League of Legends Beginner

[Caliostro]

i never said YI was good
I said there was no wrong item on him.
he is by far the best charter for your first game
because it removes your need to nitpick there builds and possible make them lose interest in the game.
The first 20 levels teach you nothing as there is no meta to counter. He will figure out YI stinks after that point and move on(Like everyone has).

Actually there are. In as far as there are any wrong items at all at low level play... Either build him AD or AP, both have specific builds.

That said, "builds" are part of what you have to learn in the game. That's one of the most important things you can learn early on. How to build a character! I disagree entirely that there's nothing to learn the first 20 levels. I'd say most people don't learn anything in the first 20 levels, in the same manner that most people don't really learn almost anything at all. Ever. There's quite a lot to learn early on.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

snip

The easiest starting champions imo are Master Yi and Garen. Yi is 450ip and Garen is 1350.

The good thing about garen is that he's fairly tanky even if you don't build him that way.
Oh, and he has NO MANA or any other irrelevant bars that you need to worry about.

SPIN TO WIN SON!!!

 

[The Wykydtron]

If I remember correctly, Yi is broken good before say level 15/20 simply because the nooblords had no idea what the fuck to do against the crazy damage. Myself included.

He drops off the radar later on, much like Fiddlesticks (still unsure why people don't play more Fiddle) as being a melee AD Carry in a sea of ranged AD Carries is not a good look for poor old Yi.

Oh and once you get used to the game turn on Smartcast and watch as you turn on God Mode. Ok, for some moves like Viktor's Death Ray, Veigar's cage and I think Rumble's ultimate are ruined by Smartcast but the majority of abilities are made much easier to use when quick reaction times are essential.

As a rule any click, drag, release moves spaz out in Smartcast in my experience.

Do what I did and go for any Champions that look interesting to you personally. It's more fun that way. I still can't play Riven to save my life. Even if I love her as a character. It seems like all any other top bruiser needs to do is buy Warmog's and I can't touch them :/

Akali and Katarina are fun if you want squishy with a boatload of damage. Akali is pretty much Easy Mode Katarina. I will not be swayed on this point. Twilight Shroud is that beastly.

Also DO NOT PLAY RANKED. EVER. It's not good for your overall mental health.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Just use some of the free champions until you find a style you want then buy that champ or a cheaper one that does the same job or plays similarly.

 

[Bombchucker]

I found swapping the keys made my life a hell of a lot easier (being a big FPS player rather than MOBA). WASD for moving, 1/2/3/4 for skills and ctr+1234 to select a skill to level and Q and E for my summoner spells.

Yeah I did the same thing. Swapping the keys made it that much easier for me

 

[dillinger88]

Everyone here has suggest good champs to start with in LoL and I'd probably throw Annie out there too. Having said that, I have a different suggestion altogether.

Firstly, do you intend to play DOTA 2? I ask because if you do, LoL teaches a lot of bad habits when it comes to DOTA-style games, such as reliance on flash/blink abilities over map awareness and reliance on towers. There's a great quote, of which I can't remember the source, it goes: "In dota you protect towers, in LoL towers protect you."

For this reason, I do urge you to check out Dota 2 as the bots are really good for practice (the AI sub-routines are custom made for each hero to act how you'd expect them to and they listen to pings (sometimes)), you get all the heroes at the start so you can try out all the different roles and you start on a more level playing field as there's none of this rune/talent tree nonsense.

Dota 2 is harder game mechanically, no question, but I personally feel it gives you much better tools to learn this genre of game. When you have the basics down, transitioning to LoL is cake.

Just my two cents.

 

[Blue Jay]

"Son, I am disappoint".

Master Yi is a nub stomper. It teaches you nothing, because it only works against people who know nothing. He's essentially "OP" against people who don't know what hard CC or target rendering are (and don't have ignite yet). Once you do understand how he works and what it takes to counter him he degenerates into a one trick pony. Well, two trick I guess. He can split push and he can sweep up low health enemies after a fight has ended. Or he can Alpha Strike into a fight then run away or die... The only thing Master Yi teaches you is that the majority of people will simply cry "OP!!" instead of trying to learn how to fight something.

Waste of money.

