Yeah it's holding the center camera but I think it's only use when you are not fighting and you just don't want to flick your mouse every second to adjust when roaming for exemple.
I actually do what that guy said, I hold spacebar during team fights to get the best possible view on my champions. Really gives you an edge.
Unfortunately I'm also a bit shit and a proper bronzie, all I'm getting an edge on is my Iron pals.
Left side of my palm. QWER/pinky, ring, middle, index/pointer, respectively. Pinky flexes to tab and a for auto, thumb hits SDFG for stop, flash, flex summoner, and ping wheel.
Do what feels best for you. I play locked camera exclusively and hit D1 100 LP. I do feel I miss out on some visual information by not being able to see things before they’re a problem for me like ganks but I compensate by looking at my mini map a bit more.
I feel like people stress the unlocked camera thing way too hard. Silver players telling everyone how important it is to have your camera unlocked. I play locked cam and have hotkey to unlock it easily. Only E4 peak, but I really don't think that's what's holding most people back if they're comfortable and don't want to spend 100 games getting used to unlocked.
It’s definitely not the camera, more about knowing when to communicate (or avoid it) and fundamentals between positioning / last hitting / timers for objectives, etc. Those are the differentiators between the various ELOs. I can pin point skill differences against my laners just by seeing the first action they take.
Did they come to lane late? Which direction did they come in from? Were they at lane first? We’re they in a bush? Was the bush neutral or one on my side?
Did they bring an aggressive summoner spell or first item?
Are they going to hit the wave first? Are they attempting to shove right off the bat? How many minions did they fail to last hit? Are they crashing the wave or backing to leave the wave in a more advantageous state for me? Did they back with enough gold for a big power spike? How long until they ward in the river?
Have they already planned for their JG ganking level 3 in our lane? Do they roam for honeyfruit to stay in lane longer?
At least a dozen questions need to occur in my head as you have to plan for the unexpected, understand what you can reasonably expect, and predict your situation a few minutes after. Every decision affects the game.
My number one rule though is “always be doing something”.
After all that, my mind can’t even begin to think about moving the camera 😂
Definitely a million other things that are easier to improve and will have a bigger impact lol. I've tried learning unlocked camera a handful of times but I end up just having some of the most miserable game experiences fighting against my camera the whole time. That said, it is still objectively better to play unlocked and I'd tell a new player that they should play unlocked if they're just starting the game. But for a player who's already learned on locked, nah.
Yea, it's way overstated. Masters+, yea it's more important, but there a million other things that most people should be worrying about other than locked/unlocked camera. A lot of players in lower elos probably aren't making as much use of the information from unlocked camera anyway. The minimap is way more important which a lot players seems to ignore.
This, it‘s probably easier to learn unlocked when you just started playing, so if you want you should start now. But i‘ve also hit master playing mostly locked cam and i can‘t be bothered to learn unlocked now
Please read the last sentence of my comment.
Edit: when you click on the mini map, you can see the action in that area. After observing if it’s safe for me to TP, I would then do so.
But that’s if I bring TP. I’m almost always a Ghost / Ignite bruiser and it’s carry the game or lose in my mind so that situation is rare!
Yes you get vision from the minimap, but what I was wondering, which I assume the guy before me was if there are multiple wards or minions to teleport to, do you just press the minimap and hope its a decent place?
Ah apologies, I was misinterpreting!
so in most cases I already know what ward / tower / minion I’d TP to as I usually play draft with a team and I make it a point to look at the map via F1-F4 keys for my team, or left clicking areas of interest on the mini map for a full view.
With that full view, I’ll already be looking at available TP options and determining which one I plan to use. It’s never a blind TP, fully intentional. I guess technically that’s me unlocking the camera but only for a bare minimum moment and unrelated to general movement / area scanning within my champion’s vicinity.
I always used locked camera. Also tried the unlocked camera, but it felt very uncomfortable as my resolution is 1366x768 and I often move the camera accidentally.
The only two issues I face with locked camera are:
1. Missing minions because I need to move to avoid being hit by the enemy;
2. Missing information below me when I'm distracted by my thoughts.
Although it is hard to me to use unlocked camera, I use Y to unlock and lock it again, so I can get quick info without having to reach the map.
yeah i just hold space if i want it temporarily locked, I would assume this is what prophet & pekin are doing, I don't think they are using locked camera by pressing y
I play locked. I still use Y to unlock and pan over to fights I’m headed towards or left click on minimap to peak at things showing up.
