Well, not too long after the release of Hwei, Riot has already hit us with a new champion, Smolder. Smolder is the latest adc, and boy, does he ever give me Spyro vibes. Smolder is a cute little dragon who never flees too far from the watching eye of his mom. This little guy is aimed to be a very simple champion which makes sense since the last few ADCs (mainly Aphelios, even tho I love him and play him constantly, half of my friends still don’t know what he does) have had very complicated kits. Today we’re gonna break down Smolder’s simple abilities, possible runes and some potential builds. Just keep in mind Smolder is only out on the PBE until the 24th of January, then he’ll be released with patch 14.2. Until he’s been out for a while, people are going to be spending some time figuring out his best runes and builds, so stay tuned for updates on Smolder.
Abilities
Passive - Dragon Practice
Every time Smolder hits an enemy with Super Scorcher Breath (His Q) or kills a minion. Each stack increases the damage of his abilities. (Think Aurelion Sol's stacking)
Q - Super Scorcher Breath
Shoots a small ball of flame at the target. Not only does this ability's damage scale with stacks, but it also evolves.
At 25 stacks, it damages all surrounding enemies
At 125 stacks, it sends out two explosions in a cone behind the target.
At 225 stacks, it burns the target for 6.5% max health TRUE damage and enemies that drop below a certain threshold of health are instantly killed. (225 stacks add the elder dragon buff onto this ability. the threshold scales with stacks).
W - Achooo!
Smolder sneezes and a flame emits, dealing damage and slowing enemies. Hitting an enemy champ causes an explosion that scales with stacks.
E - Flap, Flap, Flap
Smolder starts flying, gains move speed and ignores terrain for a short period. While flying, he shoots at the nearest enemy, prioritizing champions. (no it doesn't hit towers)
R - MMOOOMMMM!
Smolder's mom breathes fire as she does a drive-by in a straight line. Enemies take damage in the radius. In the center line the damage is increased and slows. If Smolder is hit, he heals.
Aside from having an overly cutesy/childlike aesthetic and some odd ability names, Smolder does feel like a nice champion to play. Having tested him a bit on PBE, he feels good, but there can be a lot of on-screen effects if you hit 225 stacks on your Q. However, in game, it actually takes a ton of mana to get these stacks. It roughly took me about 25-30 minutes, and that was with me also killing all the jungle camps too. I do truly love his E; for once, it adds the ability for you to move around while using the ability. So no more flying in a straight line and ending your flight if you click anywhere. Ahem. A-Sol. All in all, if you can get to the 30-minute mark and have 225+ stacks. The game is literally over. You have an elder buff 24/7. It is nuts.
Runes
As of this moment, League of Legends only shows two ideal rune pages for Smolder, one being Press the Attack (PTA) and the other being Lethal Tempo. I can see both being good however, I think due to Smolder being an ability-based ADC, you are better off taking PTA to maximize your damage rather than lethal tempo. Most of your damage is going to come from your Q rather than auto attacks, so lethal tempo may be a tad less useful. I could also see First Strike being viable, so I wouldn't be surprised if that ended up being one of the rune choices in the future. No matter what, though, I strongly believe that you'll want to take ManaFlow Band and Gathering Storm as your secondaries. Spells are always debatable and preference-based, so take flash and whatever other spell as your secondary.
Builds
Now, I know what you're thinking. These are just the recommended items but, I tried all sorts of builds. You're going to have to think of Smolder as an adc similar to Ezreal, except you scale off of crit. My personal fav was this.
The first item you get is either a Tear or Doran's blade. If you go Doran's, you still need to get a Tear on your first back. Then get your boots, followed by Essence Reaver, Navori Quickblades, Manamune, Lord Dominick's Regards, Bloodthirster.
I felt ridiculously strong with 80% crit, and the Muramana allowed me to just spam my abilities. It was the only build that I could solo baron with, in the practice tool. However, Ravenous Hydra felt really nice cause of the omnivamp, but the new active felt useless on Smolder. and so did the AOE auto attacks since your Q spreads anyway. Nashor's Tooth is the one item that I personally don't think I would buy because your only AP scaling is on your ultimate. However, the on-hit effect applies to your E as it applies on-hit effects. I also thought I would like Trinity Force and Spear of Shojin more than I did. It seems like a great item since you get tons of ability haste from the two, but your Q is your main damage source, and it has good scaling from crit chance. So I just ended up feeling underpowered without 80% crit. I could also see Shieldbow over Bloodthirster.
All in all, Smolder is really fun to play, and I actually don't mind the character. Yes, he is a little childish, but his voice lines are fun enough, and his interactions with other champs and the map are entertaining enough for a game or two. We'll see what I think down the road haha. Smolder is a great ADC for players trying to learn and experienced players alike. No crazy mechanics and has point-and-click damage with his Q. Solid champ might be kinda overtuned and is just gonna end up getting nerfed like A-Sol though.
Great article! I can't wait to try this cute guy out!