Well the OP was asking for champs to play before he got better ones. Master Yi is amazing at low levels that's just a fact. Not a great champ to learn because he is not viable post 30 but for the lower levels I do recommend him (that is if you want to win a lot).

 

[Caliostro]

Everyone here has suggest good champs to start with in LoL and I'd probably throw Annie out there too. Having said that, I have a different suggestion altogether.

Firstly, do you intend to play DOTA 2? I ask because if you do, LoL teaches a lot of bad habits when it comes to DOTA-style games, such as reliance on flash/blink abilities over map awareness and reliance on towers. There's a great quote, of which I can't remember the source, it goes: "In dota you protect towers, in LoL towers protect you."

For this reason, I do urge you to check out Dota 2 as the bots are really good for practice (the AI sub-routines are custom made for each hero to act how you'd expect them to and they listen to pings (sometimes)), you get all the heroes at the start so you can try out all the different roles and you start on a more level playing field as there's none of this rune/talent tree nonsense.

Dota 2 is harder game mechanically, no question, but I personally feel it gives you much better tools to learn this genre of game. When you have the basics down, transitioning to LoL is cake.

Just my two cents.

Having played both I really can't agree with a few things.

#1 that the whole tower thing. You protect tower in LoL as well. If you don't, they go down. Period. You CAN use them as backup, which you can also do in DotA. The difference being that tower diving is a lot easier and simplified in DotA, seeing as most people who are supposed to tower dive simply have skills that either nullify the tower's presence (FacelessVoid...lol) or outrange it entirely (Sniper, Pudge...etc). In LoL you don't get free tower dives.

#2 that there is less map awareness in LoL. Yes, you got blinks and dashes... So does the enemy. Otherwise the same could be said about DotA's much larger prevalence of long duration hard CC.

#3 that DotA is harder mechanically. How? There are less skillshots, less movement, and a bigger prevalence of targettable long duration hard CC. In LoL the longest stun you can get is Ashe's ultimate at long range. That's a global range skillshot you gotta hit at a fairly long range for 3.5 seconds of stun. In DotA anything bellow 3 seconds of stun is laughable. In fact, the only "mechanically harder" things I've found in DotA were only "harder" because of a bad interface.

Ultimately, it's unfair to compare them. Despite being both MOBAs they're fundamentally different games. Personally I find DotA2 a dumber game. You're free to disagree, that's why you play DotA, and I, and the OP, play LoL. That's also why this is a LoL thread, and not a DotA thread.

 

[Padwolf]

I'm going to suggest the 450 IP champions. Ashe is an easy to use champion, however she can be very hard to master. She's good for learning how to position yourself. Sivir is similar, but I think her range is a bit longer than Ashe's, also Sivir's ulti is fantastic. Poppy is a good character to use to get used to the more tanky champions. It depends on your playstyle. It took me until level 30 to finally find the champion that suited me best, which was Irelia. Now I'm maining Riven.

There are a ton of champions for you to try, if you want to learn a good mage type champion, try out Morgana, she's quite cheap aswell. Annie is a 450IP champion and is a lot of fun to play, she can be a bit squishy, but her damage is fantastic, especially when you hit level 6 and can bear stun people. She's good for learning how to use your passive effectively.

For any guides and help you need, check out www.mobafire.com

Do not be put off by people telling you that you are bad, or that you are a noob, or that you should uninstall the game. Instead just keep on going and learn! And most importantly, it's a game, have fun!

 

[lRookiel]

If I remember correctly, Yi is broken good before say level 15/20 simply because the nooblords had no idea what the fuck to do against the crazy damage. Myself included.

He drops off the radar later on, much like Fiddlesticks (still unsure why people don't play more Fiddle) as being a melee AD Carry in a sea of ranged AD Carries is not a good look for poor old Yi.

Oh and once you get used to the game turn on Smartcast and watch as you turn on God Mode. Ok, for some moves like Viktor's Death Ray, Veigar's cage and I think Rumble's ultimate are ruined by Smartcast but the majority of abilities are made much easier to use when quick reaction times are essential.

As a rule any click, drag, release moves spaz out in Smartcast in my experience.

