League of Legends

[AnticorRifling]

Don't be part of the douchebags that have "qt" at the end of their name(s), don't do it.

[Originate]

I moved from LOL to Dota2, I recommend Dota to anyone who likes League. Dota's graphics are way better, and gameplay is fairly similar.

[Drew]

Eww DOTA's graphics are so dark and terrible, I don't understand how people can say it has better graphics. I like league's art style so much better. I also dislike how DOTA is balanced, I think hyper-carries are stupid.

[Alfster]

I basically only play ARAM these days - try to sneak in some time when the kiddo's occupied

[Nilandia]

Quick League Newb Tips! Know that I wouldn't have typed all of this out for most people, but I've benefited in GS from a lot of Nilandia's work, so I hope to return the favor!

1. Fastest way to 30 is playing against AI. Fastest way to competence is playing against other players. Mix the two when you're beginning to get a feel for how to play the champs and how you're progressing. This step is also necessary to develop the thick skin necessary to survive in solo queue. You're going to get flamed at when you're beginning. Don't let it bother you too much, but don't entirely ignore it either. It can be a powerful motivator for some to get better.

2. Don't spend your precious beginning IP on champs! Use the free champion rotation and learn a variety of champions and roles. This is important because later on if you're an AD main and you see a Garen coming at you, if you've played as him before you know the kind of pain he can dish out and how to avoid it. Also you develop different skills quicker playing certain roles (Map awareness as jungler/support, last hitting as ADC, roaming as Mid, etc ...).

3. Save your IP until you're level 20 and can buy Tier 3 runes (GS equivalent of 4x equipment). DEFINITELY don't waste your IP on tier 2 runes. There can be a case made for Tier 1, but it's really not much of a boost and they'll just be abandoned in the long run. Ignore the mithril/ora/imflass. Go for the vultite!

4. Be cognizant of what's going on around you. Idolize people who consistently play better than you (friends, pros (twitch.tv is a good site for watching pros play)) and try to emulate the good parts of their play style. Recognize when you're getting beat and why they're beating you. This is the real reason we're supposed to play normals against other players, but it usually gets lost in the desire to win or not lose.

5. Probably the most important tip I can give a new player is play with your friends whenever you can. Internet strangers can be mean and scare the newer players away. You're at our age, so I'm fairly certain you don't have aspirations to be a pro player. There's no need to train by yourself in secret and emerge from your solo-queued training chamber like a Super Saiyan. You're going to have the most fun playing with people you know.

There are 5 I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to add Ablatio in game if you want to play some AI!
Thanks for the tips! I hit level 10 last night and I've been having fun thus far. I'll admit I've been playing beginner bots, but it's mostly a function of how I learn. I start with the basics, get that solid, and then build on top of that. The bots are more predictable, so I learn better that way.

Friend request sent, too. Big surprise, I know, but my LoL name is Nilandia. Anyone can feel free to add me, just don't expect me to be any good!

Gretchen

[Narthsin]

Eww DOTA's graphics are so dark and terrible, I don't understand how people can say it has better graphics. I like league's art style so much better. I also dislike how DOTA is balanced, I think hyper-carries are stupid.

The champions are certainly less detailed unless you're counting the 3D animation of the champ select screen, but the repeat animations look kind of goofy sometimes. The map itself is much more detailed and less cartoony than LOL, but I agree it is a much darker theme, and the other aspects of the graphics, like combat, ability animations, etc, kind of fall short of LOL imo.

[daemon]

Thanks for the tips! I hit level 10 last night and I've been having fun thus far. I'll admit I've been playing beginner bots, but it's mostly a function of how I learn. I start with the basics, get that solid, and then build on top of that. The bots are more predictable, so I learn better that way.

Friend request sent, too. Big surprise, I know, but my LoL name is Nilandia. Anyone can feel free to add me, just don't expect me to be any good!

Gretchen

My main advice I would give... MAP AWARENESS. Do NOT rely on teamates to call out when their lane is missing. You need to be aware of it yourself. If you don't see them.. always assume they are coming. Hanging back for a bit is 95% of the time better than going in for a kill and then dieing right after. There are exceptions based on roles and blah blah.. but thats a bit more advanced and not really PUG strats. PUG is every man for themselves!

Also I find LOL to be the most rage inducing game due to having to rely on idiot teamates. Don't play expecting to win and everyone to not suck.. cause you will break your computer.

