If you’ve ever sat in champion select scrolling for five minutes straight trying to pick a champion that fits your team comp, you’ve probably wondered how many characters are there in League of Legends. Riot Games has been updating the game’s roster regularly for over a decade, adding new picks, reworking old ones, and even retiring a small handful of outdated variants over the years. Whether you’re a new player just learning the ropes or a veteran who’s been around since the beta days, it’s easy to lose track of just how many options you have when you load into the lobby. This guide breaks down the full current count, key details about the roster, and what you can expect from future champion releases.
How Many Characters Are There In League of Legends Right Now?
As of the latest official Riot Games update, the total playable character count sits at 167. This number grows roughly every 2 to 3 months when Riot launches a new champion, though they occasionally slow release schedules to focus on reworking older, outdated picks. This count does not include temporary game-mode exclusive characters, retired champion variants, or scrapped concepts that never made it to live servers.
I still remember when the roster hit 100 back in 2012, and it felt like we’d never run out of new playstyles to try. If you’ve followed the game for years, you’ve probably watched the count grow slowly but steadily, with each new release bringing unique mechanics that shake up the meta. Some players worry the roster is getting too bloated, but the wide range of picks is part of what keeps the game feeling fresh after thousands of hours of play.
Breakdown of League of Legends Champion Classes
All 167 playable characters are sorted into 6 core classes, each with distinct roles and playstyles. If you’re curious how many characters are there in League of Legends that fit your preferred way to play, this breakdown will help you narrow down your options:
Many champions fall into multiple classes, for example, Seraphine can be played as both a mage and a support, depending on the build and lane. Riot often designs champions with flexible roles in mind to give players more creative options for their playstyle.
Why Riot Adds New Characters So Regularly
A lot of long-time players complain that the roster is getting too big to keep up with, but Riot has a clear set of reasons for adding new champions every few months. First, new characters keep the game fresh for casual and competitive players alike. Each new champion brings a unique mechanic that can shake up the meta, forcing players to learn new counterplay and adjust their go-to builds. Without new releases, the meta would eventually grow stale, with the same 20 or 30 picks being used in every game.
Second, new releases give Riot a chance to fill gaps in their existing roster. For example, they added Milio a couple of years ago to fill a niche of enchanter support that focused on movement and cleanse effects, a role that no other champion fully covered at the time. So, new characters also bring in new players who might be drawn to a specific aesthetic or playstyle that wasn’t available before. I’ve seen multiple friends get into the game specifically because they saw a new champion that looked like something they wanted to play, whether that was a cute yordle or an edgy darkin warrior.
Many players worry that as the answer to how many characters are there in League of Legends keeps growing, the game will become too unbalanced for new players, but Riot has systems in place to prevent that. They regularly balance underperforming and overpowered picks, and rework older champions to make sure their kits fit the modern game without bloating the roster too much.
Tips For Navigating The Large Champion Roster As A New Player
If you’re new to League, the 160+ character count can feel really overwhelming at first, but you don’t have to learn every single champion right away. Start by picking 2-3 champions in your preferred role to master first, and you’ll pick up knowledge of other champions naturally as you play against them. You don’t need to memorize every ability in the game to climb ranks, just learn the basic strengths and weaknesses of the most common picks you face in your matches.
Another tip: use the in-game filter function in champion select to narrow down picks by class, difficulty, or playstyle, so you don’t have to scroll through the entire roster every time you pick. Don’t feel pressured to buy every new champion as soon as they come out, either. New champions are usually priced at the highest blue essence cost for the first month after release, so you’re better off waiting if you’re still building up your blue essence stock.
You can also test any champion for free in the practice tool or in normal draft games during the free champion rotation, which swaps out 15 free picks every week. That means you can try out a wide range of characters without spending any real money or blue essence, so you can find what works for you before you commit to buying a pick. If you’re looking for easy picks to start with, stick to champions marked with a 1 or 2 difficulty rating first, before moving on to more complex picks.
At the end of the day, how many characters are there in League of Legends is a question that will keep changing as long as Riot continues to support the game. The large roster is part of what makes the game feel so replayable, even after thousands of hours of play, because there’s always a new playstyle to try or a new counter to learn. Whether you only play a single main or you love switching up your picks every game, the growing roster means there’s something for every type of player in League. Next time you’re stuck in champion select scrolling, take a second to appreciate just how much variety those 160+ picks bring to every single game.