MLBB Game Update
Mobile Legends enters its 10th anniversary season with major Masha and Bruno revamps, 25 hero adjustments, economy changes and a new Annual Map Change introducing Revealing Wisps, Healing Turtle and Golden Turret.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Season 42 has arrived, bringing one of the game's biggest gameplay updates of 2026 as MLBB celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Released on September 16, Patch 2.2.16 introduces major hero revamps, widespread balance adjustments, changes to the in-match economy and several system improvements designed to reshape how matches are played.
The update is not stopping there.
From September 28 server time, the battlefield itself begins changing again with the launch of the 2026 Annual Map Change, introducing new mechanics around vision, Turtle control and turret economy.
Patch 2.2.16 makes adjustments across a significant portion of the MLBB roster.
The update includes:
The overall direction of the patch places particular attention on underperforming Junglers and EXP Laners while reducing the impact of several heroes that had become increasingly dominant.
| Patch 2.2.16 | Changes |
|---|---|
| Hero Revamps | 2 |
| Buffs | 12 |
| Nerfs | 6 |
| Adjustments | 5 |
| Total Hero Changes | 25 |
Among the most notable buffs are changes to Aulus, Argus, Aldous, Lukas, Alpha, Kagura, Edith, Karina, Kaja, Cici and Kalea.
At the other end of the balance update, heroes including Paquito, Melissa, Miya, Hanabi and Yi Sun-shin receive nerfs aimed at reducing their effectiveness in the current meta.
One of the biggest changes of Season 42 belongs to Masha.
Rather than receiving a simple numerical adjustment, her gameplay has been fundamentally redesigned.
The revamped Masha keeps her iconic three HP bars but introduces a new Feral mechanic built around sustained combat.
Damaging enemies generates Feral, while skill damage can leave a Wound on opponents.
Breaking that Wound with a Basic Attack from the correct direction pushes Masha into her Feral state, empowering her next attacks while granting additional combat bonuses.
The objective is to move Masha away from a playstyle heavily focused on split-pushing and short bursts of damage and toward a more interactive fighter identity built around extended engagements.
Bruno joins Masha as the second major hero revamp of Patch 2.2.16.
The Marksman's mechanics have been reworked as part of Season 42, changing how players manage his signature football-inspired attacks and positioning during fights.
The update aims to modernise Bruno while preserving the high-impact Basic Attack identity that has defined the hero for years.
Both Masha and Bruno also receive visual updates as part of MLBB's 10th anniversary celebrations.
They are joined by several iconic heroes receiving refreshed visuals, including:
The changes combine gameplay updates with a broader visual refresh for several heroes representing different parts of MLBB's global community.
Patch 2.2.16 also targets the speed of matches.
According to the update's design direction, previous battlefield economy values made it difficult for teams falling behind to recover.
Several sources of Gold have therefore been adjusted.
The Base Gold provided by the Horned Lizard, Fire Beetle and Lava Golem has been reduced by 13%, while Minion Gold growth over time has also been slightly lowered.
At the same time, the threshold required for a losing team to receive additional Gold from enemy hero kills has been reduced.
| Economy Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Gold deficit for Team Bounty | 2,000 | 1,500 |
| Selected jungle creep Base Gold | — | -13% |
| Minion Gold growth | Higher | Slightly reduced |
The intention is to reduce excessive snowballing while creating more opportunities for teams behind in Gold to fight their way back into a match.
For competitive MLBB, those changes could have a direct impact on early-game drafting, jungle priorities and how aggressively teams convert small advantages into larger leads.
The next major part of Season 42 arrives on September 28 server time.
MLBB's 2026 Annual Map Change introduces three new battlefield mechanics alongside an updated version of Flying Cloud:
Unlike simple visual changes, several of these mechanics can directly change how teams approach vision, objectives and map pressure.
Revealing Wisps introduce pickable vision objects around the battlefield.
After a hero collects one, the Wisp circles around them for several seconds.
If an enemy hero is hiding within its detection range, the Wisp moves toward their location and reveals them temporarily.
