How to play League of Legends

League of Legends (LoL) can be a particularly difficult game for newcomers to learn, and there’s always new blood in the game, assuming that you’re reading this article you, dear reader, maybe the new blood. Your friends may have urged you to give the game a shot and join their squad, or you may have been merely curious as to what keeps millions of players around the world hooked every month. Either way, this guide is for you. 

But before we delve into how to play League of Legends, those who don’t really know what League of Legends is must also have their questions answered.

What is LoL?

At its core, League of Legends, a.k.a. LoL, is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Riot Games. And if you’re not acquainted with the MOBA type generally, picture this: two teams of five champions each, battling it out in a virtual arena called the Summoner's Rift. The objective is to destroy the enemy Nexus, a crucial structure at the heart of their base where they spawn.

But that’s not all that there is. Every champion has special abilities and these abilities sometimes have passive abilities, which really diversifies the roster of champions that the game has. There are also summoner spells, runes, and items. Summoner spells are powerful abilities that can turn the tide of battle, while runes and items allow players to customize their champions, adapting to the changing dynamics of the matches.

How to play League of Legends?

To get a good first step in League of Legends, we have to understand the basics and abstract concepts that the game revolves around. Let us preface by saying that it won’t matter how many kills you get or how good your KDA looks if you don’t really understand these concepts. Let’s start with the map.

Map

The map consists of three lanes: top, middle, and bottom. These lanes are connected by a jungle area. Each lane has turrets, inhibitors, finally leading to the enemy team’s Nexus. Anyhow, the jungle is probably the area where you should practice the most caution in, even if it was on your team’s side. One player plays in each lane, except for the bottom lane, in which two teammates play in, and the jungle which isn’t really a lane, more of a big area.

Roles

League of Legends has five different roles in the Summoners Rift mode, they are top lane, jungle, mid lane, AD Carry (Attack Damage Carry), and finally support. Understanding these roles is crucial for team coordination. The responsibilities of each role on a basic level are the following:

• Top laner: Top laners should focus on gaining gold and XP by farming minions. Also, since they’re usually a tank or a fighter, they are the frontliners of the team and their goal is to absorb damage and protect the rest of the team in team fights. They also split-push, which means that they sometimes split from the rest of the team to push other lanes to maximize pressure on the enemy team.
• Jungler: They roam the map, killing monsters in the jungle for gold and XP. They should consider ganking—which means helping—other players in their team while roaming the map and choose the right moments to engage with their opponents. The jungler should also control the jungle objectives around the map, like the dragon, Rift Herald, etc.
• Mid laner: They should also focus on gaining gold and XP, but apart from this basic goal, they also roam to other lanes to assist with kills and objectives. Why? Their strategic location in the middle of the map allows them to be flexible and roam both top and bot lanes to help their teammates occasionally. However, their location comes with a cost, they are the most gank-prone lane in the map, therefore, they should be the most aware players of the map and should focus on placing vision wards in strategic locations.
• ADC (Attack Damage Carry): Since they’re usually a marksman, they should deal consistent damage from a distance during team fights. They should primarily focus on gaining gold and XP in the earlier stages of the game. And finally, they should coordinate with their support to improve the bot synergy and best the opposing team’s bot lane.
• Support: Their primary goal is to protect and assist the ADC during the laning phase. They should also provide vision close to the lane during the early stages of the game, and to most parts of the map during the later stages.

Objectives