Why is Riot changing fighters and juggernauts?
With a large swath of itemization changes, Riot is changing fighters and juggernauts in League of Legends.
Riot Games has been known to update and tweak champion classes in the past, with updates for tanks, mages, assassins, and more. With big changes coming to live servers, why is Riot changing fighters and Juggernauts?
How is Riot changing fighters and juggernauts?
In a
developer blog post, Riot Games talked about all the changes coming to the top lane’s two most prevalent classes. Fighters in League of Legends are skirmish specialists who thrive on mobility and high-skill moments of combat, these are champions like Fiora, Xin Zhao, and Irelia. Juggernauts are slow, immobile bruisers who wield raw stats as they bring death to anybody foolish enough to stay in melee range of them, these are champions like Darius and Yorick.
In the post, Riot says that fighters have begun to feel too tanky, while Juggernauts suffer due to how tanky their more mobile cousins can be with such efficient defensive itemization on offensive champions. The big change is that Sterak’s Gage will no longer be a default buy on lighter and more damage-heavy characters such as Viego or Master Yi.
Some items, like Death’s Dance, are being tweaked to have more defensive possibilities. Riot doesn’t want fighters to lose out on all good defensive itemization options, but they don’t want them taking all the best items from their less mobile juggernaut peers.
Riot compares these changes to the nerfs to
Stridebreaker
early on into the game, where giving juggernauts a low cooldown dash ended up being incredibly unhealthy for the game. Riot changing fighters and juggernauts looks to change that, with fighters getting most of the big changes in terms of itemization.
Riot says it will be keeping an eye on the changes to make sure they reach their intended goal.
Nicholas James
About Nicholas James
Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.
View full profile
Read Also
Esports Betting
Bet Tips and Predictions For Team Vitality vs MKOI LEC Summer Playoffs
Ben Boland
The LEC playoffs are well underway, and we have Team Vitality taking on MKOI in a do-or-die series. Lose here, and your chances of qualifying for Worlds 2026 go up in smoke. With Vitality getting dismantled by G2 Esports in their opening series, it begs the question whether it was just the G2 playoffs magic, or Vitality are not the team we thought they were. Let’s take a look at ...
Esports Betting
LCS Playoffs Round 1 Best Bets: Will C9 Falter?
Ben Boland
The LCS Summer regular season has finally come to a close and six teams will now do battle over the next few weeks with the hope of representing their region at the 2026 League of Legends World Championship. The first round of playoffs is expected to set the tone for what is to be an exciting conclusion to the return of the LCS. Cloud9 and Shopify do battle once again, ...
Esports Betting
The Best LCS Summer Split Week 7 Odds: Upsets On The Horizon?
Ben Boland
The LoL betting world is in for a treat this weekend as the LCS Summer Split regular season enters its final week. Everything is to play for, from the battle for first place to who starts life in the upper bracket. Esports betting sites are unsurprisingly covering the games extensively, and here my tips to bet on for each LCS match this weekend. This is a series that could go ...
League of Legends
LEC Playoffs Round 1 Betting Tips: G2 vs Vitality & Karmine Corp vs GIANTX
Ben Boland
The 2026 LEC Summer Playoffs are finally here in the world of LoL betting. After weeks of regular-season action, the battle to get to Worlds 2026 is heating up. Team Vitality, G2 Esports, GiantX, and Karmine Corp start their playoff run in the upper bracket. Both sets of matches have a lot of betting potential, with some decent value to be found. Here are some of the best bets to ...
League of Legends
Caps Hall of Legends skins prices and dates revealed
Hannan Mundia
Caps is the latest League of Legends player to be inducted into the Hall of Legends, and the LEC player’s dedicated skins have been revealed, including their prices and release dates. The Hall of Legends is Riot Games’ way to honor a handful of the most well-known and celebrated professional players associated with LoL. The first inductee was naturally Faker, while the second was Uzi. The third player is Caps, ...
League of Legends
Five Support Champions To Pick Up in LoL Patch 26.17
Ben Boland
The support meta in League of Legends is one of the most highly discussed roles in the game right now. With Riot doubling down on the roaming support playstyle, we will likely see more champions added to the pool around the time of Worlds 2026, which begins on 15 October. At the time of writing this article, the current patch, 26.17, is being tested on the PBE, with the launch ...
League of Legends
These Are Five Top Lane Champions To Pick Up in League of Legends Patch 26.17
Ben Boland
League of Legends patch 26.17 is just around the corner, and with that patch comes more changes to the role. The days of ADCs in the lane are starting to be a thing of the past, with more bruisers hitting the gym before the launch of 26.17. Many top laners are receiving buffs on the new patch, while powerhouses such as Nasus and Vayne are on the chopping block, making ...
