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Pet is a term that refers to entities evoked through summoning spells but can also refer to items that go with certain skins. When talking about pets as summons, these creatures are often tricky to control. Not only do they require good micro skills, but AI can often cause issues for players. League of Legends is especially notorious for this, as its pets can often wander around aimlessly.
Regardless of their flaws, pets are an important component of LoL but also other MOBAs. In this article, I will review all League of Legends pets, including both summons and cosmetics.
Key Info Up Front
The term “pets” refers to summonable pets and cosmetic pets. Like with all MOBAs, summonable pets play a major part in the game dynamic. According to the general classification, “pet” is also utilized for clones, illusions, and traps. As for cosmetic items, they are meant to change how the champion looks on the battlefield by giving them a fluffy, fun companion.
Summonable pets
Traditional pets
Traditional pets are a category of summons that work like all other summons in RPGs and MOBAs. You call them to the field, and you can issue commands. The number of commands will vary depending on a specific pet; some of them are notorious for being hard to control.
Overall, pets in League of Legends are much worse than pets in Dota 2. However, the developers have somewhat remedied this issue by creating numerous creative concepts that cannot be seen in other games. Good examples of this are Orianna’s ball and Zyra’s plants.
Annie
Annie can transform her fluffy bear toy into a powerful monstrosity called Tibbers. The pet does damage within the summon area and continues to pummel the nearest opponent. Tibbers does nice damage and can serve as a meat shield for the champion. However, it can be quite unreliable.
Yorick
Yorick’s second ability, called Last Rites, adds damage to his strikes and creates a grave each time he kills a minion, monster, or champion. These graves can, later on, be utilized to summon zombies called Mist Walkers. They are a crucial part of the champion’s kit and add lots of offense.
Besides weak Walkers, Yorick can also call upon the power of Maiden of the Mist. This is a much more powerful entity that is amazing for pushing the lanes. Maiden of the Mist is surrounded by Mist Walkers, and together, they can wreak havoc on the field.
Elise
The champion’s passive allows her to store Spiderling charges. When Elise uses her ultimate ability to turn into a giant spider, this will also release all the stored Spiderlings. The number of creatures correlates with the number of charges. These pets can be quite annoying and can provide the champion that extra burst of damage to take down a nearby enemy champion.
Heimerdinger
Heimerdinger has amazing control in the lane by using H-28G Evolution Turret. These static defenses can be deployed in brushes and other areas from which junglers might gank Heimerdinger. In that regard, Turrets are very useful for controlling a wider area around the champion but also pushing the lane.
The thing I really like about these devices is that you can store up to three charges. So, if you wish to engage with the enemy team, you can quickly deploy all three of them, thus gaining good control over just about any area. They are especially nice for taking down strategic goals such as Baron.
Malzahar
Malzahar’s Voidlings are one of the less innovative summons. Basically, the champion gains charges whenever he uses a spell. These charges can be utilized to call forth Voidlings. They are short-lived but can dish nice damage to opponents. However, one thing I really dislike about this spell is that it utilizes AD to calculate Voidling damage, which is very counterintuitive given that Malzahar is a caster.
Zyra
As Zyra moves around, she spawns seeds on the field. These are static items that can easily be squashed by enemy champions who walk over them. It is very important to keep them alive as they are an important part of the champion’s kit. Zyra can use seeds for all her spells, including Deadly Spines, Grasping Roots, and Stranglethorns.
Each one of these spawns a different type of plant pet, which makes the champion really cool. Unlike many other summoners, who use one and the same type of summon, Zyra can call forth all sorts of dope stuff.
Decoys and clones
As the name implies, decoys and clones are units that have the same features as the champion. Some of them are able to attack, while others serve more as an illusion. In that regard, they are either utilized offensively or defensively.
Neeko
Neeko’s Shapesplitter is a great disengage tool. After using the spell, Neeko becomes invisible for 0.5 seconds. Upon becoming visible, a Neeko illusion will spawn alongside the original, and it will start running towards a target location, ignoring everything in her path.
Shapesplitter can serve as a great distraction; as enemies start pursuing the illusion, you can run in an opposite direction. Worst case scenario, you can at least split their forces or buy extra time for other allies in a pinch.
LeBlanc
LeBlanc’s Mirror Image is very similar to Neeko’s Shapesplitter. The main difference is that, while Shapesplitter is an ability that needs to be activated, LeBlanc Mirror Image is a passive that activates when the champion falls below 40% health.
