What is Input Buffering and Why Is It OP?

League of Legends features such as slow pushing your lane are incredibly critical when it comes to achieving Challenger rank or progressing up the ranked ladder in the game. 

Developing a thorough grasp of the game mechanics you’ll encounter during your games is critical to maximizing your play-making potential, gaining a competitive advantage over your opponents, and playing the game to your maximum potential in the game.

Among the many distinct mechanics that you may concentrate your efforts on, input buffering in League of Legends is one of the most powerful tools that you can utilize in a wide variety of scenarios to get an immediate advantage and catch your opponents off guard.

However, it is astonishing how few people are aware of input buffering, and even fewer are aware of how to use this aspect to their advantage in order to win more games.

Now, let’s take a look at how it works, why it’s overpowering, and how it’s accomplished!

What is Input Buffering and Why Is It OP?

Input buffering is the technique of queuing up an ability to be performed so that it may be used immediately after certain other abilities or summoner spells have been cast on the target.

Due to the fact that the adversary on whom you’re attempting to cast your ability isn’t in range, doing another action on top of it effectively throws your ability into a queue to “wait for its turn,” which occurs once you’re really in range of casting your ability. 

A summoner spell such as flash, for example, is an excellent illustration of a buffering ability.

You will be able to get your ability off before your opponents can respond to it, which almost ensures that you will be able to use it before they can avoid it or reposition themselves in a more beneficial manner. 

A good example of some advantageous use-cases is the usage of Vayne’s Condemn to deny opponent gap closers, or the use of Veigar’s stun to line up an automatic stun once the adversary is within the radius of the ability.

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How To Input Buffer The Abilities Of Your Champion?

The most straightforward method of understanding how to input buffer your talents is to use a great example to demonstrate the mechanism.

Consider the following scenario: you’re playing Annie, and you want to cast her ultimate (Tibbers) on the other team or a certain spot that’s just a little bit outside of her ability range.

In this scenario, you’ll cast your ability, designate where it should be cast, and then flash to get into range as quickly as possible. 

This will result in your ability being performed on the stated place in a matter of milliseconds after you flash your ability card. This is, without a doubt, a situation that is virtually difficult to respond to.

But if you flash then press R, the spell will still have the ability-input delay before it casts, making it possible for your opponents to move out of the way and avoid it entirely.

Myth About Input Buffer

In-game input buffering is controlled by the player. It’s not something that can be turned on or off. It is mechanical and accessible to everyone; the only settings modifications that are advised, and that may be used to switch on the ranger indication, are the ones that alter the color of the ranger indicator. 

Another widespread myth is that if you are practicing Input buffering on a new champion, it is because the player is unsure of how to utilize the Input buffering for hero skill. 

You may press condemned on an enemy and then go to CS, where you can tell the system that movement comments should be activated as soon as they reach your range. 

Using input buffering helps you to cast certain abilities like Annie Tibbers more rapidly when you flash to launch a fight or attack. Consider the following scenario: you wish to flash Initiate onto the other squad.

Flash + R

You may use Flash + R, or you can use R (at the position where you want the ultra to be put, which is now outside your cast range) + Flash (if the ultra is currently beyond your cast range). 

In this case, the second option is the best choice. The reason behind this is as follows: Immediately following the Flash, the Ultimate will be employed, saving vital seconds. 

Allows the opponent to react with less time because the game is a game of millimeters. A half-second saved on the cast time might easily be enough to win a team battle in some situations.

Anyway, if you want to listen to the entire interview, in which we go into great detail about this mechanism, you can do so by visiting the game’s official website. 

As long as you are rebuffering and canceling your ability in a brief window that your champion is walking towards, input buffering is active for you. 

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Why Is Input Buffering Important? 

Input buffering is a setting that can significantly alter your gameplay. Because of this input buffering, you will be able to effortlessly adjust your game settings to suit your preferences.

Because there are so many various gaming alternatives accessible in the gaming sector, you may need to go through a process to determine your preferred gaming style or approaches. 

To do so, navigate to Input buffering and choose your gaming system and approach in accordance with your overall game plan. Input buffering in LOL is the most beneficial and advantageous feature that you may use to acquire benefits and advantages in the gaming environment. At the same time, you may even defeat your adversaries in a short period of time.

Using input buffering lets you perform some abilities more rapidly, such as Annie Tibbers, when you flash to launch the spell. Consider the following scenario: you wish to introduce a Flash Initiate into the other squad. 

You may use Flash + R, or you can use R(At the spot where you want the ult to be put, which is presently outside your cast range) + Flash (if the location is currently beyond your cast range). In this case, the second option is the best choice. The reason behind this is as follows:

• The Ultimate will be activated immediately following the flash, saving valuable seconds.
• This reduces the amount of time the opponent has to react.

Riot Games and Input Buffering

Essentially, the game is a fight of millimeters. A half-second saved on the cast time might easily be enough to win a team match in some situations.

When Riot Games developed the input buffering technique in a future patch, it became a component of practically every ability in League of Legends, according to the developer.

However, while input buffering occurs in the background and may not be something that players are constantly aware of, it is rather clear when it is lacking and something goes wrong. 

When a player is in the middle of an action, they can use this mechanism to queue up their next ability so that it can be used as soon as feasible following. 

The ability to path towards someone to use your ultimate and have the spell go off immediately after you Flash is an example of this, and it is a key component of many champions’ kits when it comes to pulling off dazzling combos.

Lee Sin Input Buffer

An example of input buffering that is more specific was provided by Riot Meddler is a Gameplay Thoughts article that used a popular Lee Sin combination.

A feature that Riot Meddler said he’s been working on for quite some time is making it so that when an ability’s button is pressed just before it would be usable (for example, while in the middle of another spell or just before it comes off CD), the command is saved and then executed shortly afterward. 

One especially egregious instance of this occurred on Lee Sin W back in 7.11. Executing combinations and other examples of exact timing become smoother when buffering is used in this manner on connections that are not exceedingly low in ping.

Irelia Input Buffer

Riot claims that as a result of Irelia’s overhaul, several new tools have been developed that enhance the number of cases in which input buffering may be applied to the game. 

As Riot Meddler said, the new technology that has been developed will allow Riot Games to begin incorporating input buffering into practically every ability in the future.

As part of the Irelia project, we came up with some innovative technology that lets input buffering like that much more easily applied to other skills. 

It’s been working well on Irelia, so we’re planning to expand its use to practically all abilities in the game in the not too distant future.

Players on the PBE may try out the update right away because it has been added to the testing grounds, but everyone else will have to wait until the next Patch, which is scheduled to be released in the near future. 

There was no indication of which skills would not benefit from the input buffering technology, however after the update is implemented, a list of these abilities may be supplied.

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Final Thoughts

It is possible to gain a significant edge over your opponents at every phase of the game by properly employing input buffering. This allows you to land your abilities before your opponents have a chance to respond or even see you approaching.

While it is not a very difficult technique to learn, mastering it will take some time, and you will almost certainly need to put in some practice time in order to truly get the swing of things.