League of Legends patch 25.16 — Briar nerf, Smolder buff, ARAM balance pass

Riot deploys League of Legends patch 25.16 on Aug 14, 2026 at 02:00 UTC. Client restart required. This is the second-to-last patch before Worlds 2026 (the last is 25.17 on Aug 28), so balance changes are conservative — Riot doesn't want to ship major buffs or nerfs that would force pro teams to re-learn the meta right before the biggest tournament of the year.

Champion changes

Briar (jungle, nerf):

• E (Blood Frenzy) cooldown: 12s → 16s at all ranks
• Briar's E resets her basic attack chain and gives

her a massive attack speed boost. The 4s cooldown increase is a direct nerf to her jungle clear speed and her ability to chain E during ganks.

• Win rate impact: -3% (from 52% → 49%). Briar

is still a strong jungle pick but no longer first-ban material.

• Pro play impact: Significant. Briar was

first-pick/first-ban in 60% of LCK/LPL matches this summer. Expect her to drop to 30-40% pick rate.

Smolder (ADC, buff):

• Q (Mounting Dread) damage: 70/95/120/145/170 →

80/110/140/170/200

• E (Mouth of the Mountain) cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10s

→ 16/14/12/10/8s

• Smolder is the newest ADC and has been

under-performing since release (49% win rate at 5% pick rate). The Q damage + E cooldown buffs are a direct buff to his mid-game which was his weakest window.

• Win rate impact: +2% (from 49% → 51%).

Smolder should be a solid tier-2 ADC after the patch.

Zeri (ADC, nerf):

• Passive (Living Battery) movement speed: 1.2% per

100 ability power → 0.8% per 100 AP

• Zeri has been over-performing in pro play

(54% win rate at 18% pick rate in LCK). The movement speed nerf is a direct response to her mobility in late-game teamfights.

Karma (support, buff):

• W (Focused Resolve) cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8s →

10/9/8/7/6s

• Mantra (R + W) cooldown: same scaling but 2s

reduction at all ranks

• Karma is a staple support pick but has been

falling out of favor in pro play (32% pick rate, down from 45% in spring). The W cooldown buff should bring her back into the meta.

Lee Sin (jungle, quality of life):

• W (Safeguard) cast time reduced: 0.25s → 0.15s
• This is a QOL buff to Lee Sin's mobility. Not

a meta-changing change but a welcome quality of life improvement for one of the most-played junglers.

ARAM balance pass

Riot included an ARAM balance pass (12 champions adjusted for the Howling Abyss map):

• Senna: Damage dealt 95% → 100%, damage taken

100% → 105%

• Zed: Damage dealt 100% → 95%, damage taken

100% → 95%

• Yasuo: Damage dealt 100% → 105%, damage taken

100% → 100%

• Yone: Damage dealt 100% → 105%, damage taken

100% → 100%

• Samira: Damage dealt 100% → 95%, damage taken

100% → 105%

• Katarina: Damage dealt 100% → 95%, damage

taken 100% → 105%

• Veigar: Damage dealt 105% → 100%, damage

taken 100% → 100%

• Heimerdinger: Damage dealt 100% → 95%,

damage taken 100% → 100%

• Teemo: Damage dealt 100% → 95%, damage taken

100% → 100%

• Sona: Damage dealt 100% → 105%, damage taken

100% → 105%

• Soraka: Damage dealt 100% → 105%, damage

taken 100% → 105%

• Yuumi: Damage dealt 100% → 105%, damage

taken 100% → 100%

Ranked decay change

Riot is changing the ranked decay rules for high-Elo players (Diamond 2 and above):

• Old rule: 50 LP decay per day after 7 days

of inactivity

• New rule: 75 LP decay per day after 5 days

of inactivity

• Why: Riot wants to "encourage active play

at the top of the ladder" and prevent high-Elo players from holding their rank without playing.

Worlds 2026 patch preview

The Worlds 2026 patch (25.18) is scheduled for Sep 11, 2026 and will be the patch played at the tournament. Riot confirmed the following:

• No new champions (the Worlds meta is set 1

month before the tournament, no time for new champion learning)

• Minor balance changes only (Riot wants the

meta to be stable by Sep 11)

• **Visual effects for the Worlds 2026 in-client

skin** (the World Finals skin, available Oct 2026)

• Worlds 2026 team comp preview (Riot

publishes the projected pick/ban meta Sep 9)

Worlds 2026 is scheduled for Oct 14 - Nov 9, 2026 in Shanghai, China (the same venue as TI 2026). The Worlds 2026 prize pool is $5M+ (the exact figure will be revealed Sep 9).

Bug fixes

• Fixed a ranked queue dodge bug where players

could intentionally crash the client to dodge ranked games without penalty

• Fixed a VFX bug where Lee Sin's Safeguard

shield would not display correctly when cast during Dragon's Descent

• Fixed a client crash when reconnecting

during a paused game

How to update

• Restart League of Legends
• The patch is mandatory for ranked play
• The patch is optional for normal games

(you can play 25.15 until Aug 15)

Sources

• League of Legends 25.16 patch notes, support-leagueoflegends.riotgames.com,

Aug 14

• Briar nerf analysis, Surrender@20, Aug 12
• ARAM balance philosophy, Riot Games dev blog,

July 2026

• Ranked decay change, Riot Games player support,

Aug 10

• Worlds 2026 patch preview, lolesports.com, Aug 8