Living League of Legends: MEGA GUIDE! .

Hello, bonjour and welcome to Living League of Legends first ever MEGA GUIDE! In this guide I’m going to be running through all of the five roles in the current meta and telling you what to play at what skill level, and what to build. Indeed, this is the holy guide to end all guides. Whilst it won’t contain a level of depth, and focus on gameplay mechanics, as seen in a more Champion focused guide, it will give you some idea on what you should be playing, how you should be playing it and why you should be playing it. I hope you enjoy, and I hope it helps.

PREFACE: I was a Gold 1 player in Season 3, and I have been playing the game since just after its release in 2009. Whilst I’m not the best player in the world, I am certainly better than average and I hope the information here can really help you out.

If you are looking for a jungling guide, I suggest you head on over to this article!

Marksman

The Rundown:

The marksman, otherwise known as the ADC (attack damage carry), is a ranged character who deals physical attack damage from a distance. The role of a marksman is to stand at the back of a team and to attack the closest enemy champion. Your role isn’t to go in and kill the enemy ADC, that’s up to the bruiser and the mid-lane, but rather to stay alive and do as much consistent damage as possible. Movement, and being able to stay on your toes, is key when playing this role. You need keep out a good eye for any incoming attackers and be able to constantly deal damage whilst staying safe.

Champions
For Beginners:

Ashe is the first champions many players will ever play, and is also the quintessential marksmen. Ashe is more of a utility marksman, having the ability to slow the enemy’s movement as well as stun the enemy completely. She has a longer range than most ADCs, and is very easy to play. The one drawback? She has no way of escaping an enemy other than running away and slowing whoever is attacking her. If you get ganked by a jungler, and you’re Ashe, you probably won’t get out of it.

Skill Order: Max W, then Q, then E. Level up R whenever possible.

Item Build: Start with Doran’s Blade and one red pot. Rush Bloodthirster and Berserker Boots, and then pick up either Static Shiv or Phantom Dancer. Once you have done that get Last Whisper, then Infinite Edge, finishing up with the Guardian Angel.

For Intermediate Players:

Caitlyn has a long range, longer than Ashes, and has a good passive which deals bonus damage every seventh/sixth/fifth (based on level) attack. She has one snare, which is her traps ability, however apart from that she lacks any hard CC. Caitlyn has a slow, which can also be used as an escape tool, and can generally escape enemies fairly easily. The player needs to be aggressive in lane, and get the most out of her long range to harass enemies.

Skill Order: Max Q, then E, then W. Level up R whenever possible.

Item Build: The same as Ashe’s.

For Expert Players:

Jinx is one of the best marksmen in the game right now, however she has a very weak early game and is generally very squishy and easy to kill. If you manage to survive the early laning phase and get a BF Sword then you’ll find that, if played correctly, you can pretty much kill anything. Much like Ashe though, she has no escape tools, so you need to be careful both in-game and in team fights. You need to max her Q first, and play safely in the early game, farming up so you can get some good items.

Skill Order: Max Q first, then E and then W. You can max W before E, however I prefer to max the traps first because they can be used to escape the enemy.

Item Build: The same as Ashe’s.

Mastery Tree:

Runes:

The mastery tree is pretty stereotypical for the role, however the runes are not. I prefer attack speed runes because they make everything an awful lot smoother during the laning phase. Also considering that your first big item will be a Bloodthirster (an item which has a huge amount of attack damage), the early game attack speed will be a good boost, especially when you may not be buying any until you’re 10-15 minutes into the game.

Support

The Rundown:

The support role has received nice buff’s this season becoming an incredibly powerful role which can easily carry a game in the right hands. The supports role is to stay in the bottom lane with the marksman, defending them and poking the enemy marksman wherever possible. The support role generally brings a lot of hard CC (or crowd control) to the team as they can stun or knock up the enemy. It’s important that you master these CC spells, and when to use them, as being able to do so will almost guarantee your team a win.

Champions
For Beginners:

Playing most support champions is a hard job, and Sona is no different. She has some reasonable CC in the way of slows and a 1.5 second stun however she mainly excels due to her ability to poke down the enemy marksman with her Q. Sona uses auras, with each spell she casts (apart from her ultimate) giving all allied players in the area a buff. She’s a strong champion for this very reason, with the best players being able to juggle all of her various auras, using them at the right time. Her passive changes its effect based on what aura you currently have activated, and it’s important that you use her ultimate and passive at the right time.

Skill Order: Max W or Q first depending on whether or not you’re winning your lane. If you are winning, max Q, if not then max W. Then max E. Naturally max R whenever possible.

Item Build: Start with the Ancient Coin, two HP pots and one ward. Then build the following: Nomad’s Medallion, Ruby Sightstone, Boots of Lucidity, Aegis of the Legion, Athenes Holy Grail and Randuin’s Omen.

For Intermediate Players:

Leona is perhaps one of the strongest support champions in the game. Despite this, she requires a good understanding of situations, and when to engage on an enemy and when not to. She has a strong gap closer, as well as single target stun and an area of effect stun. Not only that but she can temporarily buff her defenses with her W spell. She’s an asset to every team, however can be easily poked down if misplayed. Stay close to your allied marksman and be aware of your surroundings, especially in teamfights. Yes, you should engage on an enemy wherever possible, however in a teamfight try to stay close to your ADC, peeling off any enemies, with your stuns, that try to attack her.
Skill Order: Max W, then Q, then E. Level up R whenever possible.
Build: Relic Shield, one ward and two hp pots.Then build the following: Targon’s Brace, Ruby Sightstone, Boots of Lucidity, Aegis of the Legion, Randuin’s Omen and Sunfire Cape.

For Expert Players:

Nami is a squishy support champion who just so happens to be the queen of crowd control. She has access to an AoE stun, as well as various movement speed boosts, a slow, and a knockup. Her CC is a skill shot though, and it requires impeccable timing to pull off. If you succeed however, and build correctly, then you’ll be able to constantly stun the enemy champions as well as buffing up your team. She is one of the best champions to be able to turn around a game with. Having said that she can be hard to master. If you miss a skill then it can mean the end of the game for your team. If you stay focused and in the zone though, you should be okay. Once you get some cooldown reduction on her, you’ll be able to do an AoE stun every six seconds. That’s not something to laugh at.
Skill Order: Max W first, then Q, and then max E. Level your ultimate whenever possible.
Build Order: Athenes Holy Grail, Ruby Sightstone, Boots of Lucidity, Aegis of the Legion, Rabadon’s Deathcap and Sunfire Cape.

Masteries:

Runes:

Generally I take tank runes and masteries. As a support it isn’t your job to deal a ton of damage, but rather it’s up to you to survive and constantly be able to provide crowd control for your team.

There we have it, part one of the MEGA GUIDE (woot)! I hope it helped you out wherever possible, and I look forward to seeing you again!

Liked this article? Head on over to this one where I talk about climbing the ELO tree!

This article contains my thoughts on LCS and the new updates coming to League of Legends this year!