League of Legends champions have various differences, one of which is the secondary resource bar. While most champions in the game rely on mana to cast their skills, some champions are not limited by this resource. They may have a different type of secondary resource or simply not have a secondary resource at all.
Manaless champions do not rely on mana to cast their abilities. They may have secondary resource bars that cover the cost of their abilities or simply enhance their abilities. The Top 10 Best Manaless Champions in League of Legends are Aatrox, Bel’Veth, Gnar, Lee Sin, Rengar, Riven, Tryndamere, Viego, Vladimir, and Yone.
Manaless champions are balanced around their lack of secondary resources, depriving them of some builds (Manamune, Fimbulwinter, etc). These champions usually have weaker abilities or longer cooldowns to compensate for this lack of reliance.
Aatrox
Aatrox has very polarizing opinions among the community. Some players simply love playing a resourceless champion that benefits from omnivamp, while others hate facing him because of his obnoxious healing.
- Aatrox’s strength lies in his ability to heal large amounts of HP based on the damage dealt by his abilities. His Q covers different distances and briefly knocks up opponents, interrupting channels. His E allows him to move over terrain and his W sets him up for a triple Q combo.
- Aatrox’s biggest weakness is his reliance on area-targeted abilities to deal damage. His Q roots him in place during the animation and can be sidestepped because of its slow cast time. A lot of champions can simply walk out of his W. Grievous Wounds also reduce his strength in fights.
Bel’Veth
Bel’Veth is a recent addition to the game and has seen a wide variety of play in low elo because of her stacking passive. Bel’Veth occasionally appears in professional play but is much more prevalent in Solo Queue.
- Bel’Veth can infinitely stack her attack speed using her passive, making her a strong scaling champion. Her E provides her massive damage reduction for a short duration. Her Q offers her a lot of mobility in battle.
- Bel’Veth’s E is a very long cooldown in the early game and without it, she does not have any way of defending herself. She is not strong without her passive stacks, especially when she is not in her true form.
Gnar
Gnar has been a problematic matchup for a lot of top laners. He has a lot of poke in his ranged form and good engage tools in his melee form. He has also had a lot of presence in professional play.
- Gnar in his ranged form gains a lot of movement speed that allows him to continue poking you down with his Q and auto attacks. His E can always take him to safety. In melee form, Mega Gnar has amazing stats and great engage tools. Gnar’s ultimate has a short cooldown and can singlehandedly turn a teamfight around.
- Gnar is extremely squishy in his ranged form and is prone to ganks when his E is down. If he fails to catch his Q, it goes on a fairly long cooldown. Mega Gnar has a massive hitbox and lacks movement speed, unlike his mini form.
Lee Sin
Lee Sin has always managed to sneak into the meta for many years now. He has had a massive presence in League of Legends esports. He is also a popular jungler in Solo Queue because of his outplay mechanics.
- Lee Sin gains attack speed from his passive whenever he uses his abilities. All of his basic abilities can be recast for additional effects. His Q lets him jump to a target and deal execute damage. He can shield his opponents with his W. His R can be combined with Flash or Ward Jump to kick an enemy towards his teammates.
- Lee Sin relies on his R and Q to make plays in teamfights. He does not achieve much if he misses these abilities. He can also find himself in the middle of the enemy team if he misses his Q after an insec.
Rengar
Rengar is probably the most popular assassin in the game. Junglers of all elo love to play this champion because of his damage and mobility. He can also build a lot of different items according to his requirements.
- Rengar has a lot of damage built into his kit because of his double Q. He can heal a large amount of health using his W which counters burst damage. He can also cleanse CC with his empowered W. His E provides vision of his target and can root when empowered.
- Rengar relies on brushes to leap to his target and has no way of gap closing outside of his ultimate. His Q is the only burst tool he has outside of his ultimate, so any champion that can tank his damage and lock him down with CC can easily deal with him.
Riven
Riven is a champion that relies on Ability Haste. Her ability provide her with enough mobility to choose her engages carefully and escape when required. Her slippery nature makes her an annoying champion to lane against.
