The chaotic and action-packed
League of Legends game mode, Ultimate Spellbook, is
making its return for Worlds 2024! Set to release during patch 14.19, which is scheduled to go live on September 25, 2024, the mode offers players a familiar yet different PvP experience on Summoner's Rift.
In an Ultimate Spellbook game, players can choose ultimates from other champions to replace their secondary Summoner Spell, allowing for creative engages and combos (think Amumu engaging with an Ahri ult!).
The Ultimate Selection Screen.
Getting Started: How do Ultimates work?
You've just queued up for a Draft Summoner's Rift game, but something feels off... You're definitely playing the champion you picked, but the summoner spell beside your Flash is greyed out. Don't worry! This is all part of a normal Summoner’s Rift experience—no negative gaming involved. But enough rambling; I imagine you’re here for the main details about this mode, so here are a few bullet points to get you started:
- At the start of the match, you have 30 seconds to choose an ultimate from 4 random options.
- You’ll have access to two Ultimates during the game: your champion’s and the one you selected.
- You can’t be given your champion’s ultimate again—no double dipping!
- Chosen Ultimates do not cost mana or other resources.
- Your Chosen Ultimate has an initial cooldown of 130 seconds and can be used before level 6.
- [NEW] Killing Baron Nashor, Elder Dragon, or acquiring a Dragon Soul grants each team member an extra charge of their Chosen Ultimate.
- After using your Chosen Ultimate, you can cast it again 3 seconds later if you have additional charges.
- [NEW] Throughout the game, you’ll have opportunities to swap Chosen Ultimates when backing (or dying).
- After 8 minutes and every 6 minutes thereafter, you get one reroll chance, each giving you a chance at 3 new potential ults.
- Swapping Ultimates also grants 300 bonus Gold and some Stats to encourage flexibility.
The previous Ultimates list; Riot confirmed that new additions will be revealed soon. Credit: LoL Wiki/Fandom
A Casual Mode: Game Pace
No one likes waiting half an hour for a snooze-fest of a ranked game and dealing with boring stuff like macro and freezing waves. Thankfully, this mode offers a stress-free experience designed for casual players. It’s fast, fun (it's not Dominion), and Ultimate Spellbook games typically last 20-25 minutes. To speed things up, a few rule changes are in place:
- All players start at level 3 with 950 gold.
- Passive experience and gold are increased.
- Last hits are shared with nearby teammates.
- Turret Platings fall off at 9:00 and the Rift Herald spawns at 6:00.
What about Junglers?
To ensure you don’t spend your entire time in the jungle (Gone is Brat Summer; It’s Full Clear October), both Junglers will receive special attention and assistance to clear their camps faster and have more time to impact the rest of the map:
- At the start of the game, Smite transforms into a buff named "Auto-Smite" (or Attack-Smite).
- The slot occupied by Smite then becomes an Ultimate slot.
- Auto-Smite lets junglers automatically execute Blue and Red Buffs (on their respective side of the map), Rift Scuttlers, and Epic Monsters when they are below a certain health treshold.
- Junglers’ Chosen Ultimate has an initial cooldown of 210 seconds (instead of 130 seconds) and can be used before level 6.
Pantheon and Shyvana facing off-LoL Ultimate Spellbook Key Art. Credit: ShenZe YANG/Riot Games CN
Advanced Tips and Important Informations
This is the end of the article, so here are a few key points to keep in mind to maintain a competitive edge and brag to your friends:
- Each player’s chosen ultimate appears next to their health bar and on the scoreboard.
- Summoner Spell Ultimates level up at ranks 11 and 16, alongside your regular ultimate.
- Chosen Ultimates scaling with AD, AP, or Health get extra ratios to work with any champion (e.g., Sylas's ultimate).
- Some spells, mainly non-damage-dealing ones (like Bard's Tempered Fate), provide adaptive force, bonus armor, and magic resistance to balance stronger Ultimates.
- Standard Ability Haste doesn’t affect your Chosen Ultimate’s cooldown, but Summoner Spell Haste and Ultimate Haste do! (Cosmic Insight value through the roof!)
- Nimbus Cloak also works with your Chosen Ultimate!
- Axiom Arc only refunds your champion’s ultimate, not your Summoner Spell Ultimate!
- Zoe cannot pick up used Summoner Spell Ultimates—sorry, Zoe mains!
- There is a rare chance to get a "One for All-timate Spellbook", where all players on both teams receive the same ultimate.
- In other cases, each player on your team gets different Ultimates, but the enemy team can also receive the same Ultimates as you.
- Rerolled ultimates are returned to the pool and can be assigned to a new player.
Header Credit: Riot Games
