Riot Games has walked back a plan to bring last hit indicators to League of Legends ranked play, pulling the feature from competitive queues less than a day after patch 26.13 went live — citing community response and a need for more player data before committing to a broader rollout.
What the Feature Does
Last hit indicators alter the appearance of a minion's health bar to signal when the unit is within killing range of a basic attack — essentially giving players a visual cue for one of the game's most foundational mechanics. The feature had been slated to appear as an option in both normal draft and ranked queues as part of patch 26.13.
The U-Turn
Less than a day after the patch notes went public, Riot reversed course on ranked. In an official post on X, the League of Legends account explained the decision, writing in part: "We've seen a lot of conversation around last hit indicators coming to ranked, and we've decided to enable them in non-ranked SR queues only for continued testing. We want to get more data and feedback to decide if we should make them an option for ranked before making that call." The indicators remain in the game but are off by default, available in Swiftplay, Co-op vs. AI, and normal draft. Ranked play is excluded for now, with Riot saying it plans to share updates on performance and direction through future developer posts before making any further decisions.
A Divided Player Base
The speed of the reversal reflects how sharply the community split on the feature. Critics argued that tracking the precise moment to land a last hit is a core expression of mechanical skill in League — a discipline that separates players at every level of competition — and that visual assistance in ranked undermines that skill gap. Supporters countered that the indicator does not change the underlying dynamics of the lane or remove the need for good decision-making, since the knowledge it provides is equally available to every player in the match. Multiple outlets noted that a post opposing the feature's inclusion in ranked quickly climbed to the top of the League of Legends subreddit after the patch notes were published, underscoring the depth of feeling on the competitive side of the player base.
Where Things Stand
Riot's framing positions this as a data-gathering phase rather than a cancellation. By keeping the feature active in lower-stakes and casual modes, the team can observe adoption rates and player behavior before deciding whether the tool belongs in a ranked environment. Whether that eventually leads to a ranked toggle — or a permanent exclusion — has not been determined. The episode is a clear signal that League's player base remains protective of last hitting as a skill ceiling, even as Riot continues to explore accessibility improvements across the game. With the indicators now live in casual modes and feedback collection underway, the question of whether they ever reach ranked play is still open.
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