The strongest Doom Bots picks from the 2025 rotation were Darius, Mordekaiser, Volibear, Sett, Jinx, Viego, and Vayne. These bruisers and scaling carries punish the bots' high HP pools. Doom Bots is not currently live (the 2025 activation ended with patch 25.20 in October), but Riot's wording in the final patch notes implies the mode will return.
S+ Tier Doom Bots Champions
These seven appear at the top of every editorial tier list and OP.GG win-rate ranking from the 2025 run. They share a common thread: they handle waves fast, they don't fall over to a single Curse, and they scale with full builds.
| Champion | Role | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Darius | Top | Fastest waveclear in the mode, resets on champion kills. Stridebreaker into Sterak's into Dead Man's covers tank and damage in one build. |
| Mordekaiser | Top | His passive aura (Darkness Rise) deals percent-max-HP magic damage every second, which scales hard against the bots' inflated HP bars. Ult isolates one bot at a time during boss waves. |
| Volibear | Top/Jungle | His ult (Stormbringer) disables turrets for up to 4 seconds, which solves the "we can't break the inhibitor" stall problem. Sustain on Q plus a Rod of Ages and Spirit Visage core keeps him healthy through Curse waves. |
| Sett | Top | Right-click damage that doubles as a frontline. Stridebreaker into Overlord's Bloodmail into Sterak's. |
| Jinx | ADC | Rocket-form AoE clears bot waves in one rotation, snowballs on resets. |
| Viego | Jungle | Possessing a bot resets his cooldowns and lets him use bot abilities, including Curse-buffed ones. |
| Vayne | ADC | True damage on Silver Bolts ignores bot resistances. BotRK into Guinsoo's into Terminus shreds the boss phase. |
Strong Secondary Picks
Editorial tier lists from U.GG, Sheepesports, and Mobalytics also rate these as strong:
- Illaoi: tentacle AoE plus passive healing solves sustain.
- Sylas: stealing bot ultimates is most useful in Veigar's Curse, where bots have full kits.
- Cho'Gath: Feast stacking scales into unkillable territory by the 25-minute mark.
- Warwick: sustain plus low-HP execute clears waves and tags fleeing bots.
- Yasuo: high mobility for Curse dodging, AoE damage on tornado.
- Anivia: wall blocks bot pathing into the base, AoE clears summoned waves.
- Smolder: was bugged in patch 25.17 (burn didn't apply to Veigar). Fixed in 25.18 and now S+ on U.GG. The execute portion still won't apply to Veigar himself.
Champions to Avoid
Bottom of U.GG's tier list (B tier) for the 2025 mode. The common thread: low damage output or a kit that depends on protecting allies during enemy aggression, neither of which scales against the bots' inflated HP and constant Curse pressure.
- Teemo: low damage output for PvE scaling. Community reports that bots resist Teemo's poison are unconfirmed by Riot, but win rate on Teemo was the lowest in the mode.
- Yuumi: no solo waveclear. You're betting on your team to carry every fight.
- Soraka, Janna, Sona, Renata Glasc, Ivern, Morgana: pure enchanters and utility supports underperform when your team needs damage to break the long bot waves.
- Singed, Akshan, Rek'Sai: kits don't match the AoE-clear-plus-survive demands of the mode.
Mode Mechanics That Shape Picks
Three things explain why bruisers and scaling carries dominate:
- Bots have inflated HP and elevated resistances. Patch 25.19 explicitly stated the Veigar's Doom trial reduces bot armor and magic resist, which implies the base version has higher resists than normal champions. Percent-max-HP abilities (Mordekaiser passive aura, Cho'Gath ult, Vayne Silver Bolts true damage) get more value here than in normal Summoner's Rift.
- Curses are the bots' main threat. Curses are mode-wide buffs that stack on top of bot abilities: exploding death blasts, doubled missiles, AoE traps. Champions that can dodge or interrupt during these effects (Yasuo, Vayne, Ezreal) earn their tier.
