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League of Legends art showcasing Anima Squad skins for champs like Leona, Yuumi, and more.
Image via Riot Games

Swarm tier list – The best champions in LoL’s PvE mode

Choose wisely.

Always wanted to play a PvE mode in League of Legends? Well, now you can. Swarm offers players a chance to dive into a PvE adventure, and you can prepare yourself by reading our tier list.

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Even in a PvE setting, the most competitive players naturally gravitate toward optimizing their performance. Certain champions have already established themselves as top performers in Swarm. These standout picks have secured their top positions in our rankings, offering players the best chance at success.

While lower-tier champions may be viable in the early stages, the disparity in performance becomes more apparent as players reach the later, more demanding phases of Swarm. If you’d also like to enjoy Swarm with the best champions in the game mode, our tier list will be your greatest ally before queuing for your next match.

Swarm League of Legends tier list

The following tier list ranks the best champions in League of Legends’ Swarm game mode.

TierChampion
S TierIllaoi, Yasuo, Xayah
A TierLeona, Briar, Riven
B TierJinx, Seraphine
C TierAurora

Best champions in League of Legends Swarm

The best champions in League of Legends Swarm are the strongest in the available selection pool. They tend to deal more damage and are often tanky, making them ideal choices for the PvE game mode.

1) Illaoi

Illaoi smashing an enemy with one of her weapons.
The tentacles get the job done. Image via Riot Games

Illaoi is a powerhouse in Swarm. She has the perfect combination of durability and high damage output. Her playstyle revolves around her tentacles, which she can summon to control the battlefield.

Illaoi’s exceptional survivability allows other party members to deal damage freely. Regarding worst-case scenarios, Illaoi can knock up enemies and create escape routes through hordes of enemies.

If you choose Illaoi in Swarm, you’ll become the captain of your team. The champion is decked with abilities that can change the course of the game. I’ve been revolving my playstyle around Illaoi’s Tentacle Smash while picking up the best weapons in Swarm to support the champion further. Feel free to soak up damage and ensure you give your team plenty of space so they can perform their best.

2) Xayah

Xayah in League of Legends.
Feathers deal the damage and provide mobility. Image via Riot Games

Xayah is one step ahead of her competition thanks to her exceptional damage output and mobility in Swarm. Her short cooldowns especially shine when the enemy waves grow greater in numbers. Since Xayah can rapidly cycle her abilities, it’s relatively easy for her to maintain constant pressure.

With a critical strike-focused build, Xayah can quickly clear Elites and Bosses. While Xayah can hold her own, especially with her ultimate, she’ll do her best when paired with a tanky champion. If Xayah maintains a safe distance between her enemies, she’ll be free to deal as much damage as possible.

Overall, Xayah outclasses the other damage dealers in Swarm mainly because of her mobility. If you play the game mode solo and don’t have a tank you can trust, picking Xayah over other champions will be a much safer choice.

3) Yasuo

Yasuo marching forward against the wind.
Come to think of it, Swarm is the perfect game mode for Yasuo. Image via Riot Games

Like in League, Yasuo dances through enemy ranks while unleashing formidable damage in Swarm. His agility grants him impressive survivability, and Yasuo capitalizes on this with a high damage output.

Regarding builds, Yasuo’s kit greatly benefits from increasing his critical hit chance. Since you’ll constantly be moving around, you need every hit to count. As you max out Yasuo’s critical chance, you’ll turn into the One Punch Man, but with a sword. Similarly to Xayah, mobility helps Yasuo stand above the crowd, especially for solo players. While other champions can match Yasuo’s damage potential, only a few can come close to his mobility.

As with any game mode, Riot Games can fine-tune champion performance in Swarm. However, considering its temporary nature, extensive balancing efforts may not be a priority at the time of writing. That said, if Swarm proves popular enough with the player base, there’s potential for it to remain in the game or come back in the future. If this happens, we might see Riot invest more resources into expanding and balancing the PvE mode.


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Author
Image of Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.