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Most players use the term “pet” to refer to the summoned units. However, we can also use it to describe little creatures that come with certain cosmetics. Like with many other MOBAs, pets are a big part of the League of Legends experience. Keep in mind that this game is not as micro-intensive as Dota 2, and the pet system is not as complex, but it can still provide a challenge.
In this League of Legends pets guide, I will talk about all the pets in the game and their categorization.
Key Info Up Front
Pets are summonable units that can aid your champion. Not only do they provide extra offense and might have their own subset of abilities, but they also serve as a meat shield dissuading potential attackers. Pet units are much more common for mages and supports, but you can also see them on other character archetypes.
Pet Categorization
All pets can be placed in three main categories:
- Controllable (as the name implies, can be controlled by the champion that summons them)
- Uncontrollable (can’t be controlled in any way)
- Self-controlled (have their own pattern of behavior)
Controllable
If you want a controllable pet to do something, you need to issue the command yourself. This includes just about everything from moving to attacking. The majority of controllable units work under a leash premise. In other words, they need to stay close to the owner at all times. If they move beyond this range, they are automatically summoned back to the champion with a blink-like spell.
Uncontrollable
Uncontrollable pets can barely be called pets in the traditional sense. These are spirits, turrets, and other entities that provide extra offense or bonuses. While they are still awesome and add to your overall damage potential, they are sometimes unpredictable.
Self-controlled
This is a category of pets that have unique interactions. You might not even activate them unless a certain requirement is met. For example, you might have to attack an opponent for them to take action.
Full pet list
When I say that something is a summonable pet, I refer to units that you create through abilities (compared to cosmetic pets). This is what most players refer to when they use the phrase. The categorization of pets is done based on the champions who summoned them.
Annie (Summon: Tibbers)
Summon: Tibbers is a spell that has a 120/100/80-second cooldown and costs 100 mana. Annie invokes her plush pet Tibbers dealing 150/275/400 plus 75% ability power magic damage in a radius. The summon remains alive for 45 seconds, and you can recast the spell refreshing the pet’s duration.
Aphelios (Sentry)
As the name implies, the Sentry is mainly a detection ability. It has a cooldown from 9 to 6 seconds and costs 10 moonlight plus 60 mana. Sentry provides sight for the next 20 seconds, and if an enemy comes close to it, Sentry attacks it, reducing its duration by 4 seconds. Striking an enemy also makes the sentry targetable. It has 6 health and can easily be destroyed.
Sentry does 31 to 100 damage depending on the champion’s level, adding 40% to 60% AD based on Aphelios’ level plus static 50% AP. The pet benefits from critical strike chance and attack speed.
Azir (multiple abilities)
Azir has the ability to summon Sand Soldiers with several of his abilities. They are initially granted with Arise! The champion can utilize them via Conquering Sands and Shifting Sands, and they have an impact on just about everything that the champion does. These pets can damage opponents, they can dash through enemies, thus slowing them, and Azir can also dash towards the Sand Soldiers.
Bard (Traveler’s Call)
Bard’s passive called Traveler’s Call summons immovable objects called Ancient Chimes and small spirits called Meeps. Ancient Chimes appear in random locations, and Bard can collect them by walking over them. These objects increase the champion’s movement speed for 7 seconds while out of combat. What’s even more important is, Ancient Chimes affect how Meeps work.
Like Chimes, Meeps are automatically summoned. However, the main difference is that they appear around the champion and not at random locations. Each time Bard attacks an opponent, one Meep is consumed. As long as Meep is attached to the basic strike, the attack does extra 30 plus 12 per every 5 Ancient Chimes plus 30% ability power magic damage.
The champion can keep up to 9 Meeps depending on the level. They spawn every 8 to 4 seconds, with the cooldown getting lower based on accumulated Ancient Chimes. Furthermore, accumulation of Chimes improves the effect of Meeps adding slow and radius damage to Bard’s empowered basic hits.
Ekko (multiple abilities)
Ekko creates afterimages of himself through Parallel Convergence and Chronobreak.
When using Parallel Convergence, the champion summons an afterimage of himself that swings a bat, thus creating a device at a target location. This device gives allies sight for 2.5 seconds. This isn’t a pet in its usual sense but is categorized as one.
Chronobreak works under a similar premise. It leaves an image of where Ekko was 4 seconds ago. After activating the ability, Ekko places himself into stasis, after which he will charge to that afterimage.
