Guide · ADC

Caitlyn Guide

the Sheriff of Piltover

Marksman

Tier C ADC

Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover, is a marksman champion of medium difficulty. Across our 1607 analysed ranked games, Caitlyn is mostly played as ADC (100% of its games), with a 50.3% win rate in that role: tier C among ADC champions (#30 of 36, ranked by win rate). Caitlyn's damage is mostly physical (95%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. Win rate stays steady whatever the game length (48.9% to 51.2%): a reliable pick in every phase of the game.

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Averages measured over 1607 ADC games played with Caitlyn, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Caitlyn is a zone and range marksman: her traps root enemies and grant her an empowered Headshot, whose range is doubled against targets caught in a trap or net. She dominates her lane through distance and control, and her ultimate finishes a single target from very long range.

The trap and the shot

W › AA AA › Q

When: An enemy steps on your trap.

The trap roots, your next attack is an empowered Headshot (doubled range on a trapped target), then Piltover Peacemaker deals damage in a line.

Defense

E › W › Q

When: An enemy closes in on you.

90 Caliber Net slows the target and knocks you back to regain distance; place a trap where you land and finish with the piercing shot.

See all 3 Caitlyn combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Place Yordle Snap Traps behind you and on common paths: they reveal and root the champion who triggers them for 1.5 seconds. Chain the root with Piltover Peacemaker and an empowered Headshot for a very profitable trade.

Common mistakes

• Using the ultimate with an enemy near the target: they can intercept the bullet.
• Placing all your traps at once: they have a short cooldown, but good placement beats quantity.
• Forgetting that 90 Caliber Net knocks you back: do not use it with a wall behind you.

Riot's official tips for playing Caitlyn

• Make use of her Yordle Snap Traps by placing them pre-emptively to ensure that you'll have one off of cooldown during combat.
• Avoid using Ace in the Hole in large team melees as it might be blocked by the wrong target.
• Fire 90 Caliber Net away from the opponent to close the gap or hop over walls.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Hexoptics C44, Infinity Edge, and Rapid Firecannon (438 games, 58.5% win rate).

Hexoptics C44+Infinity Edge+Rapid Firecannon

438 games · 58.5%

Hexoptics C44+Infinity Edge+Lord Dominik's Regards

394 games · 58.1%

Infinity Edge+Lord Dominik's Regards+Rapid Firecannon

310 games · 57.7%

Skill order

Max order : Q > W > E57.7% · 168 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W		●						●		●		●	●
E			●											●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 230 games).

Starting items

Doran's BowHealth PotionHealth Potion56.1% · 155 games

Doran's BladeHealth Potion44.1% · 68 games

First completed items, in order

Hexoptics C44›Infinity Edge›Lord Dominik's Regards

39 games · 64.1%

Hexoptics C44›Infinity Edge›Rapid Firecannon

33 games · 57.6%

The Collector›Infinity Edge›Lord Dominik's Regards

20 games · 60.0%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 3812 gold, 78 CS, 3493 XP. At 15 min: 6309 gold, 118 CS, 5655 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Barrier50.3% · 1273 games

Flash + Ghost50.0% · 170 games

Cleanse + Flash51.9% · 104 games

Exhaust + Flash39.0% · 41 games

Most-played runes

Lethal Tempo + Sorcery

50.2% · 825 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind97%

Legend: Bloodline96%

Coup de Grace70%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Gathering Storm99%

Absolute Focus98%

Shards

Attack speed98%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling74%

Lethal Tempo + Inspiration

49.8% · 480 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind94%

Legend: Bloodline90%

Cut Down83%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back84%

Triple Tonic64%

Shards

Attack speed94%

Adaptive force99%

Health77%

Fleet Footwork + Sorcery

54.8% · 115 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind94%

Legend: Bloodline96%

Coup de Grace70%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Gathering Storm98%

Absolute Focus97%

Shards

Attack speed97%

Adaptive force98%

Health scaling73%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Caitlyn's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team55.4% · 516 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Infinity Edge 58.7% ▲

Hexoptics C44 58.8% ▲

Rapid Firecannon 61.8% ▲

Lord Dominik's Regards 60.8% ▲

The Collector 48.3%

Mortal Reminder 60.8%

The item that stands out most is Hexoptics C44: 58.8% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team47.1% · 374 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Infinity Edge 49.8% ▼

Hexoptics C44 47.1% ▼

Rapid Firecannon 50.7% ▼

Lord Dominik's Regards 56.7%

The Collector 44.4% ▼

Mortal Reminder 55.6% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team48.3% · 717 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Infinity Edge 50.6%

Hexoptics C44 48.6%

Rapid Firecannon 52.5%

Lord Dominik's Regards 51.3% ▼

The Collector 51.2%

Mortal Reminder 59.5%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Caitlyn as ADC

Kai'Sa Caitlyn: 38.0%71 games

Kai'Sa has the edge in 62% of the 71 ADC duels against Caitlyn. See the Kai'Sa guide.

Jinx Caitlyn: 39.8%93 games

Jinx has the edge in 60% of the 93 ADC duels against Caitlyn. See the Jinx guide.

Smolder Caitlyn: 45.2%31 games

Smolder has the edge in 55% of the 31 ADC duels against Caitlyn. See the Smolder guide.

Jhin Caitlyn: 45.5%143 games

Jhin has the edge in 55% of the 143 ADC duels against Caitlyn. See the Jhin guide.

Aphelios Caitlyn: 46.2%39 games

Aphelios has the edge in 54% of the 39 ADC duels against Caitlyn. See the Aphelios guide.

Who Caitlyn is strong against

Tristana65.8% · 41 games

Draven55.2% · 29 games

Miss Fortune53.3% · 30 games

Varus52.6% · 19 games

Sivir51.6% · 31 games

How to play against Caitlyn

• Keep behind allied minions if Caitlyn is harassing you with Piltover Peacemaker (it deals less damage with each subsequent target).
• You can intercept Ace in the Hole's missile from hitting an ally if you stand in its path.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Caitlyn's matchups.

Caitlyn ADC: what our games say

Laning phase against the ADC average

Measured over 230 Caitlyn games with a timeline; the average covers 49 champions played ADC in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: long (over 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Abilities

PassiveHeadshot

Every few basic attacks, or against a target she has trapped or netted, Caitlyn will fire a headshot dealing bonus damage that scales with her critical strike chance. On trapped or netted targets, Caitlyn's Headshot attack range is doubled.

QPiltover Peacemaker

Caitlyn revs up her rifle for 1 second to unleash a penetrating shot that deals physical damage (deals less damage to subsequent targets).

WYordle Snap Trap

Caitlyn sets a trap that, when sprung, reveals and immobilizes the enemy champion for 1.5 seconds, granting Caitlyn an empowered Headshot.

E90 Caliber Net

Caitlyn fires a heavy net to slow her target. The recoil knocks Caitlyn back.

RAce in the Hole

Caitlyn takes time to line up the perfect shot, dealing massive damage to a single target at a huge range. Enemy champions can intercept the bullet for their ally.

Other ADC champions to know

Most played

Jhin48.5 %Yunara52.4 %Kai'Sa49.9 %Ezreal45.2 %Jinx51.0 %Tristana50.0 %Lucian48.9 %Zeri51.8 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Brand57.7 %Syndra56.7 %Aurelion Sol56.7 %Kog'Maw55.3 %Senna55.3 %Mel54.9 %Vel'Koz53.8 %Xayah53.1 %

Frequently asked questions

Full Caitlyn page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides