What are the best settings for league of legends?
Many players ask this question every day, and the best way to answer it is through experimentation.
However, some general best practices will help increase your rank.
This article will go over all of the best settings for league of legends in 2021!
You can run LoL on a potato of a computer, it's that resource-efficient, but it doesn't necessarily mean you should put everything on max settings.
When it comes to finding the best settings for League, it's essential to minimize distractions and prioritize high-performance.
Here are the best Video settings for League of Legends below:
Resolution: Your monitor's native resolution.
Window Mode: Full Screen or Borderless (for easy alt-tabbing)
Fullscreen is best to ensure input lag is reduced. Borderless is just as good and allows you to Alt + Tab out of the game easier; unless you start to experience some legginess.
Colorblind mode: Yes
Use relative team colors: Personal Preference.
Regardless of which side your own, ally minions will be blue, and enemy minions will be red. I prefer to have this turned on.
Character Quality: Medium
If you enjoy using skins, you will want to set this to Medium to appreciate their aesthetics.
Environment Quality: Medium
Although subtle, if put on low, the environment will look more jagged, which can be annoying.
Effects Quality: Low
Shadow Quality: Low
Character Inking: Off
Frame Rate Cap: If you run a 60Hz monitor, then put it on 'Uncapped.' Anything above 60Hz, you should run it at your monitor's native refresh rate.
Anti-Aliasing: Off
Wait for Vertical Sync: Off
Unless you have a severe case of screen tearing, you should turn this off since this introduces a lot of input lag.
Accessibility: Find what works for you
Bear in mind that your PC specs and your Monitor play a significant role in how League of Legends looks.
So if you want to improve your overall graphics experience with League, check out our guide on our 5 best monitors for League of Legends.
League of Legends is relatively simple to play, but to master, the game is a whole other story.
Below are some highly recommended keybinds used by advanced and pro players.
Below are some hotkeys that aren't typically known but the average League of Legends player...
Player Attack Move Click Or Player Attack Move: Set to a keybind of your choice.
When setting this keybind up, ensure that you go to Game > Gameplay and turn on 'Attack move on cursor.'
This is a must-have keybind for anyone playing League of Legends, mainly if you use a ranged champion, and is essential if you are an ADC.
This keybind makes kiting much easier to do.
This video by Noxro explains this perfectly:
Center Camera On Champion Or Toggle Camera Lock: Set to a keybind of your choice
This puts the camera back onto your champion immediately.
Great if you are looking elsewhere and need to get back to your champion quickly.
This is especially great if you have 'Champion highlight on camera center' activated as it also highlights your character.
Select Ally 1: F1, Select Ally 2: F2, Select Ally 3: F3, Select Ally 4: F4
If you've ever watched Faker stream on Twitch, you may notice that he constantly switches between his champion and his teammates.
And this is because he has keybinds set to center onto his allies.
The problem with the default keybinds is that there are five champions on your team (including yourself), and only the F1 - F4 keys are bunched together.
If you already have 'Center Camera On Champion' or 'Toggle Camera Lock' set, you won't have any use for F1 to center back to your champion.
It's best to change your first F row (F1 - F4) to bind to your teammates instead of sacrificing F1 to center back to yourself.
The best mouse settings are settings that you feel most comfortable with.
Copying a professional player's mouse settings doesn't mean you will start playing like them.
The best advice for mouse sensitivity is to find a mouse sensitivity that feels natural to you and stick to it.
For example, I play both League of Legends and VALORANT almost daily, and my current mouse sensitivity is:
Doublelift (one of the best ADC's in NA) players on mouse settings which are:
And Faker (considered the GOAT of League of Legends), his mouse settings are:
As you can see, it varies tremendously. For best practice, you should get comfortable with your mouse settings and focus on mouse click accuracy.
One popular method as a warm-up before playing League of Legends is playing osu! to warm up your fingers...
Then going into the 'Practice Tool' and cs'ing without items until you're warm.
When it comes to League of Legends, there are 3 different resolutions to choose from:
You can argue that gaming on League of Legends on an ultra-widescreen would be far superior to the other two, as you will have access to more of the map without having to move your camera.
But is this really the case? Let's explore the different resolutions in more detail below:
1080p is the standard monitor size for League of Legends and is what they use during LCS and Worlds.
For many gamers, it's all you need and may even be better than the bigger screens.
Part of why 1080p is better is that the smaller screen size allows you to move your camera easier.
Due to having a smaller screen real-estate to play around with, you don't have to drag your cursor far to reach the edge of the screen to move your camera.
This may be vital when trying to pay attention during team fights or checking up on your teammates.
On the other hand, 1440p is generally more of a luxury to play on since 1440p is native to 27" monitors and above.
I recently snatched up the Alienware AW2720HF 27" 240Hz gaming monitor, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that it is very different to game on - and in a good way.
When it comes to competitive gaming, bigger tends to be better, especially when reactions are involved.
Playing on a 2560 x 1440 resolution allows you to see more of the map; everything is scaled a little bigger.
It's perfect for a gamer like myself since I have to wear glasses, but it may not affect you much if you have 20/20 vision.
For the most part, 2560 x 1440 might be a little too big since your main focus would be on your champion and what's happening within a certain radius.
You wouldn't necessarily need to see more of the map since you would be checking your mini-map every 3 - 5 seconds anyway.
Fun fact: Most, if not all, pro-level League players play on a resolution of 1920 x 1080.
I would assume it's to practice for competing (since the standard resolution is 1920 x 1080).
A 3440 x 1440 screen resolution is ultra-wide and will definitely take some time to get used to.