Elise (multiple abilities)
Elise utilizes Spiderlings for various abilities.
She stores these creatures whenever she uses an ability. Elise can have up to 5 Spiderlings stored at one time. Upon transforming into Spider Form, she releases all the stored Spiderlings so that they can attack nearby enemies.
Elise utilizes a spider summon for another ability called Volatile Spiderling. This one works like a projectile spell where she commands an untragetable pet to suicide on an enemy dealing magic damage.
Hecarim (Onslaught of Shadows)
Another loosely defined pet, Spectral Riders, are summoned when Hecarim casts Onslaught of Shadows.
The champion charges towards a location while summoning 5 Spectral Riders at his flanks. All enemies caught in his wake are damaged for 150/250/350 plus 100% ability power magic damage. During the charge, Hecarim is immune to displacement and reveals all the invisible units along the path for 2.5 seconds.
The “pet” moniker is given to Spectral Riders, although they cannot be moved, damaged, or affected during the charge. Like some other abilities on the list, these entities are more like projectiles with a humanlike embodiment.
Heimderdinger (H-28G Evolution Turret/H-28Q Apex Turret)
H-28G Evolution Turret is an ability that summons a turret of the same name. The champion can stock up to 3 turrets (20 seconds recharge time) and cast them with a 1-second cooldown, 20 mana cost, and 1 turret charge cost. If Heimerdinger summons the 4th turret, the first turret summoned is automatically replaced.
Heimerdinger’s turrets are the basis of his kit. He can place them to secure an area and gain a strategic position. They randomly shoot at a target but can be really annoying in areas without minions or monsters. When the champion gets his ultimate, the turret can be upgraded to H-28Q Apex Turret, gaining a significant damage increase and a minor range increase.
Illaoi (Prophet of an Elder God)
Illaoi’s abilities revolved around summoned tentacles. Her passive called Prophet of an Elder God summons a tentacle every 20 to 7 seconds (reduced with levels) close to terrain features. They are untargetable, for the most part, and become active when Illaoi uses her abilities.
Tentacles receive a bonus to their damage (10/15/20/25/30 percent damage increase) with Tentacle Smash. You can summon extra tentacles for a short duration with the champion’s ultimate, Leap of Faith.
Spirit summoned via Test of Spirit is another entity that can be called a pet. Illaoi can extract the spirit of her target with this ability and then strike it down as if she’s striking the opponent.
Ivern (Daisy!)
Ivern’s ultimate, Daisy!, is much closer to the traditional summoned pet. The spell costs 100 mana and has a 140/130/120-second cooldown. Ivern will call his friend Daisy to help him out. The creature appears 350 units from Ivern, and it lasts 60 seconds. Like Tibbers, you can resummon the pet if the spell is off cooldown, thus refreshing the duration.
Players can control Daisy by sending her to a target location. If you click on Ivern, the pet will follow him. The cool thing about this particular summon is that Daisy gains charges with each auto-attack. Upon reaching 3 stacks, she will send a shockwave in a target direction, making enemies airborne.
Despite sounding like a cool spell, Daisy is notoriously hard to control and is often a hindrance.
Janna (Zephyr)
Zephyr is an ability that passively gives Janna 6/7.5/9/10.5/12 percent movement speed plus 2% movement speed for every 100 ability power. You can also use the ability to send an air elemental, which looks like a bird, at a target opponent.
Air elemental slows the opponent for 3 seconds, reducing his or her movement speed by 24/28/32/36/40 percent plus 6 percent for every 100 ability power. In terms of the damage, the spell does 70/100/130/160/190 plus 50 percent ability power in magic damage.
Kalista (Sentinel)
Sentinel is a two-part ability. The champion passively gains a Sentinel charge every 90/80/70/60/50 seconds, and she can have two of these charges. She can use them to summon Sentinels, who patrol along a certain path, revealing all the enemies as they go.
Ideally, you should save these charges for teamfights so you can send a Sentinel ahead of the group. They are especially great for scouting brushes and will definitely help if the opponents’ team has invisible units.
Kayn (Blade’s Reach)
By using Blade’s Reach, with the Shadow Assassin bonus, the ability’s area is increased by 200 units. It allows the champion to create a living shadow pet that cannot be targeted at a specific position. With this shadow, Kayn can perform Blade’s Reach attack from a distance. Activating the spell removes its cast time.
This is another pet that is classified as a “pet” for purposes of abilities. However, it isn’t a summon in its traditional sense.
