As a new player to league I am used to playing on a locked screen, but everyone says i should play with an unlocked what is the difference between them. What advantages does it give you? Why do people prefer it? Any helpful comment would would be appreciated <3
The Sword Saint2 votesUnlocked means you can move the camera to see whats going on away from your champion, it lets you have a more reliable and stable time firing skillshots while moving since you have one less movement to account for, it lets you use super long range abilities like lux, xerath, gp, and ziggs ultimates with more accuracy due to being able to see where they will hit instead of just clicking on the map, gives you more time to dodge skillshots when positioned correctly, and just overall widens your effective vision.
Meanwhile being locked gives you exactly zero benefits over unlocked aside from getting to be slightly lazier by never moving your camera on purpose.
Ralanr1 votesWhat if you're playing a champion with no skill shots?
The Sword Saint1 votesUnlocked still makes it easier for you to click on a target because there's one less movement to keep track of.
ModKnightsKemplar1 votesLearn to play unlocked. This simply means that when you move your cursor to the edge of the screen, you can scroll around the map.
This allows you to center the camera away from your champion while you play, giving you better vision of your opponents, who may be some distance away from you. Especially when you play against champions with long-range skillshots (lux, blitzcrank and morgana are some of the ones I remember having trouble against before I "got gud"), having the camera unlocked gives you vision of the opponent when you wouldn't otherwise have it. This is very important to become a competent player from the red side.
I bind the lock/unlock key to T, so I can switch back and forth, actually. When I'm running around the map, or jungling, or something, I like to have it locked sometimes, but I'm always ready to unlock at a moment's notice. This also allows me to re-center the camera on my champion by re-locking the camera if I was looking elsewhere and need to center again.
Better players probably play unlocked all the time, and have a key to center the camera. I have thought about practicing like that for awhile, but haven't done so yet. You might try some custom games when you change settings to get used to them. I know that intermediate bots also sometimes force you to play red side. Practice makes perfect, and good luck!
bloodforblood212 votesThank you so much for having time to help me out this really helped <3
ModKnightsKemplar2 votesYw and good luck again! It takes awhile. Your post has encouraged me to try playing only unlocked. So I'll be practicing with you. :D
Melee Form1 votesIt's also harder playing on red side with locked screen. Try playing bot lane on red side with locked screen and you'll notice you have less space to work with. It's just in a bad position.
El Condor Pasa1 votesThe per-side offset option somewhat remedies this problem for locked screen users.
Miku Lv991 votesYou need unlocked for looking around all the time. When you really want locked you can still hold the spacebar. If you're good at moving the screen around I think unlocked will let you play better.