10 Things You Should Know About League of Legends

League of Legends is one of the biggest MOBA (Multi-player Online Battle Arena) games around. No real surprise – it is amazing!

Super interesting article out there from the cool people at Escapist Magazine: that 89% of all MOBA players play League of Legends. Yeah you read it correct…89%!

We thought we’d give any newbies out there a little recap on the good, the bad and the ugly, that is League of Legends!  So here are ten things you need to know about:

1. Fields of Justice

A mystical land disputes are settled in ‘fields of justice‘

• Summoners Rift
• Twisted Treeline
• Crystal Scar
• Howling Abyss

2. Summoners And Champions

Summoners call forth a champion; the champions leads mindless minions(novice summoners) to battle their opponents and crush the opposition nexus. Champions have a unique set of skills. Different champions have different role from attack defence and skills.

3. Teamplay

Teamplay is key to League of Legends so you need to know your role. You are only as strong as your weakest member (just ask Man Utd fans!) and everyone, and we mean everyone, has a role to play.

• Ganker (Assassin)
• Fighter
• Pusher
• Carry
• Mage
• Support
• Tank
• Marksman

4. It’s about Points.

Influence Points: Is awarded to a summoner after the game. Kinda limited as it is maxed out at 30.
Experience points: The received Experience points are calculated at the end of each game; wins are worth more than losses and the longer the game lasts, the more XP you gain.

Every second that you are not getting gold and experience, you lower your chances of winning

5. Lanes

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Different lanes, different lengths, different challenges.

• Bottom Lane: More support here…you share experience points but your farm and farm and farm.
• Middle Lane: The shortest lane so pacing is fast. Mid laners are at a higher level. Be warned that you are on your own here and so ganking is key.
• Top: Champions will be up here for a very long time so you need to trade blows and fend off enemies until your team mates arrive.

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6. Phases of play

• Pre-game: Drawing first blood, recconaisance and getting to your lane as soon as possible.
• Laning phase: Get to your lane and put your strategy into practice. Either defenisvely or offensively you need to farm as the battle has not yet begun. Remember when did noah build the ark? Before the rain; so you need to be ready

• Ganking phase:  Double up man!! Find a team mate and so two of you start picking the enemies off one by one. Find yourself lost and alone and your problems havent even started yet.
• Teamfighting phase – Remember, if you are in 5v5 mode and two of your team are busy elsewhere in the lanes thinking they are in the ganking phase then three team mates are somewhere else. And they are taking a beating!!! Listen to your chat and keep an eye on the maps.

7. You need a map!

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Controlling the map is an important aspect of LOL; have control of the map and the tactical advantage of seeing your enemies are could be the difference between winning and losing. Champions with cross map capabilities are

• Soraka
• Ashe
• Ezreal

Knowing where the players are is one thing; knowing where your traps are is another. Never, never underestimate the map.

Never, never underestimate the map.

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8.  Objectives

You win by destroying the enemies’ Nexus, so everything else is secondary to that.

There are 11 towers on each side in SR, that’s a total of 8250g worth of towers to destroy, that’s 1650g per team member.

Killing the dragon awards 975 g

9. Keys and commands.

• Number keys 1-6 (Above QWER) – Use item(s) in slots 1 to 6. the items come in this format in your inventory.
• Number key 7 or B – Blue pill, recall to base.
• QWER – Your four skills. Hotkeys are useful, aren’t they?
• Control + Q/W/E/R – Add a skill point to that skill.
• Alt + Q/W/E/R – Smart-cast the skill.
• D and F – Summoner spell 1 and 2 respectively.
• Y – Toggles a lock of the camera onto your champion.
• S/H – Stop/Hold respectively.
• M – Larger minimap.
• Z – Shows past chat (As long as it’s held down.)
• C – Character stats, lore, etc…
• A/X – Toggles attack cursor.
• L – Toggles health bars
• Shift + L – Toggles champion health bars.
• G – Toggles ping cursor.Alt + Left click – Pings at the cursor location. Can be used on the minimap.
• Spacebar – Centers camera on a champion. Centers until let go.
• P – Shop menu.
• F12 – Screenshot.
• F2-F5 – Centers on allied heroes.

10. Learning curve

This is only a short list. If any game out there needs your attention and focus it is LOL. This is gaming with a difference. This is gaming with brains. The real guys duke it out in competitions for a lot of money. And check out the meta game; this is what the pros do and their skills, their strategy eventually filters down the way to use regular users, either way, strap yourselves in…League of legends is a game apart.

Check out the current offers for League of Legends on the PlayerAuctions marketplace.