Spectator Mode, once known as the summoner spell , is a mode in League of Legends that allows a player to watch but not physically take part in a game. It was first introduced at the Season One Championship but since its release it has seen little use. On November 10, 2011, it was reintroduced to custom games for beta testing, and has since been implemented into normal games but with its limits to prevent any cheating among players.
Spectating[]
League of Legends enables players to observe games in progress in Spectator Mode. Spectator Mode is different from a normal player's perspective in a number of ways. For starters, a spectating player has no champion to command or team affiliation. Instead, he is able to jump to the perspective of either team, following the action as they see it. A spectator can even choose to remove the fog of war altogether for a global view of the battlefield. Additionally, the spectator is able to quickly and easily access information on either team such as in-game stats, item builds, gold totals, and ability cooldowns.
Ghosting[]
For the summoner spell, see
Ghosting is a term coined by definition when a summoner observes a stream in an attempt to gain advantage against an opponent. There are many methods of doing this, with some of the most popular including having a friend open the stream and relay the information by mouth or over VoIP (Voice over IP). Another widely used method includes running a Smurf account on a separate computer and having the stream open and viewable. Despite having an initial 3-minute delay, it is possible to view the match(es) live, thus the introduction of Ghosting.
Spectator mode can be an excellent tool for those players interested in learning more about the basics of League of Legends gameplay, or for those who wish to commentate over live competitive play.
FAQ[]
Taken from the Spectator FAQ page. Outdated information is noted in italics.
When you are browsing for a custom League of Legends game you will now have the option to join that game as a spectator. Alternatively, you can elect to become a spectator after joining the game lobby as a player. You may also spectate a friend's game by right clicking on their name in your friend list, and clicking 'Spectate game'.
Q. What games am I allowed to spectate?
You are able to spectate Custom Games, your friends' matchmaking games, and random matchmaking games from the front page of the client. Note that for friends' games, you must wait three minutes before the option becomes available, in an attempt by RIOT to prevent initial ghosting.
Q. Is there a penalty for leaving a game as a spectator?
Since you are only spectating the game and not actually playing it, there is no penalty for leaving any game whilea spectating. Additionally, spectating carries no obligation to reconnect to a game once you have left.
If you disconnect from a match that you were spectating, you will be given the option to reconnect or quit from that match. However, If you do not choose to reconnect at this screen and there is not summoner who is your friend in the match, it is very difficult to reconnect to the game.
Q. Will I be able to see what champions summoners have chosen to play as in Champion Select?
Yes, as a spectator you will see what Champion was selected at all times via the Heads Up Display (HUD) for both Blind Pick and Draft mode.
Q. Will it be able easy to compare team stats in Spectator Mode?
Yes, all stats including total team gold, kills, and tower kills will be displayed at all times as part of the Spectator Modes HUD.
Q. Will the addition of spectators into a game cause performance issues for the other players?
No, the players in-game should not experience performance issues, any issues you incure while in this mode are due to either client side connection issues, or the connection issues already present in the connected summoners.
Q. How can I view individual player statistics and information
To view any individual summoner's statistics, you can click on that player either on thier champion or their champions picture on the HUD to select them.
Q. How do I compare the stats of two players?
Pressing Tab or the 'O' key will bring up a scoreboard showing the individual stats of all players on each team. This includes: kills, deaths, assists, minion kills, current items, personal score, current gold, and total gold.
Q. How can I lock the camera on a player that I want to follow?
Yes. There is an option to lock the camera on your current target through a variety of methods: You can double-click the champion, select it and press “Y”, or directly follow it through the menu at the bottom left corner. Note that moving your mouse to the edge of the screen will unlock the camera from the selected player. Also if the player dies the camera will automatically switch to the Directed Camera which will switch from player to player based on how much activity they are showing.
Q. Will I be able to quickly jump from one player's perspective to another?
Yes. You can easily jump from observing one player to another by clicking on the appropriate portrait on the left or right side. Alternatively, each player can be selected from the drop down menu in the bottom left corner or by double-clicking any champion.
Q. Will I have the option to remove/activate the fog of war while spectating?
Yes, you will have the option to view the games fog of war from either team's perspective only, from both teams' combined perspectives, or not at all by completely disabling it.
Q. Will I be able to access the shop to look at items while I am spectating a game?
At this time you are unable to view shop items or the view of a player in the shop during game. If a player does go into the shop menu the specator will just see the player standing in place.
Q. Will I be able to view in-game chat while?
You will be able to view chat that was sent to the "all" chat by any player. However, you will not see team-specific chat or communicate directly to them in-game or with other spectators. To do this you will either have to send the message via PVP.net chat or by using the chat command "/msg [USERNAME] [MESSAGE]".
Q. Will I be able to ping the map or view player alert pings while spectating a game?
As a spectator, the blue team's pings will appear blue and the purple team's pings will appear purple. You will also be able to ping the map but niether team in-game will see these pings, this is primarily used for streaming games.
Q. How many players are allowed to spectate a single game?
Currently only four spectators at a time can spectate a single game at once, this number is however subject to change with the many patches which come to League of Legends.
Q. Will spectating players be able to tell my opponents what's happening?
You can but there is a three-minute delay built into Spectator Mode to prevent observing players from being able to provide intelligence to the competitors by Ghosting, which is frowned upon as it hinders the experience of other players.
Q. Am I able to kick a spectator from the game lobby before the game starts?
If you are the game owner and do not want a player observing your game you are able to kick or if it is serious enough ban them from the game lobby.
Q. Will there be privacy settings that I can use to restrict who can spectate my games?
Game hosts have the option to enable or disable spectators. Players also must join your game as a spectator through the custom game lobby. If you are not comfortable with a player spectating your game, you will as stated before have the option to kick or ban them from the lobby before the game starts.
Spectator Mode UI[]
Team Fight User Interface[]
With the introduction of Patch V3.11, a new interface has been developed for spectator mode.
“ | We've developed a new Team Fight UI for spectator mode that minimizes and concentrates the UI so that it's easier to focus on the action during team fights. With this change we've optimized the display of battle information in team fights, including who's involved in the fight, who's winning, and how many people have died on either team. |
— Chris 'Pwyff' Tom | |
- Some of the new features of the UI include:
- While spectating, press 'A' to toggle the Team Fight UI
- Minimalist UI mode that focuses on presenting information relevant to on-screen conflicts
- Team health bars communicate the momentum of the fight and impact of AoE damage
- Crowd control indicators visualize the power of crowd control abilities
- Pentakill counter tracks progress towards double, triple, quadra and pentakills
Spectator Mode UI VS Team Fight UI[]
Spectator Mode UI VS Team Fight UI[]
The hotkey Ctrl-Shift-Z (on QWERTY keyboards) unlocks the zoom on the spectator camera.
You can add certain lines of code to your config files to enable extra functionality inside of the spectator, like a camera with unlocked zoom, or changing the neutral monster timers to appear like they do in professional Esports matches.
To unlock your camera, Open the file path Riot Games > League Of Legends > Config > PersistedSettings. Once you're editing this file, search for "Input.ini" and under GameEvents Settings, add the following:
{ "name": "evtToggleExtendedZoom", "value": "[Ctrl][z]" }, After doing this, using the hotkey Ctrl+Z in spectate will allow you to zoom in and out as much as you want.
To turn the neutral timers into the dragon and baron timers used in pro play, open the game.cfg file in the same config folder. Simply add "[Spectator] eSportsNeutralTimers=1" and when you enable the timers in spectate will appear as they do on the professional streams.