The Joker — Patch 1.62 Verdict
[Default: B]
The Joker — Marksman Guide
The Joker is not the dragon-lane marksman who sits back and auto-attacks towers. He is a self-sufficient, mobility-first carry built around punishing overextensions, a hero whose whole kit says come at me and regret it. You bait a dive, pop W to nullify their physical burst, reposition with the movement-speed bonus, and kite them to death under the slow from your passive or your ultimate. What makes him genuinely terrifying in the right hands is the combination of an untargetability window on R and a full slow-cleanse plus physical-damage immunity on W, tools most assassins and divers simply have no answer for once you've itemized correctly.
This patch he sits at A tier, an honest read of his position: better than most of the marksman pool against the dive-heavy comps that dominate the Thai server right now, but held back by a slightly telegraphed Q and a passive that needs you to actually escape combat before it loads, so you can't just face-check and expect it ready. He rewards players who read fights before they start, not players who react mid-chaos. Diamond-and-above players comfortable with positioning discipline, pre-fight passive management, and knowing exactly when to press W will find him one of the most consistent A-tier carries in the meta.
Strengths
- +The W's physical damage immunity makes The Joker uniquely resilient against the dive-heavy assassin meta currently dominating the Thai server, effectively turning one-shot attempts into wasted cooldowns.
- +The double 90% slow, accessible through both the passive auto and the R ultimate, gives The Joker chase-and-kite tools that most marksmen simply do not have, making escapes and kills equally easy to execute.
- +Untargetability during R means The Joker can safely engage on objectives or cut through choke-point teamfights without eating point-and-click CC that would delete a conventional carry.
- +The Q's non-stopping projectile gives surprising wave-clear and poke range for a marksman in the dragon lane, allowing him to bully melee supports and short-range junglers who try to invade his space.
Weaknesses
- −The passive's requirement to disengage from combat before arming makes it nearly useless in sustained, continuous skirmishes, you cannot rely on it if fights start and snowball immediately.
- −W's two-second window is easy to bait by patient enemies who hold a second CC or burst ability until the immunity expires, punishing Joker players who activate it too early or in the wrong order.
- −Q is one of the more readable skillshots in the marksman pool, experienced opponents at Diamond+ will consistently side-step it in open terrain, lowering his effective damage output significantly in lateral fights.
- −Without Hermes' Select completed, The Joker's foot speed is average and he struggles to create the physical separation needed to arm his passive, making the early-to-mid transition his most vulnerable window.
Abilities
PEnhanced Bullets
After leaving combat for a duration, The Joker draws special ammunition. His next auto attack gains increased range and deals physical damage, while slowing the target by 90% for 1.5 seconds.
1Horror Gift Pack
The Joker fires a rocket barrage at enemies in a line, dealing physical damage. The rocket pierces through targets and damage decreases by 10% for each hit on a target (max 40% reduction).
2Deceptive Magic
The Joker removes all slow effects on himself and gains increased movement speed. He blocks all physical damage for 2 seconds.
RLethal Laughing Gas
The Joker leaps into an area and deploys a poison gas bomb, then leaps back out, dealing physical damage and stunning enemies for a brief duration. Afterwards, it slows targets by 90% for 1.5 seconds. The Joker cannot be targeted during this ability.
How to Use The Joker's Kit
The passive only arms itself after you disengage from combat for a set duration, which means you must actively create space, step out of vision, back off the wave, or use W's movement speed to manufacture the window. The 90% slow on the next auto is devastating for sticking to or peeling targets, but the most common mistake is burning it on a minion or wasting it on a target who's already dead; train yourself to hold it for the highest-threat enemy or for securing a kill on a fleeing carry. The extended range on the empowered auto also means you can proc it outside normal AA distance, use this to snipe retreating targets from fog of war.
The rocket travels in a line and does not stop on first hit, so the correct use at range is to angle it so it passes through multiple targets, the damage reduction per hit (up to 40%) is a ceiling, not a punishment for smart lineups. In single-target duels, however, fire Q into your combo rather than as an opener, since a slow or stun from R gives you the setup to land a direct hit without the target dodging. One underrated use: zone an enemy off a dragon or tower objective by firing Q through the objective itself, since the projectile clips through structures.
Two seconds of full physical-damage immunity is the core of The Joker's survivability identity, and the slow-cleanse at activation is what separates good Joker players from average ones, you should almost never use W preemptively; instead, let the enemy commit their CC or burst, eat the slow, then W to cleanse and gain the movement speed to reposition. The critical mistake is panic-pressing W the moment you see an assassin jump on you, before their heavy damage actually hits; wait for the animation of their skill to connect, then W. Cooldown management is everything: if W is on cooldown, you are effectively a squishy conventional marksman with no escape, so back off or stay at extreme range.
