LoL Roles Explained: Which Role Should You Main?
Every team in League of Legends has five roles, and each one plays a different game. Picking a main role makes learning much faster, because you can focus on one set of skills and a small champion pool.
Top lane
Top is the longest and most isolated lane. You spend a lot of time 1 versus 1, so knowing your champion's matchups matters a lot.
- Champions: fighters, tanks and some ranged champions who can bully melee opponents.
- Your job: win or hold your lane, put pressure on turrets in the side lane and join big fights, often with Teleport.
- Good for you if: you like dueling and learning a few champions deeply.
Jungle
Junglers don't have a lane. They clear monster camps, show up in lanes to help (ganks) and control the neutral objectives.
- Champions: fighters, tanks and assassins with fast clears or strong ganks.
- Your job: track the enemy jungler, help lanes that can win, secure dragons and Baron.
- Good for you if: you like making decisions for the team and reading the map.
The jungle guide explains clears and ganks step by step.
Mid lane
Mid is the shortest lane, right in the center. From there it's easy to roam to top or bot and to help your jungler.
- Champions: mages and assassins, plus some fighters and marksmen.
- Your job: win lane, push the wave and move to help other lanes or the jungle.
- Good for you if: you like a big impact and quick decisions.
Bot lane (ADC)
The bot laner plays a marksman, a ranged champion who deals steady damage with basic attacks. Marksmen are fragile, but with items they become the team's main damage in the late game.
- Champions: marksmen, sometimes mages.
- Your job: farm well, stay alive and deal damage from behind your team in fights.
- Good for you if: you like mechanics, last hitting and positioning in fights.
Support
Supports share the bot lane with the marksman. They don't need minion gold, so their value comes from vision, protection and starting fights.
- Champions: enchanters who heal and shield, tanks who start fights, and mages who deal damage from range.
- Your job: keep your bot laner safe, place and clear wards, roam to help mid and the jungler.
- Good for you if: you like teamwork, watching the map and making plays for others.
Supports place the most wards. The vision guide covers where they go.
How to choose your main role
- Play a few normal games in each role.
- Notice which one feels the most fun, not only which one you win.
- Pick one main role and one backup role, since you won't always get your first choice in ranked.
- Learn 2 or 3 champions for each, ideally ones that do well in the current tier list.
Filter the tier list by role to see which champions are strong in your role this patch.
FAQ
What is the easiest role in League of Legends?
Many players find support or top easiest at first. Support doesn't need farming, and top lets you focus on one opponent.
What does ADC mean?
ADC stands for attack damage carry. It's the marksman who plays in the bottom lane with a support.
Can I play more than one role?
Yes, and you should have a backup role for ranked. Still, having one main role helps you improve faster.
