League of Legends patch 12.6 notes: Rengar rework, Hecarim nerfs, Anima Squad skins

League of Legends patch 12.6 is here — after the long break, Riot has returned with a big overhaul to Rengar, nerfs to meta champions Hecarim and Tryndamere, and big changes to lifesteal. Here’s the full patch notes for the end of March update.

Been waiting a while for League of Legends patch 12.6? It’s felt like forever since the last major update went live at the start of March, although the b-patch shipped a week in certainly helped shake up the AD carry meta.

It’s back to normal though as Riot pushes on with the regular patch schedule. There’s plenty on the radar: meta champions like Hecarim are primed for nerfs, the Rengar rework promised for months is finally here, and lifesteal is getting a major overhaul.

Oh, and in case you forgot about it, the Anima Squad skins and event are around the corner too.

Here’s what you need to know about League of Legends patch 12.6, including the full patch notes.

Riot Games

Hop into the LoL patch 12.6 notes below.

What’s changed in League of Legends patch 12.6?

Rengar rework finally hits live after months of tinkering

It’s been in the works for months but in LoL patch 12.6 it’s finally here: the Rengar mini-rework. The Pridestalker’s major changes have been through a few renditions, but Riot has finally settled on one that both players enjoy and will be healthy in bringing his skill floor up.

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These include more up-time on his passive Ferocity, a longer leap range, guaranteed crits on his Q, and reducing his cast times. The changes, which Riot say are purely “positive” open up his build paths from just the RNG crit builds he’s had to opt into for maximum damage.

Otherwise on the buffs front, Azir is getting a health per level buff that many are joking could shoot him back into the pro play spotlight. Darius, Jax, and Nidalee are also getting a hand across the board.

Riot Games

Rengar’s long-awaited rework is finally going live.

Meta champions Hecarim, Tryndamere hit with nerfs

Since the nerfs to Xin Zhao, Hecarim has stood atop League’s jungle tier list. However, the horse is getting reined in on LoL patch 12.6 with some nerfs to his base damage on Q and E. While it doesn’t hit his utility, Hecarim should now be a bit weaker at all levels ⁠— especially with his tank builds.

Tryndamere is suffering a similar fate after dominating the top lane meta. His Ultimate is getting a cooldown increase to stop the constant tower diving, while the cooldown reduction on his E spin based on crits is also being nerfed.

These are the only two champion nerfs planned so far for the next League of Legends update.

Riot Games

Hecarim boasts a 50.28% win rate at all ranks, but one of the highest jungle presences in the game.

Lifesteal changes aim to rejig sustain meta

As part of their overall goal to cut down healing and sustain in League of Legends, Riot are doing a major pass on lifesteal in LoL patch 12.6.

Select items from the baseline Vampiric Scepter all the way up to Immortal Shieldbow are having power shifted away from their lifesteal stats and onto more combat stats like AD or health.

• Read More: Samira & Ashe rapidly rise into League meta after mega AD carry changes

Runes Fleet Footwork and Legend: Bloodline in the Precision tree are also being nerfed, while Domination’s Ravenous Hunter is being removed for Treasure Hunter ⁠— a new rune which grants bonus gold on your first takedown for each respective enemy, equalling a 550 gold injection after five unique kills and assists.

Riot Games

Lifesteal and sustain is on Riot’s radar across League of Legends Season 12.

New Anima Squad skins

Prepare to prowl into battle in LoL patch 12.6 with the all-new Anima Squad skin line and event. Once only just a standalone skin ⁠— Battle Bunny Riven ⁠— the Ionian Exile is now getting new friends and fighting partners in the March 30 update.

You can find the full list of skins below:

• Battle Cat Jinx
  • Prestige Edition also available
• Battle Bunny Miss Fortune
• Battle Bunny Prime Riven
• Battle Wolf Sylas
• Battle Bat Vayne

Dexerto can confirm most of the Anima Squad skins will have nine Chromas, with Battle Bunny Miss Fortune being the exception with just six.

They’ll be available for purchase for RP with the exception of the Prestige Jinx skin, which will cost event tokens under the new Mythic Essence system.

You can find the full League of Legends patch 12.6 notes below. The update went live on March 30.

