Why Bother Memorizing In-Game Times?

Although there are lots of variables and unknowns in any given game of League of Legends, there are certain constants for which you can prepare. Some of these constants take the form of events indexed to exact (or only slightly variable) times in the game and that's what we're going to be looking at today. In this article, I will go over five times in-game that every League player should know. We’ll go through each item in the list chronologically, using the time that will be displayed on your in-game clock. Additionally, we will go over some of the ramifications of hitting these temporal checkpoints, as well as how you can prepare for when the time comes.

1) 5:00--5:30 - Outer Blast Cones Spawn

This timing was just recently changed in Patch 8.4, and it's taken me a while to adjust. Remembering this timing, however, is especially beneficial when you are in a side lane on the opposite side of the Blast Cone. If you can acquire sufficient pressure in your lane, gain vision of the area and attack to deny the Blast Cone when it spawns.

You can do this without a ward if you have an ability that grants vision, even if it's temporary, such as a Soraka Starcall and an auto-attack. For melee champions, consider walking around to the other side, or using a low opportunity cost dash to get into auto-attack range. If you are on the allied side of the Blast Cone and have pressure, try to have a control ward or sweeping lens available for the river bush, in order to let your jungler use the Blast Cone path for an unseen gank.

2) 5:30-6:30 - Midlaners Hit Level 6

From my tests in the practice tool, it looks to me like the first wave that can grant you level 6 (off of minion waves alone as a solo laner) is the cannon wave that spawns around 5:05. This means that if you have lost no XP and are shoving in hard, you might be able to hit level 6 around 5:30 as a midlaner. In practice, I have observed that midlaners tend to hit level 6 closer to 6:00, but your mileage may vary depending on your rating and such.

It's important to keep up your map awareness around this time (let's say 5:30-6:30) because if one midlaner can get priority, this is often a fantastic time for them to roam and make a play. You'll want to be especially alert and keep up your map awareness when playing in a game with a global ultimate mid-laner such as Galio or Taliyah, who can impact most of the map with ease at this stage. Take special note of these champions in the loading screen or earlier and remember to click on the minimap or use f-keys in order to monitor the lane's state whenever you can.

The mid laner is often the lane I want to keep my eye on the most for level 6, as they often get there first and can capitalize on their powerspike, but it's always worth keeping an eye on the other roles. The top laner can hit level 6 soon after the mid laner, since they both have solo XP but top has a longer lane, and if their TP is up they can definitely pose a real threat as well. You won't have to worry about the jungler or bot lane hitting level 6 until a bit later, and I personally expect the former to hit it around 6:30-7:00 and the latter around 8:30 (although this is a somewhat loose and possibly outdated estimation, so take it with a grain of salt and check for yourself).

3) 10:00 - Minor Runes Come Online and Herald Spawns (9:50)

With the new rune system in Season 8, the 10-minute mark has a lot more to look out for than it did before. There are five minor runes that come online at 10:00: Conditioning, Magical Footwear, Perfect Timing, Transcendence, and Gathering Storm. It's worth noting that Gathering Storm, unlike the other runes, will continue to gain a bonus every 10 minutes, and Transcendence and Conditioning will scale with your CDR and resistances, respectively. Stopwatch also unlocks the possibility for certain plays, such as tower dives, and can also throw a real wrench into an assassination attempt if you're not aware that the enemy has it available; it really pays to be cognizant of this rune choice, no matter who in the game is running it.

Additionally, the Rift Herald Spawns at 9:50, just 10 seconds prior to rune activation. It's often a bit of a gamble for one team to try and force Rift Herald unless they already have some advantage (as is the case for most objectives), so I wouldn't expect this to be a game-changing point in the game most of the time. However, it's definitely worth it to look at the clock and think twice before committing a bunch of resources to the bottom side of the map just before it spawns. Additionally, be aware of the fact that a dead or unavailable jungler doesn't necessarily mean a 50-50 take on the herald, thanks to the burst you get when hitting its eye, so jungler/smite availability isn't necessarily important as it is for dragons and barons.

4) 20:00 - Baron Spawns and Homeguard Activates

Most people know that this is when Baron spawns, but did you know that this is when Homeguard first kicks in too? Things can get tense around this stage in the game, and it's worth bearing in mind that teams can run to the Baron pit a little faster and bounce back more quickly from getting chunked out on the losing end of a siege. At this stage in the game, think twice before sticking around to try and finish off a tower or steal some camps after coming out only slightly ahead in a scuffle on the enemy's side of the map. You've probably found yourself in this position before, going from having a slight edge to getting picked and losing baron. Remember when Homeguard kicks in and avoid throwing the game!

5) 29:00 - Elder Dragon Can Be Activated

This is an interesting one to talk about, since there are actually ranges of times to be considered here. As Riot says, the Elder Dragon can only spawn at 35:00 or later. A nuance that is left unsaid, however, is that the dragon pit needs to be empty in order for the Elder Drake to spawn, and the Elder Dragon's initial spawn time is 6 minutes (the normal respawn time for the other dragons). This means that 29:00 is the time the dragon must die in order for it to spawn at its earliest.

One straightforward consequence of this is that if there is a dragon available, but not taken, then the Elder Dragon will spawn only as many minutes beyond 35:00 as it was left alive beyond 29:00. More interestingly, if the Dragon is killed in between 23:00 and 29:00, then another regular dragon will spawn and delay the Elder's appearance. Suppose, for example, that it is slain at 28:55. Then, another regular dragon will spawn at 34:55, effectively delaying Elder Dragon's earliest possible spawn until 40:55!

Teams wanting to delay the Elder Dragon's arrival would like to kill a dragon as late as they can within the 23:00-29:00 range, and teams wanting to usher in its arrival will want to kill the preceding dragon no earlier than 29:00, but no later than that if they can avoid it. I am personally guilty of not paying too close attention to these ranges, and instead finding out that the next dragon is an Elder by tabbing after I hear its death sound effect, but you and I can do better! Figure out when the Elder can be spawned, and perhaps consider what direction you would like to steer the game in if given the opportunity.

That's All We Have Time for Today!

As I said at the beginning of this article, there are lots of variables and unknowns in any given game of League of Legends, and you can't prepare for everything. My goal is to direct you towards what you can prepare for, right now, and hopefully give you some sense of how to prepare for these in-game events and why it is important. You may find that some of these specific timings will alter or disappear due to changes in the game via patches (we saw a small example of this with the Blast Cones in 8.4), or that they may become trivial and irrelevant due to shifts in understanding of how to approach the game. Lastly, I encourage you to make a list of the times that are relevant for you, as is suited to whatever champion, playstyle, rating, and approach you bring to the game.

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