Quick answer (updated 18 October 2026): The latest MLBB patch on the Original Server is Patch 2.2.16a, released 14 October 2026. It is a hero-only balance hotfix inside Season 42 "Starward Decade": four nerfs (Aulus, Hirara, Eudora, Rafaela) and one buff (Kalea). No new hero, no item changes and no battlefield changes. Aulus loses sustain but keeps his early burst, Hirara's escape skill comes back slower, Eudora's ultimate hits about 10% softer, Rafaela's heals and poke come up less often, and Kalea's third enhanced basic attack more than doubles in damage at level 15.
We keep this page as the running record of the MLBB patch notes: when Moonton ships the next Original Server update, this article is refreshed with the new numbers, so bookmark it rather than chasing a new link every few weeks. Every figure below applies to Patch 2.2.16a (14 October 2026) and was cross-checked line by line between the Liquipedia Patch 2.2.16a page and the mlbbhub 2.2.16a patch notes, which mirror the in-game notes.
Whether you are climbing on your own account, playing a fresh account you picked up for ranked, or deciding what to ban in draft, the five heroes touched here are exactly the ones that decide Mythic lobbies right now. Three of them sit above a 40% ban rate.
What changed in MLBB Patch 2.2.16a?
Patch 2.2.16a is a small follow-up to the big Season 42 launch patch. It only contains one section, Hero Adjustments, covering five heroes:
| Hero | Role | Change | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aulus | Fighter | Nerf (with ult buff) | Less healing and attack speed, stronger early ultimate |
| Hirara | Assassin | Nerf (with Skill 2 buff) | Skill 1 cooldown up 1s, late-game combo hits harder |
| Eudora | Mage | Nerf | Ultimate damage cut at every level |
| Rafaela | Support | Nerf | Skill 1 and Skill 2 cooldowns no longer drop as low |
| Kalea | Support / Fighter | Buff | Much stronger third basic, new speed burst, bigger Tidal Strike bonus |
That is the whole patch. If someone tells you 2.2.16a changed items, emblems or the map, they are mixing it up with Patch 2.2.16 (16 September 2026), which launched the season and carried the Masha and Bruno reworks, the Sanctum Island update and about twenty other hero adjustments.
Why did Aulus get nerfed in 2.2.16a?
Moonton's note is short: "Reduced Aulus's sustainability while retaining his early-to-mid game burst potential." After his Season 42 changes, Aulus was out-sustaining almost everything in the EXP lane and jungle. On the live ranked tracker he still sits at S-tier with a 58.52% win rate and a 43.61% ban rate (mlbbhub, fetched 18 October 2026), so this nerf was expected.
| Skill | Stat | Before | Patch 2.2.16a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive | Attack Speed of Enhanced Basic Attack | 20% (+2% per hero level) | 20% at all levels |
| Passive | Enhanced Basic Attack base damage | 135 (+15 per hero level) | 120 (+12 per hero level) |
| Passive | HP Regen from Enhanced Basic Attacks | 30 (+15% Total Physical Attack) | 15 (+20% Total Physical Attack) |
| Skill 1 | Cooldown | 14–12s | 15s at all levels |
| Ultimate | Base damage, first 4 strikes | 110–270 | 150–230 |
| Ultimate | Base damage, last slash | 330–810 | 450–690 |
| Ultimate | Final hit | — | Reduced foreswing |
What the numbers actually mean:
- Attack speed is the biggest loss. At level 15 the old passive gave 50% attack speed on enhanced basics (20% plus 2% times 15). Now it is a flat 20%. Late-game Aulus hits noticeably slower.
- Enhanced basic damage drops about 17% at level 15 (360 base down to 300).
- The healing change is a break-even trade. The new formula heals less until Aulus has about 300 total Physical Attack, and slightly more after that. Early and mid game he sustains less; a fully built Aulus is roughly where he was.
- The ultimate is front-loaded now. At skill level 1 the last slash goes from 330 to 450 base damage, but at max level it drops from 810 to 690. That is the "retain early burst" part of the note in practice: first-ult kills get easier, late ults get weaker.
- Skill 1 is a flat 15s. He loses the cooldown scaling, so his engage comes up less often as the game goes on.
Verdict: the nerf is not only a late-game change. His passive damage, healing below 300 Physical Attack and Skill 1 cooldown are all worse from the first levels, while his early ultimate is stronger. Aulus is still a top EXP-lane and jungle pick, but he now wants to end games early instead of scaling into a level-15 monster. Our Aulus build guide covers the item route; lean towards the early-damage options after this patch.
What happened to Hirara in Patch 2.2.16a?