[Drew]

Question for you newer players, do people still rage when you don't "SS" your lane when it's empty? That used to be a huge thing but I've noticed I basically don't see it anymore. I guess where I am people finally have realised they can look at the mini-map too.

[daemon]

Question for you newer players, do people still rage when you don't "SS" your lane when it's empty? That used to be a huge thing but I've noticed I basically don't see it anymore. I guess where I am people finally have realised they can look at the mini-map too.

what is "SS"? If thats "MIA" then.. some people do. I mean you are supposed to say it but against certain champs it's almost impossible to do (Eve and Twitch especially). It should be a courtesy more than 100% necessary but peoples map awareness is bad and sometimes you don't look cause you are locked into last hitting and harassing so it's always niice to do. But people will always be dbags and bitch about everything.. Kill stealing (because they have no concept of assists).. no mia.. Picking a build they don't agree with.. etc..etc..

[Parkbandit]

Question for you newer players, do people still rage when you don't "SS" your lane when it's empty? That used to be a huge thing but I've noticed I basically don't see it anymore. I guess where I am people finally have realised they can look at the mini-map too.

I had someone freak out a couple of days ago because I didn't repeatedly call out the MIA in the middle lane. I was level 6 when they left the lane, I put up my "?" and then kept pushing the lane. I was level 11 when they yelled at me. I said I called the MIA when they first left.. I was told the right thing to do was to repeat it again and again.

[Drew]

I had someone freak out a couple of days ago because I didn't repeatedly call out the MIA in the middle lane. I was level 6 when they left the lane, I put up my "?" and then kept pushing the lane. I was level 11 when they yelled at me. I said I called the MIA when they first left.. I was told the right thing to do was to repeat it again and again.

Yeah SS means MIA, it's easier to type. The perfect response when someone whines about SS/MIA is "you have enough time to read the chat box but not enough time to look at the map?"

[Narthsin]

People will always find something to bitch about. I ignore it or make fun of their stupidity if I'm feeling snarky. Most of the time my team starts laughing with me.

P1: "wtf KS"
Me: "team game...just trying to get you moar assists!"
Others: "lulz, let's all try to give P1 more assists!"

Or I'll have someone bitch because I ping too much, and others who bitch if I don't ping enough. It's best to just do your thing. On the other hand I've had people be really chill, so you get all types.

I try to keep map awareness, but sometimes I tend to zone a bit, and teamates pings help me remember to check my minimap so I don't get caught out. If I get caught though, it's not my team's fault for not pinging, it's my own for being over extended.

[Parkbandit]

Yeah SS means MIA, it's easier to type. The perfect response when someone whines about SS/MIA is "you have enough time to read the chat box but not enough time to look at the map?"

Holy shit, I'm stealing that one and using it tonight!

[Nilandia]

People will always find something to bitch about. I ignore it or make fun of their stupidity if I'm feeling snarky. Most of the time my team starts laughing with me.

P1: "wtf KS"
Me: "team game...just trying to get you moar assists!"
Others: "lulz, let's all try to give P1 more assists!"

Or I'll have someone bitch because I ping too much, and others who bitch if I don't ping enough. It's best to just do your thing. On the other hand I've had people be really chill, so you get all types.

I try to keep map awareness, but sometimes I tend to zone a bit, and teamates pings help me remember to check my minimap so I don't get caught out. If I get caught though, it's not my team's fault for not pinging, it's my own for being over extended.
Yeah, I had someone accuse me of kill stealing just yesterday. The guy was playing a fighter/tank and asked for help in his lane, so I showed up. Exactly what did he expect my adc to do? Sit around and sniff roses?

Gretchen

[Drisco]

Yeah, people will always find something to bitch about. No one wants to admit that it was their fault.

I'm stuck yo-yoing from Plat 1 to 3. I'm at a point where I don't know how to improve. Mechanically I'm pretty damn good, but I think I need to learn how to close a game out.

[Narthsin]

Picked up Zyra last night since she was on sale. I intend to use her more for support, but ended up mid against an annie. Went 14/2/15. :)

Your silly annie stuns don't mean much when you're covered in vines! Actually, we had a few exchanges early game that could have gone either way, but at one point I had an awesome flash/ignite and snowballed from there. Tibbers hurts though, he was the cause of both my deaths.

[Drew]

I play on the Latin America-North server sometimes cause I get 18 ping on it and 90 ping on NA. I love Annie's voice on there: VAMOS TEEEEBERS!!!

[Danical]

Yeah, people will always find something to bitch about. No one wants to admit that it was their fault.

