sona with the right augments could become oppressive.

Augment Changes

Snowball Roulette Nerfed

The chaos augment has been demoted from Prismatic to Gold tier. It’s still fun, but no longer competes with top-tier prismatic options.

It’s Killing Time Adjusted

Now only stores damage from the augment owner, not all sources. This is a significant nerf to its burst potential in teamfights where allies were contributing to the stored damage.

Flashy Reworked

Instead of refreshing 1 charge every 180 seconds, it now refreshes all 3 charges every 120 seconds. This is a buff for extended games and makes the augment more consistent.

Quest: Steel Your Heart Fixed

The tooltip said it would multiply future stacks by 3x after completion, but it wasn’t actually doing that. Now it does. Heartsteel enthusiasts rejoice - this is a massive buff to the augment’s scaling potential.

Quest: Urf’s Champion Buffed

The Golden Spatula reward got significant stat increases:

• Attack Damage: 60 → 90
• Ability Power: 80 → 110
• Movement Speed: 5% → 10%
• Immolate Range: 300 → 400

Bug Fixes Worth Noting

• Ultimate’s Awakening now displays correct Ability Haste and has a cooldown tracker
• Executioner now works properly with Rengar’s basic abilities
• Orbital Laser ground damage to minions fixed
• Gold Rend no longer fails when your ally also takes it

Global Changes Affecting ARAM Mayhem

Critical Strike Damage: 175% → 200%

This is the biggest indirect change. Every ADC in ARAM Mayhem just got significantly stronger. Champions like Jinx, Caitlyn, and Tristana will hit noticeably harder with their crits.

However, Riot adjusted many ADC abilities to compensate:

• Yasuo/Yone: Crit damage capped at 90% (1.8x instead of 2x)
• Senna: Same treatment, 90% crit damage
• Jhin: Crit modifier adjusted to maintain similar damage
• Most ADCs: Ability ratios reduced to offset stronger auto attacks

New Items

Several new items were added to Summoner’s Rift that may appear in ARAM:

• Hextech Gunblade is back with 80 AP, 40 AD, 10% Omnivamp
• Stormrazor returns with Energized effects
• Endless Hunger for AD fighters with omnivamp
• Dusk and Dawn for AP fighters with Sheen

Omnivamp Changes

Omnivamp now applies at 100% value (reduced to 33% from pets, DoTs, and AoE vs minions). Doran’s Blade now has 2.5% Omnivamp instead of Life Draining passive.

What This Means for the Meta

1. Enchanters are viable again - Expect to see more Sona, Janna, and Milio picks
2. ADCs hit harder - The 200% crit damage is a straight buff despite ability nerfs
3. Steel Your Heart is now S-tier - The fix makes it scale infinitely better
4. Urf’s Champion quest is more rewarding - The Golden Spatula is actually good now

Tips for Patch 26.1

• Pair enchanters with ADCs - The combination of buffed healing/shielding and stronger crits is deadly
• Prioritize Steel Your Heart if you’re building Heartsteel anyway
• Consider Flashy on champions that benefit from frequent Flash resets
• Watch out for Sona - Her Q spam and stronger heals could make her oppressive

Good luck in your games, and may your augment rolls be ever in your favor!