We all love Bounties!
LoL Bounties: How Do They Work On Champions And Objectives In Season 14?
Bounties in LoL invigorate the gameplay. Champion bounties have been a part of the game for several years, and now, objective bounties are approaching their two-year mark. Yet, the mechanics of the bounty system in League of Legends can be perplexing for some – which is completely understandable.
Therefore, we're going to go over the bounty system in League of Legends so you know why there is such a nice sum of money on your head that everyone is vying for.
LoL Bounties: Champion Bounties Explained
Champion bounties depend on the amount of kills, deaths and CS a player has. Champion bounties can make a player more and less valuable to kill. But let's start with the basics.
By default, each champion kill gives 300 gold and half as much for an assist. The first blood kill, has a higher worth of 400 gold (200 gold for an assist). A player's value increases each time they make a kill without having died. Players that got consistently targeted and died over-and-over are less worth.
What Affects Your Bounty?
First, the amount of Kills and Death shown in the list below:
| Consecutive Kills | Kill Bounty | Assist Bounty |
| 8+ | 1000 (+ 100 per kill beyond 7) | 150 |
7 | 1000 | 150 |
| 6 | 900 | 150 |
| 5 | 800 | 150 |
| 4 | 700 | 150 |
| 3 | 600 | 150 |
| 2 | 450 | 150 |
| 1 | 300 | 150 |
| 0 | 300 | 150 |
| Consecutive Deaths | Kill Bounty | Assist Bounty |
| 0 | 300 | 150 |
| 1 | 274 | 137 |
| 2 | 220 | 110 |
| 3 | 176 | 88 |
| 4 | 140 | 70 |
| 5 | 112 | 56 |
| 6+ | 100 | 50 |
It's not just kills and deaths though that affect your bounties in League of Legends. There are multiple other things that the system takes into account:
- The Bounties are also affected by the amount of minions, monsters and support items you get. The so called CS gold can also increase a players' bounty
- If a player earns 300 CS gold more than the average CS of the opposing Team, their bounty will grow by 50 gold and another 50 gold for every 200 gold they earn on top, unless they die in between
- The bounty resets to 300 when a player with only deaths gets a kill or a player with multiple kills dies
- A single kill can't be worth more than 1000 gold for a single player
- Every 1000 gold they earn, a player with a death streak will increase its value by one step
- The bounties value can decrease from 20%-80% if your team is behind
- Bounties can not increase during a fight on Summoners Rift
- Bounties are shown on the board, if they are higher or as high as 150 gold
- Assist bounties will decrease their value during the game 50%-100%
Objective Bounties: What Are These?
Objective Bounties are a mechanic, which enables the losing team to get back into the game. They were first introduced in Patch 11.23 but since then not everyone has understood what they do or how they are calculated. Like champion bounties, Objective Bounties appear when there is a significant lead for one side and the other team might think of an early FF.
Objective bounties appear on all three neutral objectives: Baron, Dragons and Rift Herald, as well as on all towers of the opposing team. They grant the team behind, a good amount of gold when they are able to secure one of these objectives. The amount of gold varies from objective to objective, and the amount also increases over time.
When the lead is reduced or evened out, the bounties will disappear. Nonetheless, you still have some time to get a bounty while they are fading.
When Do Objective Bounties Appear?
Whenever there is a big enough discrepancy, in gold or experience, but also the number of Dragons and turrets a team has secured, the bounties will appear. League of Legends permanently keeps track of the differences between the opposing teams. When one teams falls over a certain threshold, the bounties will emerge 15 seconds after. When that team is able to catch up again, these bounties get deactivated15 seconds after.
When the bounties get activated, all objectives relevant get a golden line surrounding the icon on the mini-map. There is a money bag symbol in the bottom right corner of the map, too.
How Much Are The Bounties Worth?
The objectives can be worth or less, depending on what they are. The starting objective Bounties are:
- Baron, Dragons & Rift Herald: 500 Gold up to 800 Gold
- Outer Turrets: 250 Gold up to 400 Gold
- Inner- & Base Turrets: 400 Gold up to 640 Gold
If the team is still not able to catch up and continues to fall behind, then the bounties can increase by 60%. The length the bounties are active also increases then. The amount of money an objective gives, like Champion Bounties, is shown in the game scoreboard, which you can access simply by pressing tab. They are depicted beneath the icons of the several objectives on the upper part of the menu.
Bounties: Why Are They Relevant?
Bounties were introduced in order to help teams that are behind. Whenever a player or a team is having a rough laning phase, they give hope for an epic come back. This could also dissuade teams from giving up after only a few minutes of play.
Everybody has these type of games, where you make an early mistake, fall to your opponent and well... the other lanes it doesn't look any better. The enemies can deny you farm and get even more gold from your turrets, while you can't even finish your first item. Sometimes it helps when your jungler actually ganks and you can collect some gold or even a champion bounty, to be able to lane again.
But if your jungler, and you both die while ganking, and you do not see any opportunity to get back in the game...
All Astronaut Skins in League of Legends
Well, that's when the objective bounties start to shine. With good macro decisions, your team might be able to secure one or two of these bounties. With the extra gold, you would be able to finish your next item. Thus, you can regain control over the game and might be able to come back and win the game.
To close out, bounties are a system that keeps the game from ending too early. Teams don't give up as quickly, and there is always that last bit of hope for a comeback. Junglers might go for a dragon or baron steal, and the game is open again. Also hunting down single players with a bounty can help to get back in game.
But what if you are losing your lane, but your ADC is miraculously winning in the bot lane. Usually the game would then take the gold value of both teams and figure out if objective bounties are needed. The problem with this system is also that when the enemy team is strong but so is your ADC, they can potentially kill your ADC for a huge gold bonus.
Now this doesn't seem fair for the poor ADC that is valiantly trying to carry his team on his back alone which is why Riot Games have made changes to this system in Patch 14.2.
Bounty Adjustments made it into the game with Objective Bounties in Patch 11.23 and stated:
- Bounty Gold Reduction: 20-80% of a player's bounty is reduced depending on the team's gold deficit
With Patch 14.2 they changed this number value to 30-90%. This means that if you are absolutely try harding and doing your best to win the game against all odds (Your teammates are bad) then you will not be punished with a huge target and a lump of gold on your head.
This should enable you to do some crazy plays without the risk of handing the enemies your wallet. With the entire game becoming very objective and team focused in the last few years it has become increasingly hard to decide the game on your own. With these changes it is acceptable to do some risky plays in hopes of big rewards because that is what the game should ultimately be about. Risk and reward.
The risk was usually too high, and the reward is not worth it but with less of a bounty on your head you can head straight into the enemy team and try your best. If it doesn't work you can always blame the jungler!
Bounties help to enhance the excitement of the game and makes it more fun to play and watch. On the other hand, it can be frustrating for the leading team. Losing despite you playing so well in the early game or because the macro decisions of your teammates make are just bad, feels unrewarding and also unfair sometimes.
Whatever you may think of these bounties, it seems that they are here to stay.
We hope that we could help you to understand the Objective Bounty System. Have a great time when you are on Summoners Rift again.