Just look at this photo here by Hey Good Rebel:
For the most part, it does give you quite an advantage - being able to see way past what you would usually on a 1920 x 1080 or 2560 x 1440 resolution.
It is so wide that you might even consider this an unfair advantage.
However, how much of an advantage does it actually give you?
And if it was such a significant advantage, why aren't the pros using this screen resolution either?
That is because despite seeing a lot more of the map, the information you gain isn't necessarily different from what you would see on the minimap.
Map awareness comes from instinctively looking at the minimap often, and therefore having extra screen real-estate won't necessarily translate into gaining better information.
A 3440 x 1440 is definitely playable and would even be suitable for the casual LoL player.
But it's unnecessary, and you shouldn't stress too much about needing to upgrade to a 32"+ ultrawide monitor.
Refresh rates are the number of times your screen refreshes to show an image.
In gaming terms, the faster your refresh rate, the less input lag you will have; therefore, your monitor will be more responsive.
When it comes to refresh rates, the three primary refresh rates that come to mind:
Let me explain in more detail below...
If you bought a monitor for the sake of having a monitor without doing any prior research, chances are; you have a 60Hz monitor.
These monitors come in around 24" (which should be the bare minimum for gaming) and are highly affordable.
Any office monitor would most likely be a cheap 60Hz monitor because they get the job done.
For gaming in League of Legends, 60Hz is absolutely fine to play on, and with enough practice, you can definitely reach the top 1% of League players (Challenger).
Just remember - if you do have a 60Hz monitor, be sure to 'Uncap' your FPS, as the higher your FPS, the less input lag you have.
A 144Hz monitor is the minimum recommended refresh rate for any game, especially League of Legends.
It is much faster than your regular 60Hz monitor, and you will feel an immediate difference between gaming on a 60Hz monitor compared to a 144Hz monitor.
It will feel as if your abilities perform faster and are more responsive. It's very subtle but noticeable after gaming on 60Hz for so long.
In addition to the fast refresh rate, most gaming monitors nowadays include a feature known as G-Sync (NVIDIA) or FreeSync (AMD).
This feature allows you to sync your GPU to your native monitor's refresh rate, so if your monitor is running at 144Hz, your game will run at a stable 144 FPS.
This is essential to eliminate any screen tearing that may occur on your screen.
Most, if not all, pro-League of Legends players use a refresh rate of 240Hz (or, at the minimum, 144Hz).
This is because it feels better. A 240Hz refresh rate feels smoother and more responsive.
Upgrading from 144Hz to 240Hz is a night and day difference, and the discrepancy is even more significant if you're going from 60Hz to 240Hz.
For pro-League of Legends players, any incremental gain is worth investing in.
So even though refresh rates aren't a gamechanger, the slight reduction in input lag is worth it.
If you have the extra funds to invest in a monitor, I would highly recommend that you look into buying one that runs at 240Hz.
We recently wrote an article on what the best monitor refresh rates are for gaming, if you want a deeper dive into the topic, be sure to check it out!
The sound settings in LoL are highly dependent on the speakers/headset you are wearing.
For the most part, you can keep everything as default or play around with them since they're personal preferences.
Master Volume: 100
Music Volume: 0
This is a personal preference, but I wouldn't say I like having the music volume on the main menu most of the time.
Announcer Volume: 0
Voice Volume: 50
Sound FX Volume: 50
Ambience Volume: 50
Ping Volume: 50
HUD Scale: 0
Your HUD is still easy to see even when set to 0. It's more important to focus on your champion and what's happening around you, and your HUD can get distracting if too big.
Cursor Scale: 50
Chat Scale: 0 - 50
I would argue that it's better to keep your chat on 0. League is a much better experience when you don't see people flaming or tilting one another.
Minimap Scale: 100
Your minimap is arguably one of the most critical aspects of your game, therefore having it on the maximum size is essential. It makes it easier to see so you can gain information whenever you look at it.
Death Recap Scale: 75 - 100
This is the information box that pops up when you die in-game.
Champion highlight on camera center: Yes
If you have a keybind set on Center Camera On Champion, then this will make seeing your champion during the chaos 10x easier.
Show Attack Range: Personal preference
If you have Attack Move enabled, you can see your champion's attack range whenever you press your hotkey.
If you're a beginner, I recommend doing this until you get a feel for your champion's attack radius.
For more advanced players, you can turn this off.
It's always best to attack when you are at the max range of your attack radius. This is a must-learn skill for any ADC's or Ranged champions.
Ability Cooldown Display: Minutes + Seconds
Show Minimap On Left: Yes - only if you're left-eye dominant
Show [All] Chat (Matched Games): No
Show [Allied] Chat: No
This may be the single best setting to grace League of Legends.
Unfortunately, the game does not have a great track record for having a 'friendly' player base.
From personal experience, you tend to get trolls, tilters, or flamers every 3 - 4 games.
So the best way to stay calm and not get affected by toxic players is to disable your chat.
You can still communicate with your team through pings which are incredibly useful.
And if you lobby with friends, I would recommend using Discord as integration with League of Legends is seamless, and the app is fantastic for gaming.
Turn on everything. This includes a lot of helpful information.
When it comes to finding the best settings for League of Legends, it's vital to prioritize performance over everything else.
Reducing input lag with lower settings will help with reactions and responsive gameplay and is how most professional players play their games.
It is also good to note some key binds and additional gameplay settings that pros frequently take advantage of, like kiting using Attack Move Click.
All of these settings combined will help you climb the League ladders and further improve your gameplay.
If you found a setting that has helped you have a better, more enjoyable League of Legends experience, comment below, we would love to hear from you!
Happy gaming!