League of Legends patch 12.6 notes

Champions

Azir

Base stats

• Health per level: 92 ⇒ 105
  • Health at level 18: 2116 ⇒ 2337

Darius

R: Noxian Guillotine

• Minimum true damage: 100/200/300 (+75% bonus AD) ⇒ 125/250/375 (+75% bonus AD)

Hecarim

Q: Rampage

• Base damage: 60/97/134/171/208 ⇒ 60/90/120/150/180

E: Devastating Charge

• Minimum total damage: 30/50/70/90/110 (+55% bonus AD) ⇒ 30/45/60/75/90 (+55% bonus AD)
• Maximum total damage: 60/100/140/180/220 (+110% bonus AD) ⇒ 60/90/120/150/180 (+110% bonus AD)

Illaoi

R: Leap of Faith

• Leap of Faith now casts with Illaoi facing toward your cursor, allowing for more favorable Tentacle spawn locations

Bugfixes

• When Illaoi attacks a Vessel while empowered by W – Harsh Lesson, nearby inactive Tentacles will now slam her target as soon as they become active (short delay removed)
• Spell queueing has been added to W – Harsh Lesson and R – Leap of Faith, so you can now buffer other spells while casting them
• W – Harsh Lesson’s visual indicators have been fixed and will show the correct range of her empowered basic attacks
• Tentacles can no longer spawn on either team’s base gates on Summoner’s Rift
• Vessels no longer contribute to Illaoi’s creep score when they expire or are destroyed
• Q – Tentacle Smash and E – Test of Spirit will now be visible to nearby enemy champions when cast from Fog of War

Jax

Base stats

• Base health: 593 ⇒ 615

W: Empower

• Base damage: 40/75/110/145/180 ⇒ 50/85/120/155/190

Nidalee

W (Human): Bushwhack

• Mana cost: 40/45/50/55/60 ⇒ 30/35/40/45/50

W (Cougar): Pounce

• AOE damage radius: 225 ⇒ 250

E (Human): Primal Surge

• Cast range: 600 ⇒ 900
• Mana cost: 50/60/70/80/90 ⇒ 50/55/60/65/70

Rengar

Passive: Unseen Predator

• Rengar’s next leap will grant 1 Ferocity only if he has 0 Ferocity ⇒ upon losing all Ferocity stacks (no matter how much Ferocity he gains before his next leap)
• Rengar will be able to leap after 0.35 seconds in brush or camouflage (or Senna’s E – Curse of the Black Mist camouflage) consistently, rather than based on a 0.3-0.45 second timer (Leap range has been slightly increased to offset variability)
• Rengar now has a Ferocity resource bar that indicates how much Ferocity he currently has (Stacks generated by leaps will have a different color so you’ll know if you’ll gain Ferocity on your next leap)
• All Ferocity stacks fall off after: 8 seconds ⇒ 10 seconds out of combat
• Bonetooth Necklace takedown timer: Within 1.5 seconds ⇒ 3 seconds of damaging an enemy champion

Q: Savagery

• Rengar’s Q-empowered basic attack is now always a critical strike. Instead of regular critical strike damage, each 1% critical strike chance increases this empowered attack’s damage by 0.66% (0.99% with Infinity Edge’s Perfection passive)
• Now also applies to basic attacks against towers
• No longer applies to basic attacks against plants

E: Bola Strike

• Can now throw instantly (with zero cast time) during leaps
• Now grants true sight and normal vision 150 units around the first enemy hit for 2 seconds

R: Thrill of the Hunt

• Now grants not only true sight, but also normal vision 100 units around the nearest enemy

Tryndamere

E: Spinning Slash

• Cooldown reduction per critical strike: 1 second (2 seconds for champions) ⇒ 0.75 seconds (1.5 seconds for champions)

R: Undying Rage

• Cooldown: 110/100/90 seconds ⇒ 130/110/90 seconds

Items

Blade of the Ruined King

• Lifesteal: 10% ⇒ 8%

Bloodward (Ornn Item)

• Lifesteal: 12% ⇒ 10%

Immortal Shieldbow

• Lifesteal: 10% ⇒ 8%
• Lifeline Shield: 275-650 ⇒  275-700
• Mythic Passive: 5 AD and 50 Health ⇒ 5 AD and 70 Health

Vampiric Scepter

• Lifesteal: 10% ⇒ 8%

Runes

Fleet Footwork (Precision)

• Healing upon fully energized attack: 10-100 (levels 1-18) (+40% bonus AD) (+30% AP) ⇒ 10-100 (levels 1-18) (+30% bonus AD) (+20% AP)

Legend: Bloodline (Precision)

• Lifesteal per stack: 0.6% (up to 9% at 15 stacks) ⇒ 0.4% (up to 6% at 15 stacks)
• New: After reaching maximum Legend stacks, your maximum health increases by 100

Ravenous Hunter (Domination)

• Removed

Treasure Hunter (Domination)

• Added: Gain 70 gold when you claim a Bounty Hunter stack. This bounty is increased by 20 gold for each Bounty Hunter stack.

Skins

Ashen Knight Pyke

Battle Bat Vayne

Battle Bunny Miss Fortune

Sarah Fortune is the second to take on the title of Anima Squad Commander, after her predecessor Riven’s mysterious disappearance. They’re big leporine shoes to fill, considering Riven’s status as a war hero, but Sarah is smart, skilled, and courageous enough to forge her own legend in the fight for humanity.

Battle Bunny Prime Riven

Battle Cat Jinx

Battle Cat Jinx Prestige Edition

Battle Wolf Sylas