4 Tips for Safely Securing Baron in League of Legends

How to Secure the Baron Safely

The Baron is one of the more challenging objectives to secure in League of Legends due to its health and damage output. When it comes to taking this major objective, you need to secure it in a safe manner to increase the likelihood of scoring a victory. Games are often won or lost at Baron because it can take a long time to kill and also deals a lot of damage.

In this Mobalytics guide by PicklePants, we will discuss some different tips you can use to secure the Baron in a way that will reduce the chances of the enemy stealing it. As the map is equal on both sides, some of the information we are going to discuss can be transferable and be used for the Elder Dragon and the Dragon pit.

1. Make sure you have sufficient vision control

If you have read our in-depth warding guide, you would’ve heard the emphasis we put on making sure that there is enough vision around the objective. Vision is incredibly important throughout the game as it can tell your team a lot of things. When taking the Baron, vision can allow you to take it safely by knowing where the enemy is at any given time.

Vision will prevent the enemy from sneaking up on your team-or contesting the objective. By knowing where the enemy jungler is, it will allow your team to reposition and block the enemy from being able to enter the pit.

Control Wards are incredibly important to place inside the pit itself in order to cancel and block any enemy vision. If you didn’t know, Control Wards block vision trinkets and wards.

This means that if the enemy places any vision directly inside the pit while you have a Control Ward in there, it will block vision shortly after it is placed.

When the enemy places a normal trinket or ward in the pit- do not start auto-attacking it as the enemy will be able to see the health of the objective which may allow them to steal it.

However, Control Wards do not deny or block other Control Wards. This means that the enemy will be able to see what is happening in the pit if one is placed.

If the enemy has placed a Control Ward in the pit, make sure to destroy it as quickly as you can so you can continue blocking vision.

Wards are not always going to be around the Baron pit. In fact, they can be in the river, or in your own jungle too.

This is why it’s important to know how to seek and destroy more enemy wards. We’ve made a separate guide on how to deny vision if you’re interested in learning more.

As you can see by the image, you’ll need to have vision in the enemies jungle to spot them before they are knocking at the Baron’s door.

This will give you enough time to decide on what to do when they get closer. For instance, you may try to finish off the Baron or you can back off and retreat.

No matter what side of the map you are on, you will always want to prioritize having wards that are further out rather than close by. This is because they will give you more time to react to the enemy.

Every ward you place should be in an area where the enemy could possibly pass by it. There is no point wasting a ward by putting it somewhere where the enemy is not going to be.

For example, putting it behind the Baron pit if you are the red team (this is because the enemy is coming from the opposite side).

The areas we have suggested are not the only places you can ward though. In most situations, a poor ward is better than no ward at all.

If you have any spare wards on your person, make use of them and place them around the objective to make it safer to take.

2. Don’t always try to sneak it

In lower ELOs, a lot of Barons are taken through pure luck and sneakiness rather than careful planning and macro. The higher up you go, the chances of a sneaky Baron capture is reduced because in many situations, the Baron will be warded consistently after 20 minutes.

I recommend that you try to avoid sneaking the Baron in general because it can often go wrong and you may either lose the objective or your life.

You may also waste a lot of your time and fall behind in farm and XP because you’re trying to take the objective alone.

When you are sneaking the objective, the enemy may realize that your team is missing for a long period of time and go and check the objective.

The Baron is not easy to take because of its tankiness, especially earlier on in the game when it first spawns. It can take quite a long time to burn down if you are alone or with a few members of your team.

If the enemy is aware of their surroundings, they would notice that you are or multiple members of your team are missing. If the Baron is the only objective available, they would put two and two together and rotate to your location.

When you are trying to sneak an objective, you may not have the best of setups as you are trying to rush the objective and take it as quickly as you can.

This means that you may have little to no preparation time to ward around the object- which can cost you. This can also mean that you do not take the time to clear vision around the objectives.

Instead of trying to be sneaky and secure the objective without the enemy knowing, put in the time and effort to make sure that the objectives will be safe and secure. You can do this by:

1. Placing wards around the objectives to spot the enemy.
2. Making sure that the pit itself is not warded by placing a Control Ward inside.
3. Backing off if the enemy decides to rotate to the Baron.

Please note: If you can take the Baron in a secure manner, then sneaking is fine. But make sure that you have sufficient warding around the objective so you do not get wiped out by the enemy.

Communication is so important in League of Legends, especially when trying to sneak an objective. Make sure to communicate with your team to have an easier time at securing the Baron.

3. Be ready to turn when the enemy comes

If the enemy jungler is alive and nearby when you’re attempting to take Baron, they have the opportunity to steal the objective. This can make securing the objective quite difficult because you have a 50/50 chance of coming out ahead, and realistically- it can go either way.

It is also made harder when the enemy is a higher level than you (as their Smite will deal more damage). This is why it is recommended to either finish off the Baron before the enemy can get to your team, turn and fight them as soon as they enter the river, or just back off.