LeBlanc (Mirror Image)
Mirror Image has a cooldown of 60 seconds. Whenever the champion’s health reaches a 40% threshold, she will create a clone. As soon as the clone is summoned, both of them turn invisible for 1 second. This is a great way to distract enemies and shuffle between the clone and the character, giving you enough time to juke and escape.
It is worth noting that the clone doesn’t do any damage. So, if it starts hitting an opponent, it will reveal who is the real and who is the fake. The summon lasts for 8 seconds, and as soon as it spawns, it starts running in a 1900-unit direction. If you’re trying to escape, you should follow the clone wherever it goes and split paths at one point, letting enemies chase the fake one.
Lulu (Pix, Faerie Companion)
As the name implies, Pix is a small companion that constantly follows Lulu around. Enemies cannot target it nor interact with it in any other way. When Lulu auto-attacks an enemy, Pix strikes the same opponent with a barrage of 3 missiles.
Every missile does from 5 to 39 magic damage, based on the champion’s level, plus 5% ability power. The projectiles can be blocked by a unit in front of the target enemy.
You can also transfer the fairy to one of your allies. This is a much better use of the spirit, especially if the teammate has high ability power. However, if Pix moves beyond leash distance, it will automatically return to Lulu.
Besides the passive, Pix also interacts with the champion’s other abilities.
Lissandra (Iceborn Subjugation)
Each time a nearby enemy dies within a 1,350 radius, a Frozen Thrall appears from their dead body. The passive only affects champions.
These units are untargetable and invulnerable for the duration. They start with extra movement speed that increases over time while simultaneously slowing all the enemies within 450 radii around them. They live for 4 seconds, during which time they chase nearby visible units, prioritizing champions.
Upon expiration, Frozen Thrall shatters, causing from 120 to 520 magic damage (depending on Lissandra’s level) plus 50 percent ability power magic damage to all opponents caught within a 450 radius. Iceborn Subjugation is great for wrecking chaos during teamfights, and the burst damage is nothing to scoff at.
Malzahar (Void Swarm)
Every time Malzahar casts a spell, he gets a stack of Zz’Rot Swarm, accumulating up to 2 charges. He can use a charge every 8 seconds to summon a Voidling. They last up to 10 seconds and deal 5 to 46 magic damage (depending on level) plus 12/14/16/18/20 magic damage plus 20% ability power plus 40% bonus attack damage.
It is worth noting that these summons dish 50% of the original damage to epic monsters as well as 200% of the original damage to minions debuffed with Malefic Visions. They cost 40/45/50/55/60 mana.
Maokai (Sapling Toss)
Maokai can use this ability to throw a sapling at the target location. Over the next 30 seconds, the pet gives sight over the area. If an enemy champion approaches it, the sapling chases them for 2.5 seconds. Upon reaching the target, it causes heavy magic damage based on the unit’s health. It also slows them down by 35% over 2 seconds.
The great thing about saplings is that they’re much more efficient in the brushes. Placing them here gives you great sight, and they will also last longer (30 seconds plus 2.5% of Maokai’s bonus health). Upon hitting an enemy, they will dish double damage through 3 instances while also revealing the unit.
Saplings are weaker against non-champion units, dealing up to 600 damage to them.
Neeko (Shapesplitter)
Shapesplitter has an active and passive component. Its active component creates a clone of a selected champion (ability gained with Inherent Glamour). Upon casting the spell, both the newly-created clone and Neeko will turn invisible for 0.5 seconds. Both of them also gain 20/25/30/35/40% movement speed buff for 3 seconds.
The clone is mostly used for distraction. It runs in a selection direction for 3 seconds, after which it perishes. Allies cannot interact with the clone in any way. It also cannot be targeted by allies for the first 0.5 seconds of its existence.
Orianna (multiple abilities)
Orianna relies on her ball to cast various spells. The pet has a global cooldown of 0.15 seconds. In other words, this is the limit on how fast the champion can shuffle between her abilities. The ball attaches to the champion as she’s close to it. If she is too far away, the ball will once again return to Orianna automatically, but the champion will incur a global 0.5-second cooldown after that.
Depending on the ability that you’re using, the ball can provide various effects. Command: An attack is a spell that doesn’t magic damage an enemy. Command: Dissonance does AOE damage to enemies while also slowing them down. If allies are within the ball’s radius, they will gain a movement speed buff.
