Porting PC MOBA games over to a mobile platform poses a fundamental problem. On PC, players can quickly and accurately hover their mouse cursors over to whatever in-game item or element they want to select. On mobile, however, players will have to rely on some form of an auto-targeting algorithm or rely on specific onscreen buttons.
Another big problem is the input limitation. In this case, while there are hundreds of touchpoints on the screen, we are only limited to two thumbs per side on mobile phones. (Unless you opt to use one of those janky controller extensions for mobile); which poses another problem on its own in terms of accessibility and precision.
Fortunately, the newest Mobile MOBA game on the market, League of Legends: Wild Rift, offers a few targeting options to choose from to optimize your gameplay.
Target Lock Filtering for League of Legends: Wild Rift
There is currently a good way of “locking into” a target in League of Legends: Wild Rift: Dragging the auto-attack button towards the desired enemy unit target will lock your auto-attacks on the chosen target.
However, this is not a very optimal way of auto-attacking in-game as this method becomes difficult to do on a small screen when multiple units are present onscreen at the same time. Players might end up selecting the wrong units at the very last minute and might end up giving up a guaranteed kill, a mortal sin in a very competitive MOBA game where kills matter.
To rectify this problem, Riot has recently added a “Target Lock Filtering” option that gives players an option to hone in on champion targets only when locking onto targets. This setting effectively filters out any accidental Target Locks that might occur when things get very busy on screen.
- Click on the Gear icon on the top right corner of the screen:
2. Click on “Controls” located at the bottom of the settings menu:
3. Choose your desired “Lock Target System”:
Set this option to “No Minions/Structure” to prioritize enemy champions in the heat of battle.
The Best Targeting Method for League of Legends: Wild Rift
In addition to the Target Lock Filtering, a Targeting Method priority setting can be changed in the settings menu. You might want to change these settings around depending on the Champion you are currently using.
However, a good rule of thumb is to keep it at the “Closest” setting when playing melee champions with close-ranged abilities because this gives you the best positioning freedom while attacking and casting spells.
“Closest” also helps avoid situations where you and the AI Targeting end up in a tug of war where the AI prioritizes a champion with low HP within range while you want to target someone else instead.
On the other hand, you might want to change the Targeting Priority to “Low Health (Absolute)” when using champions with long-ranged burst damage abilities, as this helps you lock on and finish off worn-down enemies.
The third option, “Low Health (%),” is a difficult Targeting Priority to use as it uses a percentage-based number. 10% health on a tank champion might mean 500 hit points, while 10% health would mean 100 hit points to squishier Champions.
- Click on the Gear icon on the top right of the Main Menu:
2. Click on “Controls” located at the bottom of the settings menu:
3. Choose your desired “General Targeting Priority”:
Target Focus
Targeting is an important mechanic in any mobile MOBA game on both Android and iOS. Without smart auto-targeting features such as the ones present in League of Legends: Wild Rift, the game will more or less be unplayable, as targeting specific on-screen targets will be impossible.
Players are already giving up a ton of the input control they used have used to back in the PC version of League of Legends by playing the mobile version, Wild Rift. By choosing the correct targeting method for a given champion and playstyle, players will be able to play with close to similar freedom they are used to on the PC.
Compromises had to be made to be able to make everyone’s favorite PC MOBA game playable on a much more portable device such as a smartphone. Riot has done a great job with League of Legends: Wild Rift’s targeting system.