If you’re able to fight the enemy, it is good to stop taking Baron and fight them instead. When you are focusing objectives such as the Baron, your priority will be focused on the Baron itself which leaves the enemy at full health. The enemy would be able to unload damage on your team while receiving none in return.

If you are unable to fight the enemy, but they are coming towards you, it is important that you back off and peel away from the Baron and the enemy as a whole. This is because they can win the team fight and then take the Baron afterward.

Make sure that you stay alive when the Baron is up as it will allow your team to be able to contest it. If you are dead, the enemy will be able to take it for free.

However, if you can safely secure the objective before the enemy gets to you. For example, if the Baron is low enough for you to burst it down- at around 2 or 3000 health, then you should take the objective and then back off as soon as you have killed it.

It is important that you back off and not fight the enemy, as you will potentially lose all the players who have the buff. To some extent, this would make the Baron obsolete, and the enemy will be given the opportunity to take towers.

4. Know your Smite power

Smite is a necessity for every Jungler in the game. It has a direct impact on how you jungle, and move around the map. It will also drastically increase your chances of securing the Baron if used correctly.

Smite develops throughout the game, dealing more damage every time you level up. Theoretically, the later the game goes on and the higher level you’re, the easier and safer it should be to take because you can Smite it at higher health.

Here are some tips and tricks to improve your last hitting ability.

• Take into account the damage of other champions
  • Some champions are really good at taking the Baron. Champions like Kalista with her Rend (E), and Cho’Gath with his ultimate come to mind.
  • In some cases, their damage dealt will be more than what your Smite can deal – so it’s better for your allies to finish it off instead (however, make sure that you communicate your intentions with your team.
  • On the flip side, if the enemy has any abilities that can finish off the objective, take into account what they have and who can steal it.
  • For example, the enemy Cho’Gath flashing over the wall and chomping down on it. When this is the case, make sure they’re dead or have the ability on cooldown before taking it.
• Make sure that you have Smite available before starting the Baron.
  • Smite is needed to secure the Baron (unless someone else can finish it off- read above). So making sure that you have it available to you will allow you to secure it safely.
  • This sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how often Junglers forget or do not let their team know.
  • Keep practicing
    • Practice always makes perfect. You can try to improve your Smite ability by just practicing and finishing off objectives by Smiting them at the last possible second. Check out this tool from Smiterino to help you hone your skills.

Example situations for taking Baron

We’ve discussed some ways you can make taking Baron safer and now we’re going to discuss some examples of situations when you should take or start Baron.

Example 1: When the enemy is on the other side of the map

A good time to take the Baron is when the enemy is on the bottom side of the map. This is a good time to take it as the enemy may not be able to rotate in time. The map is quite large, and it does take a good portion of time to move from one point to another.

Abusing the architecture of the map will work in your favor to secure a safe Baron as the enemy will be nowhere near the objectives in order to steal it.

For this to work better, it is best to have multiple enemies spotted on the bottom side which includes the Jungler specifically. Other than that, it doesn’t matter too much who is spotted as you will have the numbers advantage.

Example 2: When multiple enemies are dead

This is another good time to take the Baron because your team will have the numbers advantage. This can be tricky though as it relies heavily on the death timers.

If the enemy is resurrecting pretty soon and you’ve only just started the objective, it may be rather risky. However, if the death timers are quite long- then you should have enough time to take it.

If the death timers are, let’s say ~15 seconds, you may be unable to take the objective. However, if they are ~30 seconds, then you should be good to go.

Many Barons have been lost due to players starting the objective with the enemy death timers are low. This may work on the odd occasion, but it is not good practice to go by.

The more players that are dead on the enemy team- the better. However, always keep an eye on the death timers and move to the objective straight away if your intentions are to take it.

If you cannot secure it in time, put your efforts elsewhere such as placing vision around the objectives and then resetting or going for a different objective.

This also means that you should not take the objective if you have already gone for another objective (depending on death timers) as the enemy will be back up in time and able to contest it which can make it unsafe to take. For example, Dragon to Baron or tower to Baron.

Example 3: When you have pressure elsewhere

If you have pressure someone else on the map- for example in the bottom lane, it can mean that taking Baron is much easier.

This is because there will be multiple forms of pressure around the map which means the enemy will have to either concede Baron or concede a tower.

Depending on where the tower is located, the enemy will have to give up the Baron as a whole in order to defend the objective.

Having multiple forms of pressure around the map in sync with one another can be quite difficult to perfect. One tip that can help you with this is when the split pusher is getting close to the objective, then you start the Baron.

You can abuse Solo Queues notorious communication flaws in order to take an objective while there is pressure elsewhere on the map.

Final Thoughts

The Baron is the deadliest objective on the map and many players have fallen victim to its deadly curse while trying to reap its rewards. Stop yourself from becoming another statistic by using everything we’ve suggested in this guide!

If you have any questions or want to learn more, check out PicklePants stream.

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