I would say the LoL is one of the best examples of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade_(webcomic)#.22Greater_Internet_Fuckwa d_Theory.22).

[Atlanteax]

I would say the LoL is one of the best examples of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade_(webcomic)#.22Greater_Internet_Fuckwa d_Theory.22).

You mean this Forum is not enough proof on its own?

[Anothi]

I would suggest to learn from peers. When I started this game, there wasn't any bots. You will learn best from mimicry here. Drew and I are probably the higher ranking players here in the forums. If you want advice or small lessons, you can talk to either of us. Sweeneez is my IGN

[Rimalon]

Drew and I are probably the higher ranking players here in the forums.

I'll see you in the magma chamber, you slag worst ADC Global.

[Parkbandit]

I'm honestly terrible at this game. I'll go 15-2 one game and then 5-10 next game.

I swear, I keep going up against smurfs.. especially when I go middle.

[Some Rogue]

Anyone else played Yasuo yet? I bought him and practiced him in bot games. Tried him in a twisted treeline game and had a douche cry because "there are so many bad Yasuo's out there"'. It was the first fucking day he was out. I thanked him for his helpful feedback then told him to fuck himself.

I've enjoyed him when I got to play him but so far everyone else calls their lane first or auto locks him before I can call a lane. If anyone is looking for a bad Yasuo to play with, add Rennick72.

[Rimalon]

Yasuo is just like any other melee ADC (Fiora, Yi, lesser extent Tryndamere): you CC them, they die.

That said, of those, he's probably the one with the most versatile and useful kit. His gold efficiency because of his crit-chance doubling passive is huge. And he gets a pretty significant free shield. And he can block all projectiles.

I'm running 5% crit chance marks, so then all you need is a Statikk Shiv and your IE to start doing the DEEPS. Lifesteal quints are also a good idea, because A) they proc off his Q and B) he needs them because he seems to gets pwnt in lane.

[Drisco]

Yasuo is pretty damn good imo. I think he will be picked up on the professional scene specifically for his Wind Wall ability. It would make seiging towers extremely easy. Wait for minion wave, put up Wall, poke tower. Rinse and Repeat.

[Narthsin]

He definitely helps with a seige/poke comp. The way his mobility in a team fight is pretty scary too, due to his dash. I'll reserve jugdement until after they nerf him a bit, but I also like it when he uses the wall to pretty much seperate the adc from the teamfight for a few seconds. Just a well placed wind wall can turn a fight, so I do think even if nerfed a bit, we'll see him in competative play.

Also...

The current 1v1 and 2v2 showdown games are awesome. I really hope they keep it around.

[Narthsin]

Popquiz!

What role do you like the most?
What's your favorite Champion and why?
What's your most hated Champion and why?
If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?


My answers:

Support - While it's not too easy to carry a game, your actions and choices directly effect how well your teamates do. If you lock down an enemy at just the right moment, your team can turn a fight. I like it. I liked it a bit more when I was in charge of the vision war, but I still do okay with a sightstone, a sweeper and a pair of pink wards.

There's a lot of champs I really like, but if I had to pick one, it would be Sona.
She may be listed as one of the easiest to play, but she's also very versatile. She can poke with a decent amount of damage, heal well, slow, speed-up and has her AOE ult that can entirely change a teamfight. I also like the fact that simply being near my teammates buffs them in almost every way.

I hate Teemo. nuff said.

My favorite skins are probably Muse Sona, and Penakill Sona. I choose black or white based on my mood. I also think the haunting Nocturne skin is awesome, since your q? has little ghostly spirits that come up out of the ground instead of smokey stuff.

[Parkbandit]

Popquiz!

What role/position do you like the most?
What's your favorite Champion and why?
What's your most hated Champion and why?
If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?



Top. I like playing against 2 players or 1 and holding/advancing the lane.
TEEEEEEEEMO! I enjoy playing a character that everyone seems to hate. It makes them extend themselves into bad positions JUST to kill me. My 2nd favorite is Blitz.. another annoying character.
I hate playing against a good Lux.. but I love playing against bad Lux players.
I have Super Teemo and Recon Teemo.

[Cereal Killer]

What role/position do you like the most? Jungle.
What's your favorite Champion and why? Singed. Forcing the enemy to chase you through their jungle through a cloud of slowing poison is the best.
What's your most hated Champion and why? Thresh. Still broken as fuck in the right hands (not mine though).
If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why? Robot Nunu. Dat laugh.

[Wench]

Popquiz!

