I’ve never waited more than two minutes for a match.
Yeah I left game and came back, get matches quickly. I guess just happens after the tutorial…
Change your passwords!
So glad I created an account :/ Just in time to go back and change my pw from any place reusing the same one.
You shouldn’t be reusing passwords, anyway. Get an app or something.
Well if there’s one thing I learned in almost 10 years of WoW it’s that every time a company says they will never do something? They’ll do that thing as soon as it means a few bucks. Uh, also I learned that after 30+ years in capitalism I guess. Anyway, here’s a bunch of skins Riot promised never to sell again, coming back over the next few months.
Not that I’m complaining, I’m totally buying at least half of these things. Definitely Not Blitzcrank? Totally! Kitty Kat and Red Card Katarina, REGIFTED AMUMU OMG FINALLY YES, Bewitching Nidalee is so good since the remake I’ve only seen her once but sold, Haunting Nocturne even though I have the legendary, Silent Night Sona is the only Sona skin I don’t have so yeah Sona and Nosferatu Vladimir because hey, Vladimir.
Unfortunately, there always has to be a balance in the universe. It’s like when you bring The Slayer back from the dead and a great evil rises at the same time or something. The price we must pay to have all of these amazing skins available once again. A price…maybe too great…
Lollipoppy.
After struggling to understand all the CS-ing and AD-Carrying and farming the baron and skill shotting play by plays my older son has been recounting for months, and seeing him get up very early to watch the World Series, I’m finally about to take the plunge and find out what this League of Legends thing is all about.
No wonder it’s popular as an eSport. After reading some articles and watching tutorial videos, you realise that there is a lot that goes into basic strategies (CSing and who should or shouldn’t finish off minions), gearing up, levelling, choosing the right champion to counter the other team, when to push, where to lane, … Even as you start comprehending some of the basics (I think I know what an AP Carry and AD carry are and do now. Yay me :) ), you realise that, as an adult who doesn’t have countless hours to learn and practice, there is a bit of a steep learning curve ahead of you. Scary stuff.
So far, I’ve only been watching tutorials, reading basic wikis, and running the 2 basic in game tutorials. I haven’t even fought against bots yet. I’m also kinda fighting a choice paralysis: which of the over 100 champions should I try and learn first (I can only buy the cheapest ones with my current IP, mind you)?
I have to say I have a lot of respect for those of you who took the jump and have it all mostly figured out.
I guess the logical first step is a few solo games co-op with AI vs AI to figure out some more basics? Or is that going to teach me bad habits?
Wendelius
Yes, but you should still do it for a game or two, just to get a feel for what actually executing these things you’re reading about is like. The tutorial for League is fairly terrible from my memory.
I got as far as level 20 with my League of Legends summoner. My 14 year old son and I were playing together, mixing bot matches and PvP and I was having the same experience as Wendelius, namely my son had way more time available to invest in it and was far outpacing my skill or level of interest. It seemed to me that once we hit level 20 together the matchmaking took a huge step up and I simply couldn’t keep up. Playing on 5v5 as a pair I was far outclassed and would get a lot of grief that I simply don’t need when I am playing games for fun. The grief wasn’t coming from my son - I have brought him up better than that - but from other members of our team. I quickly realized at that level this is simply not a game for me, I am not interested in investing the time required to learn all the items and runes and traits and champion counters. He has since gone onto level 30 and been placed in a silver league. My summoner occasionally gets pulled out for a 2v5 bot game where he tries out a new build/champion and I play along for fun. I do enjoy watching his games though, it is a very involved game which I have a new appreciation for since I’ve realized it is just too hard for me.
No shortage of additional guide and hint materials both on YouTube and on numerous L.O.L. fansites on web, which include, but aren’t limited to, mobafire.com, lolking.net, etc… Such sites have both beginner’s guides to entire game and to individual champions.
RE: Gearing up for first actual games, suggest one of two approaches:
1.) Given that, long-term, competitive L.O.L. (Summoner’s Rift map) is all about playing one of 5 roles (solo top lane, solo mid lane, bottom lane “carry” [high-damage character who will get many kills], bottom lane support, or jungler), pick 1-2 roles that appeal to you, then pick 1-2 characters that fit said role(s) that appeal to you personally for whatever reason (play mechanics, aesthetic appearance, etc.) and stick with them.
or
2.) Pick one or handful of characters that appeal to you personally and learn about them and which lane role those characters traditionally play, and focus on that/those 1-2 characters. If you find those particular characters’ lane roles turn out to be unappealing, go back to step above.
