Patch 2.2.16 went live on 16 September 2026, and it's one of the busiest updates of the year. The headline items are two hero revamps and a 10th-anniversary art overhaul, but the change most players will feel is quieter: Moonton has deliberately slowed the game down.
The designers' intent
According to the patch notes, the goals were to lift underperforming junglers and EXP laners, celebrate the anniversary with refreshed art for Masha, Bruno, Paquito, Kadita, Clint, Luo Yi, Brody and Badang, and rework the skill mechanics of Masha and Bruno.
Revamps
- Masha moves away from split-push burst and becomes a high-skill-ceiling Berserker built around sustained fights. Read our full revamp breakdown.
- Bruno keeps his powerball identity but gets smoother controls, retrievable multiple balls and a reworked Ultimate.
Hero adjustments at a glance
| Buffed | Nerfed | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Cici, Alpha, Kagura, Edith, Karina, Kaja | Melissa, Miya, Hanabi, Yi Sun-shin, Paquito | Aulus, Argus, Aldous, Lukas, Odette, Sun, Marcel, Kalea, Kadita, Hylos |
Notable changes
- Miya — team-fight damage and farming speed were too high. A bug that let Moonlight Shadow's split arrows deal abnormal damage is fixed.
- Hanabi — her single-target poke in lane is preserved, but consecutive Petal Blade bounces on one target in small fights are toned down.
- Yi Sun-shin — Skill 1 cooldown goes from 12–7s to 12–9s, cutting his dash frequency.
- Paquito — early-to-mid burst trimmed to stop him snowballing lanes so quickly.
- Odette — her Ultimate's second cast is removed; she can now move freely at reduced speed while channelling Swan Song.
- Argus — gains a 30% base crit chance that triggers extra Demonic Slashes, and his Ultimate's base damage doubles.
- Sun — targeted changes to rein in the roaming build that drained resources from teammates.
Battlefield and economy
Moonton says matches had become too fast to come back from. The fix:
- Base gold from the Horned Lizard, Fire Beetle and Lava Golem is reduced by 13%.
- The gold deficit needed to trigger comeback bounties drops from 2,000 to 1,500.
- Minion gold growth over time is slightly reduced.
Less gold on the map and earlier comeback bounties: expect longer games and more throws in Lord fights.
The patch also previews the 2026 annual map change, which arrived on 28 September — covered in our map guide.
Quality-of-life
Targeting gets smarter: the "Lowest HP" priority becomes "Lowest Effective HP", factoring in penetration and defence. Karina, Karrie, Lesley and Thamuz keep the old rule because most of their damage is true damage. Basic-attack pursuit and movement controls are also refined, and Brawl receives its own balance pass.
Sources: Liquipedia — Patch 2.2.16 (CC BY-SA 3.0); official patch notes by Moonton.
