Description
Buff state where the unit becomes untargetable for the buff's duration. Since patch V12.6 stealth is a pure timed buff — the unit can attack and cast freely without breaking it. Functionally synonymous with Untargetable in current TFT; the keyword survives for historical compatibility.
Frequently asked questions
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What does Stealth actually do in TFT?
Stealth makes the unit briefly untargetable and drops aggro from any enemy currently attacking it: attackers lose their lock and have to pick a new target, and single-target abilities and basic attacks can no longer select the stealthed unit. The wiki describes it as the unit losing aggro "for a short duration," with the unit also visually concealed. Stealth windows in TFT are short — the canonical item trigger is described as "briefly become untargetable" rather than a multi-second invulnerability window.
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Does AoE damage still hit a stealthed unit?
Yes. The wiki is explicit that an invisible unit "is still under effect if hit by area of effects spells" — AoE doesn't need to acquire a target the way a single-target attack does, so it lands on whatever is in the zone. The general LoL untargetability rule confirms the same shape: untargetability blocks unit-targeted, auto-targeted, and direction/location-targeted effects from selecting the unit, but AoE damage that simply covers the unit's hex still applies. Stealth is a target-acquisition shield, not a damage shield.
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Can a stealthed unit still attack and cast abilities?
Yes — this is the modern TFT rule and the most common reversal vs. older intuition. Patch 12.6 explicitly changed the canonical stealth-on-low-HP item so that "Units who are stealthed can now attack and cast abilities," and that's now the default behaviour for stealth windows the item-class grants. So a unit that enters stealth at low HP can keep auto-attacking, keep casting, and keep building mana while enemies temporarily can't select it. Pre-12.6 stealth froze the unit, which is where the older "stealth = pause" misconception comes from.
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How is Stealth different from Untargetable and Invulnerable?
Three different layers. Stealth makes the unit untargetable AND visually hidden, dropping aggro so attackers have to find a new target; many TFT stealth triggers also strip negative effects on entry. Plain Untargetable blocks single-target selection but the unit stays visible and aggro doesn't necessarily reset; AoE still hits. Invulnerable means the unit takes 0 damage from all sources — including AoE and true damage — but can still be targeted and crowd-controlled. A stasis-style effect stacks both untargetable and invulnerable for a short window.
Sources
- Untargetability — League of Legends Wiki ("units in a state where they are no longer valid targets for aura, unit-targeted, auto-targeted, direction-targeted and location-targeted effects") (opens in new tab)
- Invisible (TFT) — League of Legends Wiki (invisibility = aggro drop + concealment, distinct from plain untargetability) (opens in new tab)
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Do damage-over-time effects (burn, persistent zones) keep ticking through Stealth?
Yes. The general rule is that effects already applied to the unit before it became untargetable are not invalidated — "effects that have already been applied, such as buffs or debuffs, are not invalidated by untargetability," with damage-over-time, tethers, and delayed abilities called out by name. Stealth doesn't cleanse a burn that's already ticking, and walking through a persistent damage zone on a hex still applies because the zone is AoE, not a target acquisition. Many TFT stealth-on-trigger items DO shed negative effects on entry as a separate clause — that's a built-in cleanse, not stealth itself.
Sources
- Untargetability — League of Legends Wiki ("effects that have already been applied... are not invalidated by untargetability" — DoT/tethers/delayed effects persist) (opens in new tab)
- Edge of Night (TFT) — League of Legends Wiki ("shed negative effects" is a separate clause from the untargetable window) (opens in new tab)
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What happens to enemies attacking a unit when it enters Stealth?
Their lock breaks. The wiki describes invisibility as the unit losing "aggro of attacking enemies for a short duration" — so the enemy's current target command on this unit is interrupted, and the enemy has to acquire a new valid target in range. The general untargetability rule confirms the same shape: "the act of becoming untargetable will interrupt any effects that have already acquired the unit as a target," and most incoming targeted projectiles are destroyed. Practical consequence: a brief stealth on the carry mid-fight forces the enemy frontline to retarget — that's the whole defensive value.
Sources
- Invisible (TFT) — League of Legends Wiki ("loses aggro of attacking enemies for a short duration") (opens in new tab)
- Untargetability — League of Legends Wiki ("the act of becoming untargetable will interrupt any effects that have already acquired the unit as a target" + targeted projectiles destroyed) (opens in new tab)
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Does Stealth block crowd control like a CC-immune buff?
Indirectly, only for the duration of the window. While stealthed the unit isn't a valid target for new single-target CC, so a stun cast on it during the window won't land. But stealth is not a CC-Immune buff: CC that was already on the unit before stealth applied keeps ticking unless the trigger has a separate "shed negative effects" clause, and AoE-applied CC (a slow zone covering the hex, an area stun) can still tag the unit because AoE doesn't require target acquisition. Treat stealth as "can't be picked" rather than "can't be CC'd."
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Why do enemies sometimes still walk straight to a stealthed unit?
Because aggro-drop only forces a re-pick — it doesn't change the underlying targeting rules. TFT units pick the closest valid target in range; if the stealthed unit is the only one nearby, or still the closest after the lock breaks, enemies will reacquire it the moment the window ends (or a new attacker arrives). The wiki's "loses aggro of attacking enemies for a short duration" is the exact scope: aggro drops from current attackers, but new attackers entering range or the same attackers re-evaluating after the window will still pick the closest valid unit. Stealth buys time, not invisibility from the AI.
Sources
- Invisible (TFT) — League of Legends Wiki ("loses aggro of attacking enemies for a short duration" — scope is current attackers, not permanent invisibility) (opens in new tab)
- Untargetability — League of Legends Wiki (untargetability ends when the duration does; targeting resumes normally afterward) (opens in new tab)