In Riot Games’ ever-popular MOBA, League of Legends, Summoner Spells provide players with unique effects to use alongside their champion skills. Players must choose two Summoner Spells during the champion selection process.
At Summoner Level 9, you will have unlocked each one of these unique skills. Some Summoner Spells see their effectiveness increased based on the player’s in-game champion level, and some have upgrades/variations. If any of this sounds complicated, don’t worry, because our in-depth guide to Summoner Spells in LoL has got you covered!
Summoner Spells’ Table of Contents
Barrier
Barrier is one of the least-used Summoner Spells in LoL. This skill can block burst damage and save you from death in a teamfight. Barrier shields your champion for 105 – 411 damage points for two seconds, depending on your level.
- Range: Selfcast
- Cooldown: 180 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Arena
Barrier unlocks at Summoner Level 4. You can use it while your champion is crowd-controlled, it does not break stealth, and it is unaffected by the Grievous Wounds debuff from Heal.
Cleanse
Cleanse removes nearly all crowd control effects, Summoner Spell debuffs, and disables, except Mark. It also provides 65% Tenacity for three seconds. Cleanse does not break stealth.
- Range: Selfcast
- Cooldown: 210 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Arena
Cleanse is unlocked at Summoner Level 9 and you can’t use it under the effects of Suppression and Stasis. Those who choose this Summoner Spell use it to escape sticky situations such as ganks or to regain movement to finish off a fleeing opponent.
Exhaust
Many middle-lane players use Exhaust on Summoner’s Rift. It slows enemy movement speed by 30% and reduces their damage dealt by 35% for three seconds.
- Range: 650
- Cooldown: 210 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Arena
You’ll unlock Exhaust at Summoner Level 4. This Summoner Spell does break stealth and is often used while attempting an enemy champion takedown.
Flash
Flash is the most popular Summoner Spell in the current LoL meta, and for good reason. This Summoner Spell provides a way to escape potential ganks or close the distance on enemies. When cast, your champion blinks a short distance (400 range) to the cursor location.
- Range: 400
- Cooldown: 300 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz, and Arena
- Not Usable: None
You’ll unlock Flash at Summoner Level 7. You can also use the Hextech Flashtraption Rune in the Inspiration path. This Rune changes Flash into Hexflash if its cooldown is over two seconds.
Activating Hexflash will break stealth and charge for up to 2.5 seconds, increasing its range. The caveat is that if you enter combat with an enemy champion, this action will place Hexflash on a 10-second cooldown.
Ghost
Ghost is one of the first Summoner Spells—it unlocks automatically at level 1. When cast, your champion ignores unit collision and gains bonus movement speed (24% to 48%) based on your level for 15 seconds.
- Range: Selfcast
- Cooldown: 210 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Arena
Ghost does not break stealth and is often used with Flash for high mobility.
Heal
Many League of Legends players use Heal combined with Flash for the Support role. When cast, this Summoner Spell heals your champion and your closest ally for 80 to 318 based on your current level and grants a 30% total movement speed boost for one second.
- Range: 850
- Cooldown: 240 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Arena
If you use Heal on a champion less than 35 seconds after the previous Heal, it will restore 50% less health.
Teleport
Unlocked at Summoner Level 7, Teleport channels for four seconds when used. It removes Homestart and/or Homeguard buffs, then teleports your champion to the targeted ally Turret. It is a widely used Summoner Spell in combination with Flash for maximum mobility gameplay.
- Range: Global
- Cooldown: 360 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift and Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Howling Abyss and Arena
At the 10-minute mark, this Summoner Spell is upgraded to Unleashed Teleport, allowing you to blink to ally minion or ward. It also grants a 50% bonus total movement speed on arrival.
Ignite
Ignite is one of the most-used Summoner Spells in LoL, in combination with Flash. When cast, this spell sets a target enemy champion on fire for five seconds. The enemy champion is revealed and takes 70 to 410 True Damage based on your level.
- Range: 600
- Cooldown: 180 seconds
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Howling Abyss, Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Arena
You’ll unlock Ignite at Summoner Level 9. This spell breaks stealth and debuffs the target with Grievous Wounds for five seconds.
Smite
Smite is a critical pick for those in the Jungle position. It is unlocked at Summoner Level 9 and breaks stealth on use. You must have Smite selected to purchase essential Jungle items like Gustwalker Hatchling, Mosstomper Seedling, or Scorchclaw Pup.
In its base form, Smite deals 600 True Damage to enemy minions and medium/large monsters in the Jungle. Against pets, Smite deals 20 to 160 True Damage based on your champion level.
- Range: 500
- Cooldown: 15 seconds
- Recharge Time: 90 seconds
- Charges: 2
- Usable: Summoner’s Rift and Nexus Blitz
- Not Usable: Howling Abyss and Arena
Players can upgrade this popular Summoner’s Skill to Unleashed Smite by feeding their Jungle pet 20 treats. Unleashed Smite ups the True Damage to 900 and slows the target by 20% for two seconds. Feeding your Jungle pet 40 treats upgrades Smite to Primal Smite, a perfect Summoner’s Spell to get that last hit on Dragons or Baron.
In its final form, Primal Smite deals 1200 True Damage and 600 True Damage to surrounding monsters. It also slows the target by 20% for two seconds and gains a unique passive buff based on your choice of Jungle pet. Lastly, Primal Smite grants a passive that reduces damage taken from Epic monster by 20% if two or more ally champions are within 1300 range.
Mark/Dash
Mark/Dash is exclusive to Howling Abyss, and it’s usually used in ARAM game mode. You’ll throw a snowball, dealing 15 to 100 True Damage based on your champion level. After throwing the snowball, you can cast Dash for the next three seconds. With Dash, you can charge to the target struck by Mark and deal 15 to 100 True Damage on impact. It also reduces the cooldown of Mark by 25%.
- Range: 1600
- Cooldown: 80 seconds
- Usable: Howling Abyss
- Not Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Nexus Blitz, and Arena
Mark/Dash is unlocked at Summoner Level 6 and breaks stealth when used.
Clarity
Unlocked at Summoner Level 6, Clarity is only available in Howling Abyss. This Summoner Spell restores 50% of your Champion’s maximum mana and 25% to all nearby (600 range) allied champions.
- Range: 600
- Cooldown: 240 seconds
- Usable: Howling Abyss
- Not Usable: Summoner’s Rift, Nexus Blitz, and Arena
Players can use Clarity even when crowd-controlled. This Summoner Spell does not break stealth and is best used with mana-hungry champions.
Best Summoner Spell Combos in League
With all the details of each Summoner Spell in League of Legends, you may wonder what the best combination is. First off, it depends on your role in League of Legends. For example, a Jungler has to pick Smite, because this will enable them to purchase a pet to get the full effects/benefits from slaying Jungle monsters.
The best Summoner Spell combos per role in LoL are outlined below.
- Jungler: Smite/Flash
- ADC: Flash/Ignite
- Support Bot Lane: Flash/Heal
- Mid Lane: Exhaust/Flash
- Top Lane: Ghost/Flash
In case you were wondering, Riot Games does not release new Summoner Spells often.
Using Summoner Spells in LoL
With our in-depth guide to LoL Summoner Spells, you should have a good understanding of how these unique abilities function. There’s a wide range of possibilities in front of you, so we recommend testing additional combos and finding the Summoner Spells that work well for your specific playstyle.
It’s crucial that you also remember to use Summoner Spells in LoL with a bit of caution. Instead of just spamming them when they are off cooldown, keep an eye on the situation and use them wisely. For example, make sure to have Smite off cooldown to get the last hit on Baron or a Dragon!
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