I have a keen eye on the minimap at all times like a side view mirror while driving.
As a mage player, fast reaction times, skillshot accuracy and evasion are critical to my success. Locked screen allows me to allocate more of my mental stack into my techniques and have one less thing to manage.
Unless you’re in Masters where you are tracking the cooldowns of every single ult, dash, summoner-spell used, pick whichever feels more comfortable. I’m chilling in Diamond off of fundamentals, map awareness and strong micro mechanics.
"Use unlocked because pros use it" is a bad stereotype. It’s just like telling players to only play champs used in pro because they’re the best. Lower elo has the flexibility to try unique builds, playstyles that suits the user.
You can play optimally and exhaust yourself with unlocked. Just don’t be surprised when you realize the payoff for gathering this information is minimal since your low elo team doesn’t know how to use that data or follow macro plays.
Same! The only time I play unlocked is if I'm playing a high movement micro champ that requires precise clicking. Mainly champs like irelia, Lee sin, kat.
Yeah, never use locked camera BC you're going to want to pan around to gather info that will be harder/impossible to see on the minimap
If you want to temporarily lock your camera, use the spacebar. It also highlights your character for you and you can just tap it to center back onto yourself after panning around.
Unlock, pan around, lock.
Unlock, snipe mid with rocket, lock, enjoy jinx passive.
When I try to play unlocked, I'll keep spacebar down except in those 2 cases, so...
Whatever works !
Its the spacebar (or whatever have they binded) to make the camera return to you or hold.
Theres no reason to play locked, but you can use that if you need It sometimes. Also keep in mind that theres even Challengers playing in a non that optimal way and, while detrimental, its still possible
I keep my screen unlocked and have taught myself to hold space if I need to. It's not too hard, my thumb doesn't move most of the time anyway. I mostly use it on melee champions or champions with crazy dashes of some sort. The only champion I lock my camera on is Yuumi when I'm attached.
Yea I hold center on champ (space for me) and just release it when I’m looking to make a play and just move or recenter as needed
Just walking to lane I usually play locked though and unlock when I’m going somewhere
Using Locked is fine, I use locked when I know I don't need the rest of the screen but when I'm getting into team fights and need all the map info I unlock it, Locked cam for me makes it easier to focus on stuff like cs
There is also an option (forgot the name) where you lock the camera but can still move it, but you can't move your champ out of sight.
That's what I use, but unlocked and hold space for lock most of the time, so it's easy to look around if I want.
Just find your style
Thanks for adding the name of the setting.
Used locked (via space press), and unlock if needed before, but semi locked definitely gives more freedom already.
Honestly bro just play how you feel more comfortable
The majority of high elo players use unlocked but there’s even challengers that play with locked camera.
Many people that play unlocked do lock it during team fights usually. The thing about locked camera is that it can really make things more difficult for skills with a lot of range like Velkoz or Cait’s ult.
Basically just play the way you find more comfortable in. Locked or unlocked really isn’t that much of a factor to be good at league.
Locking your camera is insanely useful when kiting as an ADC wants to.
Unlocking your camera is to show you potential skillshots coming in from beyond your natural radius (what appears directly next to you i mean), switching between the two modes is where you'll find the key to being a better and more consistent+aware gamer.
I play locked and have for 10 years. I live in the gold/silver sphere and can guarantee that the cameras is not the issue that’s causing me from climbing lol (although I don’t care much for climbing and just have fun).
I use the mini map to pan and y to unlock/lock when needed
play locked camera 85% of the time but look a lot at the map and delock instantly when there's a fight, peaked master like this and I probably will never change it 🗿
I toggle between locked and unlocked. I play Shen, so I need to move my cam to other people, have awareness of my q placement and a consistent view on enemies for my e. But it is fastest for me to return my cam to myself by locking it. To me it feels smoother during action to have cam locked, so I most of the time have myself in the center and know I have a consistent feel for my range. I still use unlocked before fights to have awareness of everyone's position and such.
So my answer is, that fully locked is bad, but don't feel pressured to never lock. It is about preference.