To play, choose “Custom Game” -> “5v5 vs. Bots” -> “Beginner” for mostly guilt-free, fire-and-forget sessions with 4 human strangers vs. 5 rather dumb bots. (Be aware that in vs. bot matches, quite common to see players go duo-top, solo mid, duo-bottom lane with no jungler.) Jungling and solo mid tend to be more advanced positions and probably not best entry point into game. Bottom-lane support might be easiest point of entry; no emphasis on CS (creep score, act of last-hitting minions to gain gold bonus), no emphasis on getting kills, and less up-front micromanagement means ability to pay attention to larger map happenings and develop map awareness.
One man’s personal suggestions for easiest characters to play in specific lanes (take with however much salt):
- Bottom support - Sona (easiest by far), Soraka, Taric
- Top - Nidalee, Chogath
- Bottom carry - Caitlyn (longest attack range in current game, very safe), Miss Fortune
- Mid - Brand, Lux
In any case, don’t worry too much about stinking it up in beginner bot matches. Many players actually point out they are new to game in chat to make teammates unaware. Also common for advanced players to play beginner bot matches simply to unlock game’s “first match of the day” bonus, so may not be all just newbies. Will be some toxicity and kvetching but [hopefully] not nearly as bad as ranked games. Thankfully, game has “/ignore PLAYERNAME” function for those who mouth off too much.
The bad thing about the AI is it will always target the lowest HP person. This makes it easy to kite and bait them into the range of your teammates. They should give the AI some random-target aspect to emulate how real people play!
I used to play season 1 and left soon after Dominions was released. I came back recently and found ARAM mode. It’s great. Balance is a bit strange because AOE abilities are king but people are much less ragy. People also do dumb things like focus the tank or keep pushing minions when there’s no need.
The biggest learning curve is the opponents I think - it’s hard to make good choices when you don’t know what the opponents are capable of doing, and how often. I like to read the LOL wikia real quick as the game loads so I have some idea of what type of ults and CC to expect.
Pings are going crazy sometimes thought - I have a decent FIOS connection but it keeps spiking to 3-4 bars.
Just a heads up for skin collectors: Limited Edition skins will go on sale over the next several months.
The 34 Limited Edition skins will become available for purchase or gifting for a limited time during the following months:
[ul]
[li]Harrowing 2010 & 2011 skins during October 2013
[/li]> [li]Snowdown Showdown 2009 & 2010 skins during December 2013
[/li]> [li]Winter Games 2010 skins during February 2014
[/li]> [li]World Cup 2010 skins during June 2014
[/li]> [/ul]
You can see the full list of skins here.
Words cannot express how happy I am to see Definitely Not Blitzcrank for sale again.
Thanks SlyFrog, DarrenO, Cold Blooded and wisefool for your replies.
DarrenO, I feel like I’m going to find myself in the same boat as you after a certain point. I just can’t spend my free time watching Twitch and Youtube streams, reading wikis and watching the competitions. My son can (after I’ve checked he has done his homework :) ), and he is already level 30. So, if he plays with me, it will be because he enjoys playing with his old dad. He understand I won’t exactly carry the team. :)
But, like you, the more I read up on LoL and listen him talk about the game, the more I can respect it as a competitive endeavour.
Cold Blooded, that’s an excellent list and set of recommendations. Much appreciated. We’re away this weekend, but I’ll use it when I mess around with the game next week. My initial feeling is that I enjoy support roles or possibly tanky ones. It’s certainly what I tend to play in other online games. I’m not sure I want the responsibility of the mid lane. But we’ll see.
Wisefool, I watched my son play ARAM mode today. Seemed like a fun game. As you said, AOE was king since everybody was often packed so close to each other.
Anyway, if/when I dive in, I’ll report on my progress or my misadventures. Thanks again for the advice.
Wendelius
Wendelius, I stopped playing for the most part around the beginning of Season 3 simply because I couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the metagame that much, but I still was a loyal viewer of the NA and EU LCS this season; if you want to share it with your son, you can always just watch those together when they start back up for season 4. :)
I just want to say, you don’t have to do these things. I probably watch 3-4 streamed matches every six months. The “basics” of the game (last hitting, positioning, warding, etc.) are very easy to get, and it is the practice on execution that makes you better.
