There’s a lot to learn about League, so we’ll start with the essentials. Explore the guide below to get the rundown on the most popular game mode.
About The Game
League of Legends is a team-based strategy game where two teams of five powerful champions face off to destroy the other’s base. Choose from over 140 champions to make epic plays, secure kills, and take down towers as you battle your way to victory.
Goal
Destroy The Base
The Nexus is the heart of both teams’ bases. Destroy the enemy’s Nexus first to win the game.
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Your Nexus
Your Nexus is where minions spawn. Behind your Nexus is the Fountain, where you can quickly replenish health and mana and access the Shop.
Enemy Nexus
Located in the enemy team’s base, the enemy Nexus is just like yours. Destroying the enemy Nexus wins your team the game.
Structures
Clear The Path
Your team needs to clear at least one lane to get to the enemy Nexus. Blocking your path are defense structures called turrets and inhibitors. Each lane has three turrets and one inhibitor, and each Nexus is guarded by two turrets.
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Turrets
Turrets deal damage to enemy minions and champions, and provide limited vision from the Fog of War for their team. Attack these structures with minions ahead of you to avoid damage and charge ahead.
Inhibitors
Each Inhibitor is protected by a Turret. When destroyed, super minions will spawn in that lane for several minutes. Afterward, the Inhibitor will respawn and Super Minions will stop spawning.
Neutral Monsters
Take on The Jungle
In between the lanes is the jungle, where neutral monsters and jungle plants reside. The two most important monsters are Baron Nashor and the Drakes. Killing these units grants unique buffs for your team and can also turn the tide of the game.
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Baron Nashor
Baron Nashor is the most powerful monster in the jungle. Killing Baron grants the slayer’s team bonus attack damage, ability power, empowered recall, and greatly increases the power of nearby minions.
Drakes
Drakes, or dragons, are powerful monsters that grant unique bonuses depending on the element of the drake your team slays. There are five Elemental Drakes and one Elder Dragon.
Lane Positions
Choose your lane
There are five positions that make up the recommended team comp for the game. Each lane lends itself to certain kinds of champions and roles—try them all or lock in to the lane that calls you.
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Top Lane
Champions in top lane are the tough solo fighters of the team. It’s their job to protect their lane and focus on the enemy team’s most powerful members.
Jungle
Junglers live for the hunt. Stalking between lanes with stealth and skill, they keep a close eye on the most important neutral monsters and pounce the moment an opponent lets their guard down.
Mid Lane
Mid laners are your high burst damage champions who can do it all—solo and as a team. For them, combat is a dangerous dance where they’re always looking for an opportunity to outplay their opponent.
Bot Lane
Bot lane champions are the dynamite of the team. As precious cargo, they need to be protected early on before amassing enough gold and experience to carry the team to victory.
Support
Support champions are team guardians. They help keep teammates alive and primarily focus on setting up kills, protecting their teammate in bot lane until they become stronger.
Powering Up
Champions get stronger by earning experience to level up and gold to buy more powerful items as the game progresses. Staying on top of these two factors is crucial to overpowering the enemy team and destroying their base.
Earn Experience When champions earn a certain amount of experience, they level up and can unlock or strengthen abilities and raise their base stats. Gain experience by killing enemy units and champions, assisting in a kill, and destroying defense structures.
Earn Gold Gold is the in-game currency to buy items for your champion. Earn gold by killing enemy units and champions, assisting in a kill, destroying defense structures, and equipping gold income items.
Shop The Shop is where you can buy and sell items with gold you’ve earned. It can only be accessed while you are at the Fountain.
Abilities, Spells & Items
Champions have five core abilities, two special spells, and up to seven items at a time. Figuring out the optimal ability order, summoner spells, and item build for your champion will help you succeed as a team.
Most champions have a unique kit made up of five abilities: a Passive, three Basics, and an Ultimate. These abilities are mapped to the Q, W, E, and R keys.
Summoner spells are abilities with unique effects that champions can use. They are mapped to the D and F keys. There are many spells, but a few commonly used ones are Flash, Teleport, Smite, and Ignite.
Items enhance your champion’s performance, like granting faster movement, improved damage, and reduced ability cooldowns. Unlike Trinkets, they require gold to purchase.
Rewards
Your choice of a Marksman champion: Tristana, Caitlyn, or Ezreal A 3-day XP boost + Hextech Chest
Your choice of a Fighter champion: Illaoi, Riven, or Garen 1 Hextech Key (comes as 3 fragments to craft)
Your choice of a Mage champion: Brand, Morgana, or Ziggs 1 Hextech Chest
Your choice of a Support champion: Sona, Thresh, or Nami 1 Hextech Key
Your choice of an Assassin champion: Ekko, Fizz, or Talon 1 Hextech Chest
6300 Blue Essence
Waterloo Miss Fortune Skin Shard 500 Orange Essence
Unlock Ghost and Heal summoner spells
Unlock Practice Tool Tutorial Champ (your choice) and Icon 450 Blue Essence
Unlock Normal Summoner’s Rift (Blind Pick) game mode Unlock ARAM game mode 450 Blue Essence
Unlock Barrier and Exhaust summoner spells 450 Blue Essence
Unlock Co-op vs AI game mode Poro Pal Emote 450 Blue Essence
Unlock Clarity and Mark and Dash summoner spells 900 Blue Essence
Unlock Flash and Teleport summoner spells 900 Blue Essence
Unlock 1 Ward Skin Permanent (Random) 900 Blue Essence
Unlock Cleanse, Ignite, and Smite summoner spells 900 Blue Essence
Unlock 1 Rune Page Unlock Normal Summoner’s Rift (Draft) game mode 900 Blue Essence
Starter Champions
Miss FortuneLuxDariusAhriMaster YiGarenSonaTristanaBrandEkko
The Bounty HunterThe Lady of LuminosityThe Hand of NoxusThe Nine-Tailed FoxThe Wuju BladesmanThe Might of DemaciaMaven of the StringsThe Yordle GunnerThe Burning VengeanceThe Boy Who Shattered Time
- Difficulty
- Role
- Suggested Lane
Miss Fortune sinks her enemies with attacks that hit like cannonballs. She can fire off a single shot or unload a barrage of bullets in a teamfight.Lux lights up foes from afar, binding targets in place to line up brilliant attacks. Her burst of spells ends with the blast from her giant laser beam.Darius decimates his enemies with increasing brutality. He slashes through multiple foes at once, then mercilessly executes them one after another.Ahri outfoxes her enemies with dashes and bursts of movement speed. Her entrancing magic draws foes in, leaving them overextended and vulnerable.Master Yi strikes swiftly and relentlessly. He warps into the middle of a fight to slash his target or to nimbly evade an enemy counterattack.Garen strikes down scores of foes by spinning around with his huge sword. He dispenses justice by calling down an almighty blade to execute enemies.Sona performs an enchanting symphony, changing melodies to enhance allies and control enemies. Her sweeping crescendo leaves the enemy team stunned.Tristana’s explosive charges take down towers in record time. She rocket launches in and out of combat, resetting every time she explodes an enemy. Brand incinerates enemies with combustible combos. His scorches burn enemies over time and he ignites inferno-sized flares for deadly damage.Ekko tampers with time to skirmish around foes. He can rewind to a previous location to escape, or hit reverse on the way out to re-engage with a bang.
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