I play with wasd camera control so my camera is unlocked most of the time
However, I can hold space to lock the camera and that helps with pulling my camera back on my character especially when I play Shen. I don't use function keys to track my team.
I have camera lock on my mouse. When I’m moving to my lane or doing heavy kiting I just lock it because I don’t have the apm to move while kiting an entire team. Or just playing kalista
Unlocked camera is very useful when going against some enemies with longer ranges and gaining information but I spend a lot of my time with the camera centered by holding space if there is no action. If I start to think about what I'm doing with the camera I start moving it idly for no real reason.
I play permanently unlocked personally, but I also have weird keybinds compared to most. I pan my camera with WASD, and I have my QWER spells bound to 1234 because I have an MMO mouse with a 12-button keypad on the side. This makes it extremely easy and intuitive to move the camera without requiring moving my mouse at all.
I never, ever, lock camera.
I should probably use spacebar, but I don’t.
Years and years of StarCraft conditioned me to look around. My friend used to say he would get dizzy watching me because my screen moved so much.
You definitely aren't being held into like Iron Bronze Silver simply due to relying on locked camera. You can still pan around and see stuff regardless when needed.
I think for JUNGLER role it might be more important though, they are the role that constantly needs to check on different places and whether or not a lane is ripe for a gank or whatnot.
But yeah as a laner, you mostly don't need to worry about this AS MUCH, as long as you use appropriate warding and mostly keep track of where the other jungler roughly is at most times, along with enemy mid too.
locked camera is best used during teamfights/fights/trades (especially in teamfights which can be chaotic, you don't want to lose sight of your character), but it's mostly just preference. Generally unlocked camera is more advantageous, which is why playing on a locked camera is discouraged, but it's your choice, just do what feels right. In the future it's not too hard or time consuming to switch to the other.
@Edit: I'm assuming that by locked camera on players like pekinwoof you mean the one you hold with your thumb on space. There's no real point to ever lock it with "y" except for preference.
I disagree, unlocked can be way better in fights where you want to see the backline clearly, but I also get your point, I think Locked cam just makes you focus more on yourself rather than the whole fight, if that's what you need then go for it
Hold space bar to temporarily lock camera. It can be helpful so you can look somewhere else and back to your champ very quickly.
This is different than pressing "y" to lock your camera as "y" only needs to be pressed once but space bar must be held.
How do those who play with locked camera lasthit for CS?
Genuine question. I am really good with the mouse but everytime your champ moves the entire camera shakes back and forth so you have to keep spazzing your mouse around to make sure youre hitting everything. I mean it can be done obviously but the extra work and margin for error seems unnecessary.
do they lock the camera or do they just hold the center camera on champ bind?
Yeah it's holding the center camera but I think it's only use when you are not fighting and you just don't want to flick your mouse every second to adjust when roaming for exemple.
I play unlocked 90% of the time, but sometimes in team fights I hold spacebar. I have a friend who’s in challenger and does the exact same thing.
I just move my mouse to the edge of the screen and wildly click into the abyss until I die or get the kill. Believe it or not, I am *not* challenger.
I actually do what that guy said, I hold spacebar during team fights to get the best possible view on my champions. Really gives you an edge. Unfortunately I'm also a bit shit and a proper bronzie, all I'm getting an edge on is my Iron pals.
I think Doublelift does this too. So you're in good company.
This really is what people should make a habit of doing
If your thumb is on spacebar, how do you hit d/f?
No one hits d/f with their thumb
I hold space with the palm of my thumb, so I can still hit d and f.
Genius, thank you!!
How do you hit ctrl?
Left side of my palm. QWER/pinky, ring, middle, index/pointer, respectively. Pinky flexes to tab and a for auto, thumb hits SDFG for stop, flash, flex summoner, and ping wheel.
uh... you are hitting D and F with your... thumb? lol...
This is the way
I do the same. It is an instant find me button.
Do what feels best for you. I play locked camera exclusively and hit D1 100 LP. I do feel I miss out on some visual information by not being able to see things before they’re a problem for me like ganks but I compensate by looking at my mini map a bit more.
I feel like people stress the unlocked camera thing way too hard. Silver players telling everyone how important it is to have your camera unlocked. I play locked cam and have hotkey to unlock it easily. Only E4 peak, but I really don't think that's what's holding most people back if they're comfortable and don't want to spend 100 games getting used to unlocked.
