Everything we know about LoL’s Smolder: Abilities, release date & more

Riot have revealed Smolder as the next champion coming to League of Legends, and he’ll be hitting the rift sooner than you’d think. Here’s a full rundown of his abilities and what they do as well as his release date.

Smolder has been revealed as the next champion coming to League of Legends, and he’s meant to be the cute monster champion that devs promised would be coming.

While reception to his overall character design was mixed upon its reveal, there are those who are looking forward to what he brings to the table as a champion.

And, fortunately, Riot has given us a full rundown of what Smolder’s abilities do, what role he’ll likely be played in, and when he’ll be coming out.

Does Smolder have a release date in LoL?

Yes, Smolder will be arriving on patch 14.3. According to Riot’s patch schedule, this should land his release date on February 7.

That said, dates are subject to change depending on how the initial Season 2024 changes go over or if any of these patches end up getting delayed.

Smolder ability rundown

Smolder is a late-game scaling ADC whose abilities scale based on hitting enemy champions over the course of the match. It’s kind of close to the way the Syndra rework’s scaling functions and rewards him for landing abilities consistently through the lane phase.

If the footage from his full gameplay reveal is anything to go off of, this champion is a late game monster.

It’s also worth mentioning Smolder’s numbers have yet to be released, so these abilities are reflective of what he’ll do but not how much damage he’ll deal. We’ll update with full numbers when we have them.

Here’s a full summary:

Passive: Dragon Practice

• Hitting Champions with abilities and hitting enemies with Super Scorcher Breath grants Smolder a stack of Dragon Practice. Stacks increase the damage of Smolder’s basic abilities.

Q: Super Scorcher Breath

• Smolder belches flame at his enemies. This ability evolves with stacks, gaining the following:
  • 25: Damages all enemies surrounding the target
  • 125: Sends explosions behind the target that deal 75% of this spell’s damage
  • 225: Burns the target, dealing max health true damage over 3 seconds. Enemy champions that drop below a total health threshold while burning are executed

W: Achooo!

• Smolder lets out an adorable flaming sneeze, damaging and slowing enemies hit. Hitting champions causes an additional explosion.

E: Flap, Flap, Flap

• Smolder takes flight, gaining movement speed and ignoring terrain for 1.25 seconds. While flying, Smolder attacks the lowest health enemy.

R: MMOOOMMMM!

• Smolder’s mom breathes fire from above, dealing extra damage and slowing enemies in the center of her fire. Smolder’s mom heals her son if she hits him.

These abilities give Smolder hard carry potential and position him as a late-game scaler, meaning his early game is likely a weak point.

That said, he’s built to be a simple and approachable ADC that takes a step away from more complicated Champion designs like Hwei.

And Smolder isn’t the only dragon entering the rift seeing as Shyvana’s VGU will be giving her a new look and kit in 2025.