Command: Protect provides passive magic resistance and armor to a unit that it attaches itself to. You can use the active portion of the spell to attack the ball to a target champion. The pet does damage as it travels to the target and gives it an extra shield upon arrival.
Command: Shockwave pulls all the enemies towards the ball, stunning them and dealing magic damage in the process.
Ornn (Call of the Forge God)
Call of the Forge God is a spell with a 140/120/100 cooldown. It summons lava elemental that charges from a position 3,000 units away to Ornn. While moving towards the champion, the lava elemental becomes faster and faster, dealing 125/175/225 plus 20% ability power in magic damage. It also slows down enemies caught in charge for 2 seconds, for a maximum of 40/60/80% movement slow.
The player can recast the ability, after which Ornn charges 300 units in a selected direction. If it hits the elemental, it sends the pet flying. This causes the same amount of damage, also stunning the struck opponent for 1 second. It will also leave brittle debuff.
While charging, the lava elemental also grants vision in an area around it. In that regard, it can be a great opener for teamfights as it will also provide lots of sight in advance.
Shaco (multiple abilities)
Shaco has several abilities that can be regarded as pet summons.
First, he has Jack in the Box that creates an item of the same name. The trap takes two seconds to arm, after which it turns invisible. It lasts for 40 seconds plus 5% ability power. As long as the pet is invisible, you can’t target it. When the trap is sprung, it makes the enemy fearful, causing them to run away at reduced movement speed. After that, Jack in the Box starts hitting the closest nearby enemy unit.
Hallucinate is the second ability within the Shaco kit that creates a pet. Shako briefly turns invisible and blinks in a target direction. Upon becoming revealed, the spell will create a clone that lasts for up to 18 seconds.
The amazing thing about the clone is that, besides being able to attack enemies, it also deals magic damage when it dies. On top of that, it creates 3 Jack in the Box that automatically starts attacking nearby units without charging. Clone scales great into the late game, retaining all the champion’s stats. On the other hand, Jack in the Box can be utilized in various ways. Historically, they were used for some dope exploits.
Shen (Ki Barrier)
This particular passive creates Spirit Blade that affects the champion’s various abilities. Spirit Blade is summoned on the field close to Shen, and he can manipulate the pet to activate his spells. In that sense, it is very similar to Illaoi’s tentacles.
When using Twilight Assault, Shen pulls back Spirit Blade to his location, slowing all the enemies caught in its path for 2 seconds. Upon reaching the champion, his basic attacks are empowered with extra magic damage and attack range.
The empowered strike buff is gained regardless of whether the blade strikes the opponent or not. However, if it affects an opponent, Shen will gain a bonus of 50% attack speed and extra magic damage.
Spirit’s Refuge utilizes the blade by creating a protective barrier around it, within which Shen and his allies block incoming basic strikes. Stand United is a teleporting ability that doesn’t directly use Spirit Blade. Instead, when the champion teleports, the blade teleports together with him, positioning itself between Shen and the nearest enemy.
Yorick (multiple abilities)
Yorick is a summoner who relies on corpses to be effective.
The champion utilizes Last Rites, an empowered strike, to gain Mist Walker’s charges. Upon activating its active component called Awakening, the champion can summon one of these pets from a close-by grave.
You can also gain Mist Walkers from Mourning Mist. This ability marks an enemy champion, forcing them to take extra damage from the pets. While the enemy is debuffed, they will also raise Mist Walkers from nearby unused graves. Mourning Mist also provides other benefits to summons attacking a marked enemy.
Eulogy of the Isles is the last summoning spell that Yorick can use. It is an ability that has a 160/130/100-second cooldown calling forth Maiden of the Mist. This dead entity is surrounded by 2/3/4 Mist Walkers. The pets will remain on the field as long as Yorick or Maiden of the Mist remains alive.
You can recast the spell after 10 seconds. Upon doing so, Maiden of the Misty aggressively pushes the lane with Mist Walker until she dies. This makes it a really potent pushing spell that would allow Yorick to go someplace else as the summons decimate the lane on their own.
Zed (Death Mark)
Like some other champion’s on the list, Zed relies on his summon to maximize their abilities’ potential.
The shadow is initially summoned upon using Death’s Mark. It lasts 9 seconds, and it can replicate Shadow Slash and Razor Shuriken as long as they’re close to each other. When the Death Mark’s target dies, or if it moves 1,950 units away from Zed, the shadow disappears, and the spell becomes inactive.
