Question 1

What exactly is a 'clone' in TFT?

Accepted Answer

A clone is a specific type of pet — a copy of a champion that's already on your board, spawned by an ability, item, or augment. The wiki defines it as "a specific type of pet that is a copy of a champion, copying their star-level upon creation," and adds that "depending on the source, it may also copy their items." Clones are a sub-category of summons: the source champion has to already exist on the field, and only player-placeable units are cloneable — clones spawned from other clones or non-player units don't qualify as valid clone targets themselves.

Question 2

Does a clone inherit the source unit's items?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the source — there is no single rule. Some clone effects are explicit that the clone inherits its creator's items: an ability-based clone in the current set is documented as one whose "clone inherits its creator's items, stats, and current Health, and can cast" the same ability. Other clone sources are equally explicit that the clone gets none — the canonical clone-summoning artifact says "You cannot equip items to the clone." When items are inherited, they're inherited in their current state, so item effects already triggered (like a one-shot magic-immunity proc) won't re-trigger on the clone.

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Question 3

Does a clone count toward trait piece counts?

Accepted Answer

No — this is the most-reversed-by-intuition rule. A clone benefits from active traits (it gets the trait buffs already running on the team), but it does not increment any trait counter. The wiki spells this out for the canonical clone-summoning artifact: "The clone benefits from active traits." That phrasing is deliberate — "benefits from active" is not the same as "counts toward activation." The general TFT rule for pets and summons matches: they receive trait buffs but do not push you up to the next breakpoint. Practical consequence: cloning a 4-of-trait unit doesn't take you to 5.

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Question 4

What stats does the clone actually inherit?

Accepted Answer

Most TFT clone effects spawn the clone at a fraction of the source's max Health, then inherit the rest. Set 17 examples: Zed's Quantum Clone creates "a clone behind the target with reduced max Health and increased Mana cost," and "the clone inherits its creator's items, stats, and current Health, and can cast Quantum Clone"; the Shadow Puppet artifact spawns "a clone that copies the holder's items" with 60% max Health that deals 40% damage; Trickster's Glass summons "a clone with reduced base Health and increased max Mana" that "cannot equip items." The pattern is consistent: reduced HP pool, an item/mana adjustment, otherwise stat-equivalent to the source.

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Question 5

Can the clone cast its own abilities?

Accepted Answer

Yes, when the clone source explicitly grants it. The current ability-based clone in the set is documented as one that "can cast" the same ability the source casts — meaning the clone builds its own mana bar and casts independently, and a clone of a clone-spawning unit can in principle keep recursively cloning. The clone usually has a higher mana cost than the source's first cast, so chained clones cast slower than the original. Item-summoned clones (with no items) and trait/augment-summoned clones still benefit from the source's active traits, but whether they cast comes down to the specific summon source's text.

Question 6

If the source unit dies, does the clone die too?

Accepted Answer

No — clones are independent units once spawned. A clone has its own HP pool, takes damage on its own, and dies on its own when that pool runs out. The source dying does not auto-despawn the clone, and the clone dying does not auto-kill the source. This is why a unit with a "while a clone is alive, gain X" buff retains the buff even if the source unit goes down before any clone does — the buff tracks clone state, not source state. Conversely, an on-death trigger on the source unit does not fire when the clone dies; the trigger is bound to the source's death event, not the clone's.

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Question 7

How long does a clone last on the board?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the clone's source. Some ability-summoned clones in the current set have no documented expiration and persist until killed for the duration of the round. The artifact- and augment-summoned versions in active sets are written without an explicit duration clause, which the community reads as "persists for the round." In every case, the clone is a combat-only unit: at round end it's removed and re-spawned on the next cast/round entry — there is no mechanism for a clone to carry across rounds the way a permanent unit does.

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Question 8

How is a clone different from a regular summon?

Accepted Answer

A clone is a sub-category of summon, with one extra constraint: it has to copy an existing player unit. A regular summon spawns a fresh entity (a turret, a minion, a spirit) that has its own kit and stats independent of any board unit. A clone spawns a duplicate of a unit you already placed — same kit, often inheriting stats and sometimes items. Both are pets, both benefit from active traits, neither counts toward trait piece counts. The wiki tip is explicit about the relationship: "a clone is a specific type of pet that is a copy of a champion." If the spawn isn't tied to copying a player-placed unit, it's a summon but not a clone.

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Clone

Items (2)

Augments (1)

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Frequently asked questions

Description

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Frequently asked questions

Items (2)

Augments (1)

Champions (2)

Traits (2)