- Riven’s Q not only deals damage to her target but also moves her in the target direction. Her Q3 can knock up opponents and even jump over terrain. Her E allows her to dash in the target direction and gain a shield. Her W acts as an AoE stun that can be added to her Q combo.
- Riven has fairly long cooldowns in the early game, she can be punished for running out of Qs. Her W stuns her opponents but also locks her in place for the animation for a brief moment. Champions that can mitigate/tank her entire combo will be in a good position to capitalize on her cooldowns.
Tryndamere
Tryndamere is a nightmare champion for a lot of top laners. His ultimate is one of the most powerful abilities in the game, and combined with his glass cannon nature, makes him a beast when ahead.
- Tryndamere is annoying to trade with in the early game because he can gain crit chance starting Level 1. If he can stack his secondary bar, he can win a lot of early 1v1s. His E can allow him to dash away after the trade, and it can be combined with his Flash. After the lane, Tryndamere becomes a side-lane menace.
- Tryndamere is fairly squishy at every stage of the game. He has a heal on his Q but outside of that, he does not really have any form of damage reduction and usually builds completely glass cannon. Enemies can bait his ultimate and temporarily disengage. Most of his damage is based on auto attacks and can be countered by armor items.
Viego
Viego’s release led to a large uproar in the community about newer champions having “too much” in their kits. In Viego’s case, it was every single champion’s basic abilities that he could utilize by getting a takedown on them and taking their soul. He has been nerfed multiple times to reduce his impact in Solo Queue and Professional Play.
- Viego’s abilities apply a mark on his targets, consuming it with auto attacks deals additional damage and applies on-hit effects again. His auto attacks deal %current HP damage to his target. He can possess champions that he assists in taking down, healing some health upon possession, and gaining all basic abilities of the possessed champion.
- Viego is not very strong in teamfights if he does not get possession, as his damage depends on the number of enemies he can take down and possess. Most of his damage is based on auto attacks and he isn’t inherently tanky, so he can not afford to take a beating from teamfighting champions.
Vladimir
Vladimir is an amazing example of a manaless champion. His only resource is his health bar which he can fill up using his abilities. Vladimir’s secondary resource bar keeps track of his empowered Q stacks, allowing him to plan for an empowered Q on enemy champions.
- Vladimir’s Q allows him to sustain in the lane from champions and minions. His E is a great waveclear tool but requires some points in it to be effective. His W is his defensive ability that allows him to become untargetable, providing him an escape from ganks. His ultimate is a great teamfighting tool that increases his damage and heals him after a short period.
- Vladimir has very long cooldowns in the early game. His W takes a large chunk of his HP, so forcing it out can count as a won trade for the enemy. His E provides little waveclear in the early game. His ultimate is somewhat short range and takes a while to heal him.
Yone
Yone is very similar to Yasuo in multiple aspects of his gameplay. While Yasuo’s secondary resource bar indicates the charge for his shield, Yone’s resource bar is essentially useless. His abilities scale well with AD and provide him with enough mobility to stick to his target.
- Yone’s Q cooldown scales with attack speed, it allows him to stack Lethal Tempo very quickly. He gains 2.5x the critical strike chance of any normal champion, so he only requires two finished items to get 100% Crit chance. His Q and auto attacks can both crit. He deals a portion of the damage done during his E as true damage at the end of the duration.
- Yone lacks AD and Crit chance in the early game, outside of Lethal Tempo, he does not have a major source of damage in his kit. He always snaps back to his original location after using E, which can allow the enemy to trap him. His Q is a skillshot that has a narrow hitbox, so it can be sidestepped.
Conclusion
Mana is a very important resource in League of Legends, but not every champion will depend on it. Manaless champions are either balanced around a secondary resource, or simply lack a secondary resource bar. These are unique in their own way and offer different ways of utilizing the champion’s kit.
Check out our following article that will help you find your best one for all champ.