The untargetability window during R is not just a damage tool, it is a dodge. Use it to avoid a Natalya ultimate, a Volkath dive landing, or any point-and-click CC that is already mid-animation. The stun on landing is brief, so chain it immediately into a passive-empowered auto or a Q to capitalize on the 90% movement speed slow that follows. A key discipline note: R does not displace The Joker very far, so do not use it as your sole escape when you are surrounded, reserve W for that scenario and use R offensively when you already have the movement advantage.
Skill Order
Priority: R > Q > W| Skill | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Horror Gift Pack | 1 | · | 3 | · | 5 | · | 7 | · | 9 | · | · | · | · | · | · |
2Deceptive Magic | · | 2 | · | 4 | · | · | · | 8 | · | 10 | · | 12 | · | · | · |
RLethal Laughing Gas | · | · | · | · | · | 6 | · | · | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | 15 |
Loadout
Onslaught
Assassinate
Dragon's ClawStandard Build
1
2
3
4
5
6Core Combos
Standard Kill Combo
P1ROpen with the passive-empowered slow auto to anchor the target, then Q while they are slowed for an easy hit, and finish with R for the stun and second 90% slow to execute or secure the kill.
Anti-Dive Counter
2PR1Let the diving assassin commit their CC, immediately cleanse with W for the immunity window and speed boost, step back to arm the passive with the distance gained, then re-engage with empowered auto into R for the full kill pattern.
Flicker Escape/Re-engage
RP1Use R's untargetability to dodge the most dangerous incoming ability, Flicker to extend your exit distance during the R animation, then flip aggressive with the passive auto and Q if the target is below half health.
Objective Secure
R1PDive onto a low-health dragon or lord with R to avoid tank peel abilities, Q through the objective and nearby enemies, then close with passive auto, use this when the enemy team is contesting at half health and you need one clean window.
Gameplan
The Joker's first meaningful spike is Broken Spear: the armor penetration immediately makes his empowered passive auto threaten squishies in the early-mid transition. His real power window opens with Hermes' Select online, when the movement speed finally gives him the footwork to reliably arm the passive and kite in extended trades. The Broken Spear plus Fenrir's Tooth two-item spike is when you should force Dragon fights and skirmishes. Death Sickle in slot five is his survivability anchor for late teamfights, and without it he stays glass. Avoid forced fights between first and second items; statistically that is his most punishing phase.
Early Game
Levels 1–6- →Focus on last-hitting under tower and poking the enemy laner with Q through minion lines rather than trading autos — your pre-item damage in auto exchanges does not justify the risk before Broken Spear.
- →Manage your passive proactively: when your support rotates to the river or there is a natural trade lull, step back to arm it so you have the slow ready if the enemy jungler invades.
- →Ward the dragon side bush at level one and ping your support to stay between you and the river — The Joker has no hard escape before W is leveled and the early dive is his most common cause of first blood.
Mid Game
Post Broken Spear- →Rotate to dragon immediately after completing Hermes' Select — your double-slow kit makes you the best dragon-fight carry in the game at this item stage and you should be forcing this objective every cycle.
- →In lane, start walking toward the enemy tower when pushing waves to bait their jungler into a gank; the moment they appear, W the incoming slow, passive-auto the jungler, and turn the gank into a kill.
- →Ping your team off solo tower pushes — The Joker needs his team nearby to peel for him while he deals damage; his kit is reactive, not proactive, and he dies alone in side lanes if caught.
Late Game
Teamfight phase- →Position at max Q range at the start of every teamfight and fire Q through the backline to cluster, then identify the one carry you need to kill and open with the passive auto to root them in place for R.
- →Save W exclusively for the enemy team's primary burst source — in late-game fights where two assassins exist, accept that one will hit you and use W to block the one who will actually kill you, not the first one to arrive.
- →With Death Sickle completed, you become a legitimate front-to-back fighter; do not play passive and cede positioning — pressure forward, use R's untargetability to ignore dives, and trust the sickle shield to bridge the gap.
