- All roles
Tower diving is killing an enemy champion who stands inside their own turret's range, by controlling which of your units the turret shoots. Once you know how a turret chooses and keeps its target, you can make minions absorb shots and get out before the damage ramps.
What it is
A turret attacks the first enemy unit that enters its range and keeps attacking it until that unit dies, leaves the range or stops being targetable. Only then does it choose again. If several units are in range, it picks the closest among the highest priority, and the order puts pets first, then siege and super minions, then melee minions, then caster minions, and champions last. So with a wave under the turret, the turret shoots minions unless something overrides that.
Something does. If the turret is not already shooting a champion and an enemy champion damages a champion of the turret's team within a fairly wide distance of the turret, the turret switches to the attacker. The damage can come from any source, including a pet. A spell that is blocked, dodged, shielded or that deals no damage still counts, but an effect that does no damage at all does not. Note the condition: a turret that is already on a champion does not switch because someone else attacks. It stays until that target is lost.
Turret shots are the second half of the picture. They cannot be dodged or blocked once the windup completes, and the turret ignores crowd control other than stasis. Each time a turret hits a champion, its next hit does more damage, up to a large bonus, and this bonus resets only five seconds after the last shot that hit a champion. Switching targets does not reset it. A long dive therefore gets more expensive with every shot, which is why the plan is to be quick. Lane turrets also gain extra resistances as they lose health, and more nearby enemy champions raise those resistances, so a bigger dive makes the turret itself harder to kill.
How to do it
- Count the shots you can afford
Before you commit, add up your damage and the crowd control you can chain. A dive on an empty turret with no crowd control is a coin flip. Turret damage ramps with every hit on a champion, so plan a short kill, not a long one.
- Bring the wave first
Push so that the minions are under the turret before you go in. The turret then shoots the minions first, because they outrank champions when it picks a target. Walk in behind them, not ahead.
- Pick who takes the first shot
The moment one of you damages the defender, the turret switches to that attacker, provided it is not already shooting a champion. Let the sturdiest diver deal the first hit, or the one who can take it, so the shots land where you can afford them.
- Drop aggro by leaving or becoming untargetable
A turret keeps its target until it dies, leaves range or becomes untargetable. If the diver on the end of the shots steps out of range, or uses an effect that makes them untargetable, the turret chooses again. With minions in range, the next target is a minion, not a champion.
- Hand off the damage
After the turret drops the first diver, the next hit on the defender draws the turret to whoever dealt it. Time this so the second diver deals damage as the first leaves range. Remember that the damage bonus resets only after five seconds without a champion hit, so the turret has not forgotten the first diver.
- Finish and leave
Kill the target with the hit that gets you the kill, then walk out. Do not stay for a plate or a second target unless the wave is still shielding you. The turret bonus is back to its start only five seconds after the last champion hit.
Watch it
What to watch for: A coach video about tower diving. Compare what it shows with the turret targeting rules in this guide.
Video: Tower Diving Secrets ONLY PRO Players Know — Coach Rogue
Common mistakes
- You dive with no wave. The turret has no minions to shoot and goes straight to your champion. Push first or wait for the next wave.
- You expect a minion to take the turret off you while it is already shooting you. The turret keeps its target until it dies, leaves range or becomes untargetable. Step out of range instead.
- You hit the defender while the turret is shooting your ally. It does not switch, since it is already on a champion. Use that to keep the shots on the one who can take them.
- You stay for one more auto. Each turret hit on a champion raises its next damage, and the bonus lasts until five seconds after the last hit. Leave when the kill is done.
- You rely on dodging the shots. After the windup completes they cannot be dodged or blocked, so decide about leaving before the shot starts.
Practice drill
- In a custom game, stand under an enemy outer turret with a pushed wave and note which unit it shoots. Then hit a champion standing near it and watch the target change.
- With a friend, rehearse the handoff: one of you takes the first hit and steps out of range, the other deals damage as the first leaves. Success is the turret switching on your cue.