Q: Does a "% chance to fire an empowered attack" roll once per attack or once per combat?

Once per attack. If the effect is written on casts , it rolls once per cast instead. The standard TFT shape is an independent roll per event, and the tooltips say so in as many words: One current effect gives your ranged units "a 30% chance to double attack". Another champion's text reads "each cast has a 10% chance" to produce a bonus pickup. "Each" is the load-bearing word. Every roll is independent. Over a long fight, the result lands near the printed rate. A short fight can streak far above or far below it. Note: there is no hidden per-combat budget. There is no pity timer topping you up after a bad run.

Q: What's the difference between "empower" and "damage amp"?

Damage amp is a stat. Empower is a tooltip flag. Damage amp multiplies all post-mitigation damage from a unit for as long as the buff is up. It scales every attack and ability hit while active. Empower marks a stronger one-shot variant of a specific instance: this attack, this cast, these N strikes. Damage amp is broad and lasts for a time. Empower is narrow and gets consumed. They stack cleanly on the same unit when both apply. An empowered hit landed during a damage-amp window gets the amp multiplier on top of its already-bigger empowered base. Note: the edges section on this mechanic page lists which entities pair the two.

Question 1

Is "empower" a defined keyword in TFT, or just a regular word?

Accepted Answer

Just a regular word. In tooltip text it is a generic verb for "make stronger", not a defined keyword like Burn or Stun.

The community glossaries do not list it as a separate stat or status.
No TFT-namespaced wiki page exists for an "Empower" mechanic.

Riot itself uses the word loosely in trait write-ups. One vertical trait is described as "focused on empowering" the consumables you buy each round. One summon trait's own tooltip opens with "empower their summons in different ways."

When an ability says a unit's next attacks are replaced with something stronger, the empower part is descriptive. The actual rules live in the surrounding numbers: the count, the chance, the damage, the scaling.

Treat the word as a flag: a stronger variant of something the unit already does is coming. Then read the specific tooltip for the contract.

Question 2

Is an empowered attack a one-shot bonus or a persistent buff?

Accepted Answer

Almost always a one-shot bonus. The tooltip almost always prints the count.

The dominant current shape is "for the next N attacks":

One ability empowers the next 5 attacks.
Another empowers the next 3.
Another empowers the next 6.

Once those attacks are spent, the unit goes back to attacking normally.

A duration buff is different. Attack Speed or damage amp ticks for a number of seconds. It covers however many attacks fit inside that window.

Read which one the tooltip gives you:

A count means exactly that many empowered hits, no matter how long they take.
A duration means whatever you can fit in the time.

Note: a percent chance per attack is a third shape again. Each proc is its own one-shot.

Question 3

Does a "% chance to fire an empowered attack" roll once per attack or once per combat?

Accepted Answer

Once per attack. If the effect is written on casts, it rolls once per cast instead.

The standard TFT shape is an independent roll per event, and the tooltips say so in as many words:

One current effect gives your ranged units "a 30% chance to double attack".
Another champion's text reads "each cast has a 10% chance" to produce a bonus pickup.

"Each" is the load-bearing word. Every roll is independent.

Over a long fight, the result lands near the printed rate.
A short fight can streak far above or far below it.

Note: there is no hidden per-combat budget. There is no pity timer topping you up after a bad run.

Question 4

When an ability says the next attacks are "replaced," do the unit's normal attacks still happen?

Accepted Answer

No. "Replaced" is load-bearing, and it is the most common current wording.

Take an ability that grants Attack Speed and says the next few attacks "are replaced with" feathers, javelins, or soldier commands. Those swap in for the ordinary basic attacks. You do not get both. The count is what you get. When it runs out, the normal attack comes back.

Note: watch for the opposite wording too, because it also ships. An ability that says the next attacks "gain Attack Speed and deal bonus magic damage" adds to the normal attack rather than swapping it out. The basic attack still lands and the bonus rides on top. One phrasing is a swap, the other is a top-up. The tooltip verb tells you which.

Question 5

Can two empower sources stack on the same unit?

Accepted Answer

It depends on whether the two sources are the same.

Two distinct sources generally fire independently, because they listen for different triggers. An example is a per-attack empower plus a separate trait or augment that empowers the next cast.

What does NOT stack cleanly is two copies of the same empower source on one unit. TFT treats those as duplicates and usually only counts one.

Combining a per-attack empower with a per-cast empower: expect them to coexist.
Doubling up the exact same buff: expect a single trigger.

Note: when in doubt, the patch notes are the source of truth. Riot has repeatedly added explicit guards when stacked-empower interactions broke balance.

Question 6

Does an active ability's empowered strike count as a "cast" for on-cast items?

Accepted Answer

No. The cast itself triggers on-cast items, not the empowered strikes the cast produces.

Take a spellblade-style item that says "the holder's first attack after each Ability cast deals bonus magic damage". It fires its on-cast hook once, when the ability resolves. The empowered attacks that follow are the ability's payload, not separate casts.

Mana-refund and shield-on-cast items work the same way. One cast event, one on-cast trigger, no matter how many empowered hits the ability spawns.

Note: the empowered attacks are still attacks. On-attack effects do see each one.

Question 7

Do empowers only ever apply to champions?

Accepted Answer

No. That is why the edge list on this page includes traits as well as champions.

One current trait empowers summons rather than the summoner. Each of its members gets a different upgrade applied to the units it spawns:

More Health on one.
More damage on another.
More attacks on a third.

Its higher breakpoint improves every one of those by half again.

A different trait empowers the consumables you buy between rounds, not anything standing on the board. It upgrades them and scales their power up as you go deeper into the trait.

Note: when a tooltip says "empower", check what the object of the sentence actually is. It may not be the unit holding the trait at all.

Question 8

What's the difference between "empower" and "damage amp"?

Accepted Answer

Damage amp is a stat. Empower is a tooltip flag.

Damage amp multiplies all post-mitigation damage from a unit for as long as the buff is up. It scales every attack and ability hit while active.
Empower marks a stronger one-shot variant of a specific instance: this attack, this cast, these N strikes.

Damage amp is broad and lasts for a time. Empower is narrow and gets consumed.

They stack cleanly on the same unit when both apply. An empowered hit landed during a damage-amp window gets the amp multiplier on top of its already-bigger empowered base.

Note: the edges section on this mechanic page lists which entities pair the two.

Empower

Champions that grant or benefit from Empower (8)

Traits that benefit from Empower (2)

Wisps that grant Empower (3)

What enables Empower (3)

Frequently asked questions

Description

Champions that grant or benefit from Empower (8) #

Traits that benefit from Empower (2) #

Wisps that grant Empower (3) #

What enables Empower (3)

Frequently asked questions

Champions that grant or benefit from Empower (8)

Traits that benefit from Empower (2)

Wisps that grant Empower (3)