How to Play League of Legends: Beginner Guide

The goal of the game

Summoner's Rift is the main map. Each team has a base with a Nexus, protected by turrets and inhibitors along three lanes. The first team to destroy the enemy Nexus wins. Kills feel great, but they only matter when they help you take buildings and objectives.

• Turrets guard each lane and hit hard early in the game. Attack them when enemy champions aren't around.
• Inhibitors sit inside the base. Destroying one makes your side spawn stronger super minions in that lane until it comes back.
• The Nexus is the last building. You can only attack it after the two turrets in front of it fall.

Lanes and the jungle

The map has three lanes: top, middle and bottom. Between them is the jungle, full of neutral monster camps. A river crosses the map from corner to corner and holds the big neutral objectives.

Waves of minions walk down each lane on a timer. They fight enemy minions and turrets, and they're the reason lanes push back and forth.

The five roles

The roles guide helps you find the role that suits you.

Gold, experience and last hitting

You earn gold by landing the final hit on minions (called last hitting or CS), by killing champions, monsters and turrets, and a little over time. Standing near minions when they die also gives experience, which levels up your champion.

• Your champion has a passive and four abilities. Q, W and E are basic abilities, R is your ultimate and unlocks at level 6 for most champions.
• Each level lets you rank up one ability. Most champions max one main ability first.
• Minions are steady income. A good laner earns more gold from minions than from kills.

The last hitting and wave management guide shows how to farm well.

Items and runes

You spend gold in the shop when you go back to base (called recalling). Items give stats like attack damage, ability power, armor or health, and many have special effects. Builds change with each patch, so check the current one: our champion builds show the items and runes that win the most in high ranked games.

Before the game you also choose runes. A rune page has a main path with a keystone, two runes from a second path and a few small stat bonuses. You can save a page for each champion.

• Physical damage is reduced by armor, magic damage by magic resist. Buy the one that counters the enemy's main damage.
• Champions that heal a lot get much weaker against Grievous Wounds items.
• Almost every champion buys boots early on.

Neutral objectives

• Dragons spawn in the bottom half of the river. Each one gives your team a lasting bonus, and the team that takes four gets a powerful Dragon Soul.
• Baron Nashor spawns in the top half later in the game. The team that kills it gets a buff that makes nearby minions much stronger, which helps push and end the game.
• Early objectives on the top side change between seasons. They usually help you take turrets.

Taking an objective right after you win a fight is often worth more than chasing kills.

Tips for your first games

1. Play the tutorial and a few games against bots. They teach the controls without pressure.
2. Pick 2 or 3 easy champions and stick with them for a while.
3. Focus on last hitting. Even 5 CS per minute is a good start.
4. Look at your minimap every few seconds. Most deaths come from enemies you didn't see.
5. Stay with your team in the mid and late game. Fights are won by the side with more players there.
6. Mute players who are rude. Nobody plays well while arguing.

FAQ

Use it in your next game