Matchups
The Joker is a strong first-pick when you can see the enemy building physical-heavy dive: Nakroth, Quillen, Murad drafts are exactly what his W was designed to punish. But never blind-pick him into an unknown draft, because Keera, Murad, and Butterfly hard-counter his core defensive identity. The correct strategy is to pair him with a hook or root support like Grakk or Arum, who patch over his passive's arming requirement by externally holding targets. In bad matchups against magical assassins, your only real recourse is defensive itemization, and even then, play respectfully and scale rather than skirmish early.
The Joker gets countered by
KeeraHer dragon form's sustained magical damage bypasses W's physical immunity entirely, and her blink-repositioning makes her nearly impossible to slow-kite, exposing The Joker's lack of magic-damage defense.
MuradMurad's ultimate removes The Joker from the map into a pocket dimension, completely bypassing W and preventing R from being used reactively, while his high physical burst before W activates can still connect in the brief gap.
ButterflyButterfly's damage is split between physical and true damage, meaning W only blocks a portion of her burst, and her ultimate's evasion mirrors The Joker's own survivability tools, she consistently out-duels him in extended trades.
VolkathVolkath's sustained attack speed shred and ability to burn down The Joker with a combination of physical and mixed damage over a short dive window will drain W's duration before The Joker can create escape distance.
The Joker synergizes with
ArumArum's long-duration root from her passive-enhanced grip sets up The Joker's Q perfectly and gives him the body-block protection he needs to arm his passive during lane fights.
GrakkGrakk's hook-into-devour combo holds a single target completely still, giving The Joker a free empowered passive auto plus a point-blank R for a near-guaranteed kill on any pulled enemy.
Wonder WomanWonder Woman's R creates an arena that traps enemies inside range, turning The Joker's double-90%-slow kit into an inescapable execution chamber, enemies cannot walk out of the passive auto or the R slow.
AnnetteAnnette's knock-up chains directly into The Joker's Q and passive auto without any reaction window for the opponent, and her global ultimate can peel dives off The Joker from anywhere on the map.
Pro Tips
- →Against enemies who know your W window, deliberately let yourself get hit by their opener without pressing W, they will often hold their follow-up expecting the immunity, giving you a free W block on the second, deadlier hit.
- →The Q projectile does not stop on terrain, but it does travel in a fixed straight line, aim it at slight angles toward dragon or lord pit entrances so it passes through grouped enemies without telegraphing a direct line to the carry.
- →In the moment R's animation begins, The Joker is technically untargetable, use this frame to cancel incoming point-and-click ultimates like Natalya's R or Lauriel's R if you time the activation to match their cast animation.
- →Arm your passive during the fountain recall walk; if you cancel the recall early, the passive remains armed for several seconds, giving you a fully loaded empowered auto immediately as you reach lane, opponents rarely expect this at full health.
The Joker is the definitive carry for Diamond-and-above players who want to beat dive-heavy comps without relying on team coordination for peel. His ceiling is gated entirely by one discipline: W timing. Everything else, the passive slow, the Q poke, the R untargetability, is intuitive, but a mistimed W turns him from an unkillable nightmare into a paper marksman in under two seconds. Master the W window against every assassin archetype, build Hermes' Select without exception, and he rewards you with one of the most satisfying and reliable A-tier performances in the meta.
The Joker — Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Joker good in the current ROV patch?+
Yes. The Joker is A tier in the current Thai-server meta, where physical-dive comps are prevalent and his W immunity is at its highest value. He is not an S-tier must-ban carry, but in the right draft he consistently outperforms most other dragon-lane marksmen thanks to his unique survivability tools and double-slow kit.
What is the best build for The Joker?+
Recommended core is Broken Spear into Hermes' Select, then Fenrir's Tooth, Omni Arms, Death Sickle, and Muramasa. Broken Spear into Hermes' Select is the mandatory two-item sequence, do not deviate, since the movement speed from Hermes' is critical to arming your passive reliably. Death Sickle is non-negotiable in slot five for survivability once you reach late teamfights.
How do you counter The Joker?+
The most reliable counter is magic-damage assassins like Keera or heroes whose damage bypasses physical immunity, since W only blocks physical and does nothing against magic burst. Patience-based physical assassins can also bait W by hitting him with a low-damage opener, waiting two seconds for the immunity to expire, then firing the real burst; that is the fundamental mechanical counter to his W timing.
Is The Joker hard to play / good for beginners?+
Medium, and honest. His buttons aren't demanding, but the passive management, W timing discipline, and positional awareness to arm the passive before fights need experience beginners usually lack. New players frequently press W too early or burn the passive on minions, leaving themselves toolless at the critical moment. Diamond-level players with strong positioning fundamentals pick him up quickly.