Locke LoL Guide: Abilities, Build & Runes — Patch 26.13

Locke is League of Legends’ 173rd champion — and the only new champion Riot is releasing in 2026. He’s a mid lane AP assassin arriving in Patch 26.13 on June 24, 2026, built around a nail-stacking burst loop, a self-drain combat steroid, and a hard execution ultimate that seals his victims’ souls.

Whether you’re trying to learn Locke from day one or just want to know how to counter him, you’re in the right place.

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Locke Lore & Champion Overview

Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, was raised in a family of Demacian occultists secretly devoted to hunting demons — the men who did Demacia’s dirty work so the nobles could sleep at night. For years he was the hand Demacia never officially acknowledged.

One mission changed everything. He was ordered to “purge a demonic threat” that turned out to be a family of mageborn hiding to survive. When Locke refused, Demacia sent another in his place. From that moment on he became a rogue vigilante, wielding consecrated iron nails and the Purgatory Seal — an ancient binding artifact capable of trapping souls in a spectral plane from which neither demon nor man ever returns.

“I carry consecrated nails — not to destroy demons, but to pin men to the truth of what they are.”

He shares the Demacian hunter archetype with Vayne, but the difference is stark: Vayne acts from righteous fury; Locke is the disillusioned man who no longer distinguishes monsters from men. He is the sole new champion of Season 26 — his official classification is Mid Lane AP Assassin, Medium Difficulty.

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Locke Abilities — Full Breakdown

Every basic attack deals bonus magic damage on-hit that scales with the target’s missing HP. The Lich Bane Sheen proc fires on the same auto that applies Silver Stake — the lower the enemy’s HP, the more explosive the combined hit. Never skip autos between abilities.

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Throws a line of nails that marks enemies with stacking Soul Nail stacks (stacking slow). Auto-attacking a marked enemy consumes all stacks for massive bonus damage per stack — the Q → AA combo is the backbone of every trade. Max Q first: each rank increases the per-stack damage.

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Grants a decaying movement speed burst at the cost of draining % max HP per second. The return: heals a portion of all damage taken during the window, with more healing the lower his HP gets. Pop it at 65–70% HP for maximum return — activating at full HP wastes the mechanic.

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Blinks to a nearby location, dealing AoE magic damage on arrival; next basic attack is empowered and pierces through every enemy in a line. Snowball engine: killing or assisting fully resets E’s cooldown, enabling Katarina-style kill chain engages. The blink frame dodges skillshots.

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Hurls the Purgatory Seal which scatters Soul Nails in a large AoE circle, marking and slowing all enemy champions caught inside. Execution clause: any marked champion brought below the HP threshold inside the circle is instantly executed — no Stopwatch, no Zilean saves them. Drop it on targets already at 50–60% HP.

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Locke Strengths & Weaknesses

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How to Play Locke

Locke’s playstyle revolves around three phases:

Phase 1 — Poke and stack. In early lane, land Q to apply Soul Nail marks and chip the enemy’s HP. You’re not looking for kills yet — you’re looking to bring them down to the 50–60% range where your all-in becomes lethal.

Phase 2 — All-in window. Once the target is in kill range, the sequence is: activate W → close with E → consume Q stacks with an empowered auto → drop R to execute. Lich Bane’s Sheen proc on the first auto after E multiplies the burst dramatically.

Phase 3 — Kill chain. The E reset after each kill means Locke doesn’t stop at one. In teamfights, position to pick the most isolated target, get the kill, and immediately redirect to the next lowest-HP enemy. Keep W active throughout if multiple targets are available.

Early game: Play safe until Lich Bane. Before your first item, your all-in damage is limited. Focus on CS, Q poke, and look for kill setups post-6 with R.

Mid game: This is your power peak. Lich Bane + Shadowflame provides enough burst to one-shot any squishy mid laner under 70% HP. Roam aggressively — your W speed and E blink make you extremely hard to catch when rotating.

Late game: Locke scales well but becomes easier to focus in full teamfights. Position at flanks, look for isolated targets, and trust the E reset to extend your threat window.

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Core Combos Step by Step

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Best Locke Skill Order

Start Q at level 1. Ritual Nails is your lane poke tool and burst setup — you need it from the first seconds. Take E at level 2 for mobility, then W at level 3 to complete your kit.

Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Ability	Q	E	W	Q	Q	R	Q	E	Q	E	R	E	E	W	W	R	W	W

Priority: R > Q > E > W

• Q first and max first — each level increases the damage per Soul Nail stack consumed. This is your primary damage tool. Maxing Q first hits significantly harder than any alternative.
• E second — the cooldown reduction from maxing E enables more reset windows in teamfights. Damage increase per level is secondary.
• W last — rank 1 W provides most of the speed and healing; additional ranks add diminishing returns compared to Q/E damage scaling.
• R at 6, 11, 16 — always.