Do what I did and go for any Champions that look interesting to you personally. It's more fun that way. I still can't play Riven to save my life. Even if I love her as a character. It seems like all any other top bruiser needs to do is buy Warmog's and I can't touch them :/

Akali and Katarina are fun if you want squishy with a boatload of damage. Akali is pretty much Easy Mode Katarina. I will not be swayed on this point. Twilight Shroud is that beastly.

Also DO NOT PLAY RANKED. EVER. It's not good for your overall mental health.

And don't forget kids. CAPTAIN TEEMO IS ALWAYS ON DUTY!

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

I've only just started getting into it myself, but out of the champions I've tried, I've found Janna to be the easiest to use, followed my Amumu and Annie. Just keep on trying the free champions until you find something that you like.

 

[Evilpigeon]

Champions that are easy to play and do well with: Garen, Alistar, Nunu, Annie, Irelia, Darius, Malphite.

As a more general guide: stick to bruisers to start with, they're tanky, strong early game and they generally do good damage. They're very forgiving and give you a lot of control over the outcome of the game.

Anyone who tells you Ashe is wrong, AD carries without escapes are really hard to do consistantly well with because you're very team reliant. I'd also suggest you stay a long way away from Mobafire, the guides are generally awful or outdated and you need to sift through a lot of rubbish to find anything worth a glance.

 

[shrekfan246]

Master Yi

No but seriously Master Yi wrecks in the early levels,

Master Yi

"Son, I am disappoint".

Master Yi is a nub stomper. It teaches you nothing, because it only works against people who know nothing. He's essentially "OP" against people who don't know what hard CC or target rendering are (and don't have ignite yet). Once you do understand how he works and what it takes to counter him he degenerates into a one trick pony. Well, two trick I guess. He can split push and he can sweep up low health enemies after a fight has ended. Or he can Alpha Strike into a fight then run away or die... The only thing Master Yi teaches you is that the majority of people will simply cry "OP!!" instead of trying to learn how to fight something.

Waste of money.

Take the cheaper 450 champions first. They're all very small investments and most of them are actually very strong (like Nunu who is a tournament level support or jungler) at their job, and they let you experience each of the roles so you know what you like. Don't fall for the "more expensive champions are better!" trap. Pricing is based solely on how "sought after" and "new" a champion looks/is. It has nothing to do with how effective they are in a game.

Also, while it's not extremely relevant to you right now, read this [http://thefightingword.blogspot.pt/2012/09/lol-understanding-meta-part-1.html] and this [http://thefightingword.blogspot.pt/2012/09/lol-understanding-meta-part-2.html] and I'll get around to writing part 3 soon. Probably today. In low level games the "meta" doesn't matter as much, but it helps. It also helps you "grow" into higher level games without many of the typical fuck ups of newer players.

Another important thing is to watch tournament streams. Twitch.tv and Own3d usually have round the clock LoL streams by top players. Watch their tactics, their teams, the way they play. Learn from them. I know you're doing normal blind pick for now, but it helps a LOT in understanding the game.

Finally, what server are you on? And if you have any other questions, let us know.

Yi is an absolute bastard. I started playing the other day too, along with a fellow Brovenger, and yeah, I can pretty much agree with you here, Yi works wonders at destroying people who don't know what they're doing.
[sub]I guess to be fair, the only Champion I actually semi-know how to play so far is Kayle, and I don't think a Melee-Support character is really the best to take one like Yi head-on.[/sub]

More OT: My opinion probably isn't worth as much as some of the other peoples', since I'm still only level 6 in-game, but I'd say just find a few different Champions that look interesting to you and figure out how they play. They rotate different free champions per week, so it's not too difficult to find a few different ones that look interesting before you decide to put the IP down on them. Also, figure out what roles you would be most comfortable performing, because there are a lot of different Champs that play in a lot of different ways.

 

[DazZ.]

Master Yi is a nub stomper. It teaches you nothing, because it only works against people who know nothing.

Which can only be a good thing to have less to learn at lower levels, so you can focus on other things first.

 

[BrotherRool]

I found swapping the keys made my life a hell of a lot easier (being a big FPS player rather than MOBA). WASD for moving, 1/2/3/4 for skills and ctr+1234 to select a skill to level and Q and E for my summoner spells.

As for champs, just use the weeks free champs till you find a role (tank/support/bruiser etc) you prefer, then you can start focusing on finding a champ you like. Other than that, just play against bots to get experience and learn the game and when you feel ready try some pvp.

