If you’ve just downloaded League of Legends and stared at the champion select screen for 10 minutes overwhelmed by all the portraits, you’re not alone. I remember my first week playing, scrolling through pages of characters and wondering if I’d ever learn what half of them do, let alone how many characters does league of legends have. I still get confused sometimes when I take a month off for work and come back to a new champion I’ve never heard of popping up in my ranked games. The roster grows regularly, so even casual players who take a few months off often come back confused by new faces they’ve never seen before. This guide breaks down the exact count as of the latest update, plus context around classes, roles, and how Riot rolls out new additions so you can make sense of the massive pool of playable options.
How Many Characters Does League of Legends Have, Exactly?
If you count alternate universe skins, event-specific NPCs, or Arcane show characters that haven’t made it to the game yet, the number is far higher, but when most players ask how many characters does league of legends have, they’re referring to playable champions you can pick in standard game modes. As of the latest champion release, the official playable League of Legends character count sits at 166. This number includes every champion available for pick in Summoner’s Rift, ARAM, URF, and all other permanent game modes.
Riot stopped permanently retiring champions back in 2016, so every character that’s ever been released is still available to play, even if they’ve gone through major reworks. Old favorites like Sion, Urgot, and Ryze have had full ability overhauls over the years, but they’re still counted as part of the core roster. Note that alternate skins, even the ones that change a character’s voice lines and model completely, are not counted as separate characters, they’re just cosmetic variants for existing champions.
Breakdown of LoL Characters by Class and Role
All 166 characters fit into one of six core classes, each designed to fill one or two of the five standard roles on a Summoner’s Rift team. Knowing these classes will help you narrow down which characters fit your preferred playstyle without having to test all 166 options:
Some characters are classified as hybrids, like Seraphine which can be played as either a mage or support, so you’ll see them in multiple roles depending on the current meta. You don't have to learn every single character to enjoy the game – most players stick to 3-5 main picks for their preferred role and only learn the basics of others to know what to expect in lane.
How Riot Expands the League of Legends Character Roster
Riot used to release 6-8 new characters every year in the early 2010s, but they slowed that rate down to 3-4 new champions per year around 2020. The team shifted focus to reworking older, outdated champions instead of flooding the roster with new picks that would be hard to balance across all skill levels. That’s why you’ll see old champions like Aatrox or Warwick get full ability overhauls every few months, making them feel fresh without adding to the total character count.
Every new character is tied to existing lore from Runeterra, the fictional world of League of Legends, so they don’t feel like random additions. For example, the latest champion release was a water-based brawler from Bilgewater, which tied into an ongoing event focused on the pirate region. Riot also runs public beta tests for every new character for weeks before release, so they can adjust abilities and balance based on player feedback before they hit the live servers. This helps avoid the old issue of new champions being completely overpowered for the first month after release, which frustrated a lot of players in the past.
You don’t have to worry about losing access to a character you spent weeks grinding blue essence to unlock, either. Riot has never permanently removed a playable character from the roster, even when they do full reworks. The champion you love today will still be available to play years from now, even if their abilities look a little different.
Tips for Navigating the Massive LoL Character Roster as a New Player
166 characters can feel incredibly overwhelming when you’re first starting out, but you don’t have to engage with the entire roster at once to have fun. The first tip I give all new players is to stick to the weekly free rotation first. Every week, Riot makes 16 different characters free to play for all players, so you can test out different playstyles without spending any blue essence or RP. If you find a character you love on free rotation, you can save up to unlock them permanently later.
Another tip is to pick 1-2 roles you want to main first, then narrow down characters in those roles instead of trying everything at once. If you know you like supporting your team instead of getting kills, you only have 20 or so support characters to test instead of all 166. That cuts down your options by almost 90% right away. The practice tool is the best underused resource for new players – you can test any character's abilities for free, even if you don't own them, so you can see if you like their kit before you spend currency on them.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to unlock every character to be good at the game. Most high-ranked players only own 10-15 characters, all for their main role, and that’s more than enough to climb to Diamond or even Master rank. You can still have fun and win games even if you only know a handful of characters, so don't pressure yourself to unlock the entire roster right away. Focus on finding picks that feel fun to play, and you’ll have a much better time.
At the end of the day, the exact number of playable champions shifts slightly every few months as Riot adds new picks or reworks old ones, so if you're asking how many characters does league of legends have, the answer will always be a little different every year. What matters more than the total count is finding the small set of characters that fit your playstyle and let you have fun, whether you prefer playing aggressively as an assassin or supporting your team as a tank. Next time you log in, give the free rotation a test run, and you might just find your new main you'll stick with for years.