Hirara is the most-banned hero in the game right now: 68.65% ban rate, 52.69% win rate, A-tier on mlbbhub. The in-game note explains the target directly:
"Hirara could use her invincibility skill too frequently, making her difficult to deal with. We've reduced how often she can use her skills but slightly increased the burst damage of her full combo in the mid-to-late game." (Patch 2.2.16a note, via Liquipedia)
| Skill | Stat | Before | Patch 2.2.16a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill 1 (Meisen-e) | Cooldown | 9–5.5s | 10–6.5s |
| Skill 2 (Kaerazu) | Damage | 150–255 (+65% Extra Physical Attack) | 165–270 (+42%–70% Extra Physical Attack) |
Read it like this:
- Skill 1 is +1 second at every level. At max rank that is 5.5s to 6.5s, roughly 18% longer between invincibility windows. That is the window you punish her in.
- Skill 2 trades early scaling for late scaling. Its ratio now starts at 42% Extra Physical Attack (down from 65%) and climbs to 70% at max rank, with +15 base damage at both ends. At first rank the +15 base outweighs the lower ratio until she has roughly 65 Extra Physical Attack; past that the early hit is weaker. At max rank it is a straight damage increase, so a farmed Hirara still deletes squishies.
Practical takeaway: she is still worth banning in most Mythic drafts, but she is no longer a near-automatic first ban. If she gets through, the Hirara counter guide still applies; the extra second on Skill 1 makes hard CC after she blows her escape even more reliable.
How much was Eudora's ultimate nerfed?
Moonton: "Eudora was too oppressive in the early to mid game, so we've slightly reduced her Ultimate's damage at all levels." Thunder's Wrath is the only skill touched.
| Ultimate component | Before | Patch 2.2.16a |
|---|---|---|
| Center area damage | 600–1000 (+160% Total Magic Power) | 540–900 (+145% Total Magic Power) |
| Damage outside the center | 300–500 (+100% Total Magic Power) | 270–450 (+90% Total Magic Power) |
| Delayed damage | 330–550 (+110% Magic Power) | 300–500 (+100% Magic Power) |
Base damage is down 10% on the center and outer hits and about 9% on the delayed hit (330–550 to 300–500), and the magic-power ratios drop with it. As a worked example: at max rank with 400 Magic Power, the center hit falls from 1,640 to 1,480 damage, about 10% less. That is often the difference between a one-shot on a marksman with one defensive item and a survivor at a sliver of HP.
Eudora still holds A-tier, 51.22% win rate and a 58.8% ban rate on mlbbhub. Her pick-and-burst pattern in mid lane is unchanged; she just needs one more item or one more basic attack to finish. Compare her against the other mages in our best mid lane heroes for Season 42 before you lock her in.
Why was Rafaela nerfed?
The note: "Rafaela's frequent skill casts provided excessive poke and team utility, so we've increased the cooldowns of Skills 1 and 2 at higher skill levels."
| Skill | Stat | Before | Patch 2.2.16a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill 1 (Light of Retribution) | Cooldown | 5–3s | 5s at all levels |
| Skill 2 (Holy Healing) | Cooldown | 10.5–8.5s | 10.5–9.5s |
This one is bigger than it looks. At max rank Skill 1 went from a 3-second to a 5-second cooldown, so Rafaela now fires her poke about 40% less often in a long fight. Holy Healing at max rank is a second slower too. Her damage and healing values are untouched; only uptime is cut.
She was sitting at S-tier with a 57.92% win rate and a 19.14% ban rate, one of the safest roam picks in solo queue. Expect her to stay strong but stop being the default. Our best support heroes for Season 42 list has alternatives if you were relying on her.
Is Kalea good after the 2.2.16a buff?
Kalea is the only buffed hero, and Moonton is clear about why: "Kalea couldn't effectively threaten the enemy backline on her own and remained heavily reliant on her allies. Therefore, we've increased her solo kill potential."
| Skill | Stat | Before | Patch 2.2.16a |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive (Surge of Life) | Damage of enhanced third basic attack | 70 (+4 per hero level) | 120 (+12 per hero level) |
| Passive (Surge of Life) | New effect | — | +60% Movement Speed for 1s when absorbing the Water Zone |
| Tidal Strike | Damage bonus | 8% of Max HP | 14% of Max HP |
- At level 15 the third enhanced basic goes from 130 to 300 base damage, a 131% increase.
- The 60% movement-speed burst for one second when she absorbs a Water Zone helps her stick to a target after a grab, which was her biggest problem.
- The Tidal Strike bonus nearly doubles (8% to 14% of Max HP), and because it scales from her own HP, tank-item builds benefit most.
