Major Mel nerfs and rework are coming to LoL next patch

Riot Games has revealed that one of League of Legends’ most annoying champions, Mel, is getting a sizable rework next patch.

Her Q will now be easier to dodge, and her reflecting W will no longer give her immunity to damage.

With the release of LoL Patch 26.2, the rework is now on the PBE and will go live on 26.3.

The update will come to League of Legends on February 4th and should make Mel less frustrating to play against.

Is it time to address Mel?

41% global ban rate and genuinely the worst human experience to play against.

Rework or delete it is the only option. pic.twitter.com/rPCNWmhp03

— Drew (@Midbeast) January 16, 2026

Rioter and Mel’s champion’s designer, Myles ‘Emizery’ Salholm, walked through the changes that he hopes make her more skillful to play.

Emizery wants to add more room for counterplay against Mel and admits:

“Frankly, we underestimated how frustrating the play-against experience for Mel would be and are aiming to improve that with this change list.”

This is being changed by adding visual clarity to her Q and E so that they’re easier to dodge.

And a shield replacing the removed damage immunity on her W.

Her W will also now destroy, not reflect, some AoE projectiles that hit multiple targets in an area, like Samira’s ult.

Mel W is looking crazy...

ability reflect + immune to damage + MS boost pic.twitter.com/7tswa6K6Nn

— Vandiril (@Vandiril) January 9, 2025

Ultimately, Emizery says this rework is to add skill to playing as and against Mel:

“Our goals with these changes are that more players feel they can outplay Mel in ways that match their expectations, and that Mel players can feel more skilful and that their success is a result of that skill.

Emizery also claims Mel mains will benefit from this rework by lowering her ban rate without changing her playstyle.

This will release before the upcoming LoL VGU and rework for Shyvanna.

Planned changes for Mel in League of Legends Patch 26.3

I mean I hate Mel as much as anyone else but this pretty removes the characters whole identity?

The W not giving damage immunity anymore and destroying AOE abilities?

Kinda kills the whole interesting design https://t.co/SMwHOvx8c7

— Dumbs 🇫🇮 (@DumbsYT) January 20, 2026

Base Stats

Remove outlier stat reducing attack speed value

[BUFF] Attack Speed Ratio: 0.4 >>> 0.625

P – Overwhelm

Lower high-reliability damage output

[NERF] Overwhelm Projectile Damage :: 8-50 + 5% AP >>> 8-25 + 3% AP

Total per Cast :: 24-150 + 15% AP >>> 24-75 + 9% AP

[CHANGE] Reduced visual clutter by no longer displaying passive mark on non-champions for enemies

[BUGFIX] Fixed certain champion-spawned units dying to Overwhelm from an unempowered basic attack

Q – Radiant Volley

Provide strong opportunity to dodge this spell at long ranges, moving towards Q max first

• [CHANGE] Stronger area telegraph visual
• [NERF] Cast Time: 0.25s >>> 0.4s
• [NERF] Projectile Speed: 4500 >>> 3800
• [NERF] Explosion Radius: 230 >>> 200
• [NERF] Area Spread: 30 >>> 25
• [NERF] Damage type is now DoT AoE (reduced effectiveness in resetting Arcane Comet)
• [BUFF] Channel Time: 0.75s >>> 0.5s
• [BUFF] Mana Cost: 70/80/90/100/110 >>> 70/75/80/85/90
• [BUFF] Minion Damage: 75% >>> 100%
• [CHANGE] Now deals additional damage the first time an explosion hits; reduced subsequent hit damage
• Initial Hit: 55/80/105/130/155 + 50% AP
• Subsequent Hits: 5/6/7/8/9 + 5% AP
• Total Damage: 85/122/161/202/245 + 75-95% AP

W – Rebuttal

Give enemies clearer counterplay options and remove some outsized interactions

• [NERF] No longer provides damage immunity
• [NERF] Physical damage reflected is reduced by 30% before magic damage conversion
• [CHANGE] Now destroys projectiles that target each unit in an area instead of reflecting them when those projectiles aren’t targeting Mel; affected abilities:
  • Ryze E
  • Brand E
  • Katarina R
  • Samira R
  • Yunara Q
• [BUFF] Decaying Move Speed: 30% >>> 40%
• [BUFF] Decaying Move Speed now lasts 1.5s (up from 0.75s)

E – Solar Snare

Lower low clarity impact cases, move away from E max first

• [NERF] Root Missile Radius: 80 >>> 70
• [NERF] End of Travel Linger Duration: 0.5s >>> 0.25s
• [NERF] DoT Radius: 260 >>> 230
• [NERF] Cast Range: 1050 >>> 1000
• [BUFF] Projectile Speed: 1000 >>> 1100
• [BUFF] Root Duration: 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5s >>> 1.5s
• [BUFF] Damage: 60/100/140/180/220 >>> 60/105/150/195/240
• [BUFF] DoT Damage Per Second: 16/26/36/46/56 >>> 16/28/40/52/64
• [BUGFIX] No longer visually pops at the end when descending terrain