Layla is the first hero most players ever buy. She costs 2,000 BP, she sits in your collection forever, and most people shelve her the moment they unlock someone flashier. That's a mistake. In the right hands, Layla is one of the safest gold laners in the game. Her passive gives her the highest late-game basic attack range of any marksman. If you respect her limits early and scale correctly, she becomes nearly impossible to trade with from the backline.
This is not a beginner's reassurance post. This is a practical S39 guide on how to actually use her.
#Skills and Passive Explained
Understanding Layla's kit is the foundation of every decision you'll make in the gold lane.
Passive: Malefic Gun
The further Layla stands from her target, the higher her damage output. At maximum range, she deals up to 130-140% of her normal basic attack damage. This passive applies to all her skills and basic attacks, but does NOT apply to turrets.
Every positioning decision you make as Layla comes back to this passive. Backing up one step and attacking from further away does more damage than stepping forward and swinging from close range. This sounds obvious until you're in a teamfight and chaos pulls you forward. Stay disciplined.
Skill 1: Malefic Bomb
Fires a physical damage bomb in a target direction. On hit, it temporarily extends Layla's attack range and Void Projectile's range. Hitting an enemy hero with this also gives a small movement speed boost.
Use this as your primary poke in lane. It's your main damage skill and your range extender. Level this up first.
Skill 2: Void Projectile
Auto-targets the nearest enemy and fires an energy ball that deals physical damage, applies a magical mark, and slows the target. The mark stacks with certain builds. The slow is valuable for kiting assassins trying to close the gap.
This is your only CC skill. Don't waste it. Use it to slow divers or to chase down fleeing enemies, not randomly in the middle of a lane trade.
Ultimate: Destruction Rush
Fires a massive energy beam in a target direction that deals heavy physical damage. Each upgrade of this skill permanently increases Layla's attack range. By level 15 with a fully upgraded ultimate, your basic attack range becomes one of the longest in the game.
Here's something many players miss: after your ult is upgraded, you can hit enemy turrets from outside their attack range. This makes Layla a surprisingly effective split pusher when your team controls vision.
Skill upgrade order: S1 > S3 > S2. Max Malefic Bomb first for consistent lane damage, upgrade the ultimate whenever available, and leave Void Projectile for last.
#Best Layla Build for S39
Layla's build is split into two phases: what you need to function, and what turns her into a late-game problem.
Early Items (Power Spikes)
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| Swift Boots | Attack speed boost, lets you shred minions and last-hit more reliably |
| Berserker's Fury | Core crit item, dramatically improves your basic attack damage |
| Windtalker | Attack speed, crit rate, and a movement speed proc. Pairs beautifully with Berserker's Fury |
Get Swift Boots first, then rush Berserker's Fury. Your first real power spike is when BF is complete. Before that, you're farming and playing passive.
Full Build
| Slot | Item | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swift Boots | Attack speed, mobility |
| 2 | Berserker's Fury | Crit damage, crit rate |
| 3 | Windtalker | Attack speed, crit, movement |
| 4 | Blade of Despair | Flat physical damage, best-in-slot late |
| 5 | Malefic Roar | Physical penetration, destroys tanks |
| 6 | Wind of Nature | Physical immunity, your escape button |
Slots 5 and 6 are flexible. Against a full tank lineup, build Malefic Roar earlier, even in slot 4. Against a team full of assassins, Wind of Nature becomes your priority and you might consider Immortality over Malefic Roar.
Immortality is your defensive swap if you keep getting one-shot before you can contribute. It's not ideal for damage, but a Layla who survives and attacks is worth far more than one who dies with five items.
Haas's Claws: When to Build It
If you're getting poked down early or the enemy doesn't have much burst, Haas's Claws in slot 3 or 4 gives you lane sustain. Swap it in when fights drag long and lifesteal keeps you relevant.
Battle Spell
Flicker is the default and the right choice in most games. It's your panic button when an assassin gaps you. The 120-second cooldown is long, but the escape it provides outweighs the alternatives.
Inspire works if you're running a Windtalker build and want to speed up turret kills or burst someone down faster. Only consider this if your team has reliable peelers and you trust your positioning.
