League of Legends Season 2 2026: All Changes, New Champion, Skins & Items

League of Legends keeps evolving every year, and since the season overhaul in 2025, each new season now feels like its own mini expansion rather than just a reset. Every season comes with a clear theme, fresh mechanics, new content, and major gameplay updates that shake up how the game is played.

Season 2, known as Pandemonium, continues that trend with a wave of changes that are hard to ignore. One of the biggest additions is the introduction of WASD movement into ranked play, something players have been talking about for a long time. Alongside that, the season also brings new items, a brand-new champion, balance updates, and a full set of themed skins.

With so many updates packed into a single season, there’s a lot to keep track of. In this guide, we’ll break down everything coming in Season 2, including gameplay changes, new content, and what it all means for your games going forward.

Upcoming Skins in Season 2

League of Legends Season 2 leans heavily into a darker, chaotic vibe, with the Pandemonium skin line leading the theme. This set focuses on demonic visuals and corrupted designs, giving several champions a much more intense and aggressive look compared to their usual style.

At the same time, Riot is finally giving some attention to champions that haven’t seen new cosmetics in a while. Picks like Quinn and Ivern are expected to receive fresh skins this season, which is something a lot of players have been waiting on for years.

Here’s a full breakdown of the skins confirmed or expected to arrive during Season 2:

• Pandemonium Annie – Epic
• Pandemonium Kindred – Epic
• Prestige Pandemonium Shaco – Prestige
• Demoncursed Vayne – Legendary
• PROJECT: Quinn – Likely Epic
• Rain Shepherd Ivern – Likely Epic
• Breadsticks Irelia – Likely Epic
• Spaghetti alla Vel’Koz – Likely Epic

On the Prestige side, Shaco and LeBlanc are the main focus this season. Veigar was originally expected to receive one as well, but his Prestige skin has been moved to Season 3 instead.

Overall, Season 2 skins mix serious, dark-themed designs with some more creative and fun concepts, giving players a good variety of options depending on what they’re into.

New Champion in Season 2

League of Legends Season 2 will also introduce a brand-new champion, set to release during Act 2. While Riot hasn’t revealed everything yet, it’s already confirmed that this character will be a mid-lane AP assassin, which usually means a fast, high-damage playstyle focused on bursting down targets quickly.

Details about abilities, lore, and visuals are still under wraps for now, but more information is expected to drop as the release window gets closer. Based on past releases, Riot will likely start teasing the champion with previews, trailers, and gameplay reveals leading up to launch.

For now, all signs point to another aggressive mid-lane pick that could shake up the meta, especially for players who enjoy high-skill, carry-focused champions.

WASD Movement Coming to Ranked

One of the biggest gameplay changes in League of Legends Season 2 is the addition of WASD movement to ranked queues. This control option was first introduced in casual modes back in late 2025, giving players time to test it and get comfortable before it officially hits competitive play.

After months of adjustments, WASD controls are now much closer in performance to the traditional point-and-click system. While point-and-click still has a slight edge in win rate, the difference is small enough that both control styles are considered viable going into ranked.

WASD will be enabled in both Solo/Duo and Flex queue starting with Patch 26.9, which launches on April 29, 2026, alongside the start of Season 2: Pandemonium. At the same time, Riot is also adding champion-specific keybinds, allowing you to customize your controls differently for each champion instead of using one setup across all of them.

Because Summoner’s Rift is designed on a diagonal layout, movement can feel a bit awkward at first with default WASD settings. Moving up or down a lane may require pressing two keys at once. To fix this, there’s an option to rotate the movement grid, which aligns your controls more naturally so forward and backward movement feel smoother. It’s a small setting, but it can make a big difference, so it’s worth testing in the Practice Tool before taking it into ranked games.

Season 2 Updates

League of Legends Season 2 is shorter than usual, running for six patches and wrapping up around mid-August 2026. Riot trimmed down the length on purpose to allow for a longer and more content-heavy season later in the year.