Of course, this has its advantages and disadvantages. Mirror Image is much better if you’re crowd controlled and almost nuked. So, it can give you enough time to escape a near-death situation. On the other hand, Shapesplitter is a much more flexible ability, which can also be utilized to help allies.
Shaco
Shaco has the best offensive clone/illusion ability in the game (and one of the better summon spells, in general). He can create a clone of himself with an ability called Hallucinate. The clone deals the same damage as the champion and is fully controllable.
Killing the entity doesn’t help as it causes burst damage in an area after dying while also summoning three Jack in the Box that provide extra damage and control. This expands the potential number of uses and its strategic value.
Wukong
Wukong can summon a decoy with Warrior Trickster ability. This clone works with almost all of the champion’s spells and his passive. So, you can utilize it for dealing extra damage with Crushing Blow or Cyclone or for improving Wukong’s armor and health regeneration by stacking Stone Skin charges.
Traps
Like any trap, these abilities need a certain trigger to activate their effect. They are especially great for scouting purposes. You can put them in brushes during the laning phase to prevent ganks or laning opponents’ surprise brush attacks. They can also be useful when taking turrets and killing Baron.
Elise
Elise’s Volatile Spiderling is somewhere between trap and spell projectile. To be precise, she sends forth a spider towards an enemy that rams into it, dealing magic damage. While it doesn’t provide the same scouting benefits as Shaco’s Jack in the Box or Maokai’s Sapling Toss, it is still placed in the same category as these two.
Considering Volatile Spiderling as a pet just goes to show that Riot had an unusual classification of pet abilities. In my opinion, the ability is much more similar to a projectile spell, given that it cannot be targeted.
Maokai
Sapling is an amazing scouting tool. It stays put for 30 seconds (even longer in brushes), and when an enemy champion comes near, Sapling will pop from the ground and chase it down. Upon colliding with the opponent, it deals magic damage and slows the target.
Shaco
Previously, I’ve briefly touched on Jack in the Box. This is Shaco’s second summon. This is an invisible trap that activates when an enemy comes close to it. Upon activation, it will fear the opponent, and after the first strike, the enemy will be slowed and rooted.
Jack in the Box is a really nice spell that gives you massive utility. Not only does it scout an area, but it also deals damage and has several crowd control effects. In my opinion, this makes it the best static summon.
Teemo
Teemo’s Noxious Trap has been notorious throughout the game’s existence. These oversized mushrooms are great for scouting purposes, but they also do significant damage. When an enemy steps on one of them, they take massive magic damage over time while also getting slowed for a set duration.
Specials
Specials are hard to define and can be barely called pets in the traditional sense. For example, Elise’s Volatile Spiderling is much more suitable for this group. Some of them are more like graphic effects that look like living entities. In other words, non-projectile spells.
Lulu
Each time Lulu auto-attacks an opponent, that enemy will be attacked by her companion spirit, Pix. The creature can be placed on an ally, thus activating whenever this ally strikes an opponent (instead of Lulu).
Having in mind that Lulu doesn’t really benefit from auto-attacks and works as an enchanter, it is much better to attach Pix to one of the allies. In fact, Pix can be regarded as another enchanting ability meant to power up allied carries. While you can manipulate Pix, it doesn’t exist as an entity on the field (aka summon).
Quinn
Valor is Quinn’s pet eagle that is featured with almost all her spells. The eagle occasionally makes enemies vulnerable (passive ability Harrier), blinds them, deals physical damage (Blinding Assault), scouts area (Heightened Senses), and pairs up with Quinn (Behind Enemy Lines).
The eagle cannot be targeted, nor does it exist on the field in the traditional sense, but it is still shown when Quinn uses her kit. In that sense, Valor is very similar to Pix.
Swain
Here is another champion who has a helping companion. Swain’s pet raven is called Beatrice, but he also summons other ravens, as well. His Ravenous Flock passive extracts a soul fragment from opponents, thus increasing the Swain’s health.
The ravens are also utilized for Visions of Empire, an ability that deals damage to a target, reveals it, and slows it down. After striking an opponent, a raven will return to Swain with the affected opponent’s soul fragment.
Orianna
Orianna is very similar to the above-mentioned champions. She has a ball that she can throw around the field. This object affects all her spells, and it can attach to the champion if she gets close to it, or it can come back to her if she strays too far from it.
