Diving into the world of League of Legends is easy, but you may struggle with ways to improve. You can quickly get stuck in the same loop and not understand the game to its full potential. In LoL, there’s always something new to learn.
The game was launched in 2009. And for years, its players were asking for a replay feature. Well, it’s finally here, LoL fans! So, it’s time to increase your rank and show off your skills.
Overview
In the past, you would’ve had to use external recording software to see or share replays. As for now, League of Legends has made a built-in replay feature for your convenience. And you’ll learn more about replays of League of Legends below.
So, if you’re looking to be a competitive player or want to improve, replays will be your friend. You can watch better players to emulate their skills and techniques.
With the game reaching an astounding total of 115 Million monthly players, it’s very competitive. And replays are making it grow even more in popularity, so that’s all the more reason you have to make use of them.
Replays
For a long time, the replay feature wasn’t available in League of Legends. Finally, it was made possible once the player count started rising steadily. So, the replay function in LoL allows players to download and spectate their games.
Much like in the sports world, a player may go back and look at their games to see how they can advance and get better enough to win the next game. And they learn to grow from their mistakes while revisiting and repeating their successful moves.
League of Legends is a very fast-paced game, and a lot can happen before you even realize the match is over. For instance, maybe champions have taken down your turrets and destroyed your team’s nexus. And you’re wondering what went wrong.
With the possibility of looking back on your game, you can see which champions you went up against in your wins and losses and which weapons you used.
Regardless of the mode you’re playing on, Normal, ARAM, or Solo Queue, replays are available for you. There’s no setup required to see the replays of your matches, as it’s a default. However, it’s only able to save your last 20 replays. So, if you’d like more than that, make sure to save them elsewhere. And that brings us to how to download these replays.
How to Download Replays
To begin with, you need to wait for the match to end before downloading your game replay. There are two ways to find your replays after the game is over.
Firstly, you can find the download button on the upper right of the End of Game screen, next to Advanced Details. Secondly, try clicking on your profile avatar in the top left corner on the main screen. And across the bottom tabs, you’ll find your Match History screen.
However you choose to find your matches, there’ll be a download button next to each match to the right. Then, once it’s downloaded, the button will say “Watch Replay”. And you can launch the video from there.
By default, the replay will be saved to your hard drive to C:\Users\\Documents\LeagueofLegends\Replays as a (.rofl) file. Also, allow it some time to be downloaded. After all, it’s a relatively large file. So, be patient with it, especially if you have a slow internet download speed.
If you’d rather the files be saved somewhere other than among work or school documents, follow these steps:
- Go to your Client
- Click on Settings (found with the gear icon)
- Find the Replays tab
- Choose the new location folder on your computer
Even if you change the location of the replay or highlight file, remember that you’ll still need to play it from the built-in replay function of the game. Also, keep in mind that the chat box and voice communication won’t be included in the replay to uphold some privacy.
If you want to see how your friends are conquering their matches, go to any of your friend’s profiles. And click on their match history to download their replays as well!
Highlights
Once the replay is downloaded, you can search for the section of the match you’d like to highlight. If you don’t want to save the entire game but just a clip of a fight, highlights are for you.
Still, you need to download the entire replay before you can choose a highlight to keep from it. This feature also contains an annotated timeline so that you can see where you slayed the dragon or took down the turret, making it easier to find the move you want to highlight.
If you look to the far left corner of the screen once you’ve downloaded and viewed the replay, there’s a red button you can use to record the highlight you desire. The button will light up red to indicate that you’re recording. And you can click on the red button again to save the highlight once you’re done.
By default, highlights are recorded with 720p to give you a good quality game. But you can change this if you’d like in the settings menu while playing a replay and adjusting quality before recording your highlight.
Moreover, highlights are saved by default on your computer to (C:\MyDocuments\LeagueofLegends\Highlights) as a .webm video file. Note that both replays and highlights aren’t automatically in a file format that you can edit and upload if that’s what you wish to do with them.
In addition, it’s worth noting that replays and highlights are available to watch only until the next patch. So, always make sure to save these files to your computer if you’d like to revisit them through patch phases.
Alternatives to in-Game Replays
We’ll address a couple of ways that you can watch replays of your League of Legends games.
Screen Recording
What other players have done instead of saving replays in this way is using screen recording. Screen-recording applications allow you to record your game in real time, so screen recordings include both chat and voice communication. Once you have the screen recording, you can use video editing software to include and exclude the parts you wish.
Streaming
High-ranking gamers have also taken advantage of streaming apps for their matches, which has become a very popular source of income. If you can be entertaining and are an experienced League of Legends player, it may be the perfect side hustle for you.
What many of these gamers have done is include a webcam and film themselves to get the reaction and commentary of their live matches, making it more interactive. With video editing software, you can even make a compilation of two great games in one video.
These game replays are popular on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch. So, if you’re serious about this, make sure to use a powerful screen recorder with high resolution as well as clear audio. That’s because choosing software that isn’t fit for your device can affect your gameplay experience.
FAQs
How Big Are Replay Files?
Depending on the video quality you choose, a 30-second replay can be anything from 10MB to 18MB. Of course, choosing higher video quality inevitably means a larger file to download.
What Is a ROFL File?
It’s a replay file created by League of Legends. Unfortunately, regular media players can’t play ROFL files, so that’s why you need to go back to the client to watch your replays.
What Is a .Webm File?
It’s an open-sourced video format. Highlights are saved in this format, and you can easily drag the video files into Firefox or Chrome to share with friends. The VLC media player also works well.
Can I Watch Replays on My Phone?
Yes, you can watch your favorite LoL games on your android. Not to mention, you can stream live games and watch replays and highlights. But you need to convert the ROFL file to MP4 in order to transfer the file and watch them.
How Long Do Replays Last?
They last the length of a patch cycle but only the last 20 games. So if you’re playing using patch 7, you’ll only have those games until the 7.1 patch comes out.
Final Thoughts
All in all, replays are important to your improvement and also the League of Legends community. You can use the download button and the built-in replay function of the game to watch replays. Moreover, you can take highlights from the games to share.
Also, screen recording and streaming are considered alternative ways to record these games if you’d like a little more entertainment for your viewers.
