The S3 Summoners Spells in Detail - League of Legends

A little overview of the different Summoner's Spells in LeagueOfLegends

   The table of the different summoner spells and the account level to unlock them:

Icon Spell Name Clarity Ghost Heal Revive Smite Cleanse Teleport

Account Level after which 

the spell is available

1 1 1 1 1 2 2

 

Icon Spell Name Barrier Exhaust Ignite Clairvoyance Flash

Account Level after which

the spell is available

6 8 8 10 12

The list of spells in detail with their uses:

 The famous Flash (level 12):

This is the flash, the champion teleports and the white light shows Teemo's previous position.

   Effect:
The spell allows instant teleportation over a short distance.
The spell can go through walls.


   The spell is a smartcast:

This means that that you don't left click to confirm the teleportation. Instead, as soon as you press the spell's shortcut the champion will teleport immediately to the position of the cursor, if it is within the spell's range.
Or they will go to the maximum distance of the spell in the chosen direction if the cursor is out of range.

   Why and when to use the spell:
It is the most versatile spell and the most awaited when starting on LeagueOfLegends ;)
It can be used in both defence and offence.

This spell has a very long cooldown.

In defence, this short distance teleportation allows you:
- to avoid a skillshot
- to take advantage of bugs on some of the spells like Alistar's Headbutt
- to create some distance between you and an opponent to avoid being killed by a potential enemy flash, a dash or a spell.
- to escape through a wall when you are being followed

In offence, this allows you:
- to approach a target and make a kill by taking it by surprise
- to go through a wall to cover more distance
- to avoid a skillshot while positioning yourself for a counter attack

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the utility branch, first line. Reduces the cooldown by 15 seconds.

   Some flashes are more difficult such as the one below:
This can be useful for an escape, and if opponents try to follow you there is a good chance their flashes won't work, having the double result of surviving and making your opponent lose their flash.

A difficult position to flash through a wall with the place the cursor must be positioned.

The position of the champion after the flash, which was successful. If the flash fails you will be in practically the same place on the other side of the wall.

 

Clarity (level 1):

The blue glow means that the champion is gaining mana, obviously this has no effect on champions who don't have any.

   Effect:
The spell restores 40% of the total mana and up to 50% with your and your nearby allies' masteries.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This is a spell that allows you to surprise your opponent by making them think that you have no more mana or to restore mana to the whole team. However mana remains a secondary stat, making this summoner's spell less useful than the others.

Careful because some champions don't have any mana, so it doesn't so well ;)

   Bonus from the Masteries:
In the utility branch, first line. Increases the mana restored by 25%, giving you 40% to 50% of your total mana.

 

Ghost (level 1):

The light at the champion's feet shows the movement speed bonus

   Effect:
When used, the spell increases the movement speed by 35% for 10 seconds (27% without the bonus from the masteries).

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell has a lot of uses and can be used just as well in offence as defence.

This spell has quite a decent cooldown for an escape spell.

Unlike Flash, Ghost can be cast under the effect of a silence.

In defence, this speed bonus allows you:
- to avoid the skillshots more easily
- to cover the distance between you and your opponents
- good for escaping with a resistant champion because it is difficult to kill a tank how can move about quickly
- however be careful in the first levels, all the champions are quite weak and the spell won't allow you to escape as well as the flash in the early game!

In offence, this allows you:
- to catch your target over time, even if they try to flash without going through a wall
- to catch fleeing champions, this is excellent in the end game, especially in teamfights
- to push and have a good way of escaping if you are "tanky"

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the offensive branch, first line. Increases the movement speed bonus from 27 to 35%.

 

Heal (level 1):

The green light shows the champions who benefited from the healing spell.

   Effect:
The spell restores 90 to 345 HP or 95 to 435 HP (with the masteries), depending on the level of the champion, to you and your allies.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spells is very useful to bait your opponent, ie. make him believe that he is about to kill you and surprise him with a healing spell at the last minute, or to help an ally by healing them. However you will have to pay attention to spells that reduce the heal, like Ignite for example, you shouldn't wait for the last minute and be forced to use the spell under Ignite as it reduces the heal by half. This is why it is best to be careful and check what spells your opponent has in the early game.

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the defensive branch, first line. The heal provided by the spell is increased by 5 per level.

 

Revive (level 1):

The yellow light at the feet of the champion means that its movement speed is very high for a few seconds.

   Effect:
Allows you to instantly revive and reappear at the Summoner's Platform as well as increasing your movement speed for a few seconds.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell is used very little, it can be combined with a teleport to come back into a teamfight but it is still quite weak. However this spell is good for champions who can teleport on the map, allowing them to straight back into a battle. 

