By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026
the Defender of Tomorrow
Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (9,932 games).
Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow, switches between a hammer and a cannon with Mercury Cannon / Mercury Hammer, so every one of his abilities has two versions. He is played in three roles in the Master+ count — Top most, then jungle, then Mid — his keystones are spread out with Stormraider's Surge ahead, and Youmuu's Ghostblade heads his usual build.
FighterMarksman
Patch 26.18 · Top · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 9,932 games · Preview sample
9,932
Games
Very High
Confidence
Win rate by lane
54.2%Win Rate
Flash
Teleport53.5%Win Rate
Flash
Ignite
This exact page: taken in 8.6% of games·45.5% win rate over 859 games.
When you initiate champion combat, deal 7% extra damage for 3 seconds and gain gold based on damage dealt.
Get some gold back when you purchase Legendary Items.
Upon reaching level 3, gain an Elixir of Avarice. Upon reaching level 6, gain an Elixir of Force. Upon reaching level 9, gain an Elixir of Skill.
+18 Summoner Spell Haste+10 Item Haste
Deal more damage to high health enemy champions.
Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Basic Ability Haste.
First Strike23.7% taken · 46.0% win2,353 games
Grasp of the Undying21.5% taken · 47.7% win2,134 games
Conqueror11.4% taken · 49.1% win1,131 games
Sorcery + Inspiration26.7% taken · 49.0% win2,656 games
Resolve + Inspiration20.5% taken · 47.7% win2,036 gamesInspiration + Precision18.6% taken · 45.7% win1,848 gamesWhich ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Jayce's most common path.
QHammer Stance: Leaps to an enemy dealing physical damage and slowing enemies.
Cooldown 16/14/12/10/8/6s · 40 Mana
WHammer Stance: Passive: Restores Mana per strike.
Cooldown 10s · 40 Mana
EHammer Stance: Deals magic damage to an enemy and knocks them back a short distance.
Cooldown 20/18/16/14/12/10s · 55 Mana
RHammer Stance: Transforms the Mercury Hammer into the Mercury Cannon gaining new abilities and increased range.
Cooldown 6s · No costMax Q first, then W, then E. Take R whenever available (16).
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QTo the Skies! / Shock Blast | Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WLightning Field / Hyper Charge | W | W | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EThundering Blow / Acceleration Gate | E | E | E | E | E | |||||||||||||
| RMercury Cannon / Mercury Hammer | R |
How Jayce performs against enemy top laners
Recommended items by enemy team composition
JayceTop average
102030
102030
102030
Avoid extended fights — its sustain grows with every trade it survives
Close the gap early — it wins at range and at three items — neither before ten minutes
Punish the cooldown — Jayce 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 7/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average
PHextech Capacitor
When Jayce swaps weapons he gains Move Speed for a short duration.
Passive — never cast
QTo the Skies! / Shock Blast
Hammer Stance: Leaps to an enemy dealing physical damage and slowing enemies.Cannon Stance: Fires an orb of electricity that detonates upon hitting an enemy (or reaching the end of its path) dealing physical damage to all enemies hit.
Cost 40 ManaCooldown 16/14/12/10/8/6sRange 600
WLightning Field / Hyper Charge
Hammer Stance: Passive: Restores Mana per strike. Active: Creates a field of lightning damaging nearby enemies for several seconds.Cannon Stance: Gains a burst of energy, increasing Attack Speed to maximum for several attacks.
Cost 40 ManaCooldown 10sRange 285
EThundering Blow / Acceleration Gate
Hammer Stance: Deals magic damage to an enemy and knocks them back a short distance.Cannon Stance: Deploys an Acceleration Gate increasing the Move Speed of all allied champions who pass through it. If Shock Blast is fired through the gate the missile speed, range, and damage will increase.
Cost 55 ManaCooldown 20/18/16/14/12/10sRange 240
RMercury Cannon / Mercury Hammer
Hammer Stance: Transforms the Mercury Hammer into the Mercury Cannon gaining new abilities and increased range. The first attack in this form reduces the target's Armor and Magic Resist.Cannon Stance: Transforms the Mercury Cannon into the Mercury Hammer gaining new abilities and increasing Armor and Magic Resist. The first attack in this form deals additional magic damage.