What role do you like the most?
What's your favorite Champion and why?
What's your most hated Champion and why?
If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?



I like everything except jungle and ADC. I *can* ADC, I just hate being zoned, chased and instagibbed.

My favorite champion right now is Zyra. Her kit has so much to offer and I can lane anywhere and still manage to hold my own.

My most hated champion is a tie between Ezreal and Lee Sin. I hate playing them and I hate playing against them.

My favorite skin is the new Winter Lulu skin that I just got, it's probably because I think the poro is adorable.


By the way, people playing here can feel free to add me on NA, my IGN is IAmAWench

[Liagala]

Popquiz!

What role do you like the most?
What's your favorite Champion and why?
What's your most hated Champion and why?
If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?

1 - Up until the new season's changes, jungle was. I haven't sorted out who I can actually play that works well now though, so I'm avoiding it for the moment. I'm also happy with mid or top.
2 - I had a brief love affair with Maokai, but see above about jungle changes. I like Malphite top and Annie mid... and Kog'maw if I'm messing around with friends or in an ARAM. Because he's Kog'maw. How can you not love that face?
3 - Most hated? At the moment, probably Teemo. He's supposed to be OP as hell, and all I do is feed. Constantly. I don't understand how "build AP, drop mushrooms" is so difficult for me, but it is. It makes me sad. Also, Renekton. His cooldowns are too long and I find myself standing there auto-attacking crap and waiting ages for a button to come back up. I know I've got to be doing it wrong, but he annoys me too much to sort out.
4 - Skins? Definitely Not Blitzcrank. That one cracks me up. I'm also pretty pleased with the Aether Wing Kayle I just got out of a mystery skin gift thingy.

[Nilandia]

Popquiz!
What role do you like the most?
What's your favorite Champion and why?
What's your most hated Champion and why?
If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?

I've only recently started playing and there are a bunch of roles I have yet to try. I'm liking ADC in bot at the moment but I want to give support a try since Soraka just hit free rotation.

Honestly, I'm liking Ashe. She takes a while to get going because of her low initial damage, but I love how she can do damage while stacking slow. Put her with a good Zyra or Morgana and it can be amazing. I've also liked Graves and MF for pure damage.

Don't have enough experience to speak on a lot of champions, but I've always hated Annie and Ryze. Anything with effective cc gets on my hate list, too.

I've been focusing on acquiring champions when I can so I don't own any, but I do like a lot of the Lux skins, and I really like the winter Sivir skin. Forecaster Janna is absolutely hysterical. I detest a lot of the female skins, though. I have a huge pet peeve about putting women in skimpy outfits, especially if they're supposed to be wearing armor or from cold climates. It just does not compute.

Gretchen

[Liagala]

I have a huge pet peeve about putting women in skimpy outfits, especially if they're supposed to be wearing armor or from cold climates.
This bugs me sometimes too. Take a look at Kayle - much better girl outfits!

[Nilandia]

Any tips from the gallery on getting better at minion farming? Definitely a place where I need to improve, especially as an ADC.

Gretchen

[Cereal Killer]

Step 1: Create a custom game with no bots
Step 2: Go into the lane you're practicing with your intended champ and just last hit the minions with no items for 10-15 minutes. Practice from both sides.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.

Do this every now and again. What you're aiming for are familiarity with your champion and the ability to last hit without thinking about it (which you need in order to properly harass your opponent and keep an eye on the mini-map). Also get into the habit of looking towards the mini-map every time you last hit a minion (ie target the minion for the last hit, but don't watch the projectile, glance at the map).

[Rimalon]

Any tips from the gallery on getting better at minion farming? Definitely a place where I need to improve, especially as an ADC.

Watching pro games can also help a bit. Seeing when, how, and what position they're in when they last hit, etc, in both early and midgame situations.

Just depends how seriously you want to improve! Practice (hundreds and hundreds of games!) makes perfect.

[Drew]

Do a bot games with a terrible champ at last hitting (karthus, anivia) and use no runes or masteries. If you can last hit with them, you can last hit with anyone.

[Rimalon]

Ohhh. And my favorite role is probably Top, even though I main support and jungle in ranked.

Favorite champ is Garen. Because spin to win.

Most hated champ is Brand. Every Brand player is a douche, and I still don't know his ability ranges.

Favorite skin is hard. The best skin in the game is Rugged Garen, but my favorite skin is likely Neon Strike Vi (the recall and the glasses, GG.)

