# LoL Objectives Guide: Dragons, Voidgrubs, Herald and Baron
> Every epic monster on Summoner's Rift in Season 2026: spawn timers, drake buffs and Dragon Souls, Elder, Voidgrubs, Rift Herald and Baron at 20:00, plus objective priority and bounties. Checked against the wiki and patch notes through 26.21.
- **Game:** League of Legends
- **Category:** Fundamentals
- **Author:** ItzMaze (https://guides-factory.com/authors/itzmaze)
- **Difficulty:** Beginner
- **Reading time:** 21 min
- **Published:** 2026-11-01
- **Updated:** 2026-11-01
- **Tags:** epic-monsters, jungle, macro-strategy, objectives
- **Adapted from:** [Every League of Legends Objective Explained](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PuwF06LWUg)
- **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/lol-objectives-guide
---
## 🎯 The core idea
> In Season 2026 every epic monster is tougher, pays less gold and scales with champion level, while turrets pay more. Drake comes at 5:00, Voidgrubs at 8:00, Rift Herald at 15:00 and Baron at 20:00, and Atakhan is gone. Take objectives when you have lane priority and vision, stack drakes toward a Soul, and turn every buff into turrets instead of kills.
- free costs nothing
- cheap small cost
- setup needs preparation
- grind pays off slowly
- skip the thing to stop doing
## LoL objective timers in 2026
free This League of Legends objectives guide starts with the clock, because every objective decision begins with "what spawns next and who will be there first". These are the current Summoner's Rift timers, checked against the official wiki and patch notes through 26.21:
| Objective | First spawn | Respawn or despawn | What it gives |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rift Scuttler (x2) | 2:55 | 2:30 after both die, one at a time | Gold, XP, Speed Shrine with vision for 90 s |
| Elemental Drake | 5:00 | 5:00 after each kill | Permanent Dragon Slayer stack, Soul on the 4th |
| Voidgrubs (x3) | 8:00 | Once per game, leave at 14:45 | Touch of the Void, Voidmites on turrets |
| Rift Herald | 15:00 | Once per game, leaves at 19:45 | Eye of the Herald to summon her into a turret |
| Baron Nashor | 20:00 | 6:00 after each kill | Hand of Baron for 180 s |
| Elder Dragon | 6:00 after a team's 4th drake | 6:00 after each kill | Aspect of the Dragon for 150 s |
The Voidgrubs, Herald and Baron share the same pit on the top side, so they never overlap: grubs leave at 14:45, Herald arrives at 15:00, leaves at 19:45, and Baron spawns at 20:00. The in-game camp timers (the scoreboard and the objective tracker at the top of the screen) show the next spawn, so these lol objective timers are mostly about planning a minute ahead. Our [ranked climbing guide](/guides/lol-ranked-climb-guide) uses the same table for macro decisions.
## What changed since the video: Atakhan removed, Baron back at 20 minutes
skip The source video for this page was uploaded in November 2025, so it explains 2025 objectives. Three of its claims are out of date in Season 2026:
- **Baron spawn time.** The video says Baron spawns at 25 minutes and "used to" spawn at 20. That was true in 2025, when Atakhan spawned at 20:00 and pushed Baron back. Patch 26.01 removed Atakhan, his Blood Roses and Feats of Strength, and the wiki records the Baron Nashor spawn time going from 25:00 back to 20:00 in the same patch. So the correct answer today is: Baron spawns at 20 minutes.
- **Baron gold.** The video says Baron gives 300 gold to every teammate. Since 26.01 it gives 150 gold to each player on the team plus 100 to the killer. Riot's 26.2 notes say this is on purpose: Barons come earlier but are a bit weaker, so the first Baron push ends fewer games.
- **Turret plates.** The video says the five plates on outer turrets fall off at 14 minutes. In 2026 plates never fall off, and inner and inhibitor turrets have five plates too (see our [Season 2026 changes guide](/guides/lol-season-changes-guide)).
The epic monster buffs of 2026 matter just as much. Every epic monster was rebuilt with champion-style base stats, level-ups and a minimum level, plus much more armor and magic resist. Riot's 26.1 notes say teams take 10–30% longer to kill them, with late elemental drakes up to 35% tougher. Smite and the jungle pet deal true damage, so a jungler soloing an objective is slowed far less than a full team. Most epic monsters also stopped paying players who are only standing nearby, so laners no longer have to walk to the pit for their share.
