Every successful League of the Legends player must know how to use the ping option. Using ping at the right moment can affect the course of the game. So for every new player is desirable to figure out how pinging works. In the text below, we will explain what pings are, how they work when used, and the fastest way to use them.
What Are Pings?
Pings are visual elements on the map, each with a special meaning and special accompanying sound. For example, there are regular pings:
Basic Ping – clicking Ctrl or G + Left-click
Caution ping – clicking alt or v + letf-click
Both types of pings may occur in the middle of the arena or minimap.
Basic pings
Selected Element | Information |
Ground | Basic ping (no team chat message) |
Enemy champion or Monster | Target |
Enemy structure | Plating amount or % Health |
Allied structure | Defend this structure (with Plating amount or % Health) |
Caution pings
Selected Element | Information |
Ground | Caution ping |
Enemy champion, Structure or Monster | Retreat |
Allied structure | Plating amount or % Health |
As you can see, it is explained when and for what these two types of regular pings are used. It’s pretty simple, and in the middle of the match is very useful because you can notify teammates about potential danger. In addition to Regular Pings, there is a Smart Pings option. Smart Pings option consists of four characters, four warnings that allow players faster sending of notifications because by pinging, they don’t have to lose precious time during the gameplay.
The Smart Ping Menu opens by holding down Ctrl, Alt, V, or G Keys and left-clicking. If you want to choose any of the four offered pings, you can do it by dragging the mouse in the direction of the ping you want. As with Regular Pings, Smart Pings can be used in the arena or minimap.
Smart Pings vary depending on the warning or information transmitted, so, for example, Ping ‘Danger’ has its own sound and a red triangle, ping ‘On My Way’ has a green arrow, ping ‘Assist Me’ is marked by a blue flag and ping ‘ Enemy Missing (MIA) ‘is marked by a yellow questionnaire sign.
These four smart pings are very useful because they can seek help from teammates, inform the teammates that there is no enemy champion on the lane, or report to the teammates that your champion is on the way to help them. There is another ping with regular pings and Smart Pings, and it has to do with wards. It is called Warded Ping, and you can find it by clicking the Esc, then selecting ‘Hotkeys,’ the ‘Communication’ menu, and then clicking on “Area Is Warded Ping.”
This ping is also red in color, similar to ‘Danger’ ping but in the form of an eye, and denotes an area with a ward, warning the teammates that they can be visible to the opponent’s team if they are near the warded area.
The last category pings are UI Pings that are a little bit different. They are useful because they give information like champion’s health or mana level, champion level, or how much gold their champion has. To use these pings, hold the Alt key and then left-click on chosen element.
Also read: How to Use Zilean’s Passive
Selected Element | Information |
Health bar (Self) | % amount of health |
Mana bar (Self) | % amount of mana |
Experience bar (Self) | % amount of level experience |
Champion level | Level |
Statistic | Statistic amount (champions only) |
Rune | Rune |
Player Portrait | Alive or Respawn timer |
Monster Icon | Respawn timer |
Ability icon, Spell icon or Ultimate indicator | Ally: Cooldown remaining/Activation details/Ability in range Enemy: Ultimate/Spell |
Recall | Recall |
Item icon or Trinket icon | Item Self: Cooldown, Charge |
Gold | Gold amount |
Bounty | Bounty amount |
Ping | Ping (Latency) |
Vision Score | Vision Score |
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How Do I Know if I Ping Too Much?
Sometimes, pinging can be very annoying for your teammates. Some players do not know how to balance with pings and use them only in situations that require it. They are persistent in their plan to notify their teammates about something that does not have great importance for gameplay.
However, sometimes players will have to ping several times to warn the teammates to danger or invite them to help. It all depends on the teammate’s culture. Will they respect their ping, or will they ignore it easily? Of course, for a team game, it is not desirable to ignore someone else’s pings rather than see how to help. On the other hand, players should not exploit the pinging option without reason because they can annoy and tilt their teammates by constantly pinging.
Fortunately, for all those who claim that pinging is distracting them during the game and who do not want to use his benefits, and maybe those who don’t want to get nervous because of their teammates who are constantly pinging, Riot has designed the option for putting pings on mute. Ping- mute button silent regular pings, Smart Pings, and HUD pings.
However, it is not wise to use this option every match. Eventually, if a player is found who harasses the team in one match, putting pings on silence are fine, but for the best quality gameplay pings should be unmuted.
Also read: How to Counter Support Brand?
Is There Any Way for Pinging Faster?
Furthermore, the more experienced League of Legends players discovered how to send pings faster and more often. According to Reddit, you need to open Tab and spam, click it without holding G or Alt keys, and then it should ping faster. Some players say that with click on Tab, you need to click fast as you can with your left-click.
Or, hold the Alt key and then, at the same time, right-click. These methods should do the job, according to players who shared their tips for spam pings faster. But be careful if you use ping too many times; your teammates can report you simply because you’re annoying and interfere with their game quality, so use these options only if necessary.
Final Thoughts
In this article, you are introduced to the ping option, what types of pings exist, and how they are used. To recap briefly, pings are visuals, each with a specific meaning, color, and sound, and can be used on terrain or a minimap. They are critical in the middle of the game because their proper use can prevent opponent ganks, for example. Ping ‘Area is warded’ indicates the area on the map where the opponent’s champion has placed the ward, and by crossing that area, your champion can be visible to the opposing team and thus endanger his life.
The article also includes faster spam pings because sometimes teammates don’t react if they are pinged once or twice. However, as appealing as the idea of faster spamming pings may be, it is not desirable to abuse it. In this way, your teammates can get angry and mute all pings, which can cause the team to lose precisely because of poor communication. Learning to use pings wisely is extremely important because it allows players to achieve better results and win the match with teamwork. So, be aware not to tilt and spam your teammates but ping every time you need help or see the potential danger; your teammates will be grateful.
Still having issues? Maybe this article on how to show ping in LoL will help.