When to Take Baron in LoL and How to Use the Buff

Take Baron when the enemy team cannot stop you: right after a fight you won with two or more of them dead, or when their jungler is dead or was just seen far from the pit, and only if your team controls the vision around it. In any other situation Baron is a gamble that can hand the game to the other side. The buff itself is a siege tool. Its job is to bring down towers with empowered minions, not to chase kills.

What Baron does in LoL

Baron Nashor is the strongest neutral monster on Summoner's Rift. He sits in the pit on the top side of the river and only appears once the game is well under way. Killing him gives gold to the whole team, and every member who is alive at that moment receives the buff Hand of Baron for a few minutes.

The buff does three things:

• It adds attack damage and ability power.
• It makes your recall much shorter, so you can return to base, shop and come back quickly.
• It strengthens the minions close to you. They take less damage and deal more, and empowered cannon minions hit towers from a longer range.

A player who dies loses the buff. A player who was dead when Baron fell never gets it.

When to take Baron: the safe moments

Baron takes time to kill, and he hurts the team that fights him. So the question is always the same: can the enemy reach the pit before he dies?

• After a won fight. Two or more enemies are dead and your team still has health. This is the classic Baron, and the longer their death timers, the safer it is.
• Their jungler is dead or far away. Without his Smite, a steal becomes much harder. If you just saw him on the bottom side, you have a short window.
• The enemy has to answer another lane. A large minion wave, or a teammate pushing a side lane far from the pit, pulls one or two of them away. Then your numbers at the pit are better.
• Your team kills him quickly. A team with strong sustained damage needs a smaller opening. A team of tanks needs a bigger one, because Baron stays alive longer.

If none of these is true, do not start. Five living enemies you cannot see are five enemies on their way.

Vision first, then Baron

A Baron attempt begins well before the first hit.

1. Push the mid lane wave, and a side wave if you can. Minions near their towers keep the enemy busy and give you a head start.
2. Sweep the pit and the river with Oracle Lens and kill the wards you find. If the enemy cannot see Baron's health, they cannot time a steal.
3. Put a Control Ward in or next to the pit, and normal wards on the paths the enemy must take: the river toward mid and the jungle entrances behind the pit.
4. Ask the one question that matters: where is their jungler?

This takes little time when the team does it together, and it is the difference between a free Baron and a coin flip. Securing the last hit is a topic of its own: see how to Smite and secure Dragon and Baron.

Calls around the pit: start, turn or leave

Panic at Baron comes from five players making five different decisions. A short list of calls, said in the same order every time, fixes most of it:

1. Vision: are their wards gone and ours placed?
2. Their jungler: seen or missing?
3. Do we start, or only pretend to start?
4. If they come: do we finish Baron or turn on them?
5. If it goes wrong: which way do we leave?

Pretending has a name, the Baron bait. You hit Baron so that the enemy has to walk toward you through narrow paths. Then you stop and fight them where you can see them and they cannot see you. It only works with vision control.

The worst place to be is the middle: Baron at half health behind you, five enemies in front, your team already hurt. When the enemy arrives early, decide at once. Turn and fight them outside the pit, or walk away. Do not keep hitting Baron and hope.

When you do finish him, the jungler stays close with Smite, and at least one teammate stands between the pit and the enemy so nobody walks in for free.

How to use Baron buff

1. Recall together. The buff shortens the recall, so use it: go back, spend your gold and return with full health.
2. Walk with your minions. The minion bonus only works near a player who has the buff. Group in one lane, or split into two groups, for example four players in one lane and a strong duelist in another, so the enemy has to defend two places.
3. Let the wave go first. Wait until the empowered minions are under the tower, then hit the tower. Do not dive past the wave for a kill.
4. Take towers, then inhibitors. A destroyed inhibitor sends super minions down that lane, and that pressure stays after the buff is gone.
5. Stay alive. Each death removes one buff and gives the enemy room to breathe.

The usual way to waste a Baron is to chase fights in the jungle, recall late, and let the buff run out without a single tower.

How a lead gets thrown at Baron

The typical throw looks like this. A team is ahead, feels strong and starts Baron with all five enemies alive and no vision around the pit. Baron lowers their health. The enemy arrives together, engages into the pit, and their jungler takes the last hit with Smite. Now the team that was behind has kills, the buff and the map.

When you are ahead, you do not need Baron to win. You need to avoid the one fight that lets the other team back into the game, and a rushed Baron is exactly that fight. Take towers, deepen your vision and wait for the moment when Baron costs nothing.

If you are ahead and cannot see the enemy team on the map, the answer to "Baron?" is no.

If your team is the one behind, the same logic works for you: keep wards near the pit, stay together, and punish a careless start.

Frequent questions

What does Baron do in LoL?

He gives gold to the whole team and gives living members a buff: more attack damage and ability power, a shorter recall and stronger minions nearby.

When should you not take Baron?

When all five enemies are alive and out of sight, when your jungler is dead while theirs is alive, or when your team is low on health after a fight.

Do you lose Baron buff when you die?

Yes. The buff ends for the player who dies. The teammates who are alive keep it.

Should we take Baron or end the game?

If most of the enemy team is dead with long timers and a lane is already open to their base, ending is better. If you are not sure you can finish, Baron is the safer choice.

RP for the champions you bring to the pit

Good Baron calls cost nothing. New champions and their skins are bought with RP. On Mas4Games you can get LoL RP codes for accounts of the Türkiye server. Your code is shown on the order's page in your account and sent to you by e-mail, and the help center has live support.