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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Hwei Build and Runes — Mid and Bot Lane · Patch 26.20

the Visionary

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (3,317 games).

Hwei, the Visionary, paints with three subjects — Disaster, Serenity and Torment — each holding three spells of its own, so his kit is nine spells plus Spiraling Despair. Master+ players split him between Mid and the bot lane, chose Arcane Comet most, and began their item paths on Blackfire Torch.

MageSupport

Patch 26.18 · Mid · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 3,317 games · Preview sample

League of LegendsPatch 26.18MidRanked Solo/DuoMaster+EUW · KR · NA3,317 gamesPreview sample

Role snapshot (Mid)

ATier

Win Rate: 50.9%
Pick Rate: 5.1%
Ban Rate: 1.0%

3,317

Games

High

Confidence

Win rate by lane

Mid49.3% · 1,775 games
Bot52.4% · 1,232 games

Most common path

123 games

44.7%Win Rate

Start

Flash

Teleport

Highest win rate path

85 games

63.5%Win Rate

Start

Flash

Teleport

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 17.5% of games·48.9% win rate over 581 games.

Primary

Sorcery

Arcane Comet

Damaging a champion with an ability hurls a damaging comet at their location.

Manaflow Band

Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana. After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.

Transcendence

Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:Level 5: +5 Ability Haste Level 8: +5 Ability Haste Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.

Scorch

Your first damaging ability hit every 10s burns champions.

Secondary

Precision

Cut Down

Deal more damage to high health enemy champions.

Legend: Haste

Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Basic Ability Haste.

Shards

Attack Speed
Adaptive Force
Health Scaling

Other keystones taken

Deathfire Touch16.4% taken · 47.7% win545 games
Summon Aery7.8% taken · 57.5% win259 games
Stormraider's Surge3.9% taken · 51.9% win129 games

Tree pairs

Sorcery + Precision78.8% taken · 51.2% win2,615 games
Sorcery + Inspiration9.8% taken · 49.7% win324 games
Sorcery + Resolve5.6% taken · 48.1% win185 games

Skill Order

Which ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Hwei's most common path.

Subject: Disaster

Hwei envisions a series of disasters, allowing him to paint a devastating blow.

Cooldown 10/9/8/7/6s · 80/90/100/110/120 Mana

Subject: Serenity

Hwei envisions a series of serenities, allowing him to paint invigorating settings.

Cooldown 18/17.5/17/16.5/16s · 90/95/100/105/110 Mana

Subject: Torment

Hwei envisions a series of torments, allowing him to paint controlling visages.

Cooldown 12/11.5/11/10.5/10s · 50/55/60/65/70 Mana

Spiraling Despair

Hwei paints a vision of pure despair.

Cooldown 120/100/80s · 100 Mana

Max Order

QEW

Max Q first, then E, then W. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).

Level-up Order

QSubject: Disaster
WSubject: Serenity
ESubject: Torment
RSpiraling Despair

Ability	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
QSubject: Disaster	Q			Q	Q		Q		Q
WSubject: Serenity			W											W	W		W	W
ESubject: Torment		E						E		E		E	E
RSpiraling Despair						R					R					R

Matchup map (Mid)

How Hwei performs against enemy mid laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Hwei's win rate

≥ 60%Very favorable

55 – 60%Favorable

50 – 55%Even

45 – 50%Unfavorable

40 – 45%Hard

< 40%Very hard

Conditional build matrix

Recommended items by enemy team composition

Master+ · Patch 26.18

Mythic / CoreFirst major item

Core 2Second item

Core 3Third item

BootsBoot slot

SituationalPick as needed

Scaling — minute 10–30

HweiMid average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Hwei

Dodge the primary — its rotation is one skillshot; sidestep it and the rest is chip
Track the roam — it is strongest where the enemy jungler already is
Punish the cooldown — Hwei is exposed while its rotation is down
Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one
Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 9/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average

