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League of Legends: Welcome New Players!

contributions by Weasel_34

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League of Legends has been around for some time now, and has established an incredibly strong foundation. The game’s concept is built upon the familiar popular Defense of the Ancients mod; however, Riot Games took the DOTA theme to a whole new level. Now, the modern genre for the game has transformed into MOBA, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. If you have not heard of League of Legends, whether a new or seasoned gamer, this Player vs. Player game is worth checking out.

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Stripping the game down to the basic idea of what MOBA is, the objective is simple: Destroy the enemy’s base before they destroy yours. While the goal is easily identified, doing it is another matter. League of Legends is not a simple game by any means, but for beginning or experienced players, there are different features all will enjoy. The most attractive feature to LoL is that it is 100% free. In my opinion, that should mean anyone can afford this game.

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Now, just because this game is free, don’t write it off as some game that sucks. LoL is one of the most played games across the world. Similar to Korea’s Starcraft tournaments, there are major competitions held all over that are widely televised. Professional teams compete for large cash prizes and more. Riot Games has provided a door for professional gaming to be compared to professional sports in many different countries.

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So, where does one start? Well, it doesn’t matter if you want to play for fun, or someday reach stardom in a televised competition. Once you’ve downloaded LoL from its website, https://na.leagueoflegends.com/, you’ll set yourself up with an account which you’ll need to log into the client’s servers. It is highly recommended to go through the two tutorials which will give you a feel for the game and may take up to an hour to complete.

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From there on you’ll be able to choose a multitude of different settings and play-styles. Beginners will want to stick with the obvious choice of playing co-op vs. AI, and more than likely the beginner’s difficulty level as well. Here you’ll get a more realistic feel for the game as you will team up with 2-4 other human players to defeat the enemy AI, computer-controlled, characters. It is also a great way to find people that you can ask questions to learn as much as possible about the game. Or, if they could recommend how they like to play a certain character you are choosing.

For those who are familiar with the game, feel free to dive right into player vs. player content, as you’ll learn not only faster, but in the true spirit of the game. MOBA is all about PVP, and really that is what you should be working towards. But no harm or objections if you find yourself enjoying AI combat more. Also, if you think you need to hit the level cap of 30 first, don’t bother. While it do benefit from being the best you can be, level 30 will take some time, and playing with real opponents will make you that much better as a player.

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There are a few different playstyles to consider when playing with a team of people: combat or support. While they are diversified further than that, those are the basic roles you’ll want to consider. Their names should be pretty obvious; however, melee combat means you’ll be up close and personal with your enemies. Ranged support means you’ll be keeping distance between you and your target. Other roles interchange between combat and support, such as being a tank or jungler, but that is outside the scope of this article.

Once you’ve played a few matches you should find what kind of style you enjoy the most, and can go from there. You’ll begin to notice if you enjoy controlling enemies with a tank character, or clearing lanes with a jungler. You can look into buying new champions that fit your playstyle, and buying equipment to make your summoner stronger as well. There are also a bunch of other items for purchase in the store that you may find you want or need later on. You’ll notice I said the word “buy.”

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The game is completely free-to-play, and where money is involved, it doesn’t make you a better player for spending real money on the game. In fact, almost everything in the store can be purchased with Influence Points you get from playing in your matches. Winning obviously gives you more IP’s, but for some, it takes a long time to get the amount of IP’s needed for a specific champion. To help beginners not waste IP’s, it is highly recommended you don’t waste your IP on runes. Lower level runes don’t scale to their cost, the max level of 30 runes are much more valuable for their cost. Choosing to go this route will allow more IP for you early on to spend on your favorite champions.

The free-to-play model that a lot of games are being built upon lately include a virtual store in which you can use real money to buy virtual items. Purchasing Riot Points, the store’s real dollar currency, you can spend RP on things such as cool-looking skins for your favorite champion, or increasing the number of rune pages your spell book carries, or even boosts that increase how much EXP and IP you earn with each match. The game doesn’t force you to purchase RP, and that is what makes League of Legends such a great game. The option is there for you if you feel like supporting the game financially.

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It’s a simple game to pick up, but will take a long time to master. In addition, it’s a cooperative game in that you can invite your friends to come play with you. How many games out there will let you play with 4 of your friends, on the same team, for free? Truth is there are a ton of games that will do that for you, however, LoL is a game that stands out, as well as having proven its place in the spotlight as one of the world’s most played online games.