Smolder vs Locke
Hard matchup
You are stronger late game. Farm safe and avoid early trades.
Build vs Locke
Build adapted to this matchup
Recommended items for Smolder: Essence Reaver, Black Cleaver, Spear of Shojin, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Rapid Firecannon, Infinity Edge, Hubris, B. F. Sword.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Locke's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Locke's attacks deal additional magic damage On-Hit, increased based on enemy missing Health.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10s | 18s | 10s | – |
| 6 | 8s | 18s | 10s | 2m |
| 9 | 6s | 17s | 10s | 2m |
| 11 | 6s | 16s | 10s | 1m40 |
| 16 | 6s | 14s | 10s | 1m20 |
| 18 | 6s | 14s | 10s | 1m20 |
Playing as Smolder
Tips to maximize your impact
- Last-hit minions with your fireball
Last-hit minions with Super Scorcher Breath (Q): each kill with the spell gives you a Dragon Practice (passive) stack, which empowers your basic spells.
- Poke with your sneeze
Poke with Achooo! (W): the sneeze slows, explodes on champions hit, and each champion hit gives you a Dragon Practice stack.
- Aim for the final tier
Build enough stacks for the final tier of Super Scorcher Breath (Q): it burns its target, and kills a champion who drops below a health threshold.
- Take flight to escape
Escape or reposition with Flap, Flap, Flap (E): you fly over obstacles, bombarding the enemy with the lowest health.
- Call your mom from far away
Cast MMOOOMMMM! (R) to finish or slow from far away: the center of the breath hits harder and slows, and if it hits you, your mom heals you.
Playing against Locke
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Back instead of staying low
Back instead of staying in lane at low health: Silver Stake (passive) adds damage to his autos that grows with your missing health.
- Trade after his E
Trade after Ashen Pursuit (E): it's his only instant movement, and its 10-second cooldown only resets if he gets a takedown.
- During his W, only hit to kill
During Soul Ignition (W), only hit him if you can kill him: at the end, he heals back part of the last damage taken, yours included.
- Stay above his threshold
Marked by Purgatory (R), stay above its threshold: if you have a heal or a shield, use it, because he seals marked enemies who drop below it.
- Contest his artifact
If the Purgatory (R) artifact lands, hold the area where it fell: by picking it up, Locke raises his execute threshold for each sealed champion, for the rest of the game.
Other Smolder matchups
Patch 16.21.1