Orianna can utilize the ball for a basic magic ability (Command: Attack), for dealing magic damage in an area and slowing enemies in an area (Command: Dissonance), for protecting the allies (Command: Protect), and for stunning, damaging, and pulling them around (Command: Shockwave).
Syndra
Syndra has 3 Dark Spheres that constantly rotate around her and are the champion’s main source of power. She can materialize one of them at a target spot with an ability called Dark Sphere. Upon appearing, the object will remain there for 6 seconds.
Dark Spheres are used for other abilities, as well. Although Scatter the Weak spell works without Spheres, damaging and knocking enemies in its wake, if Syndra pushes one of the spheres with this strike, the enemies will also be revealed and stunned on top of the basic effects.
Unleashed Power can utilize the 3 Spheres flying around her and up to 4 Spheres on the ground. Upon brief channel, all these objects will fly toward a target opponent.
Viktor
Viktor’s ultimate ability is called Chaos Storm, and, as the name implies, it summons a storm onto the field. Besides granting sight in an area, it also does magic damage to enemies and interrupts their channeling abilities. The ability can be augmented, becoming 25% faster.
Zed
Zed can summon his shadow with Death Mark. This entity can utilize Shadow Slash and Razor Shuriken. Together, they have enormous offensive potential. The shadow expires if the enemy runs 1,950 units away or if the target is killed.
The champion can also summon his shadow with the Living Shadow spell. He will send the entity to a target spot. Upon materializing, the shadow can once again cast Shadow Slash and Razor Shuriken. Zed can recast the ability at any time so that shadow and champion can swap places.
Janna
Janna’s Zephyr spell summons an Air Elemental that doves straight into a target, slowing it and damaging it.
Cosmetic pets
Cosmetic pets are unlocked with various skins. They might not have anything to do with the champion, but they can be appropriate for a certain setting. For example, Dragon Trainer Tristana has a young dragon that goes well with her persona.
High Noon Ashe
Like all other champions from the High Noon collection, Ashe follows the Wild West theme. The champion rides a large gray horse with braids
Star Guardian Ahri
Ahri has a small bunny-like creature called Kiko. Besides being pink and adorable, this small pet has three tails.
Lunar Wraith Caitlyn
The champion has Nightshade Serpent wrapped around her neck. While this pet doesn’t do much, nor does it interact with emotes, it is still part of the cosmetic
God-King Darius
God-King Darius relies heavily on his Forsaken Wolf. The pet can be noticed during animations but also emotes. It looks quite terrifying, and it is a great addition to the skin.
Pulsefire Ezreal
When the champion uses his emotes and certain spells, you can notice a small metallic ball hovering around him. This is PEARL, an artificial intelligence entity that follows Ezreal wherever he goes.
Star Guardian Ezreal
Ezreal is accompanied by a flying feline called Yuuto. You can notice this creature when the character uses Homeguard and Recall.
Super Galaxy Fizz
Super Galaxy Fizz heavily relies on his mechanical companion called Mega Shark. The creature appears during the Recall channel and when the champion uses his ultimate.
Fuzz Fizz
The cosmetic features Fizz’s new pet called Mega Husky/Mega Pug. It appears from the ground when the character uses his ultimate.
God-King Garen
Garen has a beautiful pet called Divine Lion. He plays with it during emote, and you can also see it when the champion channels Recall and uses Courage.
Dragon Trainer Heimerdinger
Like many other champions from this collection, Heimerdinger commands dragons. He is accompanied by a bigger dragon called Pythagoras but also smaller creatures Bitey and Turret Jr.
Star Guardian Janna
Instead of the usual bird pet, Star Guardian Janna has a new flying cat companion. It constantly hovers around the champion, and you can also notice it during Recall and Homeguard. Of course, it is also used for Zephyr ability.
Star Guardian Jinx
The champion received two new pets called Kuro and Shiro. They are constantly circling around Jinx, and she utilizes them to cast her spells.
Star Guardian Lulu
Instead of the usual Pix cosmetic, Lulu received a different companion. The new creature has wings, resembles a bunny (for the most part), and is used for the same spells as the default Pix.
Cosmic Enchantress Lulu
Like Star Guardian Lulu, Cosmic Enchantress Lulu got a new cosmetic for her Pix companion. The new version looks like a cat without a nose, with fluffy paws. It has a hilarious name: Aurelion Smol.