- Veigar is the boss. After 15 minutes (and after all inhibitors are destroyed), Veigar enters the map. He holds Morellonomicon, Rylai's, and Void Staff in the Veigar's Doom trial. His ultimate executes for true damage based on missing HP, so percent-HP burst from your side is the reliable counter.
Team Comp That Actually Works
The clearest pattern across community guides is the 2-2-1 split: two tanks, two carries, one mage. The tanks function as supports, funneling kills to the carries so they hit full builds before the boss phase. Example winning composition from the Veigar's Curse trial: Shen and Sion (tanks), Jinx and Vayne (carries), Vel'Koz (mage).
Five-carry comps lose to the boss because nobody can soak Veigar's auto-attacks while the team finishes him. Five-tank comps stall out and lose to mission timers. Frontline matters: see our guide on peeling for your carries for why two tanks beats one in PvE.
How the 2025 Difficulty System Worked
Most editorial sites collapsed Doom Bots into "three difficulty levels," but the actual system had two layers:
| Layer | Options |
|---|---|
| Base queue difficulty | Easy (one Curse active at a time) or Hard (two Curses simultaneously). Custom 1 to 100 difficulty available via /votelevel ## in lobby with three agreeing votes. |
| Trials of Doom (rotating overlays) | Trial 1, Veigar's Evil (added 25.17, difficulty 60). Trial 2, Veigar's Curse (added 25.18, difficulty 50, level cap raised to 30, bots get 155% XP). Trial 3, Veigar's Doom (added 25.19, difficulty 90, 5-minute timer with 15 seconds added per bot kill). |
All three Trials were available simultaneously in the final patch (25.20). Completing all three earned the "Definitely Not a Bot" title.
Missions and Rewards
Each match had two timed missions, randomly chosen from a pool of five at the 4-minute mark and five at the 9-minute mark. Failing either mission gave the Doom Bots a buff that made the rest of the game significantly harder.
| Mission | Reward | Failure Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 4-minute objective | 1,000 gold split across team | Doom Bots gain a buff |
| 9-minute objective | 1,500 gold + random Dragon Soul | Doom Bots gain a buff |
On the higher-difficulty Trials, missing a mission was usually game-ending. Pick a comp that can complete the most common mission types (kill X bots, destroy a structure, complete an objective).
Is Doom Bots Currently Live?
No. Doom Bots ran from patch 25.17 (August 27, 2025) through the end of patch 25.20 (October 2025), then was disabled. The patch 25.20 notes called that period "this activation," which strongly implies Riot plans to bring the mode back, but no return date has been announced.
The 2025 run was the third version of Doom Bots. The original launched in 2014, a second version in 2016, and this 2025 return came after a 9-year gap. If you want similar PvE options to play in the meantime, several titles scratch the same itch in our list of games like League of Legends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the final boss in Doom Bots 2025?
Veigar. He replaced Little Devil Teemo (the 2016 boss) and arrives 15 minutes into the match. Veigar won't push the Nexus until all of your inhibitors are destroyed, which gives the team a window to gear up.
What was the hardest Doom Bots difficulty?
Veigar's Doom (Trial 3, added in patch 25.19) was rated difficulty 90, the highest in the 2025 rotation. It ran on a 5-minute timer that extended 15 seconds for every bot kill, forcing the team to balance objectives against farming.
Is Doom Bots coming back?
Riot hasn't announced a return date. The patch 25.20 notes used the phrase "this activation," which suggests future activations are planned. The mode took 9 years to return between 2016 and 2025, so the cadence isn't predictable.
What champions should I avoid in Doom Bots?
Pure enchanter supports (Soraka, Janna, Sona, Yuumi), low-damage utility champs (Ivern, Renata Glasc, Morgana), and Teemo. The mode rewards damage, sustain, and waveclear. Anything that depends on shielding allies through enemy damage falls behind.
Do mission rewards fix a weak comp?
No. Even with both missions completed, a comp without enough damage will stall against the boss phase. Pick at least two scaling carries (Jinx, Vayne, Smolder) or a heavy bruiser core (Darius, Mordekaiser, Sett) before queueing.
