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League of Legends champion Heimerdinger bends over a work station making a technology creation
Image via Riot Games
Category:
League of Legends

What is DX9 Legacy Mode in LoL? Explained

For PCs that need a little help.
Image of Tyler Esguerra
Tyler Esguerra
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Published: Apr 3, 2024 11:49 am

Riot Games has been very careful about making League of Legends accessible to as many people as possible, from the casual gamer to the dedicated ranked climber. There are multiple settings that you can choose from to help maintain the best gameplay experience, including the addition of DX9 Legacy Mode.

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DX9 Legacy Mode is one of the many additions that Riot has placed in League to make sure that almost any player can try out the game without struggling to find a sweet spot for their settings. Not everyone has a high-spec computer system, and with League, you probably won’t need one to jump onto the Summoner’s Rift.

Here is a quick rundown of what DX9 Legacy Mode provides for players as they load into League.

Explaining DX9 Legacy Mode in League

Mid lane looking a little different in the 2024 LoL season, with a cutout near the topside brush for extra ganking potential
Playing on the Summoner’s Rift was never this simple. Image via Riot Games

Although League of Legends does include 10 champions on the Summoner’s Rift with plenty of unique visual effects and animations, the game doesn’t have to be graphically intensive to work. If you are, however, running into problems in terms of performance, you might want to activate DX9 Legacy Mode from your settings.

DirectX is an application that sends instructions from the software you’ve downloaded on your PC to your current hardware. In 2024, League of Legends uses a more modernized version of this app with DirectX 10 and above, but this is an optimized version for newer computers. If you have an older machine, you might want to try out DX9 Legacy Mode to ensure that the game runs as smoothly as possible.

How to turn on DX9 Legacy Mode in League

The DX9 Legacy Mode setting in League.
As easy as one, two, three. Screenshot by Dot Esports

To turn on DX9 Legacy Mode, you need to log into League and click on the Settings icon at the top right of the client. Afterward, there should be a tab on the left side of that newly-opened menu that says Game. Once you’ve clicked that tab, there should be a box at the top of the options that you can tick marked “Prefer DX9 Legacy Mode” under Graphics. Select this box, and press Done once you’re satisfied with your changes.

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Author
Image of Tyler Esguerra
Tyler Esguerra
Lead League of Legends writer for Dot Esports. Forever an LCS supporter, AD carry main, with more than five years in the industry. Sometimes I like clicking heads in Call of Duty or VALORANT. Creator of the Critical Strike Podcast.
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