Ability details

P
Signature of the Visionary
Hwei primes enemy champions he damages with his abilities for his signature finishing touch.Hitting an enemy with a second damaging spell completes his signature, leaving it beneath them. The signature detonates after a short delay, dealing magic damage to all enemies in range.
Passive — never cast
Q
Subject: Disaster
Hwei envisions a series of disasters, allowing him to paint a devastating blow.This ability replaces Hwei's abilities with damaging abilities: Devastating Fire, Severing Bolt, and Molten Fissure.
Cost 80/90/100/110/120 ManaCooldown 10/9/8/7/6sRange 0
W
Subject: Serenity
Hwei envisions a series of serenities, allowing him to paint invigorating settings.This ability replaces Hwei's abilities with utility abilities: Fleeting Current, Pool of Reflection, and Stirring Lights.
Cost 90/95/100/105/110 ManaCooldown 18/17.5/17/16.5/16sRange 0
E
Subject: Torment
Hwei envisions a series of torments, allowing him to paint controlling visages.This ability replaces Hwei's abilities with crowd control abilities: Grim Visage, Gaze of the Abyss, and Crushing Maw.
Cost 50/55/60/65/70 ManaCooldown 12/11.5/11/10.5/10sRange 0
R
Spiraling Despair
Hwei paints a vision of pure despair. The first enemy champion struck becomes the center of an expanding painting that slows and damages nearby enemies. The vision explodes after reaching its maximum size or when the champion dies.
Cost 100 ManaCooldown 120/100/80sRange 1300

Hwei balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Hwei in 7 patches. The latest is patch 26.12, published 2026-06-09.

Patch 26.122026-06-09
QSubject: Disaster
- QQ Damage50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+70% AP) (+3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7% Target Max HP)to50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+80% AP) (+3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7% Target Max HP)
- QW Damage60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+25% AP), increased to up to 120 / 201.875 / 302.5 / 421.875 / 560 (+50 / 59.375 / 68.75 / 78.125 / 87.5% AP)to60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+30% AP), increased to up to 120 / 201.875 / 302.5 / 421.875 / 560 (+60 / 71.25 / 82.5 / 93.75 / 105% AP)
- QE Slow30%to35%
ESubject: Torment
- Cooldown13 / 12.5 / 12 / 11.5 / 11sto12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10s
Why, in Riot's words
Hwei's 26.08 changes to how his ability slows stack and interact with other sources of slows had a larger negative impact than expected. While we had put in a compensation buff along with that change, it's clear after a few patches that he has ended up worse off from the change, so we are giving him some power spread between his Q and E to keep all his abilities feeling relevant.
Patch 26.82026-04-14
PSignature of the Visionary
- Base Damage35 - 230 (Levels 1 - 18)to40 - 285 (Levels 1 - 18)
- Comboing Slows: Slows from Hwei's abilities now stack with diminishing values.
- Bugfix: Slows from Hwei's QE and R abilities no longer stack with slows from other champions / items.
Why, in Riot's words
Hwei has remained on the weaker side since the nerfs to his waveclear last year, and we are fixing a bug that we expect to be a further minor nerf. We still believe those waveclear nerfs to be correct as we want Hwei League's coolest combo mage, not just a walking waveclear machine. Therefore, we’re buffing his combo casting output up through his passive.
Patch 26.42026-02-18
WW - Pool of Reflection
- Maximum Shield Value100 / 125 / 150 / 175 / 200to100 / 140 / 180 / 220 / 260
- Ally Shield Mod75%to85%
RSpiraling Despair
- Cooldown140 / 115 / 80to120 / 100 / 80
Why, in Riot's words
After Hwei's adjustments late last year, he's a little weaker than he ought to be. We don't want to buff his wave clear back up as that was the original problem he had, so instead we want to reward him for using his whole toolkit and coordinating with his team.
Patch 25.232025-11-18
QE - Molten Fissure
- Hit Damage20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+ 30% AP)to20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 (+ 30% AP)
- Damage over time50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+ 50% AP)to50 / 87.5 / 125 / 162.5 / 200 (+ 60% AP)
- Total Damage70 / 140 / 210 / 280 / 350 (+ 80% AP)to70 / 122.5 / 175 / 227.5 / 280 (+ 90% AP)
Why, in Riot's words
Hwei's a well-performing mid laner who has low-quality gameplay when he can simply throw out Q-E and clear waves with little effort. We'd like to weaken his access to non-committal wave clear by nerfing that output. As the intended rank 5 magnitude would mark an over-nerf, we're partially compensating him with an AP ratio buff. These changes will still result in a net reduction in power and should open up more room for laning phase interactivity.
Patch 25.182025-09-09
PSignature of the Visionary
- AP Ratio30%to35%
WQ - Serenity: Fleeting Current
- Base Bonus Movement Speed20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30%to30 / 32.5 / 35 / 37.5 / 40%
- Bonus Movement Speed AP Ratio+2% per 100 APto+3% per 100 AP
ESubject: Torment
- EQ - Grim Visage AP Ratio60%to65%
- EW - Gaze of the Abyss AP Ratio60%to65%
- EE - Crushing Maw AP Ratio60%to65%
Why, in Riot's words
Hwei has been producing fine art, but we've seen some player feedback saying that he struggles to find footing, partially due to his strength waning over gametime, which we agree with. To fix this we're buffing his AP ratios to give his art more impact as he gets gold, and giving him some higher-mastery skewed buffs that will help his WQ feel smoother to use.
Patch 25.082025-04-15
PSignature of the Visionary
- Damage30-180 (based on level) (+ 30% AP)to35-230 (based on level) (+ 30% AP)
RSpiraling Despair
- Explosion Damage200 / 300 / 400 (+ 80% AP)to200 / 325 / 450 (+ 80% AP)
Why, in Riot's words
Hwei could use a bit of a touch up relative to the rest of the mage roster. His early game is strong and in a good spot, but his late game power leaves a bit to be desired to be a true carry threat. Giving him a bit more of a punch to push more of those games over the line.
Patch 25.042025-02-19
PSignature of the Visionary
- Damage35–180 (based on level) (+35% AP)to35–180 (based on level) (+30% AP)
QW - Severing Bolt
- Damage80/100/120/140/160 (+25% AP)to60/85/110/135/160 (+25% AP)
WE - Stirring Lights
- Damage25/35/45/55/65 (+20% AP)to20/30/40/50/60 (+15% AP)
Why, in Riot's words
Hwei's currently painting L's for his opponents, especially when it's a higher skilled player holding the brush. As a champion that benefits from his flexibility to adapt to all situations we're looking to reduce how well he can optimize his laning phase and other tools that better players typically use.

