Friedbao | League of Legends Beginner Guide and Help Desk

Friedbao · 06-20-2017, 03:33 PM

League of Legends Help Desk and Information Thread

Preseason Update

Although the new season is right around the corner, everything here should still be up to date which was the point of this guide in the first place. I wanted to make something that applies no matter what season it is or what the meta is or how to play the game.

What is League of Legends?

League of Legends is a free to play MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena) game, which has been out since 2009 but has gained a popular following between 2013 and 2016. If you in this section, you most likely know what League of Legends is and how to play it. However, if you are unfamiliar with the game I link you some guides further down the thread and if you have any questions you should always feel free to ask me.

Why Should I Play League of Legends?

Some of you that have never been in this section or have no idea what it is about might be speculative on this game. Prior to League, most people would have probably never played a MOBA so it is completely new to them and may seem scary or too different. I was once like that as well, until I tried it out. Since League of Legends is completely free, there is no risk to trying it and after you try it out and get into it, you will love it. There are over 100 million monthly players, making League of Legends the biggest PC game in the world (2014)

How Do I Get Started with League of Legends?

Since the game is free to play, there are almost no barriers which prevent you from being a good player and enjoying the game. Hell, you don't even need to have all your body parts intact or good computer equipment because many people with disabilities and poor hardware have been up at the top of the ranks! All you have to do is head to their official website at http://na.leagueoflegends.com/ where you just make an account and download the game. Your username will not be the name which shows up for other players in the game. Instead, upon downloading and signing in you will be prompted to enter your Summoner Name, which is what other players will know you as.

After entering your name you will be asked about your skill level. No matter what, choose Beginner as this will let you play against people that are unskilled such as yourself. What you do afterward is up to you, but I would recommend doing the Basic Training and completing the Tutorial, which will give you a chance to earn Influence Points towards purchasing a new champion. If you prefer to learn on your own, you can go straight into a Bot game, where you and 4 other players will play against League of Legends AIs.

Masteries

Upon leveling up, you may head to the "Masteries" tab and put a point in a new ability, which will benefit you in the next game you play. Make sure to spend all your mastery points and make different mastery pages for different types of champions, if you are confused on what masteries to take I will leave a few links at the bottom to help get you started. Don't forget to add a mastery point every time you level up, as these will help you significantly.

Runes

Once you hit level 20, you will be able to purchase Tier 3 Runes. Runes are special scrolls which help you significantly in the game, but as such are very costly. To complete a full rune page can cost up to 6000-10000 Influence Points. Most people will see that and say "to hell with rules, I would rather buy sweet new champions".

However, this approach will lead you to lose more games and you will have a harder time winning lane and clearing the jungle if you don't buy and equip runes. For example, with no runes, you will have no bonus stats at the beginning of the game and you'll have to rely on your mastery points to help keep you in the game or wait until you can purchase items.

With a full rune page like this, however, you can have all these stats at the beginning of each game forward until the end of your League of Legends career. In my opinion, this is 100 times more valuable than any champion you will want to buy, those champions can wait and if you're lucky they will become free somewhere in the near future.

I recommend starting with one rune page and building it to be completely AD or AP depending on which types of champions you like playing. Now as long as you stick to AD/AP champions you will have a much easier time until you decide you want to play AP/AD instead. At this time is when you should purchase runes for AP/AD and you will be set to play most champions in your champion pool.

There are also some champions which will neither require AP or AD runes, but instead, you would be building tank or support. Most champions are inherently AD or AP as you will see below, but some champions will require a special build which would include anything from health regeneration to critical strike chance.

AD (Attack Damage) Oriented Champions

Aatrox
Ashe
Caitlyn
Corki
Darius
Dr Mundo
Draven
Ezreal
Evelynn
Fiora
Gangplank
Garen
Gnar
Graves
Hecarim
Illaoi
Irelia
Jarvan IV
Jax
Jayce
Jinx
Jhin
Kalista
Kha Zix
Kindred
Kled
Kog Maw
Lee Sin
Lucian
Master Yi
Miss Fortune
Mordekaiser
Nasus
Nocturne
Olaf
Pantheon
Poppy
Quinn
Rammus
Rek Sai
Renekton
Rengar
Riven
Shaco
Shen
Shyvana
Sion
Sivir
Skarner
Talon
Teemo
Tristana
Trundle
Tryndamere
Twitch
Udyr
Urgot
Varus
Vayne
Vi
Volibear
Warwick
Wukong
Xin Zhao
Yasuo
Yorick
Zed