No costCooldown 6sRange 600
Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Jayce in 6 patches. The latest is patch 26.14, published 2026-07-14.
PHextech Capacitor
RMercury Hammer
Jayce quickly climbed the ranks after our 26.03 adjustments and has stayed at the top of the pack. Additionally, he has become a fairly comfortable blind pick champ due to his Rune flexibility, and is the most picked top laner in higher ranks. Right now he's building like an assassin, but playing like a fighter, which we prefer to the tank Jayce era. These changes should tap down on his speediness and high durability while preserving what makes him fun.
QTo the Skies!
QShock Blast
RCannon Stance: Mercury Cannon
Jayce's build has bounced around a lot over time. He's been a tank, he's been (and currently is) a lethality burst mage, and he's been a fighter. We'd like if Jayce were an AD fighter, caring about both his damage output and durability to stick it out in melee once in a while. He's also still better in the jungle than in the top lane after last patch's nerf, so we're here to re-visit him. Ultimately our goals for Viktor's better half are to give him a viable fighter build and a viable but not overbearing jungle role. To achieve these goals, we're reducing his reliance on bonus AD and shifting power from his poke into his melee damage and follow-up.
QTo the Skies / Shock Blast
Jayce jungle (AKA Jungle Jayce) has become extremely popular and is also much too strong. One of those two things is awesome and the other isn’t. We’d like to retain JJ as a viable option in the jungle, but without him dominating the competition. So we’re delivering a light nerf that’s intended to bring him more in line with other junglers.
QTo the Skies! (Hammer Stance)
QShock Blast (Cannon Stance)
We think Jayce jungle is a bit of a longshot but there's a chance he's got a real player base in this new role, so we're delivering some buffs to make his first clear more comfortable and watching to see how many players are interested.
QShock Blast (Cannon Stance)
Piltover's poster boy hasn't been defending tomorrow very well lately, and has seen little presence in pro play despite the top lane meta being one he should thrive in. To help him out a bit we're going to give him a high skill skewed buff to make his shock blasts all the more... shocking.
WHyper Charge
We've got a pretty straight forward change for Jayce this patch. Last patch when we raised the attack speed cap, we missed increasing his W to match, so we're back to right that wrong.
Riot's data lists 13 looks for Jayce with their own art, the base skin included and 34 chroma variants.
Best ARAM build
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.
| Stat | Jayce | Rank | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base health | 590 | =132nd | 620 |
| Health per level | 109 | =38th | 104 |
| Base armor | 22 | =151st | 30 |
| Armor per level | 5 | =18th | 4.6 |
| Base magic resist | 30 | =110th | 32 |
| Magic resist per level | 1.3 | =93rd | 1.55 |
| Base attack damage | 59 | =86th | 59 |
| Base attack speed | 0.658 | =54th | 0.656 |
| Attack speed per level | 3% | =42nd | 2.5% |
| Move speed | 335 | =74th | 335 |
| Attack range | 125 | =129th | 175 |
| Stat | Level 1 | Per level | Level 18 | Rank at 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 590 | +109 | 2443 | =57th of 173 |
| Mana | 375 | +45 | 1140 | 54th of 145 |
| Armor | 22 | +5 | 107 | 86th 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.
Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow, is a Fighter and Marksman champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 7/10 for difficulty, 8/10 for attack, 4/10 for defense and 3/10 for magic. Jayce spends Mana and has 13 skins with their own art.
Jayce Talis is a brilliant inventor who, along with his friend Viktor, made the first great discoveries in the field of hextech. Celebrated across Piltover, he tries to live up to his reputation as "the Man of Progress," but often struggles with the expectations placed upon him. Because of this, Jayce has begun to see the ways in which his invention has furthered the division between Piltover and Zaun—and armed with his hextech hammer, he stands ready to defend tomorrow.
Published by League of Legends on YouTube, 7 July 2012.
14 years old. League of Legends has been patched since, so watch it for how the kit plays, not for numbers — the rest of this page is written for the current patch.
It plays in YouTube’s own player once you press play. Nothing is downloaded or re-hosted here, and nothing loads from YouTube until then.