## Elemental drakes: dragon types and their buffs
setup The first elemental drake spawns at 5:00 in the dragon pit on the bottom side, and the next one 5 minutes after each kill. The first two drakes are random and different. When the second dies, the third drake's element is chosen and the map turns into that Elemental Rift, and from then on only that element spawns. The video explains this correctly.
Each drake gives the killing team a permanent Dragon Slayer stack. Here are the dragon types in LoL and what each stack gives, using the wiki's current numbers (the video names the right stats but not the amounts):
| Drake | Per stack (1 / 2 / 3 / 4) | Rift change after drake 2 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Infernal | 3 / 6 / 9 / 12% AD and AP | Cinders that give ability haste |
| Mountain | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20% armor and magic resist | Rock walls near buffs and dragon pit |
| Ocean | Restore 2 / 4 / 6 / 8% missing health every 5 s | Bigger brush, water puddles |
| Cloud | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20% slow resist and out-of-combat move speed | Wind zones that speed you up |
| Hextech | 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 ability haste and 5 / 10 / 15 / 20% attack speed | Hex-gates for fast rotations |
| Chemtech | 6 / 12 / 18 / 24% tenacity and heal and shield power | Extra Honeyfruit and Scryer's Blooms |
In 2026 drakes give the killer 75 gold and 160–400 XP to nearby allies by level, and teams that are behind on levels get up to double XP from them. This is the core of any lol dragon guide: a single drake is a modest stat buff, so it is only worth a fight if you can take it safely or if it moves you toward Soul.
## Dragon Soul and the Ancient Grudge
grind The first team to four drakes gets the Dragon Soul of the rift's element, a permanent team buff:
| Soul | Effect (wiki, current) |
| --- | --- |
| Infernal | Attacks and abilities cause an explosion for 100 + scaling adaptive damage (3 s cooldown) |
| Mountain | After 5 s without taking damage, gain a 220 + scaling shield |
| Ocean | Damaging enemies heals 150 + scaling and restores mana over 4 s |
| Cloud | 15% move speed, 60% for 6 s after casting your ultimate |
| Hextech | Damage chains lightning for bonus true damage and a slow (8 s cooldown) |
| Chemtech | Below 50% health, 13% more damage and damage reduction |
The graphic in the video (from DPM.LOL, Emerald+, 2025 data) shows teams that took a Soul winning roughly 89–94% of games. We could not re-check those numbers for 2026, but the order of magnitude explains why the fourth drake is worth almost any fight.
What changed in 26.1 is how hard Dragon Soul is to reach. Elemental drakes have an Ancient Grudge: they take 15% less damage from a team for each Dragon Slayer stack it already has, so the third drake takes 30% less and the Soul drake 45% less. Before 2026 it was 7% per stack. Riot says late Soul takes now last about twice as long, because Soul should cost as much time as a Baron. In practice the team on two or three drakes needs real lane priority and vision before starting the next one, while the team with zero drakes can take a "free" one quickly.
The video's tip still holds: give up the first one or two drakes if you can trade them for something better, and value each drake more as a team gets closer to Soul. Its other tip, that a team far ahead may skip its fourth drake to avoid spawning the Elder for the enemy, is a high-level idea; most solo queue games are better served by just taking the Soul.
## Elder Dragon: when the game ends
setup The Elder Dragon replaces elemental drakes once a team has its fourth drake. It spawns 6 minutes after that kill and respawns every 6 minutes, which matches the video. In 2026 it starts at level 13, has about 20% more effective health than in 2025, and gives 150 gold to each player plus 650 XP to the whole team.
Elder gives Aspect of the Dragon to every living teammate for 150 seconds. Your damage burns enemies for 75–225 true damage over 2.25 seconds (based on game time), and hitting an enemy champion below 20% health executes them after half a second. The buff is lost on death.
That is why the video's advice is right: once you have Elder, force a fight or siege right away. The buff is short, the execute ends fights, and waiting gives the enemy time to clear waves and set up. For the losing team the advice is the reverse: if the enemy has Soul, a stolen Elder is often your only route back, so ward the pit early and keep Smite for it.