For players, this creates another way to contest hidden information.
For coordinated teams, it could also affect bush control, objective setups, ambushes and how safely opponents can establish vision around important areas of the map.
The Healing Turtle makes one of the game's most important early objectives work very differently.
Defeating the Turtle will no longer provide its traditional shield.
Instead, an allied Turtle appears on the enemy's strongest lane and helps push forward.
Nearby allied heroes recover HP rapidly, while additional Turtle companions assist with pressure against enemy turrets.
That changes the value of Turtle control from primarily an immediate combat advantage into something capable of directly influencing lane pressure and map tempo.
Objective teams may now have to think not only about whether they can secure the Turtle, but also about how they want to use the pressure created afterwards.
Turrets also become more important through the Golden Turret mechanic.
Destroying a Turret now provides significantly more shared Gold to the entire team.
At the same time, Inner Turrets and Base Turrets receive increased HP, making deeper structures harder to break.
The combination creates a new risk-and-reward dynamic.
Early structures become more valuable economically, while pushing into the opponent's base becomes increasingly difficult.
For competitive teams, the change could increase the importance of coordinated side-lane pressure and the timing of objective trades.
Patch 2.2.16 also changes how several Enhanced Basic Attacks interact with structures.
Enhanced Basic Attacks triggered by hero skills can now hit Turrets and, where applicable, activate their HP regeneration effects.
Heroes including Sun, Argus, Gusion, Thamuz, Dyrroth and Masha can benefit from these interactions when attacking structures.
However, Enhanced Basic Attack effects coming from Emblems, Battle Spells and Equipment do not receive the same treatment.
These adjustments may influence which heroes can efficiently pressure structures and how certain fighters or split-pushers are used during the mid and late game.
The update also changes one of MLBB's fundamental control options.
The previous Lowest HP targeting priority is being upgraded to Lowest Effective HP.
Instead of looking only at an enemy's remaining health, the game can now take factors such as Defense and the attacker's Penetration into account when determining which target is realistically easier to eliminate.
Some True Damage-focused heroes, including Karina, Karrie, Lesley and Thamuz, continue to use the traditional Lowest HP logic because defensive values affect their damage differently.
For players relying heavily on target-lock settings, the change could make automatic targeting better reflect real combat situations.
The update arrives alongside MLBB's global 10th Anniversary campaign.
Season 42, titled Starward Decade, includes anniversary events and rewards running throughout September and October.
The Anniversary Celebration Pass gives players access to rewards including the new Nana Epic Skin, Epic Skin Selection rewards and additional anniversary content.
The season also introduces Popol and Kupa's "Flamehide Thane" as the Ranked seasonal skin.
| Anniversary Event | Dates |
|---|---|
| 10th Anniversary Celebration Pass | September 4 – November 1 |
| Anniversary Gala Weekend | September 25 – October 11 |
| Season 42 Patch | September 16 |
| 2026 Annual Map Change | From September 28 |
The celebrations arrive as MLBB passes a decade since launch, with MOONTON reporting more than 1.5 billion installations and over 110 million monthly active users worldwide.
The hero changes alone are enough to influence the competitive meta, but the battlefield adjustments may ultimately have an even larger impact.
Teams now have several new questions to answer.
How valuable does Turtle become when it creates direct lane pressure?
Does additional Turret Gold encourage teams to trade objectives for structures more often?
Can Revealing Wisps reduce the effectiveness of bush-based setups around Lord and Turtle?
And which previously underused heroes can return to professional drafts after the latest buffs?
The answers will develop as professional leagues around the world continue adapting to Season 42.
With MPL, MCT and regional competitions moving toward the M8 World Championship, Patch 2.2.16 could play an important role in defining the meta that teams carry into the final months of the competitive season.
MLTV will continue tracking how Season 42 develops across both Ranked and professional competition, including:
New heroes can enter the meta.
Old strategies can disappear.
And with the battlefield itself changing, Season 42 gives players and professional teams another reason to rethink how MLBB should be played.