#Emblem Setup
Use the Marksman Emblem for Layla.
| Tier | Talent | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Fatal | +5% crit chance, +10% crit damage. Your whole build is built around crits. |
| Tier 2 | Weapon Master | +5% physical attack from items. Every item you build hits harder. |
| Tier 3 | Quantum Charge | Heals HP and gives a brief movement speed boost when your basic attacks land. This is your pseudo-mobility and sustain in one. |
Alternative Tier 3: Weakness Finder is solid if you want consistent slow procs on your basic attacks. This pairs well with your Void Projectile slow and makes kiting easier. Against high-mobility enemies, Weakness Finder can be the difference between them closing the gap or not.
Don't use the Assassin Emblem on Layla in ranked unless you know exactly what you're doing. The penetration is nice in theory but you give up the sustain and mobility that Quantum Charge provides, which you genuinely need.
#Skill Combos
Layla's combos are simple but the timing matters.
Standard Poke (Lane Trade) S1 > AA > AA > S2
Fire Malefic Bomb to extend your range, follow up with two basic attacks while the range buff is active, then slow with Void Projectile if they try to run.
Full Burst Combo (Teamfight) S1 > S2 > AA > AA > S3
Open with Malefic Bomb for the range extension, apply the magic mark with Void Projectile, hit basic attacks from extended range, then finish with Destruction Rush if they're low or trying to escape.
Execute Combo (Low HP Enemy Escaping) S3 > S1 > AA
Use Destruction Rush first to deal the longest-range damage, follow immediately with Malefic Bomb to poke them further, then basic attack from the extended range. This works from surprising distances.
The key thing all three combos share: you almost always start with Malefic Bomb (S1) because it extends your range. Attacking without the range extension wastes your passive.
#Positioning: The Skill That Matters Most
Positioning is where Layla players are separated into two groups: those who hard carry and those who feed.
Rule 1: Never be the closest person to the enemy. Always have a tank, fighter, or even your support between you and the enemy frontline. If you're the closest, you're doing it wrong, regardless of what's happening in the fight.
Rule 2: Back up when threatened. When an assassin dashes toward you, your instinct might be to use your S2 to slow them. That's correct. But you also need to physically back up at the same time. Slowing Ling without moving means he's still in your face. Slow him and move backward, then attack from your new, extended range.
Rule 3: Don't chase kills. Layla's job is not to chase. Her job is to stand in a safe position and deal consistent damage. If an enemy is running, use S3 and S1 from range. Do not walk up to finish them. Every time you close the gap, you reduce your passive's damage bonus and put yourself at risk.
Rule 4: Watch for flank paths. Before every teamfight, look at where assassins are on the minimap. Natalia, Saber, and Ling will path around your frontline specifically to reach you. Hug the outer edges of a fight or stay close enough to your tank that getting to you requires going through them first.
Scenario: You're in a teamfight near Turtle. Your Tigreal initiates. The correct Layla play is to stand 2-3 steps behind your other support or fighter, aim your S1 into the cluster, apply S2 on whoever is closest to you, and let your basic attacks do the work. Do NOT walk into the Tigreal's chain to get more hits in. You are not Clint.
#How to Play the Gold Lane
Early Game (Levels 1-7)
Your job before you finish Berserker's Fury is simple: farm.
Last-hit every minion you can. Prioritize the cannon (siege) minion because it gives extra gold. If your roamer visits the lane and creates a kill opportunity, take it. If your roamer isn't there, do not initiate trades against aggressive gold laners like Beatrix, Brody, or Clint. They hit harder than you at this stage and have more reliable poke.
Stay behind your minions when poking with Malefic Bomb. It forces the enemy to walk toward you to trade, which means they're walking into your passive's damage sweet spot. If the enemy gold laner is passive, use this to chip down their HP. If they're aggressive, back off to your turret and farm safely.
Don't recall before cannon minions arrive. One cannon minion equals one basic item's worth of gold lost if you miss it.
Mid Game (Levels 8-12)
Once you have Swift Boots and Berserker's Fury, your damage becomes noticeable. This is when you should rotate to Turtle contests and join 4-man pushes.
In teamfights at this stage, you're not the primary damage dealer yet. You're the cleanup hero. Wait for your tank to initiate and for the enemy team to dump skills. Then step up, use your combo, and collect assists and kills on weakened targets.