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Best Locke Runes — Patch 26.13

Option 1 — Electrocute (Standard, Recommended)

Primary tree: Domination

Slot	Rune
Keystone	Electrocute Electrocute Hitting a champion with 3 separate attacks or abilities deals bonus adaptive burst damage.
Row 2	Sudden Impact Sudden Impact Gain bonus lethality and magic penetration after dashing or exiting stealth.
Row 3	Grisly Mementos Grisly Mementos Collect eyeballs on takedowns to gain stacks of adaptive force.
Row 4	Ultimate Hunter Ultimate Hunter Reduce your ultimate's cooldown per unique champion takedown. Max –30s at 5 stacks.

Secondary tree: Precision

Slot	Rune
Row 1	Triumph Triumph Takedowns restore 5% missing HP and grant bonus gold.
Row 2	Coup de Grace Coup de Grace Deal 8% more damage to champions below 40% HP.

Stats: Attack Speed / Adaptive Force / Health

Why this page works:

• Electrocute procs on Q → E → AA, the standard Locke pattern. It adds significant burst damage on every all-in and is impossible to avoid activating if you play the combo correctly.
• Sudden Impact gives free magic penetration every time you blink with E — which is every all-in. Combined with Sorcerer’s Shoes and Shadowflame, you end up with massive magic pen that bypasses most mid lane resistances.
• Grisly Mementos stacks adaptive force on takedowns, amplifying both Q damage and Silver Stake. Locke gets kills constantly — the stacks accumulate fast.
• Ultimate Hunter directly reduces Purgatory’s cooldown per unique kill. Since R is your execution tool, having it available more often is crucial, especially in teamfights where multiple targets enter kill range.
• Triumph restores 5% missing HP on kills — essential sustain during multi-kill chains when W may not be active.
• Coup de Grace amplifies damage against champions below 40% HP. Locke’s entire kit revolves around killing low-HP targets — Silver Stake, Q stack consume, and R threshold all work at low HP. Coup de Grace makes the execution threshold even easier to reach.

Option 2 — Dark Harvest (Scaling)

Swap Electrocute for Dark Harvest Dark Harvest

Damaging champions below 50% HP harvests their soul, permanently increasing your damage.

if:

• You expect a long game (20+ minutes before teamfights)
• The enemy team has 3+ squishy targets
• You’re confident in getting early kills to start stacking

Dark Harvest has infinite scaling and stacks from every kill Locke gets with his execution loop. The tradeoff: weaker level-6 spike than Electrocute, making the early all-in less decisive.

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Best Locke Build — Patch 26.13

Starting Items

Full build : Lich Bane → Sorcerer’s Shoes → Shadowflame → Zhonya’s Hourglass → Rabadon’s Deathcap → Banshee’s Veil

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Item Breakdown

Lich Bane (First Item — Core)

This is Locke’s most important item and it goes first, not Hextech Rocketbelt. Here’s why: the Sheen passive on Lich Bane triggers every time Locke casts an ability, and it fires on the same auto-attack that consumes Silver Stake’s missing-HP bonus damage. When you land Q → E → AA at 50% enemy HP, that single auto-attack deals: normal AD + Lich Bane Sheen proc + Silver Stake scaling + Q stack consume bonus. This is a four-source burst hit that no other mythic replicates.

Additionally, Lich Bane grants AP, magic damage, and movement speed — all directly relevant to Locke’s kit. By timing the Sheen passive cooldown (2.5 seconds), you can get two Sheen procs per trade using the Q-E sequence.

Sorcerer’s Shoes

Magic penetration is non-negotiable on a champion whose every damage source is magic. Take these over Ionian Boots of Lucidity in every standard matchup.

Shadowflame (Second Damage Item)

Locke constantly fights enemies at missing HP — Silver Stake’s scaling alone means he’s always dealing damage to champions who are below full. Shadowflame’s passive gives bonus magic penetration against targets with missing shields or HP, stacking on top of Sorcerer’s Shoes and Sudden Impact. The result: by the time an enemy reaches 60% HP in a fight with Locke, he’s penetrating a significant portion of their Magic Resist.

Zhonya’s Hourglass (Defensive-Damage Hybrid)

Soul Ignition actively depletes Locke’s HP during the steroid window. Zhonya’s invulnerability frame is the safety net: activate it at the end of an all-in combo when burst has landed and you’re low, then re-emerge at full combat readiness. Against heavy AD compositions, take this third instead of fourth.

Rabadon’s Deathcap (AP Amplifier)

The standard 35% AP multiplier. Buy this once you have two damage items established — it amplifies everything including Lich Bane’s Sheen, Q stacks, Silver Stake, and R circle damage. Enormous power spike.

