League of Legends
-Available on PCLeague of Legends, or LoL, was released by developer Riot Games initially encompassing just the classic 5v5 map. Today the game has expanded to incorporate over 50 different champions with multiple different play modes to insure a different experience with every game. There is a lot to wrap your head around in regards to the concepts around League of Legends, so here is a brief run-down of the key components of the game.
Did we mention that League of Legends is FREE to play?
Depending on which mode you are playing, games can last between 20 mins up until 1.5 hours, on average games tend to last between 30-45 minutes. They are generally fast-paced and a lot of fun, so even though the matches may seem really long, you generally don’t notice the amount of time that has passed. Players can choose to either play a mode versus other players, or if they are new to League of Legends or testing out that new champion, players can play what is called a versus bot game. This means that rather than face the challenge of defeating real people, players are competing against a computer effectively. Be careful though, the bots can sometime be a bit sneaky if you’re not careful.
For those that are not familiar with League of Legends:
Champions
There are many different types of champions that players can choose from, with each different champion having a unique play-style, abilities and purpose. Generally there are 3 different types of champions: tank, damage and support. These are then split into melee and ranged champions. A tank’s purpose is to absorb damage and to distract enemy players away from teammates with less damage. This is also effective when a team needs to ‘take down’ or destroy an enemy tower. It is pretty obvious what the role of a damage champion is; inflict as much damage as possible and to kill the enemy team before they can kill you, or your teammates. A support’s role is to ensure the survival of the team, whether this is through crowd control or healing teammates. It is vital that a team has one tank and one support in order to be an effective team, otherwise players may find it difficult to get kills and advance down the lanes.
The Map
There are a few different types of maps in League of Legends; 3v3, 5v5 and Dominion. Each different map requires different strategies and tactics in order to secure victory for the team. The 3v3 and 5v5 maps are a little similar, each consisting of three different lanes containing towers for the teams to destroy. The objective of the games is to push the enemy team back to their base and destroy their inhibitors. Sound a little confusing? Just have a look at the diagram. The map contains sections called bushes and jungle, which players can use to their tactical advantage when fending off the enemy team. When a player moves into the bush they become invisible to enemy players, whilst standing in the bush, and the only way for enemy players to see where the player is; is to move into the bush themselves. The jungle contains powerful minions which award buffs and extra gold, again if used at the right time players are able to become more powerful and gain the upper hand against their foes.
Minions
What are minions? Well there are a few different types. There are minions that you find in the jungle and then there are minions that travel down the lane. Each team has minions that travel down the lane, these are designed to assist players in taking down turrets. These minions are of great advantage to a team so make sure to utilise them when pushing down a lane. When a team kills an enemy inhibitor super-minions are spawned which are far stronger than your regular lane minions. These minions are designed to help a team try and make a final push to end the game. Next there are minions that can be found in the jungle, there are a few different types, however generally these are also far stronger than the minions you find in the lane. There are minions that grant buffs to players for a limited time, such as a health buff or a mana buff; these are designed to make a player stronger. Next up there are minions which can be killed in order to gain extra gold and experience in order to help with levelling your champion and purchasing items for him/her.
In the 5v5 map there is a minion called Baron, he is by far the strongest of all the minutes. He spawns later in the game and it generally takes an entire team to kill him. Why bother? Baron gives players an awesome buff as well as a lot of gold, so when the time is right, it is generally advisable to try and kill Baron in order to gain his buff.
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