Teamfight Tactics 16.8 Notes (31st March 2026)

Patch 16.8 is the final update of the Lore & Legends set, and according to the official patch notes, Riot is closing out with a broad balance pass rather than a quiet send-off. The headliner is Malzahar, who has apparently been overperforming for nine patches straight and is finally getting hit hard enough that the dev team openly expects him to become unplayable. Whether that's hyperbole or prophecy, we'll find out fast.

Beyond the Malzahar situation, Zaahen's Unlock requirement has been significantly relaxed, dropping from a three-star Xin Zhao held for five combats to simply fielding one in combat at level 8. That's a meaningful change for accessibility, and Riot has paired it with compensation nerfs across Zaahen's kit. Sona reroll gets a mana buff to push her back toward viability, Cho'Gath picks up a permanent health-stacking passive, and Ornn joins the Freljord trait as a lore-accurate addition that also makes him noticeably stronger.

Choncc's Treasure is also getting its biggest update yet, with new Opening Encounters and a 2% chance for Choncc to appear directly in your shop. Riot is being coy about whether collecting enough of them does anything. It does something. Full patch notes below.

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PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

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SYSTEM CHANGES

UNLOCKS

With our last patch of the set, we’re letting two of our hardest Unlocks get more time off the bench and on the battlefield.

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• Aurelion Sol: 5 unique Targonians ⇒ 4 unique Targonians + Level 7
• Zaahen: Field a three-star Xin Zhao for 5 combats with Trials of Twilight ⇒ Field a three-star Xin Zhao in combat + Level 8

LARGE CHANGES

Large, like our update to Choncc’s Treasure!

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TRAITS

Making Darkin hit harder and heal a bit less. Overall this is a buff intended to herald the end times for us all. Activate at your own peril, or just the peril of the lobby.Couldn’t get the text changed to make Gunslinger into Guns Linger and turn all AD damage from the class into damage over time, so instead we opted to make the (4) piece have one more (4) in it for increased Jhinergy.Reroll Yordle gotta be a thing now please.

• Darkin (3) Health Restore threshold: 600 ⇒ 525
• Darkin (3) Damage: 333 ⇒ 400
• Gunslinger AD Gained: 22/40% ⇒ 22/44%
• Yordle 3-Star Multiplier: 100% ⇒ 120%

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UNITS: TIER 1

Reroll is back on the menu, but what the heck are these Blitzcrank and Shen buffs?Jhin’s finally getting the sniper-like trait he deserves! Will it be enough for reroll Jhin to be a thing?Lulu’s tired of never getting an item, especially after we used her as an example of how Support units shouldn’t be itemized in our recent Set Reviewed article.We’re buffing Sona back to her Archangel reroll glory days, but honestly a lot more has been buffed since then so don’t expect this to be the S-tier reroll you remember—wait, it is S-tier, it’s Sona-tier, and if you give her the right items, it’s Sona-tear. (And if I continue these puns, it’s Sona-tear-able.)

• Anivia Ability Damage: 325/455/650 ⇒ 355/530/750
• Blitzcrank Health: 700 ⇒ 717
• Jhin is now a Longshot
• Jhin AD Ability Damage: 145/215/325 ⇒ 155/235/350
• Jhin really wants to be a reroll carry
• Lulu Mana buff: 20/70 ⇒ 10/55
• Lulu Ability Stun Duration: 2 ⇒ 1
• Shen Health: 700 ⇒ 717
• Sona Ability Heal: 30/40/65/100 ⇒ 40/50/80/110 AP

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UNITS: TIER 2

Bard’s loss-streak into Fast 8/9/ or just reroll, until I bleed out is back!Cho’Gath has never had his time to shine, or chow. So now we’re giving him an additional stacking fantasy hook. Get this Juggernaut a couple Mana/Tank items and get stacking!Be Twisted Fate and Graves and do crimes. These partners’ synergy is now better than ever, so get to shooting cards, dealing bullets, and feeling the love of final patch LP.

• Bard Stage 3 Rerolls on Loss: 1 ⇒ 2
• Cho’Gath Gains 10/15/25/35 permanent max Health per cast.
• Graves Partners in Crime AS: 2% ⇒ 4%
• Rek’Sai Primary Ability Damage: 140/210/315 ⇒ 140/210/335
• Twisted Fate Partners in Crime AP: 10% ⇒ 12%

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UNITS: TIER 3

We’re adding a flat Omnivamp passive to Gwen to allow you to build more damage items like Jeweled Gauntlet and Nashor’s Tooth, while leaving the Bloodthirster at home.Malzahar has been the most overperforming champion in the set the world the entire galaxy. He far outperforms champions not in the set, most house cats, and my emotional support rock (Chip). It’s been about nine too many patches without his nerf, so we’re going extra hard here. While most of us on the team believe this nerf will make him unplayable, only one of us actually cares. C’ya Malz.

• Gwen **  NEW  ** Passive: Gains 15% Omnivamp
• Malzahar Base HP: 650 ⇒ 649
• Milio Primary Ability Damage: 190/285/445 AP ⇒ 215/325/485 AP

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UNITS: TIER 4

Singed is all about being experimental, so we’re returning him to his near-PBE (Public Beta Experiment) power. Yes, we know the E in PBE doesn’t stand for Experiment; everyone logging in to play Space Gods knows it stands for EXCITEMENT!Speaking of experiments, we’re (almost) doubling down on the passive Armor/MR bonus to make them an even better counter-tech for heavy AP or AD lobbies.

