Forget balancing, LoL players agree Riot needs to fix the Rift’s glaring elevation issue

Even though I’ve played over 2,000 matches of League of Legends, I’ve never truly mastered elevation on Summoner’s Rift—and it seems like I’m not the only player struggling with this.

While discussing League’s biggest clarity issues on Jan. 4, players on Reddit agreed Riot Games needs to take a long, hard look at elevation on the Rift. Elevation has been in the game forever, and you can easily notice it when you try to hit an enemy in the river. Skillshots that would normally hit you in lane miss and you need to aim a bit higher or lower, depending on your position.

Janna placing a ward next to the herald in league of legends — _{Elevation on Summoner’s Rift is only noticeable in the river. Screenshot by Dot Esports}

Elevation in League is counterintuitive, and unless you’re a veteran, there’s a high chance you didn’t even know about the mechanic. Even though you can see items and monster camps in 3D, the concept of height is more complex. For example, if you’re playing a Tristana and you’re trying to use your Rocket Jump over Jinx’s Flame Chompers, you’ll still get caught in them. While you can’t really jump over obstacles on the ground, you still have to be wary of the height difference between you and enemies in the river and surrounding area.

Unfortunately, Riot probably won’t fix this glaring issue any time soon. Back at the end of November 2023, the devs announced elevation is staying in the game, at least for a while longer since it’s “too much work.” Instead of fixing elevation, Riot plans on focusing on more important projects in 2024 because the devs believe this would be such a demanding task that it would be equal to a whole preseason worth of work.