In League of Legends, there are a plethora of unique abilities on unique champions that give the game the essence that makes it so compelling to play. Because there will always be amendments to the game, there will always be the sense that League of Legends is ever-changing. With these changes, there will always be something new coming around every corner that will change things up for the game and its community. While there may be plenty of changes that excite players, there are also some that aren’t as well received. However, despite that feeling, players must learn to adapt to these new changes in order to climb the ranked ladder. Be it a change to a champion or an item, players have learned over time how to take what is thrown at them and adapt to any given patch.

Changes to abilities in particular can be rather interesting, since they are the soul of the game. Sometimes even a small change to an ability can turn a champion from worthless to overpowered. One thing that many players overlook at changes to passive abilities. They are often written off as useless, but that can be far from the truth.

Passive abilities can make a champion completely unique and can totally change the way they are played. They are so different because they are static and sometimes strong enough to act as an extra ability or item, giving the champion a huge buff. And, while all champions may not have the best passive abilities, they can certainly have a big enough impact on the game to make it useful. Even some of the less powerful passives can turn out to be rather opportunistic and can come in handy at just the right time.

In this article, we will go over what passive abilities are, why they can be so strong or weak, and a few champions that have good passives to give some context as to why passives can be so powerful.

What are Passive Abilities?

In League of Legends, (for the most part) each champion is suited with a suite of four active abilities that can be used by clicking a button, six items in their bag for items, and one passive ability that cannot be activated, but is instead triggered by the use of a special action. For example, Zac’s passive cannot be activated with a button, but is triggered upon being killed by an enemy.

Passive abilities are an interesting addition to the game, because it gives each champion a unique advantage that other champions can’t exactly replicate. These abilities are essential to the game because, without them, champions would not be nearly as unique. An example of this would be Kled or Azir’s passives. Kled’s passive is a huge part of his kit. Without it there would be no Skaarl which means that Kled would be an entirely different champion. Then there is Azir’s passive. It may not be integral to his kit, but it brings a huge aspect into the games he is in. These passives can easily turn the tide of a game, be it from ahead or behind, because they add such a powerful aspect to the game.

With that said, how would the game be different without passive abilities from a gameplay perspective? Well, like I said earlier, there are plenty of really good passives that make champions unique and give the game a fresh feel. However, they also are used strategically to help close out games or prolong a fight that, with a unique passive, would allow them to win. A great example of this would be Darius’s passive. With the bleed effect from this ability, Darius can easily turn the tide of a teamfight by simply auto-attacking enemies to stack it. Or maybe even a champion like Gnar, where, upon transformation, he can turn from a damage dealer into an initiating tank that can dive in a crowd control the enemy to win the final fight in a game.

In a game with no passives, the games would most likely drag on far longer than the games we normally play because there would be less interaction in a champion’s kit and less ways to interact with other champions. The more interaction there is in a game, the faster they usually go. League of Legends needs to have these passives so that champions can have enough abilities in their kit to not only survive the game, but to close one out so it doesn’t needlessly go on.

Why Are Passive Abilities So Strong?

Passive abilities, in League of Legends, seem very normal. The fact that we have an extra ability in our kit is something we take for granted and don’t really think about too much. But if you take a step back and look at them in the grand scheme of gaming, it is actually a huge deal.

An example of this would be in a trading card game. In these games, you want to get as many cards into your hand as you can so that you have more ways to win the game. It’s simple, the more cards in your hand the more ways you have to win the game. So, if you start out every game with an extra card in your hand, that is a huge deal. Even if every other player does the same thing, it makes things a bit more evened out, but at the end of the day you still have that extra card to play with that has the potential to win you the game.

League of Legends is no different from this, the fact that players can go into a game with an extra ability is a huge deal. Even if every other champion has it and it seems mundane or unimportant, the fact that there is an extra piece at your disposal that can win you the game is something to really look twice at.

What Are Examples of a Good Passive?

While not every passive ability will blow the enemy out of the water, most of them are strong enough that it will give players a clear advantage in their games. Some players may wonder how to find the difference between a good and bad passive, and there is an answer to it, but most players already have a good grip on what makes a good passive. Most players know that a passive like Taliyah’s isn’t really something to gawk at, whereas a champion like Viego’s passive is insanely strong. Finding powerful passive abilities is really as simple as a quick look into the champion. Yes, there can be intricacies on some champions that make the decision a bit more difficult, but at the end of the day most League of Legends players have enough game experience to weed out the good passives from the bad ones.

This all being said, here are a few examples of champions that have good passives. We will go over a brief description of what the passive does and what makes it so good. Is it important to keep in mind that just because a champion is bad in any given patch does not mean that their passive is bad as well. Any bad champion can have a good passive and any good champion can have a bad passive.

Braum:

Braum is a tanky support that is great at soaking up tons of damage for his team as well as crowd controlling his enemies so that his allies can pick up some easy kills. Braum’s passive, Concussive Blows, allows him to put a stack on enemies that, once first hit by Braum, can be stacked by allies up to four stacks. After the fourth hit on any given enemy, the stacks are consumed, and the enemy is stunned for a brief time.

This ability is clearly very strong since it allows for so much crowd control. The fact that it needs no cooldown, like active abilities, and can be stacked onto multiple enemies at once means that Braum can accel in burst fights. These short fights allow Braum to get the needed stacks on enemies and kill them while they are crowd controlled.

Draven:

One of the most surefire ways to win in League of Legends is to get enough gold to outscale your enemies and get an item advantage to win in teamfights. Draven’s passive, League of Draven, does just that. This passive stores gold after gaining stacks of adoration (by catching axes or killing a minion, monster, or tower) and, upon killing an enemy, gives Draven the stored gold all at once.

This is obviously super strong on paper, but in game it can be a bit difficult to pull off. However, with enough experience on Draven it can be easy to use this passive to its fullest potential. The fact that players can get so much extra gold all at once means that after just a few kills and, with enough adoration stacks, Draven can pull far ahead of his enemy laner and allow him to take over the game with his gold advantage.

Ekko:

A key part of any champion’s kit is mobility, and most ways are good enough for the ability to be decent. However, Ekko is a champion whose passive is far above most other mobility-oriented passives. Ekko’s passive is called Z-Drive Resonance and can be insanely useful when trying to get a kill. This passive works by having Ekko auto-attack an enemy champion up to three times, each time creating a stack. After the three stacks are put onto one champion they are consumed, dealing bonus magic damage to the enemy as well as granting Ekko a large amount of movement speed for a short time.

This ability allows Ekko to dive into 1v1 fights or make assassination plays on enemy champions and still be able to make it out alive. The fact that it gives so much movement speed means that he can also make all sorts of cool plays and do unique tricks with his kit to really make this passive shine. Movement speed on any champion gives them a huge advantage for chasing down enemies or escaping a sticky situation, but by tacking on the burst damage, this ability certainly is nothing to look down on.

Sure, not every champion has an amazing passive, but most of them are good enough to give players an advantage in any given game. It is important to understand a given champion’s passive, by understanding these passives it can give players a huge lead on the champion they are playing or it can allow players to have a better understanding of how to beat enemy champions. Passives are powerful tools that really need the attention they deserve. So, the next time you play a champion, new or old alike, be sure to look twice at their passive ability and really evaluate its full potential.