• Diana Primary Ability Damage: 125/190/600 ⇒ 140/210/600
• Singed Ability Damage: 8/18/160 ⇒ 13/26/160
• Singed Ability Armor & MR: 20/60/100 ⇒ 35/60/100
• Skarner Passive AR: 10/20/100 ⇒ 15/30/100
• Taric Passive MR: 10/20/100 ⇒ 15/30/100

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UNITS: TIER 5

Ornn is getting a Lore related buff that’ll make him quite a lot stronger.Mel no longer takes a million Mana to give you a radiant item, now it’s just a mellion.Finally with Zaahen being way more accessible, and Aurelion Sol being a bit easier to Unlock, we’ve got some compensation nerfs to keep them true to their accessibility power thresholds.

• Ornn is now also a Freljord unit
• Mel Mana to unlock Radiant Item: 235 ⇒ 215
• Zilean Chronokeeper XP: 1 ⇒ 2
• Aurelion Sol Ability Damage: 525/725 AP ⇒ 475/700 AP
• Zaahen Base HP: 1200 ⇒ 1100
• Zaahen Resists: 80 ⇒ 70
• Zaahen Attack Speed: 1.1 ⇒ 0.9
• Zaahen Ability Damage (AD): 90/135 AD ⇒ 80/120 AD
• Zaahen Ability Damage (AP): 20/30 AP ⇒ 15/25 AP

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AUGMENTS

With the Tactician’s Crown securely landing on the head of none other than SPOILER REDACTED, we can re-add our Prismatic trait access Augments that were previously disabled due to our Unlock changes done in 16.6 making them too easily accessed.And with Zaahen freed from his Augments (errr, Darkin weapon…) we’re safe to remove his trials.

• Bandle Bounty I has been re-enabled
• Walk the True Path I has been re-enabled
• Walk the True Path II has been re-enabled
• Trials of Twilight I has been disabled
• Trials of Twilight II has been disabled

BUG FIXES

• “Hybrid Tank” and “Hybrid Fighter” roles now properly count as Frontline for Adaptive Helm and Radiant Adaptive Helm.
• The Indomitable’s pull is now properly flagged as a Knock Up and will no longer pull CC immune enemies.

CHONCC’S TREASURE HAS BECOME CHONCC’S CHONCCIEST TREASURE

Choncc’s Treasure is getting Chonccier, no, it’s getting Choncciest!

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SYSTEM CHANGES

Choncc. Chonccer. Choncciest.

• New Opening Encounters have been added. Keep your eyes out for: Poppy, No One?, Caitlyn, Lulu, Twisted Fate, Ornn, Neeko, Tahm Kench, Pengaren, and Golden Choncc.
• Choncc Shops: Choncc now has a 2% chance to appear in the shop. These are absolutely critical to gameplay, but have no impact on your board’s power… or do they? No, they definitely do not.
• Or do they?
• No, they do not. But, you can collect enough of them to receive a super secret message…

REVIVAL: FESTIVAL OF BEASTS

It’s our last patch of Lore & Legends, but also our last patch of our Revival, and we’ve got a large balance pass to make sure everything can thrive!

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TRAITS

• Adept Attack Speed Slow Duration: 1.75/3/4.75 ⇒ 1.75/3/4.25
• Divine Durability, True Damage: 25/40/55/70% ⇒ 30/45/55/70%
• Executioner: Execution HP Threshold: 33/66/99% ⇒ 33/55/77%
• Ninja AD, AP: 55/150% ⇒ 60/160%
• Sharpshooter Damage reduction on ricochet: 50/45/40% ⇒ 45/40/35%
• Syphoner Omnivamp for Syphoners: 60/120/145% ⇒ 75/140/170%
• Vanguard Armor: 125/275/450/800 ⇒ 135/300/500/900
• Warlord Bonus Health: 300/450/700/888 ⇒ 350/500/750/900
• Warlord Bonus AP: 30/45/70/88% ⇒ 35/50/75/90%

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UNITS

It’s all buffs.

• Brand Damage 270/425/635 ⇒ 300/470/700
• Elise Mana: 20/75 ⇒ 20/60
• Maokai Base HP: 700 ⇒ 750
• Tristana Cast Attack Speed: 60/65/70% ⇒ 70/75/80%
• Braum Mana: 40/70 ⇒ 40/55
• Janna Bonus AD On Ally Shield Granted: 15/20/25% ⇒ 20/25/35%
• Jarvan IV Mana: 30/85 ⇒ 30/70
• Zed % AD Stolen: 25/30/35% ⇒ 30/35/45%
• Darius Damage: 475/715/1000 ⇒ 525/790/1260
• Kindred Damage 390/585/935 ⇒ 420/630/1010
• Neeko Damage: 160/240/385 ⇒ 170/255/410
• Nautilus Base HP 800 ⇒ 850
• Aurelion Sol Damage 225/350/1000 ⇒ 250/375/1125
• Xayah Damage (AD): 170/290/480 ⇒ 180/305/515
• Kayle Damage: 80/120/360 ⇒ 85/130/385

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