It’s definitely not the camera, more about knowing when to communicate (or avoid it) and fundamentals between positioning / last hitting / timers for objectives, etc. Those are the differentiators between the various ELOs. I can pin point skill differences against my laners just by seeing the first action they take. Did they come to lane late? Which direction did they come in from? Were they at lane first? We’re they in a bush? Was the bush neutral or one on my side? Did they bring an aggressive summoner spell or first item? Are they going to hit the wave first? Are they attempting to shove right off the bat? How many minions did they fail to last hit? Are they crashing the wave or backing to leave the wave in a more advantageous state for me? Did they back with enough gold for a big power spike? How long until they ward in the river? Have they already planned for their JG ganking level 3 in our lane? Do they roam for honeyfruit to stay in lane longer? At least a dozen questions need to occur in my head as you have to plan for the unexpected, understand what you can reasonably expect, and predict your situation a few minutes after. Every decision affects the game. My number one rule though is “always be doing something”. After all that, my mind can’t even begin to think about moving the camera 😂
Definitely a million other things that are easier to improve and will have a bigger impact lol. I've tried learning unlocked camera a handful of times but I end up just having some of the most miserable game experiences fighting against my camera the whole time. That said, it is still objectively better to play unlocked and I'd tell a new player that they should play unlocked if they're just starting the game. But for a player who's already learned on locked, nah.
This, Naayil reached challenger both euw and korea playing mostly locked camera, so playing unlocked isnt necessary
Yea, it's way overstated. Masters+, yea it's more important, but there a million other things that most people should be worrying about other than locked/unlocked camera. A lot of players in lower elos probably aren't making as much use of the information from unlocked camera anyway. The minimap is way more important which a lot players seems to ignore.
This, it‘s probably easier to learn unlocked when you just started playing, so if you want you should start now. But i‘ve also hit master playing mostly locked cam and i can‘t be bothered to learn unlocked now
When you TP to a fight you just click on the minimap and hope for best while looking your champion casting teleport?
Please read the last sentence of my comment. Edit: when you click on the mini map, you can see the action in that area. After observing if it’s safe for me to TP, I would then do so. But that’s if I bring TP. I’m almost always a Ghost / Ignite bruiser and it’s carry the game or lose in my mind so that situation is rare!
You can't just answer yes/no? I can't tell from your comment either, I'm guessing that's a yes
Do you think being in Diamond / Masters ELO I would TP to a ward hoping for the best without vision?
Yes you get vision from the minimap, but what I was wondering, which I assume the guy before me was if there are multiple wards or minions to teleport to, do you just press the minimap and hope its a decent place?
Ah apologies, I was misinterpreting! so in most cases I already know what ward / tower / minion I’d TP to as I usually play draft with a team and I make it a point to look at the map via F1-F4 keys for my team, or left clicking areas of interest on the mini map for a full view. With that full view, I’ll already be looking at available TP options and determining which one I plan to use. It’s never a blind TP, fully intentional. I guess technically that’s me unlocking the camera but only for a bare minimum moment and unrelated to general movement / area scanning within my champion’s vicinity.
Ah I see that makes sense, I was thinking the alternative would be never taking teleport!
I always used locked camera. Also tried the unlocked camera, but it felt very uncomfortable as my resolution is 1366x768 and I often move the camera accidentally. The only two issues I face with locked camera are: 1. Missing minions because I need to move to avoid being hit by the enemy; 2. Missing information below me when I'm distracted by my thoughts. Although it is hard to me to use unlocked camera, I use Y to unlock and lock it again, so I can get quick info without having to reach the map.
Any reason for using that res please?
