- For the summoner experience, see experience (summoner). For other uses of Experience, see Experience
Champion experience (XP) is a game mechanic that allows champions to level up after reaching certain amounts of experience throughout Summoner's Rift and ARAM matches. Leveling up allows them access to new abilities or higher ranks of existing abilities. Many base stats and some items and runes scale with champion's level.
All champions start each match at level 1, with zero experience.
Experience normally isn't gained passively over time, and must instead be earned through various different means.
Gaining experience
There are six ways to gain experience.
- Solo killing a champion: Gives 42 − 990 (based on enemy champion level).
- Assisting a kill: Gives 28 − 990 (based on enemy champion level) total experience which is shared equally among all allies that participated in the kill.
- The experience is individually reduced by 0 / 16 / 32 / 48 / 60% (based on level difference) for being higher level than the slain champion.
- The experience is individually increased by 16% for each level the slain champion is higher (level difference can be decimal).
- Proximity to a champion's death while dead: Nearby enemy champion deaths grant experience up to 10 seconds after your death (whether or not you assisted in the kill).
- Proximity to a minion death: Being within 1600 units of a minion's death grants experience, regardless of whether it was last hit or killed by another source. Last hitting a minion while further than 1600 units away also grants experience.
- Proximity to a ward death: Being within 1600 units of a ward's death grants experience.
- Jungle monsters: Killing a monster grants experience. All experience goes to the killer, even if there are allies nearby.
In the ARAM game mode, situated on the Howling Abyss map, all champions permanently possess the 
Howling Abyss Aura buff, which passively grants them 5 experience per second.
Increasing experience gain
Note that experience gain modifiers stack additively.
Champion abilities
Items
Neutral buffs
Howling Abyss Aura passively grants experience.
Sharing experience
In addition, when more than 1 champion is sharing 
minion or 
ward experience, 24.73% extra experience is split among all champions.
- Two champions each gain 62.36%.
- Three champions each gain 41.57%.
- Four champions each gain 31.18%.
- Five champions each gain 24.94%.
Level cap
By default, and in most gamemodes, the level cap is set to level 18.
- In Ultra Rapid Fire the level cap is increased to level 30.
When reaching the maximum level, the in-game tooltip for experience will show 0/0 Experience. Champions will still be able to gain experience, but it has no effect whatsoever.
Experience needed
The following describes the amount of experience required to go from level 1 to level 18 on 
Summoner's Rift.
Minion waves calculations assumes a Summoner's Rift lane, no increased experience sources, no neutral monsters are slain and one champion is in 1600 range of every opposing minion death in said lane.
| To reach level | XP | Cumulative XP | Minion Waves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 280 | 280 | 2 |
| 3 | 380 | 660 | 3 |
| 4 | 480 | 1140 | 4 |
| 5 | 580 | 1720 | 6 |
| 6 | 680 | 2400 | 9 |
| 7 | 780 | 3180 | 11 |
| 8 | 880 | 4060 | 14 |
| 9 | 980 | 5040 | 18 |
| 10 | 1080 | 6120 | 21 |
| 11 | 1180 | 7300 | 25 |
| 12 | 1280 | 8580 | 30 |
| 13 | 1380 | 9960 | 34 |
| 14 | 1480 | 11440 | 39 |
| 15 | 1580 | 13020 | 45 |
| 16 | 1680 | 14700 | 49 |
| 17 | 1780 | 16480 | 54 |
| 18 | 1880 | 18360 | 60 |
The following describes the amount of experience required to go from level 3 to level 18 on 
Howling Abyss.
| To reach level | XP | Cumulative XP |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 478 | 478 |
| 5 | 510 | 988 |
| 6 | 750 | 1738 |
| 7 | 780 | 2518 |
| 8 | 880 | 3398 |
| 9 | 980 | 4378 |
| 10 | 1080 | 5458 |
| 11 | 1180 | 6638 |
| 12 | 1280 | 7918 |
| 13 | 1380 | 9298 |
| 14 | 1480 | 10778 |
| 15 | 1580 | 12358 |
| 16 | 1680 | 14038 |
| 17 | 1780 | 15818 |
| 18 | 1880 | 17698 |
Level requirement
Some items have a level requirement:
- Elixir of Iron
- Elixir of Sorcery
- Elixir of Wrath
- Farsight Alteration
- Vigilant Wardstone
- Items crafted by Ornn's Living Forge
Trivia
- Nidalee, prior to her rework, had a non-displayed passive that granted 5 experience points every 5 seconds to nearby allied champions that had a lower level than her.
Patch History
- At levels 1-6, a champion's solo kills grant 20% more experience and assisted kills grant 20% less experience. At levels 7-8, these numbers are reduced to 10%.
- Minion solo experience increased to 93% from 92%.
- Minion shared experience reduced to 116% from 120%.
- Earning a kill or assist while below your team's average level no longer grants bonus experience.
- Champion kill reduced experience per level difference increased to 16% from 15%.
- Champion kill bonus experience per level difference increased.
- New Effect: Earning a kill or assist while below your team's average level now grants bonus experience.
- The scaling is based on current xp, increasing less and less the more difference there is between the team's average and your level, up to 60% more experience at 4 full level difference.
- Champion kill reduced experience per level difference increased to 15% from 14%.
- Champion kill reduced experience per level difference increased to 14% from 12%.
- Champion kill bonus experience per level difference now scales with decimal level difference rather than simple level difference.
- Champion kill bonus experience per level difference starts at 1 full level difference from 2.
- Champion kill bonus experience per level difference reduced.
- New Effect: Now grants experience from nearby champion deaths, up to 10 seconds after death.
- Champion kill experience changed to 35 − 990 (based on enemy champion level) from 50% of the target's level up experience.
- Champion kill reduced experience per level difference increased to 12% from 7%.
- Minimum champion kill experience increased to 40% from 20%.
- Champion kill experience reduced to 50% of the target's level up experience from 60%.
- Champion kill experience increased to 60% of the target's level up experience from 50%.
- Champion kill reduced experience per level difference reduced to 7% from 8%.
- Minimum champion kill experience increased to 20% from 15%.
- Champion kill experience reduced to 50% of the target's level up experience from 55%.
- Lane minion experience range increased to 1400 from 1250.
- Minions are no longer worth more experience based on game time.
- Champion kill experience now grants 55% of the target's level up experience.
- New Effect: Champion kill experience is now decreased by 8% per level difference between the killer and the slain champion, but cannot be reduced below 15% of the base value.
- New Effect: Champion kill experience is now increased if the slain champion is higher level than the killer.
- Minion shared experience increased to 120% from 116%.
- Undocumented: Minion shared experience increased to 116% from 110%.
- New effect: Shared minion kill experience now grants 110% experience, shared equally between nearby allied champions.
- Undocumented: Solo minion kill experience reduced to 92% of the base value (shared experience unchanged).
- Destroying an inhibitor no longer causes the enemy team to gain less experience from minion kills.
