Lethality is a new statistic in League of Legends that replaced flat armor penetration. Before, flat armor penetration directly reduced an enemy's armor by a specific amount. With Lethality, it converts to armor penetration based on the champion's level.

How is Lethality Calculated

The formula to calculate flat armor penetration with Lethality is:

Flat Armor Penetration = Lethality × (0.6 + 0.4 × level ÷ 18)

This means that a champion can have armor penetration ranging from 62% to 100% based on their level and the amount of Lethality from items. Lethality and armor penetration fully align at level 18.

List of Items that Grant Lethality

What is the difference between Lethality and Armor Penetration?

Lethality is basically flat armor penetration with a different name. It tells you how much of the enemy's armor you can ignore. It's really effective against opponents who aren't wearing any armor items, like squishy champions. For example, if your target has 40 armor and you have 30 armor penetration, their armor is reduced to just 10, making them easier to defeat.

How to Counter Lethality

While lethality builds can be highly effective, there are counter-picks that can undermine their impact. Champions with high sustain, such as Vladimir or Swain, can negate the burst damage that lethality-focused champions rely on. Additionally, champions with crowd control abilities, like Lulu or Alistar, can disrupt their all-ins and provide protection for their team.

Which Champions should build Lethality?

Lethality is typically associated with AD assassins, such as Zed, Talon, and Jayce, who heavily rely on burst damage to assassinate priority targets. However, other champions can also benefit from lethality builds. Nasus, Caitlyn, Varus, Senna, and similar champions can enhance their poke and burst potential with lethality items, allowing them to surprise opponents and gain a considerable advantage.