Two ping families, one of which nobody learns, a summoner spell call almost no player makes, and a budget tied to your Honor level. Learn what every ping does and which ones are worth pressing.
League of Legends Guide
Pings
Talking Without TypingThere are two families of ping and the wheel is only one of them. Regular pings are the two you fire straight off a key (a generic attention ping and a caution ping). Smart pings are the eight on the radial wheel, each carrying a specific message.
Most players live entirely inside the wheel and never learn the two that don't need it, which is backwards. The regular pair is faster and says more.
The regular pings change meaning with what's underneath
Land the generic ping on empty ground and it means look here. On an enemy champion, structure or monster it means focus that. On one of your own structures it means come and defend this. One key, three messages, and the game picks the right one for you.
The caution ping is the same trick inverted. On an enemy it means avoid rather than target, on an ally it means get out of there, and on your own structure it means don't try to defend this one. That last version has no equivalent anywhere else in the interface, and it's the cleanest way to stop three teammates dying under a turret nobody was ever going to save.
Almost everything you ping is transcribed into team chat with your name and champion attached, so a teammate staring at their own lane still gets the message. There's exactly one exception (the generic ping on empty ground), because it could mean anything.
You can ping the interface as well as the map
Hold the modifier and click a health bar, a mana bar, an experience bar or a rune and it broadcasts that information. Scoreboard elements don't need the modifier at all: champion levels, respawn timers and summoner spell status all ping with a plain click.
The summoner spell one is the single highest-value ping habit there is. Clicking an enemy's Flash on the scoreboard tells four other people it's gone (the closest thing solo queue has to a shared clock). Nobody argues with it, everybody understands it instantly, and an enemy carry without Flash is a different champion for the next five minutes.
Granted, there are two conditions on it. You have to have seen the cast, and you have 15 seconds from that moment to make the call. Miss the window and the click does nothing.
There's a second route with no timer at all. The death recap lists the ultimates and summoner spells the enemy used in the fight that killed you, and clicking one there sends the same message with no 15 second limit. Dying is the one time you have a free half minute to make a call, and that's the call.
Pinging your own team's cooldowns on the scoreboard works differently: normally only you and your premade see it. It reaches the whole team in two cases (when the cooldown is into its last half, and for 10 seconds after that ally scores a takedown).
Where a ping lives, and who actually sees it
- A ping placed on the world lasts about two seconds. The same ping on the minimap leaves its splash for five (two and a half times as long), so the minimap is where the longest-lived version of a call lives.
- Most pings only reach a teammate whose camera is within 3,000 units of where you cast them (they see an edge-of-screen arrow and a splash). Pan away and it's gone rather than waiting for them.
- The enemy missing ping is the exception and always shows, wherever it came from. That's why calling a missing enemy from across the map works and calling for help from there mostly doesn't.
- The vision request drops a small persistent marker (it sits for about a minute, or until somebody wards near it) and you only get one at a time. Place it where you want the ward rather than where you're standing.
Your ping budget depends on your Honor level
There's a cap on pings inside a five second window, and it rises with Honor (a couple at the bottom, several at the top). Cross it and you're locked out for a stretch that grows every time you try again during the lockout. A few types also carry their own separate limit on top of the global one, so leaning on one ping runs you dry faster than mixing them.
Read together, the limit is a design statement more than a punishment. People who spam have fewer to spend, and people who use them as information keep the budget they need. Ping before something happens rather than after it and you'll never notice the limit exists.
Which ones are actually worth pressing
The wheel has eight and most players use three. In order around it from the top: retreat, push, enemy vision, on my way, all-in, need vision, assist me and enemy missing, with the caution ping in the middle.
| Ping | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Summoner spell, off the scoreboard | The best one in the game and the least used. One click, and four teammates change how they play for five minutes |
| On my way | Everything good in League happens because two people arrived at the same time, and this is the only ping whose whole job is arranging that |
| Vision requests | The most ignored good ping. It pays off over the next four minutes rather than the next four seconds, which is why nobody reads it |
| All in | The most honest and the most dangerous. It commits somebody else's Flash to your read, so press it when you can see the win rather than when you're hoping for one |
| Assist me | Useful, but badly diluted. Spam it whenever you're uncomfortable and it's background noise by ten minutes, which is when you'll need somebody to believe it |
| Enemy missing | The one everybody knows as the question mark, and the only smart ping that reaches a teammate wherever their camera is. Press it as they leave, not once they've arrived somewhere else |
| Retreat | Underrated, because it's the one call that saves a game rather than winning a fight |
| Push | Underused. Almost every game has a minute where four people are standing around a dead objective and one wave is worth more than anything on the map |
| Enemy vision | Says something no other ping says. It doesn't ask for anything, it just tells four people not to walk there |
Frequently asked questions
How do you ping an enemy's summoner spells?
Click them on the scoreboard (no modifier key needed). You must have seen the cast, though, and you only get 15 seconds. From the death recap there's no time limit.
Why can't my teammate see my ping?
Most pings only reach players whose camera is nearby. The enemy missing ping is the exception and always shows.
Do pings appear in chat?
Nearly all of them, with your name attached. The generic ping on empty ground is the only one that doesn't.
Why am I ping muted?
You crossed the limit for a five second window. The cap scales with your Honor level and the lockout grows if you keep trying.
How long does a ping last?
About two seconds on the world, five on the minimap. Vision markers persist for around a minute.
The short version
Learn the two regular pings, ping enemy summoner spells off the scoreboard, and put your vision requests where the ward should go. Press the enemy missing ping as somebody leaves rather than long after. It's the only one that travels the whole map, and it's worthless late.
For the system that sets your ping budget, our Honor guide covers the levels, and our vision guide covers what to do once somebody answers your ward request.
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