## Voidgrubs: the first fight on the top side
setup Voidgrubs in LoL spawn once per game at 8:00 in the top-side pit: three small epic monsters that leave for good at 14:45. Every 12 seconds in combat each grub spawns four Voidmites, so long fights in the pit get messy.
Each grub you kill gives your team a stack of Touch of the Void. Your attacks on structures then burn for true damage over 4 seconds: 32, 96 or 128 total at one, two or three stacks for melee champions, half that for ranged. At three stacks you also get Hunger of the Void, which summons an allied Voidmite every 15 seconds while you fight a structure. Patch 26.11 raised the burn to its current values.
The 2026 rules change who should take them:
- Each grub gives 30 gold only to whoever kills it and 65 XP to allies within a large radius. The old 50 global gold is gone.
- Grubs deal 50% more damage to non-champions but less damage overall, so a laner can walk in, kill one grub and go back to lane.
- When one grub dies, the others heal for 30% of their max health plus 30% of their missing health. That is the wiki's reason behind the video's tip to group the grubs together and hit them all with area damage.
Grubs are a turret objective. Take all three when your top and mid laners can follow up by pushing, and skip them when your team has no lane priority on that side.
## Rift Herald in 2026: Eye of the Herald and the charge
setup The Rift Herald in 2026 spawns once at 15:00 in the same top-side pit and leaves at 19:45. She starts at level 9, gives the killer 100 gold and the team 240 XP. Like the video says, she has a glowing eye on her back: champion attacks on it deal 12% of her max health as true damage, and since 26.1 it simply closes for 6 seconds after each hit, which makes her easier to solo. Dodge her charge at the start of the fight.
When she dies she drops the Eye of the Herald at the pit entrance for 20 seconds. One player picks it up (forget it and your team will remind you). Using it summons her as a Mercenary who walks to the nearest lane and headbutts the first structure for 3,000 true damage. You can also ride her (the Rift Herald Rodeo): you charge in a line, knock up and deal 250 true damage to champions hit, and when you crash into a turret you get a shield and five or more Voidmites. Two 2026 details make her stronger than the video shows:
- She switches off a turret's Reinforced Armor, so she can push without minions.
- Since patch 26.6 her charge, spin and attacks also trigger Crystalline Overgrowth on turrets.
The video's advice to drop her in mid is a good default: the mid outer turret opens the most of the map. Drop her on top instead when your top laner is ahead and can keep pushing the plates she leaves behind.
## Baron Nashor and Hand of Baron
setup Baron Nashor spawns at 20:00 and respawns 6 minutes after each kill. He is the strongest epic monster: in 2026 he starts at level 11, shreds your armor and magic resist with every hit (up to 50 of each), and takes 50% less damage from the last unit he attacked for 8 seconds, so the tank should start the fight and the damage dealers should stand where he is not looking.
Killing him gives each player 150 gold, 650 XP to the whole team (none extra for standing nearby, unlike the video's description), and Hand of Baron to every living teammate for 180 seconds:
- 12–48 bonus attack damage and 20–80 ability power, set by the minute Baron dies.
- A recall that takes half as long, and faster movement out of fountain.
- Empowered minions near you: melee and caster minions take 50–70% less damage from champions, and cannon minions get 750 extra range, so they hit turrets from outside turret range (the frame above shows a siege like this).
The video says the first team to kill Baron wins over 82% of games. We could not verify that figure for 2026, and Riot's 26.2 notes say the opposite trend: Barons come earlier and give less gold, so the first Baron push ends fewer games than before. Treat Baron as a big siege tool, not a guaranteed win.
## When to take Baron (and what to do with it)
free When to take Baron comes down to three checks, the same ones in our [jungle guide](/guides/lol-jungle-guide):
1. The enemy jungler is dead or seen far away, so nobody can steal it with Smite (Unleashed Smite hits for 1,000 true damage, Primal Smite 1,400).
2. Side waves are pushing toward the enemy, so they cannot sit in the pit without losing structures.
3. Your team has vision of the pit entrances and the enemy has none.
The classic safe moment, which the video also names, is right after winning a team fight. A "sneaky Baron" while the enemy is alive works only when they have no vision, and in 2026 it takes longer because Baron has more resists.
After you have the buff you do not always need to group. The video's split-push advice is correct and the map above shows it: send empowered waves down two or three lanes at once, so the enemy has to defend several turrets while you only commit five people where needed. Walk with your minions, because their speed matches yours.
