Hello there!! This guide is designed to make you understand Locke as a champion.
If you have any questions, Feel free to stop by if im streaming and ask. Would love to talk about whatever you need <3
We are gonna go over:

PASSIVE

Silver Stake ➤ Locke's basic attacks deal bonus magic damage on-hit, and that damage scales up the lower the target's current health is. ➤ This is his cleanup tool — when the rest of his kit is on cooldown, Silver Stake is what finishes a target that escaped his combo at low HP. ➤ Auto-attacking marked targets feeds back into his Q resource loop, so don't think of this as "just passive damage" — it's part of the rotation.

Q

Ritual Nails ➤ Locke throws a Soul Nail forward, marking and slowing enemies hit. Stacks up to 3 times. ➤ Attacking a marked enemy consumes the stacks, dealing bonus damage per stack and refunding part of the cooldown/mana for whatever wasn't used. ➤ This is the resource bar of his entire kit — every other ability either spends or benefits from Nail stacks, so unused stacks are wasted damage.

W

Soul Ignition ➤ Locke buffs his own attack speed and movement speed for a short duration while converting his own health loss into a banked "grey health" bar. ➤ Recasting heals him for the banked amount — and this recast works even through hard CC, making it a reliable survivability tool mid-fight rather than just an engage steroid. ➤ Pop this BEFORE committing to a trade, not after taking damage — the earlier it's active, the more value is banked by the time you actually need the heal.

E

Ashen Pursuit ➤ Locke blinks to a target location, dealing AoE magic damage on arrival. His next basic attack becomes an empowered dash that hits everything in its path. ➤ Both the blink and the follow-up dash consume Nail stacks, so this ability is most lethal right after a fully-stacked Q. ➤ Securing a takedown fully resets this ability's cooldown — this is Locke's entire snowball engine. Chain kills off this reset.

R

Purgatory ➤ Locke throws a binding artifact that creates a damage and slow zone, marking any champions caught inside. ➤ Marked targets brought below a health threshold get pulled into the artifact and executed outright. ➤ If a champion is executed, the artifact stays on the ground — picking it up refunds part of Purgatory's cooldown AND permanently increases the execute threshold for the rest of the game. Cash in kills early; this compounds hard the longer the game goes.

The most basic combo that you NEED to be using is:

E1 -> Q + Q + Q -> E2

This is a combo that is really strong into ranged champs. You obviously dont want to be in their range at all times, so when you see a window, or if they use abilities on the wave with a decent cooldown, take the opportunity to engage with this combo. The first dash lets you get in range to hit your Q's which will slow your target down so you can land on him. You wanna be using your W either at first if you need to close a larger gap, or when u jump them so you can use the Movespeed to disengage.

Extra tip: When you hit your last Q, INSTANTLY do E2. Dont waste time after. If you press Q and then dash on the immediatly after, You can catch them by surprise. See what i mean in the clip:

using your E as a versatile tool is the difference between a good Locke and a decent Locke The video below shows how you can try to bait out a long CD spell like fizz E. This creates a window of opportunity since fizz E has longer cooldown than Locke Q and E.

You can use this combo in many different ways so go be creative <3

Your ult is your BIGGEST tool. I hear a lot of people say "YOU NEED TO ENGAGE WITH YOUR ULT" and others saying the opposite. None of them are wrong.

Its a SUPER versatile ability! The thing that makes it balanced is how slow it is to proc. Anyone can Flash out of it, Zhonya's Hourglass, or use any other dash tool in their kit to dodge it. You need to be aware of this. You need to think about how and when you wanna use it.

The example below is me VS Fizz. I know that if i ult fizz, he will E it. If he doesnt have E, he will Flash. I look to all in him and get his E. I flash towards him forcing his flash. I walk back like the fight is over. When he comes close enough i use my ult. He doesnt have E, He doesnt have Flash and he isnt in range to Q anything. The ult is a 99% decaying slow which lets you catch up suuuper easily.

Its all about narrowing their escapeability and striking when the window is there!

Locke is a champion who SHINES in the early to mid game
If i could compare him to 1 other champ, it would be Katarina
Locke is different because you need setup to get kills. You cant just dash on enemies and expect them to die. You wanna stack your Q's and fight.
He is a reactive champion which means you dont wanna be the one to initiate a team fight, but you follow up on your team.

Any champ with an execute or damage based on missing health is SUPER fun IMO. You are the one to get the kills most of the time, which means you will be the carry.
Locke has a super fun playstyle and his mobility makes him SUPER versatile.

what makes Locke different from other assassins??

Most assassins have SUPER front loaded damage - Talon, Evelynn, Ekko.
You have insane burst, but also good DPS due to your passive and e resets.
This can be a curse and a blessing- I used to be a Katarina OTP, and these 2 champs are VERY similar in playstyle. Like with kata, there are multiple ways to play the champ which makes it SO FUN, but also more difficult <3

Spellslinger's Shoes Are insaanely OP on locke because of the way Flat pen works. So pen is stronger the more of it you have, and the less magic resist enemy team has. To explain it in an easily digestable way: if someone has 20 magic resist, that ammounts to 17% reduction. The next 20 ap will give 12% reduction. Because of diminishing returns of magic resist, then the more pen you have, the more value. So if you build Lich Bane -> Spellslinger's Shoes -> Shadowflame you will have 35 magic pen. Locke has 2 items at roughly 20 minutes, and at that time, a normal mage has around 40 magic resist. This means that with Spellslinger's Shoes you will deal ALMOST TRUE DAMAGE.

Shadowflame Is the most essential item on Locke. There is valueble damage and less valueble damage. The damage that gets someone from 100% to 50% health is worth less than damage that gets someone from 50% to 0%. As an assassin with resets on takedown, You need to get takedowns. The best way is to have lots of VALUEBLE DAMAGE. You have a lot of missing health damage in your kit and your runes. Match that with shadowflame and its perfect. Locke's biggest powerspike is after shadowflame.

Zhonya's Hourglass is REALLY strong on Locke. Lets say you go in and hit a 3 man R. You then E in and burst and hourglass. You now have 3 ppl with an execute marker and your team can follow up, one of the guys die and u come out of hourglass with ur dash back up again. In games where enemies have champs like, Malphite, Kennen, Lux, Lillia where Hourglass value is THROUGH THE ROOF, Building it after shadowflame can be wise.

Getting a grasp of which stats are important to Locke is crucial if you want a deep champ knowledge. its gonna help u decide how to play and what items to build

— Electrocute: Electrocute is really OP on locke. Why you ask? - Locke has so much damage when enemies are low - Silver Stake, Shadowflame and ofc Purgatory. Electrocute is strong for early trades, but also as a way to burst and kill. This rune is the best for Locke

— Sudden Impact: Sudden Impact is the highest damage out of Cheap Shot and Taste of Blood

— Grisly Mementos: Grisly Mementos is a great rune for Locke since your aim is to get fed early/mid game. Gives you lots of trinket haste and is great for the late game sweeper

— treasure Hunter: Treasure Hunter Gives you that early game gold you are looking for. Locke's BIGGEST powerspike is Lich Bane + Shadowflame Treasure hunter will help you hit that spike.

— Cut down: is a really strong rune for Locke because of the sheer ammount of damage you have when people are low. Silver Stake, Shadowflame and Purgatory with so much execute power, having cut down for the damage when they are healthy balances his damage out super nicely!