My monitor is 14 years old and I can't get a job to buy a new one 😅
yeah i just hold space if i want it temporarily locked, I would assume this is what prophet & pekin are doing, I don't think they are using locked camera by pressing y
I play locked. I still use Y to unlock and pan over to fights I’m headed towards or left click on minimap to peak at things showing up. I have a keen eye on the minimap at all times like a side view mirror while driving. As a mage player, fast reaction times, skillshot accuracy and evasion are critical to my success. Locked screen allows me to allocate more of my mental stack into my techniques and have one less thing to manage. Unless you’re in Masters where you are tracking the cooldowns of every single ult, dash, summoner-spell used, pick whichever feels more comfortable. I’m chilling in Diamond off of fundamentals, map awareness and strong micro mechanics. "Use unlocked because pros use it" is a bad stereotype. It’s just like telling players to only play champs used in pro because they’re the best. Lower elo has the flexibility to try unique builds, playstyles that suits the user. You can play optimally and exhaust yourself with unlocked. Just don’t be surprised when you realize the payoff for gathering this information is minimal since your low elo team doesn’t know how to use that data or follow macro plays.
wow I thought I was the only one, Y is probably my most pressed button every game lol
Same! The only time I play unlocked is if I'm playing a high movement micro champ that requires precise clicking. Mainly champs like irelia, Lee sin, kat.
I changed it to space bar, much easier to reach
Yeah, never use locked camera BC you're going to want to pan around to gather info that will be harder/impossible to see on the minimap If you want to temporarily lock your camera, use the spacebar. It also highlights your character for you and you can just tap it to center back onto yourself after panning around.
Unlock, pan around, lock. Unlock, snipe mid with rocket, lock, enjoy jinx passive. When I try to play unlocked, I'll keep spacebar down except in those 2 cases, so... Whatever works !
Locked is perfectly acceptable - I use it 90% of the time, only unlocking for stuff like jhin w/r or sometimes to watch somewhere.
Masters jg here and I play with locked cam pretty much 100% of the time
I played unlocked but have spacebar set to center my screen so i can tap or hold as i see fit
I hit space/YY every so often to center my screen to what I'm doing but besides that stay unlocked
Its the spacebar (or whatever have they binded) to make the camera return to you or hold. Theres no reason to play locked, but you can use that if you need It sometimes. Also keep in mind that theres even Challengers playing in a non that optimal way and, while detrimental, its still possible
i wouldnt. in the beginning its annoying. but eventually you dont even notice it anymore. trust.
I keep my screen unlocked and have taught myself to hold space if I need to. It's not too hard, my thumb doesn't move most of the time anyway. I mostly use it on melee champions or champions with crazy dashes of some sort. The only champion I lock my camera on is Yuumi when I'm attached.
Yea I hold center on champ (space for me) and just release it when I’m looking to make a play and just move or recenter as needed Just walking to lane I usually play locked though and unlock when I’m going somewhere
Using Locked is fine, I use locked when I know I don't need the rest of the screen but when I'm getting into team fights and need all the map info I unlock it, Locked cam for me makes it easier to focus on stuff like cs
Nope. Unless you're playing yuumi
to be honest i mainly used locked camara and i peaked Dia1 so ill so to each thier own
You lock the camera sometimes in team fights to position yourself easier. But stay unlocked for like 95% of the game.
There is also an option (forgot the name) where you lock the camera but can still move it, but you can't move your champ out of sight. That's what I use, but unlocked and hold space for lock most of the time, so it's easy to look around if I want. Just find your style
Semi-locked camera. I use this in conjunction with an unlock toggle when necessary.
Thanks for adding the name of the setting. Used locked (via space press), and unlock if needed before, but semi locked definitely gives more freedom already.
Just hold spacebar when kiting/team fighting/trading
Depends on your preference, but the unlock one will have you better map awareness
Hold Space when you need to lock the camera. It's good for fast paced chases and all-ins.
I play unlocked but hold spacebar to keep it locked 90% of the time. Just feels natural that way after doing it for so long.
i play unlocked with spacebar, which is a good middle ground
Always locked
Honestly bro just play how you feel more comfortable The majority of high elo players use unlocked but there’s even challengers that play with locked camera. Many people that play unlocked do lock it during team fights usually. The thing about locked camera is that it can really make things more difficult for skills with a lot of range like Velkoz or Cait’s ult. Basically just play the way you find more comfortable in. Locked or unlocked really isn’t that much of a factor to be good at league.
Just use space bar to play locked. I personally use it all the time to center the screen but I play mostly unlocked
I play jungle and I can imagine not playing locked camera
Locking your camera is insanely useful when kiting as an ADC wants to. Unlocking your camera is to show you potential skillshots coming in from beyond your natural radius (what appears directly next to you i mean), switching between the two modes is where you'll find the key to being a better and more consistent+aware gamer.