Context matters: this is her second consecutive buff (she was also buffed in 2.2.16), and she was still bottom of the ladder at D-tier, 46.75% win rate, 0.2% pick rate on mlbbhub four days after the patch. The tracker shows her win rate up 3.4 points over its 40-day window, an upward trend that lines up with the two buffs, but she remains a niche pick. The full roam build is in our Kalea build guide.
Who should you pick or ban after Patch 2.2.16a?
Here is where the five changed heroes stand on the live tracker, four days into the patch:
| Hero | Tier | Win rate | Pick rate | Ban rate | Our read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aulus | S | 58.52% | 1.08% | 43.61% | Still a priority ban; less sustain and scaling, stronger early ult |
| Hirara | A | 52.69% | 0.56% | 68.65% | Ban if your team lacks hard CC |
| Eudora | A | 51.22% | 1.94% | 58.8% | Still strong, no longer a free one-shot |
| Rafaela | S | 57.92% | 1.26% | 19.14% | Safe pick, slightly less oppressive |
| Kalea | D | 46.75% | 0.2% | 0.5% | Improved, still niche |
Source: mlbbhub individual hero pages (ranked data, the site's default rolling window across all ranks), fetched 18 October 2026 around 00:45 UTC. The window includes some pre-patch games, the data is aggregated by a fan site rather than Moonton, and other trackers and filters will show different numbers. Treat these as a snapshot, not a verdict. Win rates move for a week or two after any hotfix while players adjust. For full draft priorities beyond these five, see our best heroes to ban in Season 42 and the Season 42 tier list.
The community mood is familiar. In an r/MobileLegendsGame thread about Sun's Season 42 change (Sun was adjusted in 2.2.16, not 2.2.16a), one player summed up how a lot of these changes land: "He was never op, he was just annoying." That is the pattern with Hirara and Rafaela in particular: their numbers were not extreme, but how often they could act made them miserable to play against, so Moonton cut uptime rather than raw power.
What was in the previous patch, 2.2.16?
For anyone catching up, Patch 2.2.16 shipped on 16 September 2026 alongside the start of Season 42 "Starward Decade". Per Liquipedia, it included:
- Two hero reworks: Masha and Bruno.
- About twenty further hero adjustments, including changes to Aulus, Argus, Aldous, Lukas, Kalea and Sun, buffs to heroes such as Edith, Karina, Kagura and Kaja, and nerfs to Melissa, Miya, Hanabi, Yi Sun-shin and Paquito.
- Battlefield and system changes, including the Sanctum Island map update. Its new battlefield effects (Revealing Wisps, Healing Turtle, Golden Turret) started with the 2026 Annual Map Change on 28 September (server time), not on launch day.
Patch 2.2.16a is a correction pass on that launch patch: two of its five targets (Aulus and Kalea) were heroes 2.2.16 had just changed.
When is the next MLBB patch?
As of 18 October 2026, Moonton has not confirmed a date for the next Original Server patch, so any exact date you see online is a guess. Based on 2026 so far, Original Server updates have landed roughly every three to six weeks, with letter-suffixed patches like 2.2.16a used for quick balance fixes in between.
One warning: changes you see on the Advanced Server (the test server) are not live and often ship changed or not at all. We only list Original Server changes here, and we will update this page when the next one goes live.
Want to skip the grind this season? Patches shift the meta every few weeks, but a strong account and a solid rank carry over. Start with an account that already has the heroes you want, or get help climbing:
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FAQ
What is the latest MLBB patch? The latest Original Server patch is Patch 2.2.16a, released on 14 October 2026. It is a balance hotfix that nerfs Aulus, Hirara, Eudora and Rafaela and buffs Kalea, inside Season 42 "Starward Decade".
Who got nerfed in MLBB Patch 2.2.16a? Four heroes: Aulus (less attack speed, damage and healing on his passive, longer Skill 1 cooldown), Hirara (Skill 1 cooldown up by one second), Eudora (about 10% less ultimate damage) and Rafaela (longer Skill 1 and Skill 2 cooldowns at higher skill levels).
Did Aulus get buffed or nerfed? Overall nerfed. His ultimate's base damage went up at low skill levels and down at max level, and the final hit's foreswing was reduced, but his passive and Skill 1 lost enough that his late game is clearly weaker.
Is Hirara still worth banning after the nerf? Usually yes. She still had a 68.65% ban rate and a 52.69% win rate on the mlbbhub tracker after the patch. The one-second Skill 1 increase gives you a longer window to lock her down, so teams with reliable hard CC can afford to let her through.
Did Patch 2.2.16a change any items or emblems? No. The patch only contains hero adjustments. This season's battlefield and system changes came with Patch 2.2.16 on 16 September 2026.
Are Advanced Server changes live? No. The Advanced Server is a test environment, and its changes can be altered or dropped before reaching the Original Server. Only Original Server patches like 2.2.16a affect normal and ranked games.