[Drew]

What role do you like the most?
Used to be support but now jungle. Old support was a lot more about smarts and positioning in teamfights and about controlling the map with wards and vision elsewise. It took a special set of skills that most people did not have. Now supports are just less-fed versions of other roles. I know people liked the support changes in general but they aren't for me. I prefer to jungle now, it's something I'm very good at and I like to help my entire team.


What's your favorite Champion and why?
Leona is a favorite, she has a fun kit and I'm good with her. Blitz is also very satisfying.

What's your most hated Champion and why?
I don't really hate any particular characters, I disliked old champions that snowballed so hard that you couldn't do anything to stop them (also the Renekton that Rimalon was playing tonight).

If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?
Uh, I own around 300 skins. I need help.

[Rimalon]

I disliked old champions that snowballed so hard that you couldn't do anything to stop them (also the Renekton that Rimalon was playing tonight).

Dattttt croccccccc. Sunfire visage cleaver hydra at 23 minutes!

[Drew]

Dattttt croccccccc. Sunfire visage cleaver hydra at 23 minutes!

Yeah, definition of unkillable. Especially in a game where every other lane was losing, their was no way to kill you and you carried your team cause of it. I was 4/0/4 I think and ended up like 6/6/6 because if we focused you, your team killed us, and we focused your team, you killed us.

[Drisco]

What role do you like the most?
Jungle / Top

What's your favorite Champion and why?
Lee Sin, his mobility top and jungle is so great. I usually always max W and first buy Hydra, you can heal from 10% health to 100% in like one minion wave. Mid I play Syndra, she's super strong and cheesey, also scales great.

What's your most hated Champion and why?
I hate Eve/Rengar, I think the vision changes broke stealth champs like them, and rengar is very snowbally.

If you own any skins, what's your favorite and why?
I'm big into Muay Thai Lee Sin right now, I honestly think the skin helps with last hitting and managing his hits between abilities, just more noticable and fluid. Also a big fan of Reverse Annie, how friggen cute is that. ** And Zombie Brand, all of his /j /l /t /d is amazing.

[Anothi]

Any tips from the gallery on getting better at minion farming? Definitely a place where I need to improve, especially as an ADC.

Gretchen

Go into a custom game and pick Anivia or Karthus and simply practice last hitting. Worry about positioning when you learn how to last hit properly. Anivia and Karthus have the worst attack animations in the game. If you can learn how to last hit with them, you can last hit with any champion.

And I'm a dumbass for not reading the entire thread before posting. Goes to show how much Drew and I are on the same wavelength though.

[Narthsin]

Last hitting with Caitly or Twitch feels like cheating after trying to last hit with Aniva or Karthus. I definitely agree it's good for practice! Though, trying to last hit when laning against an aggressive Thresh and Jinx suddenly made me grateful that last hitting with Cait wasn't very tough.

tldr;You're not a dubmass.(?)

[Narthsin]

Hit level 30, finally. New PC Avatar to celebrate!

Now I'm scared to start my placement matches for solo queue. Bronze V, here I come!

[Drisco]

Hit level 30, finally. New PC Avatar to celebrate!

Now I'm scared to start my placement matches for solo queue. Bronze V, here I come!


Just make sure you know a few champions really well before venturing into Ranked. It can become a big headache when someone afk's because people trash talked them. #1 thing I can advise is, don't talk in chat. Just ping and that's all.

[Narthsin]

Will do. I have a few champs I'm pretty comfortable with for each position, so far. I have a deeper champ pool for support though, I like to play Thresh, Sona, Zyra or Alistar support and feel pretty solid on any of them. I want to get Leona or Lulu next, I think.

And I've been trying doing normal games solo a lot more the last while to get a feel for things before I go for ranked. So we'll see how it goes. I rarely talk in chat, unless it's to briefly explain a ping, or help a player who's just lost.

I tend to like playing with 4 other people I know more than solo.

[Drisco]

Get Leona, she's really strong right now, and if you and your lane partner can push the wave and get lvl 2 first, you can all in and always get first blood and probably a double kill at low elos.

[Geijon Khyree]

Leona is the best in the game at what she does.

[SHAFT]

Leona is the best in the game at what she does.

And what she does isn't very nice?

[Narthsin]

Did anyone else watch the OGN finals? SKT is amazing, and watching PoohManDu on Alistar knock Leona back mid Zenith Blade... my jaw dropped a little bit. Who'd have though Alistar was a Leona counter pick, hrm?

But apparently PoohManDu is taking a break from pro gaming for health reasons? ... Them wrists.