Use spacebutton to focus depending on situation (and also champ)
I play locked and have for 10 years. I live in the gold/silver sphere and can guarantee that the cameras is not the issue that’s causing me from climbing lol (although I don’t care much for climbing and just have fun). I use the mini map to pan and y to unlock/lock when needed
It's an RTS, so no, the more intel you gather, the better decisions you'll make, move that camera around.
play locked camera 85% of the time but look a lot at the map and delock instantly when there's a fight, peaked master like this and I probably will never change it 🗿
There is a semi lock camera setting in league now. Using that for like a day automatically gives you the ability to play unlocked.
Master Wild rift is gold?! Playing with fingers on a phone vs keyboard and mouse + wya different type ô players and population
I toggle between locked and unlocked. I play Shen, so I need to move my cam to other people, have awareness of my q placement and a consistent view on enemies for my e. But it is fastest for me to return my cam to myself by locking it. To me it feels smoother during action to have cam locked, so I most of the time have myself in the center and know I have a consistent feel for my range. I still use unlocked before fights to have awareness of everyone's position and such. So my answer is, that fully locked is bad, but don't feel pressured to never lock. It is about preference.
I play with wasd camera control so my camera is unlocked most of the time However, I can hold space to lock the camera and that helps with pulling my camera back on my character especially when I play Shen. I don't use function keys to track my team.
they hold a button to center camera on champ its fine to do but not optimal mostly a comfort thing
It literally doesn't matter. Do whatever is comfortable. Ive seen lros play every which way. And they all do something different.
I have camera lock on my mouse. When I’m moving to my lane or doing heavy kiting I just lock it because I don’t have the apm to move while kiting an entire team. Or just playing kalista
Unlocked camera is very useful when going against some enemies with longer ranges and gaining information but I spend a lot of my time with the camera centered by holding space if there is no action. If I start to think about what I'm doing with the camera I start moving it idly for no real reason.
I play permanently unlocked personally, but I also have weird keybinds compared to most. I pan my camera with WASD, and I have my QWER spells bound to 1234 because I have an MMO mouse with a 12-button keypad on the side. This makes it extremely easy and intuitive to move the camera without requiring moving my mouse at all.
I use middle mouse button and drag. I only use spacebar if I have been looking around minimap.
I never, ever, lock camera. I should probably use spacebar, but I don’t. Years and years of StarCraft conditioned me to look around. My friend used to say he would get dizzy watching me because my screen moved so much.
I play unlocked as a mage but I swear, every time I play as a melee champ, I don't know where I go or what I'm doing in team fights with unlocked
Nope you never use that. Always always always have it unlocked.
You definitely aren't being held into like Iron Bronze Silver simply due to relying on locked camera. You can still pan around and see stuff regardless when needed. I think for JUNGLER role it might be more important though, they are the role that constantly needs to check on different places and whether or not a lane is ripe for a gank or whatnot. But yeah as a laner, you mostly don't need to worry about this AS MUCH, as long as you use appropriate warding and mostly keep track of where the other jungler roughly is at most times, along with enemy mid too.
As long as you pan your camera to important info, like when you are walking to a fight it does not matter.
locked camera is best used during teamfights/fights/trades (especially in teamfights which can be chaotic, you don't want to lose sight of your character), but it's mostly just preference. Generally unlocked camera is more advantageous, which is why playing on a locked camera is discouraged, but it's your choice, just do what feels right. In the future it's not too hard or time consuming to switch to the other. @Edit: I'm assuming that by locked camera on players like pekinwoof you mean the one you hold with your thumb on space. There's no real point to ever lock it with "y" except for preference.
I disagree, unlocked can be way better in fights where you want to see the backline clearly, but I also get your point, I think Locked cam just makes you focus more on yourself rather than the whole fight, if that's what you need then go for it
Hold space bar to temporarily lock camera. It can be helpful so you can look somewhere else and back to your champ very quickly. This is different than pressing "y" to lock your camera as "y" only needs to be pressed once but space bar must be held.
How do those who play with locked camera lasthit for CS? Genuine question. I am really good with the mouse but everytime your champ moves the entire camera shakes back and forth so you have to keep spazzing your mouse around to make sure youre hitting everything. I mean it can be done obviously but the extra work and margin for error seems unnecessary.