Woah, wait, you can WASD move?? Why doesn't everyone do that? Surely it's so much better than the frickin' mouse clicking, more control and you can be using you mouse for more important tasks.

The big reason I always give up soon when trying to play is I can't stand the click to move control system. I just assumed you'd never be able to change something as big as that

 

[The Wykydtron]

If I remember correctly, Yi is broken good before say level 15/20 simply because the nooblords had no idea what the fuck to do against the crazy damage. Myself included.

He drops off the radar later on, much like Fiddlesticks (still unsure why people don't play more Fiddle) as being a melee AD Carry in a sea of ranged AD Carries is not a good look for poor old Yi.

Oh and once you get used to the game turn on Smartcast and watch as you turn on God Mode. Ok, for some moves like Viktor's Death Ray, Veigar's cage and I think Rumble's ultimate are ruined by Smartcast but the majority of abilities are made much easier to use when quick reaction times are essential.

As a rule any click, drag, release moves spaz out in Smartcast in my experience.

Do what I did and go for any Champions that look interesting to you personally. It's more fun that way. I still can't play Riven to save my life. Even if I love her as a character. It seems like all any other top bruiser needs to do is buy Warmog's and I can't touch them :/

Akali and Katarina are fun if you want squishy with a boatload of damage. Akali is pretty much Easy Mode Katarina. I will not be swayed on this point. Twilight Shroud is that beastly.

Also DO NOT PLAY RANKED. EVER. It's not good for your overall mental health.

And don't forget kids. CAPTAIN TEEMO IS ALWAYS ON DUTY!

Baron! I'm gonna ward it. Swiftly, swiftly. SWIFTLY!

Thinking about it, Teemo is cheap and easy to learn. Even a half decent Teemo is the most frustrating, infuriating and aggravating thing to play against. The fucking shroomfields, then he just SWIFTLY's away on nothing health then he comes out of nowhere after you walk over a shroom (or 50) and instakills you.

 

[Abize]

I found swapping the keys made my life a hell of a lot easier (being a big FPS player rather than MOBA). WASD for moving, 1/2/3/4 for skills and ctr+1234 to select a skill to level and Q and E for my summoner spells.

As for champs, just use the weeks free champs till you find a role (tank/support/bruiser etc) you prefer, then you can start focusing on finding a champ you like. Other than that, just play against bots to get experience and learn the game and when you feel ready try some pvp.

Woah, wait, you can WASD move?? Why doesn't everyone do that? Surely it's so much better than the frickin' mouse clicking, more control and you can be using you mouse for more important tasks.

The big reason I always give up soon when trying to play is I can't stand the click to move control system. I just assumed you'd never be able to change something as big as that

Haha, sadly you can't, I meant the camera. I probably should've made that more clear =S. Would be awesome to move the character with WASD though....

 

[BrotherRool]

Haha, sadly you can't, I meant the camera. I probably should've made that more clear =S. Would be awesome to move the character with WASD though....

You really got my hopes up there

I have no idea why you can't WASD in MoBA games though, is clicking really a better way of moving? Even if it's better, it surely doesn't feel as good as WASDing does. Maybe its just a hangover from spawning from a RTS

EDIT: Tried googling to see if there was a MOBA that does it and I found a LoL thread arguing that you need more precision in an MOBA game than an FPS so the servers could handle it . I feel like when you've got a special word just for skills that need any kind of aiming you shouldn't be claiming that you need more precision than games that solely revolve around aiming very precisely and quickly. Another guy also said clicking on a spot and letting the computer walk you there gave you more control than directly controlling your players actions


Ah well, the controls suit several million people perfectly fine so I guess it's a bit much to want a game that changes that. And MOBA games aren't famous for being open to change as it is

 

[DazZ.]

Haha, sadly you can't, I meant the camera. I probably should've made that more clear =S. Would be awesome to move the character with WASD though....

You really got my hopes up there

I have no idea why you can't WASD in MoBA games though, is clicking really a better way of moving? Even if it's better, it surely doesn't feel as good as WASDing does. Maybe its just a hangover from spawning from a RTS

I don't want to have to be looking at my character when I'm moving across the map to a teamfight, and certainly not when I have skills with a huge range etc.