Published: 2026-10-19 · Honor of Kings

Honor of Kings Season 16 balance changes: Chano and Ukyo buffed, Flowborn and Umbrosa reworked

Season 16 ("Flow As One") started on the Honor of Kings international server on September 23, 2026, with a balance patch touching seven heroes. As this is our first Honor of Kings patch article, below we cover the season-start changes and briefly recap the September 10 adjustments before them.

Buffs (September 23)

• Chano: Soaring Signal base damage goes from 230 to 300, and its ratio from 140% to 160% physical attack. Lupine Trap also hits harder (380 to 400, and 90% to 100% extra physical attack).
• Da Qiao: The damage over time on Leaping Koi Tide and Severing Surge rises from 75 to 90 (and per-level growth from 25 to 30).
• Ukyo Tachibana: Concealed Sabre Heavenly Hack goes from 580 to 600 (190% to 200% extra physical attack), and Snowfall Slash from 210 to 240 (65% to 75%).

Nerf

Florentino: Triple Threat's base and true damage drop from 130 to 120, and its ratio from 40% to 35% extra physical attack.

Reworks and upgrades

• Flowborn (mage form): The movement speed bonus and the enhanced basic attack's extra damage (60-120 up to 120-240) both rise sharply. Starflow Cascade can now be cast while moving. Arcane Arts deals less direct damage but more absorbed beam damage, and now slows by 25% for 0.75 seconds.
• Umbrosa: Feverish Dance now throws six marking featherblades instead of dealing circular area damage, and its slow is gone. Feathered Tempest now scales with attack speed, and Final Frenzy's movement speed values changed.
• Luara: Skill 1's wall-crossing landing is smoother and adds a new mark on landing.

The previous adjustment (September 10)

Two weeks before the season, Gao Changgong, Luara and Mulan were buffed, while Flowborn's marksman form, Lapulapu and Ying were nerfed. Luara gained the most: her Skill 2 now comes up every 8 seconds and hits for 450 (+140% extra physical attack), and her ultimate cooldown dropped from 60 to 50 seconds.

Our take

In GamsGo's October 13 list, built on HoK Camp ranked data, Luara sits in S tier in the farm lane next to Garo; two buffs in a row made her the safe marksman of the new season. Umbrosa's rework looks like a success too, with an S rank in the clash lane. Chano's buffs lifted him to A tier in the farm lane, and Florentino stays in A tier despite the small nerf. We updated our tier list and added the heroes the site was missing (Luara, Umbrosa, Xuance, Wang Wei and others) for this season.

Honor of Kings international patch notes, September 23 and September 10, 2026 (via HoKStats.gg) · GamsGo S16 tier list with HoK Camp ranked data (October 13, 2026)