A big focus this season is improving how roles feel to play, especially in top and mid lane. Role quests are being adjusted so that roaming or playing more aggressively around the map won’t hurt your progress anymore, although you’ll still need to return to lane at times to keep advancing. Top lane players will gain more experience when joining teamfights, while mid lane is losing its empowered recall and instead gaining a small boost to both AD and AP.

The idea behind these changes is to open up more playstyles. Instead of pushing players into one specific way of playing, Riot is trying to make different approaches more viable depending on the champion you pick. Alongside that, there’s also a push toward more flexible item builds, giving players more options instead of locking them into the same setups every game.

Later in the season, Riot plans to introduce a new system to deal with toxic games. If negative behavior is detected, players will be able to vote to end the match early. In these cases, teammates won’t lose LP, the opposing team will still gain their full LP, and the player causing the issue (along with their premade group) will be penalized further.

On the social side, a Discord integration is being tested in select regions, allowing players to connect their accounts, invite friends more easily, and join parties through shared links. In terms of in-game events, Your Shop is scheduled to return in early May, followed shortly after by the Blue Essence Emporium, giving players more chances to pick up skins and content during the season.

Battle Pass Changes

In League of Legends Season 2, the Battle Pass has been reworked to better fit the shorter duration of the season. Since this season runs for fewer patches, the total grind has been adjusted so players can still complete the pass without needing extra time. Overall, it should feel similar to finishing a normal pass, just within a tighter schedule.

One of the biggest changes is how skins from the pass are handled. Instead of being locked inside the Battle Pass, some non-Prestige skins like Pandemonium Annie and Pandemonium Kindred are now available directly in the in-game store. This gives players the option to buy them outright instead of grinding through the pass.

To replace those rewards, Riot is introducing Fiendish Mystery Skin Loot Orbs into the Battle Pass. These orbs grant a random demon-themed Epic skin when opened, adding a bit more variety and randomness to the rewards. This shift changes the value of the pass slightly, leaning more into loot-based rewards rather than guaranteed skins.

New Items And Runes in Season 2

League of Legends Season 2 is bringing back some familiar runes while also shaking up the item system with new options and a few removals.

On the rune side, two well-known keystones are making a return. Deathfire Touch is back, offering damage-over-time that scales with both Ability Power and Attack Damage, making it especially strong for AP assassins and hybrid-style builds. Stormraider’s Surge is also returning and will take the place of Phase Rush, giving players another way to gain movement speed during fights.

Items are also getting a mix of additions and changes. A new starting item, Doran’s Bow, is being introduced for ranged carries, while Doran’s Helm is aimed at tankier solo lane champions. There’s also a new boots option called Gluttonous Greaves, which focuses on sustain and survivability during fights.

One of the biggest returning items is Hextech Gunblade, bringing back its hybrid AP and AD stats along with an active ability that slows enemies. At the same time, some items are being removed from the game, including Trailblazer and Opportunity, which will no longer be available this season.

Finally, Statikk Shiv is receiving an important update. Its lightning effect will now apply full on-hit effects, making it much stronger on champions that rely on on-hit builds, such as Kayle and Kog’Maw, or any ADC building Rageblade.

Conclusion

Season 2 of League of Legends is shaping up to be one of the biggest updates in recent years. With major gameplay changes like WASD movement in ranked, new items and runes, a fresh champion, and a full lineup of themed skins, there’s a lot here that can completely change how the game feels.

On top of that, system updates like role adjustments, Battle Pass changes, and new features aimed at improving the overall experience show that Riot is trying to push the game in a more flexible and player-focused direction. Whether it’s experimenting with different builds, trying new playstyles, or just enjoying the new content, this season offers something for everyone.

As the season progresses and more updates roll out, it’ll be interesting to see how the meta evolves and which changes have the biggest impact. One thing is clear though, Season 2: Pandemonium is not a small update, and it’s definitely worth jumping in and experiencing it for yourself.