Don't overextend in the gold lane without vision. The enemy jungler's primary target in mid-game is often the gold laner. Buy Pillager or the roaming item for extra gold, and check the minimap before pushing past the river.
Late Game (Levels 13+)
Fully built Layla melts tanks. Malefic Roar combined with Blade of Despair and your passive's range bonus makes your basic attacks genuinely threatening to anyone who approaches. Tanks included.
Stay grouped with your team during Lord contests. One assassin catching you alone ends the game. Your team's win condition is you consistently attacking the enemy team from the backline, not you trying to get a pick.
Split pushing is a legitimate option if you're up 3+ items and the enemy team is occupied. Your post-ultimate attack range lets you hit towers from outside their attack range. But only do this when your team can hold a fight or when there's no risk of a 3-man dive.
#Matchup Guide
Layla Beats
- Hanabi (54.5% win rate): You outrange her significantly in the late game. Poke her from outside her bubble range and she has no answer.
- Vale: His skills have a setup time. Stay at max range and his wind combo can't reach you reliably.
- Nana: Too short-ranged to punish you. Poke freely.
Layla Struggles Against
- Chou: He dashes directly onto you and the combo doesn't care about your range. Against Chou, save your S2 and Flicker for when he dashes. Popping Wind of Nature on the dash timing is the difference between dying and surviving.
- Ling: Wall-jumping bypasses your range advantage entirely. He reaches you from angles your backline doesn't cover. Track him on the minimap and position near walls or terrain that limits his entry angles.
- Fanny: She moves in ways you can't predict and she's faster than your Flicker. If Fanny targets you specifically, your team needs to peel her or she'll end you.
- Natalia: She goes invisible and appears at your location. If you see her pick in hero select, buy an Oracle or ask your support to roam near you more aggressively.
#Climbing Ranked with Layla
Layla sits at around 47.9% win rate currently, which is below average. The honest truth: she's C-tier right now, not because she's bad, but because she requires teammates to peel for you and a patient playstyle that lower-rank players struggle to execute.
Despite that, she's a completely valid pick for climbing from Warrior to Epic if you play her correctly. Here's what separates the Layla players who climb from those who don't:
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Farm priority above everything. If you're 100 CS behind the enemy gold laner at 10 minutes, you've already lost your lane. Every other decision comes second to CS.
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Communicate before teamfights. Ping your intention to stay back. Your teammates need to know you won't be initiating. If your tank dies waiting for help that won't come, that's a communication failure.
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Draft awareness matters. If the enemy has Ling, Fanny, AND Chou, your game will be miserable. You can still win, but play extra conservatively and prioritize Wind of Nature over Malefic Roar in that scenario.
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Don't tilt after early deaths. Layla's early game is weak. Getting dove at level 3 is expected, not a disaster. Recall, buy what you can, come back, and farm.
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Know when to take over. At 15 minutes with three items completed, you're not farming anymore. You're winning the game. Join every objective contest and play for turrets.
Layla won't win you games on mechanics alone. She wins games when you've mastered spacing, maintained farm leads, and positioned correctly for 20 minutes straight. That's harder than any combo, but it's exactly what ranked tests.
#Frequently Asked Questions
Is Layla good in Season 39?
She's a C-tier situational pick with a 47.9% win rate. She's not meta, but she's viable for climbing through Elite and into Epic if you play her patiently and have a frontline. In full premade teams, she's considerably stronger.
What's the best battle spell for Layla?
Flicker in almost every situation. It's your primary mobility option since she has no built-in dash. Inspire is an alternative for attack speed builds, but Flicker's escape value is generally more useful.
When should Layla use Wind of Nature?
Pop it the moment a high-burst assassin or fighter dashes onto you. If you wait until you're half HP, it's often too late. The 2-second physical immunity window needs to overlap with their damage window, not trigger after.
Should Layla build crit or penetration?
Start with crit (Berserker's Fury + Windtalker). Add Malefic Roar in the late build once the enemy team starts stacking defense. Against a squishy team, you can skip Malefic Roar and build Haas's Claws or a defensive item instead.
Why is Layla's win rate low if she scales so well?
Her scaling requires reaching late game alive with good farm. She's easy to dive before items, relies entirely on teammates to peel, and has no mobility to escape mistakes. Players who don't respect those weaknesses inflate her death rate. Players who do respect them can climb comfortably.