Riot reveals massive lane and turret changes coming to LoL in 2026

Every year, Riot Games brings a whole set of changes to start the new season in League of Legends (LoL). In 2026, we will have major changes coming to homeguards, minions, and turrets. Let's dive into everything that is coming to the game.

When you spawn in a League of Legends match, you'll have an increase in movement speed as you leave your base for the first time. That is called Homestart. This buff appears as a trail behind your champion.

At the 20-second mark, all the champions gain the Homeguard buff. This will refresh its duration as long as the champion stays in the Spawn. With the upcoming 2026 changes, this effect will now be extended beyond the base. In the early game, it will reach the tier 1 turret, while the mid-late game will reach the minion wave. This buff will end early upon entering the jungle or encountering an enemy champion.

According to Riot, the goal is to make pushing lanes more important since they can now help control territory effectively. Not only that, this is part of Riot's strategy to make the game more fluid and overall fast-paced.

Some changes towards these goals have already been implemented. The Champion Select phase was shortened, as well as the intro animation, ban phase, hover pre-select, and more. However, these changes are being tested only in NA and OCE. We will have to wait a little bit more to see them implemented in the remaining regions.

As you can see from the screenshot below, the minions spawn around 01:05. In 2026, the waves will be spawning earlier, at 00:30. Just like the changes brought to the homeguards, this update will force a faster beginning of the match and will avoid chaotic and unorganized invade moments into the enemy jungle. If your team wants to invade, they will now need to decide it way earlier.

The later-game waves will also be spawning earlier with fewer minions. This means that there will be similar amounts of gold and experience, but you'll have more access to wave pushing. Since there are more waves frequently, it will be easier to hit a turret and get plates. Essentially, pushing waves and farming will feel more rewarding.

In 2026, everything you knew about turrets will need to be updated. A new feature called Crystalline Overgrowth will now appear on the game turrets over time, and the players can detonate it for big damage with attacks.

The Demolish rune, which would generate stacks every 0.5 seconds on enemy turrets within 600 units, up to six after three seconds, will also change. The rune will now be simplified to a three-hit passive. Overall, the goal is for small pushes into the lane to feel way more rewarding gold-wise. This should make it easier to take a plate or two with each split or siege you attempt.

The plates will be updated to stick around permanently. No matter what state the turret is in, you can still farm some gold out of aggressive actions.

In the next season, Riot is adding plates to the inner turrets. This means the reward will be split into chunks rather than all of it being claimed as soon as you destroy the turret.

Riot will also be changing some turret rules. Instead of minions and ranged champions dealing 17% less damage to turret plates, all turrets will simply take 20% increased damage from melee champions, and have their health increased to match. The inner turrets will no longer gain resists after 15 minutes, and outer turrets won't gain quite as much AD in the mid and late-game if they're still standing.

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