Damage done by shadow and Zed during the spell duration will detonate the marked target upon expiration of Death’s Mark (65% attack damage plus 25/40/55% magic and physical damage dealt during the spell’s duration).
Shadow Slash also utilizes the shadow. Both of them perform an attack dealing damage to enemies around them. Besides damage, enemies are also slowed for 1.5 seconds. Upon recasting Shadow Slash, the same enemies cannot take damage once again. However, the slow effectiveness is increased with each subsequent cast.
Zed and Shadow can also cast Razor Shuriken together. Each shuriken deals 80/115/150/185/220 plus 110% extra attack damage as physical damage. Lastly, the shadow can also be utilized with Living Shadow. The spell makes the pet dash to a target location. Upon recasting the ability, Zed and the shadow swap places with each other.
Zac (Cell Division)
Whenever Zac takes fatal damage, he enters resurrection mode that lasts 8/7/6/5/4 seconds. The champion immediately heals 50% of his total health, after which he splits into 4 Bloblets. Each one of these Bloblets will have a quarter of that 50% health (in other words, 12.5% health of Zac’s initial health).
After that, the Bloblets will start moving towards the exact spot of Zac’s death. The higher the champion’s level, the faster the body will assemble itself. During these 8/7/6/5/4 seconds, enemies can target Bloblets and destroy them. Depending on how many Bloblets survive at the end of Resurrection, the champion will restore from 12.5% health to 50% health.
During Resurrection cast, a player cannot act. If all 4 Bloblets are destroyed before reaching the corpse, Zac is killed.
Zyra (multiple abilities)
Zyra’s passive ability, called Garden of Thorns, spawns seeds around the champion. Each seed lasts 30 seconds and briefly provides sight around it. You can have up to 8 seeds on the field, and champions can destroy them by simply walking over them.
Besides seeds created with Garden of Thorns, Zyra can create a more powerful version of seed with Rampant Growth. These seeds last a bit longer (60 seconds), and while they can also be destroyed by enemies who step on them, this action will reveal the opponent for 2 seconds.
Deadly Spines is a spell that creates spines at a target location. All enemies within the area will take magic damage when hit. If the ability also hits seeds, it creates Thorn Spitter, a plant pet that remains active for 8 seconds.
Grasping Roots is an ability that creates vines along a line. It causes magic damage to all enemies caught within while also rooting them for a set duration. Like with Deadly Spines, if Grasping Roots hit a seed, they will spawn Vine Lasher, a unit that lives for 8 seconds.
Stranglethorns is the champion’s ultimate, creating a massive thicket in an area that deals magic damage to everyone within the radius. Simultaneously, the spell enrages all the plants within the area.
Wukong (Warrior Trickster)
When casting Warrior Trickster ability, Wukong will dash towards a location, becoming invisible for 1 second. The champion leaves a decoy behind at the champion’s original position. The decoy lasts for 3.25 seconds.
Clone cannot be targeted by allies. It will strike that last target that the champion attacked. The clone benefits from other spells and effects. For example, when you cast Nimbus Strike, it will gain bonus attack speed when the champion hits his mark.
The clone also interacts with Stone Skin, providing extra defense to the champion whenever it strikes an enemy. When you use a Crushing blow, both Wukong and his clone extend their staffs, striking the target opponent.
FAQs
Question: What kind of pets are there in League of Legends?
Answer: The term “pet” is used loosely to refer to various types of summons. This can refer to clones, illusions, secondary units, traps, and even spell effects. General categorization puts them in one of these three groups: controllable, uncontrollable, and self-controllable.
Question: How many champions have pets?
Answer: based on the general categorization, 28 champions have a pet or similar mechanic. These ones can differ significantly in terms of how they work, from Zyra’s plants to Yorick’s Mist Walkers, Illaoi’s tentacles, and Annie’s Tibbers.
Question: Are pets reliable?
Answer: Whether or not a pet is reliable depends on a specific pet. Some of them, like Daisy, are quite a nuisance. Certain pets have awful AI and can pose lots of problems during teamfights. On the other hand, some of them are rather straightforward and can be very useful regardless of the situation.
League of Legends Pets: Conclusion
Like in many other games, pets in League of Legends can be really fun. They add another layer to the game, and certain concepts are simply amazing. Unlike Dota 2, where pets are usually controllable summons, pets in League of Legends can be crucial for various skills and interactions.
Unfortunately, there are also a few bad examples. Some pets can be quite unruly, disrupting your gaming experience.