Guide · Mid

Locke Guide

the Ashen Exorcist

Assassin

Mage

Tier B Mid

Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, is an assassin and mage champion of medium difficulty. Across our 1303 analysed ranked games, Locke is mostly played in Mid (81% of its games), with a 50.8% win rate in that role: tier B among Mid champions (#23 of 42, ranked by win rate). Locke's damage is mostly magic (85%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. 10% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 58.5% in long games (over 35 min, 82 games) versus 48.1% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Averages measured over 1056 Mid games played with Locke, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Locke is an assassin-mage whose attacks deal bonus magic damage on hit, increased by the enemy's missing health. His Ritual Nails mark enemies, and he can consume those marks to deal bonus damage with his attacks. His ultimate executes the enemies it hits and empowers him by sealing champions.

The trade

Q › AA AA › W › AA AA

When: An enemy is within range of the nails.

Ritual Nails mark the target, your attacks consume the marks for bonus damage, Soul Ignition raises your attack and movement speed.

The chase engage

E › Q › AA AA › W

When: An enemy is out of range.

Ashen Pursuit teleports you and then dashes you onto the next target, damaging the enemies you cross. Mark and attack as soon as you arrive.

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

Laning phase

Mark with Ritual Nails then strike: the mark is what multiplies your attack damage. Soul Ignition makes you faster but hurts you: only activate it when you can win the trade, since you heal a portion of the damage taken at the end.

Common mistakes

• Activating Soul Ignition with no target to hit: it damages you for nothing in return.
• Casting Purgatory on full-health enemies: it is mostly a finisher.
• Forgetting to consume your marks with attacks.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Lich Bane, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Shadowflame (200 games, 58.0% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (52.3% over 763 games).

Lich Bane+Zhonya's Hourglass+Shadowflame

200 games · 58.0%

Rabadon's Deathcap+Lich Bane+Shadowflame

156 games · 59.0%

Lich Bane+Zhonya's Hourglass+Stormsurge

102 games · 55.9%

Skill order

Max order : Q > E > W46.7% · 60 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 110 games).

Starting items

Doran's RingHealth PotionHealth Potion52.3% · 107 games

First completed items, in order

Lich Bane›Shadowflame

38 games · 42.1%

Lich Bane›Stormsurge

24 games · 62.5%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 4012 gold, 71 CS, 4754 XP. At 15 min: 6464 gold, 108 CS, 7448 XP.

Boots

Spellslinger's Shoes52.3% · 763 games

Chainlaced Crushers56.3% · 142 games

Crimson Lucidity37.3% · 67 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Ignite50.4% · 905 games

Flash + Teleport53.8% · 145 games

Most-played runes

Electrocute + Resolve

50.3% · 537 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact99%

Sixth Sense81%

Ultimate Hunter68%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Revitalize85%

Bone Plating74%

Shards

Adaptive force98%

Adaptive force94%

Health61%

Electrocute + Precision

53.5% · 314 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Grisly Mementos84%

Treasure Hunter75%

Secondary tree · Precision

Cut Down80%

Triumph68%

Shards

Adaptive force90%

Adaptive force99%

Health89%

Conqueror + Domination

50.0% · 60 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind92%

Legend: Haste100%

Cut Down80%

Secondary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact98%

Treasure Hunter53%

Shards

Adaptive force92%

Adaptive force100%

Health87%

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 Locke'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 team54.4% · 276 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Lich Bane 53.6%

Shadowflame 57.9% ▲

Zhonya's Hourglass 57.0%

Stormsurge 58.7% ▲

Rabadon's Deathcap 65.8% ▲

Bloodletter's Curse 53.8% ▲

The item that stands out most is Bloodletter's Curse: 53.8% win rate, +8 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team52.3% · 302 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Lich Bane 52.4%

Shadowflame 52.9%

Zhonya's Hourglass 59.1% ▲

Stormsurge 59.1% ▲

Rabadon's Deathcap 61.6%

Bloodletter's Curse 50.0% ▲

The item that stands out most is Stormsurge: 59.1% win rate, +5 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team47.7% · 478 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Lich Bane 48.4%

Shadowflame 52.4%

Stormsurge 49.1% ▼

Zhonya's Hourglass 51.8% ▼

Rabadon's Deathcap 53.0% ▼

Void Staff 50.0%

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

Counters and matchups

Who counters Locke in Mid

Ekko Locke: 27.8%18 games

Ekko has the edge in 72% of the 18 Mid duels against Locke. See the Ekko guide.

Zed Locke: 32.0%25 games

Zed has the edge in 68% of the 25 Mid duels against Locke. See the Zed guide.

Viktor Locke: 34.6%26 games

Viktor has the edge in 65% of the 26 Mid duels against Locke. See the Viktor guide.

Sylas Locke: 38.5%26 games

Sylas has the edge in 62% of the 26 Mid duels against Locke. See the Sylas guide.

Yone Locke: 42.9%35 games

Yone has the edge in 57% of the 35 Mid duels against Locke. See the Yone guide.

Who Locke is strong against

Aurora68.8% · 16 games

Ahri68.4% · 19 games

Syndra61.9% · 42 games

Akali58.3% · 36 games

Yasuo58.3% · 24 games

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

Locke Mid: what our games say

Laning phase against the Mid average

Measured over 110 Locke games with a timeline; the average covers 72 champions played Mid 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.

Locke in another role

Role	Games	Win rate	CS/min	Gold/min	Most-built items
Jungle	121	48.8 %	6.5	481
ADC	64	46.9 %	6.8	491
Top	62	38.7 %	6.5	437

Roles where we have at least 40 Locke games.

Abilities

PassiveSilver Stake

Locke's attacks deal additional magic damage On-Hit, increased based on enemy missing Health.

QRitual Nails

Locke readies a set of Soul Nails to throw, dealing damage to and marking enemies hit. Locke can consume the marks to deal bonus damage with his attacks.

WSoul Ignition

Locke ignites his soul, gaining Attack Speed and Move Speed, and dealing damage to himself. At the end of the duration, Locke will heal back a portion of the damage he takes during the effect.

EAshen Pursuit

Locke teleports to a location before dashing to attack his next target, dealing damage to enemies passed through.

RPurgatory

Locke throws a binding artifact that deals damage and potentially executes enemies hit. Locke gains additional power for sealing away enemy champions.

Other Mid champions to know

Most played

Syndra53.0 %Viktor48.9 %Ahri50.4 %Yone49.8 %Yasuo48.9 %Zed51.8 %Sylas48.5 %Akali49.0 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Vel'Koz54.3 %Kassadin54.0 %Twisted Fate54.0 %Lux53.0 %Diana52.9 %Katarina52.6 %Anivia52.3 %Aurelion Sol52.1 %

Frequently asked questions

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