This is a quick reference for someone new to LOL that wants to get up and running quick, making use of the tools available, so you can get the most out of your exploration. If you are experienced, there is no reason to read this, it will be very simplistic. Hopefully this quick reference will help break down the basics to supply you with the tools to become a good player, that is if you find this is the game for you.
It is a 5v5 player MOBA (Multi-Player Online Battle Arena) game with a third-person setting and figting play style. You and the enemy each have a base, called a nexus. It is protected by turrets and minions, with five champions on each side (you will control one). You have to destroy the enemy nexus before they destroy yours.
This is an online game that runs through a client. You will need to create an account, download, and install the client. You will then logon through the client and create a character name.
After you log into the client, I suggest running through the tutorial and then battle training. This will help to understand the overall basic game mechanics and logistics visually as you play through a directed sample section / game. This will include minions, lanes, turrets, nexus, and overall key actions for character control. The rest of the sections below help explain the areas that are not as well structured and explained.
Runes are basically free additional abilities for your character that are applied automatically as you play. You do not have create any but you should make use of them in relation to your character, there are a few default builds created for character classes and play styles already. Browse through what is available so you can decide beforehand which set to select when you start playing a game. Click on the set to view the abilities. Do not worry about trying to understand the entire scope of each added ability, a general overview is fine. Does it provide more damage, protection, healing, etc.. , and then apply it to what you need, this will be enough for you to decide what to select.
If you want to practice a character without the stresses of a team, you can go into the practice area. All will be the same except you will battle one enemy champion bot. This area I suggest only to play a character for the first time, learning their abilities and style of play. This area is not meant to build strategy or real skill, these abilities are built within the team structure or against other people. You gain no experience from playing this area.
If you want to get into a full game and start playing, I suggest you start with Co-Op Vs AI. These areas will pit you and four other randomly chosen people against five enemy bots. This area will help gain overall experience, level up, sharpen your team skills, and help build relatioinships with other players that you can take to advance forward. I would suggest selecting Intro or Beginner until you gain experience with characters, items, and spells, then move into intermediate or PvP.
After you select and [Confirm] the level, you will then click on [Match] to search for a game. When one if found it will prompt you and you can Accept to join. You will then move to a character selection screen. You will not have many champions to start, you will gain these as you gain levels and awards, but here you will choose a character and finalize the rest of your setup for gameplay. Setup refers to assigning runes, summoner skills, and discussing inital positioning as you are choosing your character and assembling the team. Each of these items are explained below.
When your team starts selecting characters, your teammates may start communicating their desired positions and any gameplay in the chat window. They will then choose a character relating to that position. This allows you to choose a complementary character or choose another location. These are not hard and fastened rules, particullary in the beginning level games, but it is something you should become famliar if you want to eventually get into more experienced teamplay.
Terminology | Meaning | Location | Example Characters |
---|---|---|---|
top | Top Lane | Top | Darius, Sion, Gangplank |
mid | Middle Lane | Middle | Xerath, Zed, Katarina |
bot | Bottom Lane | Bottom | ADC & Support Characters |
adc | Attack Damage Carry | Bottom | Xayah, Vayne, Tristana |
supp | Support | Bottom | Janna, Nami, Lulu |
jg | Jungler | Jungle | Warwick, Regar, Kha'Zix |
Once you have figured out who you want to be, select your player, your runes, and your summoner skills. If all looks good, finalize by locking in your selection. You should always lock in last, if you lock in your selection too quick you may not have enough time to finish selecting your skills, or even make a last minute character change for the team. These sections are highlighted and labeled in the picture below.
When you start playing for the first time, you will not be able to change these, they are preselected. Once you gain levels, you will be able to choose the rune set you want to use for the character you selected. These are the combination sets of skills you would have looked at in the previous section.
Select the two Summor Spells you wish to use for the character chosen. Once again, when you start playing you will only have limited access to spells, go with what is selected and experiement once you gain levels. The most common ones are listed below. Heal and Flash for survivability, teleport to move across the map, and smite if you are a jungler. Flash is a quick, short distance, teleport to escape danger and Smite is a high damage, healing item when used against jungle monsters. The other two are self-explanatory. These keys will be your "D" and "F".
The game will load and you will begin at your base. Start by clicking on the shop and choosing your initial items. These will typically consist of a ward, a healing item, and another small specialized piece for your character class. The game will provide recommendations for your character. Just choose these until you are familiar with your requirements and what synergizes with your playstyle. Apply a point an inital ability (Q, W, or E) and move into your designated lane. If you are a jungler, the monsters spawn around 1:30 into the game.
If you are unfortunate enough, you may see the indicators below as you are choosing your character and during the loadout. This means there are bots on your team. They are not like the bots you may be playing against, they are basically useless, believed to be created by 3rd parties to level up and then sell. They will trail behind, waste a lot of time, and end up feeding the other team. There is not much you can do, if you leave, you could be banned. Pick your character accordingly, be sure you can carry more than your own weight, that is if you are still inclined to want to win. One is not bad, two you still have one real person in each lane, if you coordinate properly, but three or more may mean sure defeat if you pick a character that requires any support. The images below display an example of two bots.