AP (Ability Power) Oriented Champions

Ahri
Akali
Alistar
Amumu
Anivia
Annie
Aurelion Sol
Azir
Bard
Blitzcrank
Brand
Cassiopeia
Cho Gath
Diana
Ekko
Elise
Evelynn
Fiddlesticks
Fizz
Gragas
Heimerdinger
Janna
Karma
Karthus
Kassadin
Katarina
Kayle
Kennen
LeBlanc
Lulu
Lux
Malphite
Maokai
Malzahar
Mordekaiser
Morgana
Nami
Nautilus
Nunu
Orianna
Rumble
Ryze
Sejuani
Singed
Sona
Soraka
Swain
Syndra
Taliyah
Teemo
Twisted Fate
Veigar
Vel Koz
Viktor
Vladimir
Xerath
Zac
Ziggs
Zilean
Zyra

Now that you have that list at your disposal, you will easily know which rune page to take for which type of champion. If a champion is mentioned on both pages, it means that they are a hybrid, a champion who excels in using both AD and AP items or can either build AD or AP. If there is a champion that does not appear on the list, it is because the champion requires a special page, either for support or tank. To find what type of rune pages to make for each champion check out the links I have posted below. Other than that, if you believe there is an error or a champion is in the wrong spot then let me know.

Previous Guides and Useful Resources

Since the League of Legends section was introduced, there have been many useful guides which are now inactive or outdated. However, this is still a lot to learn from the previous stickies and other useful threads which used to be on the forum. If you need in-depth guides on how to play the game from the inside out, definitely check these out. As promised I will also show some very useful offsite resources that may help you in the long term.

Offsite Resources

Champion.gg - Provides League of Legends champion statistics, builds, runes, masteries, skill orders and counters by role - including Win Rate, Ban Rate, Play Rate, etc
http://na.op.gg/ - LoL Stats! Check your Summoner, MMR, Live Spectate and using powerful global League of Legends Statistics!
http://www.solomid.net/ - Community written guides for League of Legends as well as specific champions
http://www.mobafire.com/ - Create, share and discuss strategy builds for the multi-player online battle arena, League of Legends
http://www.probuilds.net/ - An indepth look into what professional League of Legends players are building in Solo Queue.
http://lolalytics.com/ - Daily updated in depth analysis of everything League of Legends.

Common Acronyms and Phrases

After playing the game for a few hours or reading a few hours you may be confused by the many complex words and phrases used by players of the LoL community to save time during chat, callout during flights, and sometimes to even flame the enemy or their own teammates. Many people are already familiar with these terms, but to a beginner player they will be completely ancient. Even if you're a veteran, I'm sure you will find some of these useful. If you have any suggestions, or I left something out let me know immediately.

General and Beginner Acronyms

LoL: League of Legends
AA: Autoattack
AFK: Away From Keyboard
B: Base/Recall (Done by pressing the B key)
BG: Bad Game
BM: Bad Manner
BRB: Be Right Back
CC: Crowd Control
CS: Creep Score (Number of minions farmed)
DC: Disconnect
FB: First Blood
FF: Forfeit
GG: Good Game
GJ: Good job
GLHF: Good Luck Have Fun
INC: Incoming
IP: Influence Points
JG: Jungle
KS: Killsteal
KYS: Kill Yourself (You will hear this often in ranked)
MIA: Missing in Action
OP: Overpowered
RE: Recall

RP: Riot Points
SR: Summoner's Rift
SS: Summoner Spells
TF: Teamfight
UP: Underpowered

Roles and Summoner Spells

ADC: Attack Damage Carry (Marksman)
APC: Ability Power Carry
Bar/br: Barrier
Ex/exh: Exhaust
F: Flash
H: Heal
IG: Ignite
JG: Jungler
TP: Teleport

Items

Abyssal/AS: Abyssal Scepter
Aegis: Aegis of the Leigon
BC/BBC?: Black Cleaver
BF: BF Sword
BORK/BOTRK: Blade of the Ruined King
BT: Bloodthirster
BV: Banshee's Veil
Blue Trinket: Farsight Alternation
BoC: Banner of Command
Boots: Boots of Speed, which may also referr to Boots of Swiftness, Boots of Mobility, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, or Berserker's Greeves.
Cowl: Spectre's Cowl
Dorans: Can referr to doran's ring, shield, or sword.
ER: Essence Reaver
FH: Frozen Heart
FM: Frozen Mallet
GA: Guardian Angel
Ghostblade/Youmuus: Youmuu's Ghostblade
IW: Infinity Edge
LW: Last Whisper
Mobis: Boots of Mobility
Morello/Morello's: Morellonomicon
PD: Phantom Dancer
Pink: Pink Ward
QSS: Quicksilver Sash
Red Trinket: Sweeping Lens
SS: Sightstone
Shiv: Statikk Shiv
Swifties: Boots of Swiftness
TF: Trinity Force
Yellow Trinket: Warding Totem
WOTA: Will of the Ancients
If you don't know what another item is and it is not on this list you can find it by clicking here and using CTRL-F type in the first or second name of the item, or what you heard it as. If you still can't find it post here or PM me.

