So you’ve decided to dip into the world of League of Legends. Good choice! League of Legends is the most popular video game in the world, making its creator, Riot Games, a ton of money. Riot Games made $1.75 billion from League of Legends in 2020, according to a SuperData report.
ActivePlayer reports that League of Legends had over 150 million players in October 2022. Whether it’s your first MOBA or you’ve been playing since 2012, League is constantly evolving and refreshing itself with new characters and new content. It might seem overwhelming at first, but here are a few tips to get you started on the right foot.
Learn the Map
The map is one of the most important aspects of League, and it’s something that every player needs to learn how to use effectively. If you don’t know where things are on the map, you’ll probably get lost in a sea of pixels and be forced to play with someone else who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
The main map is the Summoners Rift, while the game also includes another called Howling Abyss, according to a guide on RiftFeed. The first thing you should learn is where the best places are for farming minions. Of course, this depends on what champions your team has picked.
If your team has a strong mage like Azir or Jhin, minion waves are usually in front of his tower for easy last-hitting practice. The mid lane also has a space above its outer wall, which can be used as an alternative wave clear spot.
Jungle camps tend to have large amounts of farmable monsters that respawn quickly, and the top lane often has two minion waves that die at roughly the same time each wave cycle, again making it easy for solo learners like Darius or Illaoi to farm while still being able to defend against ganks.
Play With One Champion First
Playing with one champion is an excellent way to start. Playing with a single champion can help you get comfortable in the game, allowing you to focus on learning all of their abilities and how they fit into your team composition.
One of the best ways to find out which champions fit your playstyle is by looking at their win rate. There are over 140 champions to choose from. If you’re new to the game, it might be helpful to pick a champion with a high win rate so that you have more chances to win during your early games.
Consider Buying a Smurf Account
Smurf accounts are relatively cheap, ranging from $10 to $50, and allow you to play against opponents at different levels than yourself. Playing against players of higher skill levels gives you more confidence when entering ranked matches later. If you want to hone your skills and get a leg up on the competition, consider buying a smurf account.
If you’re interested in learning new champions or trying out strategies in bot games with friends before committing them to ranked mode, having access to more than one account will help keep things fresh.
Learn How to Deal With Minions
Now that you have the basics under your belt, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of the game, minions. Minions are those little monsters who run around in each lane, attacking anything that moves. There are three types of minions, melee minions, casters, and siege. Every minion has a health bar visible above its head. Once this is depleted, they die and grant gold to whoever killed them.
When you’re playing as a laner in League of Legends, you’ll want to last hit as many minions as possible so they can grant gold to your team.
Minion waves are controlled by two forces: pushing and freezing. Pushing refers to killing certain kinds of minions early so that other lanes advance faster than yours does when it comes time for your next wave and then preventing more damage from being inflicted upon them while they do so.
Freezing means delaying an enemy wave so that it arrives at its destination at the same time as one from another lane. This allows teams with a strong laneside presence, like junglers or support players who roam together regularly without worrying about getting ganked.
Communicate With Your Team
Of course, you’re not going to play League of Legends perfectly every time. There’s no shame in admitting that you need help, and there’s no shame in asking for it, either. The most important thing is keeping cool and communicating with your team.
Before the game starts, talk about what your strategy is going to be and what roles each player should take on. If a teammate isn’t sure how well they’ll perform at a certain role, let them know that it’s okay if they have some trouble with it so long as they just try their best instead of giving up before even trying.
During the match itself, use pings carefully. You can ping an enemy champion by pressing “Q” and clicking on their icon. This will send out an arrow pointing toward their location, so everyone knows where they are at all times without having to verbally announce it or look around themselves constantly while still playing effectively.
If necessary, use pings to tell teammates when one of them has been killed by an enemy champion so they can help fight back against said champion instead of wasting time looking around aimlessly.
Make Progress in Small Steps
You won’t be a pro overnight, but you can make progress in small steps if you follow these tips:
- You need to be patient. League of Legends is a team game, and it’s widespread for teammates to blame each other instead of looking at their own mistakes. It takes months or even years for some players to learn how to play well enough to judge their own performance and that of their teammates properly. Just keep practicing, take note of your mistakes, try not to repeat them, and avoid getting discouraged by others’ mistakes.
- You should play a lot but not all at once. Playing 5 games in one sitting won’t help anyone improve their skills. Instead, it’s best if you schedule yourself into different sessions throughout the week, where you play for an hour or two each time until your skills improve enough that you’re ready for something more challenging.
- Ensure you’re practicing effectively by watching streams from pros who play champions like yours. This will give you insight into what works well in certain situations without personal experience. Twitch is an excellent place to start. With over 54 billion views, League of Legends is the most popular game on Twitch, according to data from TwitchStats.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide will help you learn how to play League of Legends like a pro. Though the path may seem long and arduous, if you take it one step at a time and keep working hard, you will surely reach your goal someday.