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the utility branch, first line. You gain a HP bonus for 2 minutes.

 

Smite (level 1):

Smite is shown on the user by a yellow mark at their feet as well as a light from the sky that shows the monster targeted.

   Effect:
Allows you to deal high true damage to the jungle monsters.

   Why and when to use the spell:
The objective is to be able to play in the jungle by killing the monsters more easily and gaining experience or gold faster and losing less HP. This spell is also very useful for doing the Dragons/Nashor. The teams usually all have a jungler, so there might be a Smite duel since few champions are able to deal enough damage to rival the Smite.

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the defensive branch, first line. You gain 10 gold from using the Smite.

 

Cleanse (level 2):

A while halo and a light from the sky illustrate the Cleanse.

   Effect:
Allows you to remove controls and debuffs from the champion. It also reduces the duration of future controls by 65% for 3 seconds.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell is very powerful! It requires good knowledge of the game, because some spells have "suppressions" like Warwick or Skarner's ultimate and cannot be Cleansed, however it will work on Taric's stun, for example, of Morgana's cage, an Exhaust or an Ignite! This removes everything immediately, so it can be very useful for surprising your opponents.

Note that Alistar's Headbutt is a bump, so the Cleanse will have no impact. 

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the utility branch, first line. Increases the duration of the bonus from 3 to 4 seconds.

 

Teleport (level 2):

The Teleport is shown on the player by a very visible yellow halo as well as a light from the sky, and flashes on the target.

   Effect:
Allows you to teleport to a ward, a minion or other after 4 seconds.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell is good for surprising your opponent by teleporting behind them to a ward, for example. However they can see the teleport shown by the light even in the fog of war! It is also possible to interrupt the teleportation. 

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the utility branch, first line. Reduces the cast time for teleporting from 4 to 3.5 seconds.

 

It is possible to teleport onto a ward, but the opponent will see the flashes on the target even in the fog of war or in the brush.

 

Barrier (level 6):

A bubble shows that the champion is using the shield.

   Effect:
Provides your champion with a shield that lasts 2 seconds and gives a shield of 115 to 455.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell is good to bait your opponent by activating it at the last moment and forcing your opponent to make a mistake! The shield isn't reduced by an Ignite, unlike the Heal, however remember that the duration of the shield is only 2 seconds. This goes really quickly so you will really have to use it at the right moment! An Ignite lasts 5 seconds so it will continue to deal damage even after the shield has finished if cast at the same time.

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the defensive branch, first line. Increases the value of the shield by 20.

 

Exhaust (level 8):

Exhaust looks like a cage over the target and the user is shown by an orange light on the ground.

   Effect:
Exhaust allows you to reduce the damage and the movement speed of the target by 30% for 2.5 seconds. The attack speed of the target is also reduced by 50%.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell allows you to reduce the damage of champions with a burst. It allows you to reduce the abilities of the champion based on their attack speed. The slow is also very useful to prevent an opponent from escaping.

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the offensive branch, first line. Reduces the armour and magic resistance by 10 for the duration of the Exhaust.

 

Ignite (level 8):

The Ignite is shown on the target by flashes, the true damage is shown in white.

   Effect:
The taget takes true damage every second. Any heals on the target are also reduced by half.

   Why and when to use the spell:
It is an excellent spell to finish off a target and deal heavy damage.

This spell is often used for finishing a target by surprising them with the additional burst from the spell.
This spell is also used when the opponent is about to heal themselves, whether it is with a spell or a summoner's spell. The heal is reduced by half, which could be considered as indirect damage. However this heal reduction only lasts 5 seconds, so you will have to use it at the right moment so that you don't give the target the chance to heal at the end of the Ignite.

The masteries provide a good bonus when the spell is in cooldown.

Since the damage is true damage it goes through resistance and various reductions such as Poppy's passive or Alistar's ultimate.

   Bonus from the Masteries:

 In the offensive branch, first line. When the spell is in cooldown it gives you 5 attack damage and 5 power.

 

Clairvoyance (level 10):

Clairvoyance is shown in an area on the map, a blue sphere shows the Clairvoyance to the opponent. Eyes on the opponent allow you to have vision of them for the duration of the Clairvoyance.

   Effect:
Reveals an area of the map for you team, anywhere, for 5 seconds.

   Why and when to use the spell:
This spell allows you to scout the enemy jungler mainly in the early game. 

In the mid, end game this lets you surprise the enemy team by being able to see their positions. However they will know that they have been detected.

   Bonus from the Masteries:
 In the utility branch, first line. Clairvoyance gives your opponents a debuff and allows you to see them for a few seconds.

---