Lunar Empress Lux
The designer gave Lux two new pets that are featured during the Recall channel. These are two puppies called Warwick and Nasus.
Star Guardian Miss Fortune
Miss Guardian Miss Fortune’s new companions, Boki and Baki, are showcased during Homeguard and Recall. It is hard to say what kind of animals these two are. One of them has an eye patch, while the second has a large scar over the forehead.
Lunar Wraith Morgana
When using Dark Binding, Morgana sends a Shadow Wolf instead of the usual projectile.
Star Guardian Poppy
Poppy’s Light Hammer is considered a separate entity. It is utilized for various champion’s animations.
High Noon Senna
High Noon Senna has an incredible horse called Sentinel. The animal is dark brown with orange patches, looking as if it came from fire. The pet is used for emotes, Homeguard, Recall, and even some of the champion’s abilities.
Super Galaxy Shyvana
The champion has a robot pet called Mega Dragon. The companion has a pink body with yellow and turquoise details. It appears during the Recall animation but also in a few of the ability animations.
Star Guardian Soraka
This small cat-like creature appears during the Recall cast. It isn’t featured as much as some other pets on the list.
Star Guardian Syndra
Given how Syndra works and the fact she utilizes Dark Spheres for all her abilities, she really benefits from having a new pet. The usual Spheres are replaced by small creatures called Multi, which bring a completely new dimension to the champion. It is really fun watching these guys being spread around the battlefield.
Omega Squad Teemo
Omega Squad Teemo received a new cosmetic for his Noxious Trap. Instead of the standard mushrooms, he now utilizes mines.
Dragon Trainer Tristana
Tristana has one of the coolest cosmetic pets of them all. She controls a small dragon called Riggle and utilizes it as her standard cannon. You can see her petting the dragon and playing with it during emotes and Recall.
Odyssey Yasuo
Space Lizard is Yasuo’s new pet. As the name implies, it is an extraterrestrial reptile that has numerous feet. Space Lizard sits on Yasuo’s left shoulder.
Meowrick
Meowrick can summon grumpy yellow cats instead of Mist Walkers. These pets are hilarious, and it makes it even better that you can see them all the time. Maiden of the Mist also received a new cosmetic and is now a large white cat wearing a massive purple scarf.
Star Guardian Zoe
This skin gives Zoe a new pet called Ran. The companion looks like a cross between a cat and a bear with purple skin and octopus tentacles. The pet is utilized for emotes, Homeguard, and some of the champion’s spells.
Star Guardian Neeko
Towa is a funky frog with a turquoise back and a pink belly. It is really funny watching as it hops around on its small legs, trying to keep up with Neeko during Homeguard.
Dragon Sorceress Zyra
Zyra is another champion that benefits greatly from a new pet. Instead of having the usual plants, she now has plant-like dragons that attack the enemy whenever she casts spells.
Pool Party and Snowdown Showdown
These pets are not unique to champion but instead are related to themes. Pool Party cosmetics feature Crabby Crab, a small, shy crab, while Snowdown Showdown skins have Pengus, a cute little penguin.
FAQs
Question: What is considered a pet in League of Legends?
Answer: The term “pet” can refer to just about anything within the game. This includes the standard summonable entities, traps, clones, illusions, but also cosmetic pets that go with certain skins. In some cases, pet is even utilized to refer to a visual effect.
Question: Which champions are most reliant on their pets?
Answer: Every champion that summons a pet is somewhat reliant on the creature. However, there are a few characters who simply need a pet for their abilities to work. Good examples are Orianna, Zyra, and Quinn.
Question: What is the best pet?
Answer: It is really hard to tell which pet is the most impactful, given that each one of them has an important role for its respective champion. However, my personal preferences are Shaco’s Jack in the Box and Teemo’s Noxious Trap.
Question: Are cosmetic pets regarded as pets?
Answer: Generally speaking, when a person says that something is a “pet,” they usually refer to summons. However, for the purpose of distinction, this term can also be utilized for various animals that you get by purchasing specific skins.
League of Legends Pets: Conclusion
League of Legends’ pets are quite specific. They might not be the same as the summons in other games, and some of them might be unresponsive, but they’re still an important part of the game. Some champions are fully pet-based, and they cannot cast spells without their respective creatures. Good examples of this are Zyra, Syndra, and Orianna, who rely on plants, energy spheres, and a ball to cast their abilities.