Banshee’s Veil (Sixth Item)

The spell shield provides an extra layer of protection against the hard CC that counters Locke (Lissandra’s E, Malzahar’s R, Annie’s Q/R). In games where the enemy has 3+ AP damage sources, Banshee’s spell shield can be the difference between landing a full combo and dying mid-cast.

Situational Swap: Void Staff

Replace Banshee’s Veil with Void Staff when facing 2+ tanks or champions actively building Magic Resist (Kayle, Galio, Dr. Mundo). The 40% magic penetration from Void Staff completely bypasses tank itemization.

For a deeper look at why static builds like this one will need AI adaptation as Locke’s meta evolves, see why static build guides fail.

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Locke Summoner Spells

Standard: Flash + Ignite

• Flash is non-negotiable. Locke uses it as a gap-close before R or as an escape when E is on cooldown.
• Ignite is the preferred second spell. It synergizes directly with the execution fantasy: Ignite’s damage ticks reduce the enemy HP enough to fall within the Purgatory execution threshold, and the Grievous Wounds it applies reduces incoming healing on Locke (a self-nerf that players sometimes overlook — but the kill pressure it adds outweighs this).

Alternative: Flash + Teleport

Take Teleport in matchups where you need safe early farm (versus very aggressive lane opponents) or when your team composition requires global pressure. You sacrifice kill setup for macro impact.

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Locke Counters & How to Beat Locke

Locke’s weaknesses are clear once you understand his kit:

1. Hard point-and-click crowd control. Locke needs to weave auto-attacks between abilities to convert Soul Nail stacks. Anything that interrupts this loop before he can land an empowered AA ends his trade. The best hard counters are champions with reliable CC that snaps onto him mid-combo:

2. Grievous Wounds. Soul Ignition’s healing is Locke’s primary survival tool. A Morellonomicon, Thornmail, or Oblivion Orb reduces his W healing by 40%, stripping away his ability to sustain through trades. Supports should build GW items if Locke is snowballing.

3. Long-range poke. Locke has no escape tool that extends beyond his Q range before he closes in. Artillery mages like Xerath and Ziggs can whittle him to low HP before he can establish a lane foothold, making his W-drain risky and his all-ins harder to execute safely.

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Is Locke Good? Early Assessment

Locke arrives on live servers strong but not overtuned. The design intent is clearly a high-skill-floor assassin — significantly stronger in the hands of players who understand W timing and E reset patterns than those who treat him like a standard burst mage.

What makes him special:

The Lich Bane first-item path combined with the Silver Stake passive creates a unique burst pattern where auto-attacks deal more damage than most AP assassins’ abilities. This makes him difficult to itemize against: buying Magic Resist reduces his ability damage but not his passive on-hit burst; buying HP gives him more Silver Stake scaling.

Potential concerns:

The W self-drain mechanic might be frustrating in games against heavy poke compositions — if you can’t close into melee range to use the healing return, the HP drain becomes a liability. Expect early tier lists to place him in A tier, with carry players potentially reaching S tier on him quickly given the execution ceiling on his E resets.

Tools like buildzcrank will track real-time Locke data starting from launch day and adapt item recommendations as his meta is refined — no need to wait for a human guide update.

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High Noon Locke Skin

Locke launches with the High Noon thematic skin line. High Noon Locke is his only launch skin and appears to reimagine him as a supernatural gunslinger-exorcist, with demonic aesthetics consistent with the High Noon universe’s visual identity (shared with champions like Sett, Leona, and Twisted Fate in previous High Noon releases).

In the same Patch 26.13 skin batch: High Noon Akshan releases alongside him, suggesting coordinated thematic rollout between the two demon-hunter-adjacent champions.

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Release Date & Patch 26.13

Locke releases June 24, 2026 at 11 AM PDT with Patch 26.13.

He is confirmed as the sole new champion of Season 26 — Riot’s deliberate choice to concentrate resources on one deeply developed champion rather than a higher volume of lighter releases. He is the 173rd champion in the game’s history, following Zaahen.

For context on the current mid lane meta he’s entering, see our updated best mid lane champions tier list.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Locke

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Conclusion

Locke, the Ashen Exorcist, is a technically demanding AP assassin with a unique burst pattern built around auto-attack weaving, execution-threshold management, and kill-chain resets. The core of playing him well is deceptively simple: Q to stack nails, E to close, auto to consume (Lich Bane fires here), R to execute. The skill expression comes from mastering W timing, the E reset window, and knowing exactly when your burst crosses the Purgatory threshold.

He arrives June 24. His most effective counters are CC-heavy mages and Grievous Wounds items. His best build starts with Lich Bane — not Hextech Rocketbelt. And his skill order maxes Q first, not E.

Keep this guide bookmarked — it will be updated with live data the week of Patch 26.13.