You’re not going to be a star, but that’s the case with any game. I’m old, have apparently terrible reflexes and decision making capability, and I’m a Silver player. Yeah, that’s not amazing, but it’s good enough for me.
Karthus win rate, all regions, this month:
My Karthus win rate this month:
omg this champ too heavy can’t lift. Wait, I think I see the problem:
Flash ignite? Are you kidding me? C’mon son, get the f out of here with that shit. You’re not Ahri; this is not how you Karthus. Let’s talk about acceptable summoner spells for Karthus:
Revive teleport: hell yes, revive teleport. This is the stuff right here. Phantoml0rd does it so that means you should, too. Also Pastrami Reuben does it. All of your favorite Karthuses (Karthi?) that have two word summoner names that begin with P are doing it! Plus, revive just got fancy new graphics! You love it! Put some homeguard boots on my man and cackle as you fly back into the fight and drop Qs on 'em to clean up.
Flash teleport: OK, fine, you want some flash. Everyone loves flash. Teleport gets you back in the lane so you don’t miss any farm and flash let’s you engage Reggie style. Still cool!
Flash exhaust: I take this if my support is doing some Annie support flash ignite garbage and we need an exhaust or if someone forgot to ban all of the assassins (you had one job, first picker). It’s the most boring Karthus, but it’s acceptable. Exhaust Zed when he jumps on you in a team fight with his ult then flash into the rest of his team, wall and pop Zhonya’s. Drop some Qs on 'em for as long as you can and ult for the win.
I think my favorite part of Karthus is you kind of stop worrying about matchups. Like with other mids you’re all “well if he picks Fizz I’m kinda screwed” or something like that. But with Karthus, you’re just always screwed. There’s no good matchups. I never once saw an enemy pick a mid and thought “Oh yeah I can counter that with Karthus.” Ha! Typing that actually made me laugh out loud. Oh, me.
Hey, for fun let’s go to champion select and see who the good matchups are for Karthus. omg, this is awesome. Here’s the list: Kha’zix (lolwut), Teemo, Nautilus (Nautilus mid is the new meta in S4 aka the Season of Karthus (Part 4)), Renekton, Jinx, J4, Zac, Sejuani, Brand, Mundo. Hilarious. OK, let’s look at the list of bad matchups…no nevermind, it’s just a list of every champ you’ve ever seen playing mid. So the good news is, once you learn one matchup they’re all equally horrible so you now know all the matchups.
OK, everybody Karthus time!
Despite mobility issues and glass jaw, definitely a powerful character, yes.
In other news, newest champion Jinx apparently set to be “nerfed” (de-powered) on test server. Good news for a character that was absurdly overpowered at launch.
Yeah I get the feeling those changes will take her from ridiculous to just really good. Meanwhile everyone forgot about Corki so if you can stand playing that little jerk it’s like free money.
Time to turn on the Harrowing, frito pls.
Each player can only have 3 regular wards placed at a time. If you place a fourth then the oldest one gets removed. This is regardless of the source of that ward (sightstone, wriggles, regular wards, etc).
Each player can only have 1 pink ward placed at a time. Pink wards no longer have a timer, they last forever or until they are destroyed or you place another one. However, they are no longer invisible. So that’s interesting.
Everyone gets a 7th item slot that is only for trinkets. There are three trinkets, they are all free and you can switch which one you have at the shop as many times as you want.
First trinket places a regular ward, so it’s like a 1 ward sightstone kind of?
Second trinket gives you AoE vision of all units around you (seems like a Quinn E), it also disables enemy wards that are in that area
Third trinket seems to be a mini CV
Huge changes. Long overdue to have free wards for every player at start to encourage warding outside of bot lane.
Uncertain about making vision wards visible. Big, big change. Unsure whether this means baron/dragon will be permanently vision warded on both sides, or permanently high-traffic areas where players repeatedly return to counter-ward/destroy enemy ward. Have to imagine jungle will see more traffic overall as a result of warded river madness.
“Trinket” version of clairvoyance seems to cut even further into relevance of clairvoyance, but doubtful many will care.
Second trinket sounds like temporary vision ward…most likely useful for finding nearby stealthed/brush enemies and destroying normal wards.
Long-term, changes could mean massive nerf for Evelynn and other stealth characters…but mainly Evelynn, considering her “always on” stealth mechanic.