## Scuttle crab and objective vision
cheap The Rift Scuttler is not an epic monster, but it decides many early objective fights. Both crabs spawn at 2:55 in 2026 (earlier than the 3:30 of past seasons). After both are dead, only one crab exists at a time, respawning 2:30 later at a random river spot. Killing one gives 55–121 gold and a Speed Shrine for 90 seconds that gives vision of its part of the river and bonus move speed.
The video's advice is right: contest Scuttle when you have lane priority, but don't die for it. A crab next to the dragon pit before the first drake, or next to the top pit before Voidgrubs, is worth more than one in the middle of nowhere. After Baron spawns at 20:00, crabs become Voidborn: killing one releases a wave that reveals the area and drops revealed wards to 1 health, which is useful right before a Baron or Elder fight.
## Turrets, plates and inhibitors as objectives
grind Riot built Season 2026 around turrets: its 26.1 notes say the goal was to move strategy away from epic monster contests and toward pushing turrets. Here is what each structure pays and how it works today:
| Structure | 2026 rule |
| --- | --- |
| Turret plates | Five per outer, inner and inhibitor turret, 120 gold each, never fall off |
| First turret | Bonus 300 gold since 26.01 |
| Reinforced Armor | Turrets take 80% less damage, true damage included, with no enemy minions or Herald nearby |
| Crystalline Overgrowth | A turret left alone grows crystals; your next hit deals bonus true damage |
| Inhibitor | 50 gold to the last hitter; super minions in that lane until it respawns 5 minutes later |
The video's "hitting a turret without a wave feels like hitting a brick wall" is exactly Reinforced Armor, so always siege with minions, a Herald or Voidmites. Its warning about inhibitors is also correct: if you cannot end within the 5 minutes before an inhibitor respawns, taking it only matters if you can keep that lane pushed. To hit the Nexus, you need an inhibitor down and both Nexus turrets destroyed.
## Objective priority in LoL: grubs vs dragon and when to take dragon
free Objective priority in LoL is not a fixed list; it depends on who has lane priority on which side. Use this as a starting order:
| Situation | Priority |
| --- | --- |
| 5:00–8:00, bot lane has priority | First drake |
| 8:00–14:45, top or mid has priority | Voidgrubs, then push with them |
| Voidgrubs vs dragon at the same time | Take the one your strongest lanes are next to and trade the other |
| 15:00–19:45 | Herald if you can drop it within a minute; a drake if your team is closer to Soul |
| Team on 2–3 drakes | Each drake now outweighs Herald or grubs |
| After 20:00 | Baron only after a won fight or a confirmed enemy jungler location |
| Soul point or Elder | Everything else waits; vision and Smite first |
For voidgrubs vs dragon, the cleanest rule is the cross-map trade: if the enemy starts one, start the other, unless you can reach theirs first with more people. When to take dragon in LoL is simple: when bot and mid have pushed their waves and the enemy jungler is shown elsewhere. In 2026 a lone early drake is worth less than a turret's plates, so don't throw a lane for it.
LoL objective bounties are the comeback system to watch. From 14:00, a team that has been clearly behind (mostly in gold) for 60 seconds gets bounties on certain turrets and epic monsters, shown with gold trims on the minimap. The base value is 300 for Baron, 500 for dragons, Elder and Herald, 250 for outer turrets and 400 for inner and Nexus turrets, plus 10% of the gold gap, capped at 1,000. The losing team splits it among all five players. If you are ahead, know which objectives carry a bounty and guard them; if you are behind, those objectives are your best way back.
## How to secure objectives as a team
setup How to secure objectives is mostly about the minute before the spawn, not the fight itself:
- **Push first.** At about 60 seconds before the spawn, the laners closest to the pit shove their waves. A laner who leaves a full wave to help loses minions, plates and role quest progress. Every epic monster takedown or assist is still worth 30 role quest points, so a laner with a pushed wave gains from joining.
- **Ward and sweep.** Place wards on the entrances and use Oracle Lens or a Control Ward in the pit 30–45 seconds before the spawn.
- **Keep Smite.** Junglers should hold one Smite charge before an objective spawns. Pets and Smite deal true damage and ignore the 2026 resist buffs.