Champions

AA: Aatrox
GP: Gangplank
J4: Jarvan IV
LB: LeBlanc
MF: Miss Fortune
Nasus: Susan
TF: Twisted Fate
WW: Warwick
Many champions' names are shortened rather than abbreviated (eg: "Lee" for "Lee Sin"), click here to see a list of all champions.

Stats

AD: Attack Damage
AP: Ability Power
AS: Attack Speed
CDR: Cooldown Reduction
Crit: Critical Strike (%)
GP5/: Gold Per 5 Seconds
MR: Magic Resistance
MS: Movement Speed

Advanced Phrases and Terms

Ace: Death of an entire team
Aggro: Being targeted by a minion or a tower
AoE: Area of Effect, abilities that damage every enemy in a certain area
Bait: Bait the enemy team into a trap of multiple teammates
BD: Backdoor, push a lane while the enemy team is distracted
Counter Jungle: Taking the enemy's jungle camp and possibly killing their jungler
DPS: Damage Per Second
DoT: Damage Over Time abilities
Gank: Coming from a different lane or the jungle to attack another enemy in a lane
Invade: An early game strategy which involves going into the enemy's jungle for an early first blood or denying them camps, similar to counter jungle.
RQ: Ragequit
ARAM: All Random All Mid, a special game mode in League of Legends
Active: An ability or item which requires to be pressed before it is activated
Aura: A passive that affects nearby teammates or enemies (eg: Sunfire Cape or Aegis of the Legion)
Babysit: Excessive ganking on a lane, which is usually done by the jungler when their teammate is weaker and needs more help or the enemy is immobile and easy to kill
Camping: When the jungler constantly ganks a certain lane
Blind: CC ability which causes the victim to miss auto attacks
Blind Pick: Game modes where both teams can't see each other's picks and pick all at once
Blink: An instant ability that moves the player in a direction (eg: Flash, Kassadin's ultimate)
Broken: Unbalanced or overpowered
Collapse: To surround an opponent or opponents at different angles so they are not able to escape
Counter Pick: Intentionally picking a champion who performs well against an enemy champion
Face Check: Going into a bush which may have enemy champions in it
Fed: A champion who has a lot of gold and items from minions or by killing many enemy champions
Feeder: A player who is dying many times to the enemy team
Glass Cannon: Building full damage or AP without buying defense items
Throwing: Making many mistakes or underestimating the enemy team, which results in throwing the lead
Snowball: A kill, leading to another kill, leading to another kill, leading to another kill and so on
Hypercarry: A weak early game champion who becomes very strong in the late game and can carry easily
Scaling: Something which improves as game time increases
Kite: Attacking champions while moving out of the way or running from them which causes them to retreat or die if done well
Last Hit: Finishing off a minion or champion and being rewarded the gold
OOM: Out of Mana
Open Mid: Letting the enemy push mid lane to end the game quicker
Peel: Using abilities to defend your carries, usually done by supports and tanks
Proxy Farm: Farming minions between turrets, usually done by the champion Singed
Shutdown: Claiming a bounty of an enemy champion by killing them while they are on a killing spree
Smurf: Someone who is playing on an account lower than their main skill level
Squishy: A champion with low base defense and health

Those are all the acronyms and phrases which I found confusing when I was starting the game and that I still use and see often in chat. Feel free to PM me or post to suggest more, or to remove or alter a definition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I thought League of Legends was free to play, but once I downloaded I noticed that you have to spend real money to unlock characters and skins, doesn't this mean that is it Pay to Win or Freemium?

A: Like with many other games, you have to earn points by playing and unlock champions with in-game currency, which in the case of League of Legends is IP (Influence Points). Spending real money on RP (Riot Points) is completely optional. It may get you ahead if you are a low level and have a good champion, but every champion in the game has a different playstyle and you can adapt to that and win with anyone. When you buy a skin, you are just paying to look good so the game is neither pay-to-win nor freemium.

Q: I want to change my name in game, is there a way to do that and are there any OG or cool names available?

A: You sure can, to change your name you must head to the Store [Image: Az2cla8.png]

scroll all the way to the right and click the person/gear icon [Image: Jspcr2T.png]

at the top right of the store page. Changing your summoner name will cost you either 1300RP or 13900IP. If you'd like to look at upcoming names, check out LoLNameCheck.

Q: I heard there's a way to get free skins and champions without spending IP or RP, is this true?