Hwei skins (4)

Riot's data lists 4 looks for Hwei with their own art, the base skin included and 18 chroma variants.

ARAM performance

EstimateB

Win Rate: 50.0%; ▲ 0.5%
Pick Rate: 4.0%; ▼ 0.8%
Ban Rate: 1.4%; ▲ 0.2%

Damage dealt: 98.8%
Damage taken: 93.2%
Healing: 105.7%
Shielding: 107.9%
Ability Haste: +0

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

26.1951.7% over 1,007 games+0.4
26.1850.5% over 1,775 games-0.1
26.1751.0% over 527 games · small sample—

Hwei's base stats against all 173 champions

Hwei's base attack speed of 0.69 is the 15th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 4 others).

Stat	Hwei	Rank	Median
Base health	580	=141st	620
Health per level	109	=38th	104
Base armor	21	=158th	30
Armor per level	4.7	=42nd	4.6
Base magic resist	30	=110th	32
Magic resist per level	1.3	=93rd	1.55
Base attack damage	54	=138th	59
Base attack speed	0.69	=15th	0.656
Attack speed per level	2.5%	=75th	2.5%
Move speed	330	=117th	335
Attack range	550	=9th	175

Hwei at level 1 and level 18

Hwei reaches 2433 health at level 18 — 580 at level 1 plus 17 × 109, the 64th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 1.
Hwei reaches 990 mana at level 18 — 480 at level 1 plus 17 × 30, the 43rd-lowest of 145 mana users on patch 26.20.
Hwei reaches 100.9 armor at level 18 — 21 at level 1 plus 17 × 4.7, the 51st-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 3.
Hwei reaches 52.1 magic resist at level 18 — 30 at level 1 plus 17 × 1.3, the 34th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 43.