- **Use area damage.** As the video's frame shows, area abilities clear grubs and their Voidmites together.
- **Know when to leave.** If the enemy has more people at the pit, take a trade elsewhere. A lost drake is cheaper than a lost fight. Jungle objectives are the jungler's call, but the laners decide whether the call is possible.
## How this guide was fact-checked
- **Official League of Legends Wiki:** Baron Nashor, Hand of Baron, Dragon, Dragon Slayer (all buffs, Dragon Souls, Aspect of the Dragon), Elder Dragon, Voidgrub, Touch of the Void, Hunger of the Void, Rift Herald, Rift Scuttler, Turret, Inhibitor, Objective bounties and Atakhan (spawn times, rewards, buff values and 2026 patch histories).
- **Official patch notes:** 26.1 (Atakhan and Feats removed, Baron 25:00 to 20:00, epic monster resists and level scaling, all reward changes, Dragon Vengeance 15/30/45%, Herald eye cooldown, Scuttle 2:55), 26.2 (Baron gold and first Baron context), 26.6 (Herald triggers Overgrowth), 26.11 (Touch of the Void damage) and 26.13 (Baron Void Corruption fix). We read every patch from 26.2 to 26.21 for objective changes; none after 26.13 changed Summoner's Rift objectives.
- **From the video's own screen:** the Baron pit and empowered minion siege, the drake splash art, the Dragon Soul win-rate graphic (DPM.LOL), the Voidgrub pit, the Eye of the Herald and the Baron split-push map.
- **Corrections to the video:** Baron spawns at 20:00, not 25:00; Baron gives 150 gold per player, not 300, and no extra XP for standing nearby; turret plates no longer fall off at 14 minutes and inner and inhibitor turrets have five plates too; Ocean drake restores missing health in percentages, not a flat amount. The "82% win rate after first Baron" figure could not be verified for 2026. The video does not show Atakhan, but its Baron timer comes from the Atakhan era. The 50-gold Nexus last-hit reward it mentions is not listed on the wiki, so we left it out.
## What this guide doesn't answer
- **Jungle pathing to each objective:** clear routes and first-gank timing are in our [jungle guide](/guides/lol-jungle-guide).
- **Exact epic monster health at every level:** the values change by level and are best read on the wiki pages listed above.
- **Swiftplay and ARAM objectives:** Swiftplay uses different rules (per the 26.1 notes, Baron at 12:00 and no Voidgrubs or Herald), so this page covers Summoner's Rift ranked and normal Draft only.
- **Champion-specific objective tools:** which champions solo Baron or Herald fastest changes every patch, so we left out tier lists.
- **Pro play strategy:** pro teams use objective setups that depend on coordinated voice comms and are beyond solo queue.
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## FAQ
### When does Baron spawn in League of Legends in 2026?
Baron Nashor spawns at 20:00 and respawns 6 minutes after each kill. Patch 26.01 moved him back from 25:00 to 20:00 when Atakhan was removed. Killing him gives each player 150 gold, 650 XP to the team and Hand of Baron for 180 seconds.
### What are the objective timers in LoL?
Both Rift Scuttlers spawn at 2:55, the first elemental drake at 5:00 (then 5 minutes after each kill), Voidgrubs at 8:00 once until 14:45, Rift Herald at 15:00 once until 19:45, and Baron at 20:00 with a 6-minute respawn. Elder Dragon spawns 6 minutes after a team takes its fourth drake.
### Is Atakhan still in League of Legends?
No. Atakhan, his Blood Roses and Feats of Strength were removed in patch 26.01 at the start of Season 2026. That is why Baron spawns at 20:00 again, and why guides from 2025 that plan around Atakhan or a 25:00 Baron are out of date.
### Should I take Voidgrubs or Dragon?
Take the objective your strongest lanes are next to and trade the other one across the map. Grubs help you push turrets (true-damage burn and Voidmites at three stacks), while a single early drake is a small stat buff. Once a team has two or three drakes, each drake moves it toward Dragon Soul and outweighs grubs or Herald.
### How does Dragon Soul work in 2026?
The first team to kill four elemental drakes gets the Dragon Soul of the rift's element, a permanent team buff, and the Elder Dragon starts spawning. Since 26.1, drakes take 15% less damage per drake your team already has, so the Soul drake takes 45% less and takes about twice as long to kill.