A: Actually, there are two ways. I'll talk about the easiest method first and I will answer the more complex one in the next question. There's three skins you can get by following Riot on social media:

Riot Girl Tristana - Like on Facebook
Dreadknight Garen - Follow on Twitter

Q: What is Hextech Crafting and how do I get free skins and champions from their system?

A: Upon reaching level 5 you will receive your first hextech chest as well as key. Once you open it you'll receive a skin shard and 800 blue essence, which you can use to unlock the skin you receive. However if you wait for another chest and get 3 key fragments, you will be able to forge them into a key and open another chest. You aren't guaranteed to get a skin but that is how the system is intended to work.

What is champion mastery and how do I get those blue and purple tokens above my head?

A: If you play a certain champion enough times, you will eventually reach mastery 5 with that champion. You will normally get 1000 mastery points per win and around 100 mastery points per loss. At mastery 4, you will get a small token that looks like this. (The first one on the left.)

[Image: yFW7S5J.png]

Pressing CTRL-6 or a custom hotkey while in game will pop the icon over your head. As you progress in mastery, the icons will look different for mastery 5, 6, and 7 as shown above. You can get up to mastery 5 just by playing the champion, but afterwards it is not so simple.

To reach mastery 6, you have to have mastery 5 and earn an S-, S, or S+ during a normal or ranked queue which will give you a mastery 6 token. Once you collect two mastery 6 tokens, you will have to get 500 essence by disenchanting champion shards, which I explained in the previous questions. If you don't have any champion shards then you have to buy Champion Tokens, which cost 1700 IP until you have enough essence.

Now that you have mastery 6 you can get mastery 7, which is a little more difficult. This time, instead of being able to earn a token from getting an S-, S, or S+ you will instead have to either get an S or S+ to earn a mastery 7 token. Also, you must earn three tokens instead of two and spend 600 essence instead of 500. The rest of the process is the same.

Q: I heard there's a way to test out champions and skins before they come out on some weird test server, if this is true then how do I start testing?

A: The Public Beta Environment is a separate server and client which needs to be downloaded to play on League of Legends' test environment. To apply for the PBE, click here and make sure to regularly check your contact email. Once you've got the instructions to set up your PBE account feel free to download the client. However, not everyone will be accepted.

Q: Well gee Friedbao, you seem like a really swell guy. Is there any chance I could add you and we could play together? In fact, is there a way to see who else I can add from our beloved sinister.li?

A: Of course! If you want to add me, send me a PM and we can play if I have time. There used to be many directories of HF members with their League usernames and regions, but most are now inactive. You can try to add the members that posted their names but if there is enough interest I will make a new one.

Help Desk

Since this guide part of this thread was so long, you've probably forgotten that I even mentioned it was a help desk. Don't worry, I'll be taking any questions, and if you don't feel comfortable asking a question you can send me a PM and I'll do my best. However, there are some guidelines I would like you to follow when asking me a question. I hope you all enjoyed the thread and can take something away from the Help Desk. If you have any other questions or think something in the thread needs to be changed, post below or send me a PM. Until then I'll see you in the Help Desk and on the rift!

Things Not to Ask

Anything about getting carried or finding someone to eloboost you.
How to buy accounts, sell accounts, obtain PBE accounts, or cracking and hacking people.
Anything which would somehow break section rules or any other rule on sinister.li.
Scripting. I don't script but if you can't find the information you're looking for sending me a PM.

Things to Ask Me

How to improve your gameplay, level up, gain elo, or any other ways to climb the ladder.
Game strats or help for certain lanes.
Which champions you should play or recommendations based on current champions.
Which runes to buy for your champions and how to set up good mastery pages for them.
Which champion skins, ward skins, summoner icons, and other fashion accessories you should purchase.
Feel free to vent or bring up discussion topics that you'd like input on.
Literally anything else.

Credit to SoulMate

Lokes · 06-26-2017, 10:07 PM

That's quite the guide you made there. I can tell you put a lot of time into that one.
This is going to help new, interested people for sure.

May I ask you, on which region you are playing? Maybe by collecting more people we could do some games together casually \o/.

lildanuy · 07-24-2017, 12:04 AM

Hi what region are you playing on?

Exiled · 07-24-2017, 12:48 AM

A well structured guide indeed! Just put the lists in spoilers.

Jiggly · 07-24-2017, 08:23 AM

(07-24-2017, 12:48 AM)Exiled Wrote: A well structured guide indeed! Just put the lists in spoilers.

I was about to say the same - For the sake of hand-cramp from scrolling xD

Great guide! I haven't played in a while since I found the community a little annoying, but I'd be up for playing with some SL members. Hit us up in discord when you want to play!