Stat	Level 1	Per level	Level 18	Rank at 18
Health	580	+109	2433	=64th of 173
Mana	480	+30	990	103rd of 145
Armor	21	+4.7	100.9	=120th of 173
Magic resist	30	+1.3	52.1	=97th of 173

Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.

Riot's tips for Hwei

Playing Hwei

Calm down, breathe, and focus.
Each stroke requires precision and intention.

Playing against Hwei

Hwei needs to predict your positioning and take time to cast, catch him by surprise.
Hwei's lightning is deadly but slow; it deals more damage when you are alone or unable to move.
After Hwei paints a Torment spell he is vulnerable to being rushed down.

Quick answers about Hwei

What class is Hwei?: Riot classes Hwei as Mage and Support. This site files the champion under Mid.
How hard is Hwei to play?: Riot rates Hwei's difficulty 9 out of 10.
What resource does Hwei use?: Hwei's abilities spend Mana.
What is Hwei's attack range?: 550 units — the 9th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 36 others).
What are Hwei's abilities?: Passive — Signature of the Visionary, Q — Subject: Disaster, W — Subject: Serenity, E — Subject: Torment and R — Spiraling Despair.
How many skins does Hwei have?: Riot's data lists 4 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 18 chroma variants.
How much health does Hwei have at level 18?: 2433 — 580 at level 1 plus 17 × 109 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Hwei's ultimate cooldown?: Spiraling Despair (R): 120/100/80 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Hwei?: Patch 26.12, published 9 June 2026 — the latest of 7 patches that change Hwei in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Hwei at a glance

Hwei, the Visionary, is a Mage and Support champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 9/10 for difficulty, 7/10 for attack, 1/10 for defense and 8/10 for magic. Hwei spends Mana and has 4 skins with their own art. Hwei's base attack speed of 0.69 is the 15th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 4 others).

Attack7/10
Defense1/10
Magic8/10
Difficulty9/10

Hwei's story

Hwei is a brooding painter who creates brilliant art in order to confront Ionia's criminals and comfort their victims. Beneath his melancholy roils a torn, emotional mind—haunted by both the vibrant visions of his imagination and the gruesome memories of his temple's massacre. Hwei seeks to understand this light and dark, which drives him inevitably toward the artist who unraveled him. With paintbrush and palette, Hwei shapes endless possibilities as he draws ever closer to earning closure or embracing despair.

— Riot Games, Data Dragon 16.20.1. League of Legends Universe

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Methodology

Data window: Preview sample — a one-time snapshot of 65,406 ranked games (Master+, EUW/KR/NA, patch 26.18), counted by GamGem while our Riot production key is under review. Figures will update daily once it is approved. Counted 26–27 Sept 2026; patches 26.18 (35,477) · 26.19 (18,580) · 26.17 (11,048) · 26.16 (293) · 26.15 (8); by server EUW 22,382 · KR 21,922 · NA 21,065 · EUNE 20 · TR 17. 642 games without a result — remakes ended by vote in their first minutes, and games recorded with no winner — were not counted.
Rank aggregation: Master, Grandmaster and Challenger, pooled — the three ladders the count read its players from. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment: A champion is filed under every lane that holds at least a tenth of its counted games — the position the match itself reports, not the champion’s class. Its headline win rate is across all of them; each lane’s own win rate and games are counted too, and a lane’s tier list ranks by them.
Counters: The two champions in the same position on opposite teams, over that pairing’s own counted games — ranked on the edge pulled toward zero by its sample size, printed raw.
Minimum sample: None — no figure is hidden for being thin. Every rate prints its games, and the confidence band is its 95% margin: Very High within ±1.5 points, High ±2.5, Moderate ±3.1 (1,000 games), Low wider.
Why a build is not a cause: An item is counted when the match ENDS with it, so late items show long games and an item bought when already ahead shows games that were being won. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying the item caused the win.
Where the numbers come from: Names, classes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates, builds, keystones, spells and matchups are counted by GamGem from Riot's ranked match records. An estimate, not a count: this panel is not in the preview sample, and is labelled so.