Top is the most unforgiving role in the game

Madjack01·Jun 29, 2017·4 votes·738 views

(At least at my skill level)

How do you top mains do it without crying tears of pure pain?

I'm a supp main, jungle second and this role just confuses me.

With all the melees top no other role gets punished this much for making the slightest mistake.

If you are playing against a counter or someone who is better than you, you are in for a world of pain since top lane tends to be forgotten by teammates.

And don't you dare dying even once to your opponent, because coming back from a disadvantage seems a lot harder than in any other role. That farming under the turret isn't as safe as in other roles amplifies that.

There are a lot more things to say about top but I better end here.

I seriously need some advice on how to play in that purgatory called top lane. Trying to pick up Camille but it's going just terrific.

12 Comments

Prison AnaIJun 29, 20173 votes

personally i find bot to be the most unforgiving currently. If your bot lane gets behind the enemy gets free drags, a strong jungler and a late game adc hitting their powerspike by 20 minutes and annihilating your team

RalanrJun 29, 20171 votes

The only good thing bot gets is a late game they can farm to.

Starcraft243verJun 29, 20171 votes

Yeah but if the ennemies bot get their late before yours it's a nightmare as well.

Meep ManJun 29, 20173 votes

Easy. You endure. You let Top Lane mold you. You become one with the lane. You live and die in this hellish landscape. Then, in time, you will understand.

Umbral RegentJun 29, 20172 votes

I don't have any really solid advice, since most of my experience top lane is just playing random Champions and improvising, but, some good general advice would be:

Book up on anyone and everyone you could face. Knowing every Champion to some small extent will give you an edge in playing against them. It may influence your own picks (maybe the enemy top laner is Yasuo, so you play Vladimir because Transfusion ignores Wind Wall, etc.), or even influence your mode of play (going defensively against counter-engage champions like Kennen, or getting aggressive with farming champs like Nasus, etc.), but having a thorough knowledge of the 130~ Champions in League of Legends is a boon.
Find Champions you're comfortable playing. This comes in two forms: 1. Class, and 2. Kit. Maybe you like playing Juggernauts that are hard as hell to kill, so you pick up Illaoi for counter-engage strength and teamfight dominance. I could go on, but the gist of it is: Pick a Class and/or Subclass, find a Champion whose kit feels good to use, and take them top lane.
Be ready to switch modes on the drop of a hat. Yeahp, farming under turret isn't safe when your enemy laner is level 6, going 4/0 because your Jungler ganked after they killed you the third time and won't touch your lane anymore after that. Nope, matches usually don't get any better the more safe you play it, but being able to switch gears quickly and efficiently (going from tower-farming as Aatrox to tower-diving) can usually improve your game all-around.

And, with knowledge that getting owned in top lane sucks, here's some extra advice to take you off the eventual, inevitable tilt;

If ever you start getting pissed off, bent out of shape, or overall mad, in the small respites in the match (grey screen, walking back to lane, etc.), take deep breaths - four seconds in, seven seconds out. I can't guarantee it'll work, but breathing like that has helped me, so it's worth it to throw that in with some gameplay advice.

I hope this advice helps you, though at the same time I'm aware that it might not, considering how frequently I ad-lib in the top lane. I wish you luck as well in your future matches!

WitchQueen AnnieJun 29, 20172 votes

There is only one champion perfectly engineered to survive and prevail in the top lane: Renekton

He wins most match ups, of those he cannot, he can survive Infinite mana, has lots of sustain, has dash mobility (to outplay/out-trade), very high base damage, on-demand hard CC

When you walk into the lane the most important thing to do for the few minutes is NOT TO PUSH THE LANE. Whenever you attack, be careful about not pushing the wave... for more than half of the early game the minion wave should NOT cross the river.

Between Q, 2 dashes, autos (autos are important), and a stun you have the tools to outplay/out-trade most match ups. If you start losing, you have the option of hugging the tower (using Q to sustain damage off minions) and call for a Gank. Just tell your JG you have a POINT AND CLICK STUN and a dash and that if they Gank its probably a free kill. Renek is great at following up on Ganks.

Emerald FangJun 29, 20171 votes

True

ZapMyHeartJun 29, 20171 votes

Bot and mid lane is more unforgiving.

-Bot lane is a chaotic one with the lowered defense tower with the Dragon pit there. One death means entire bot lane is behind. A few more and that's 2 players shut down.

-Mid lane. Easiest lane to gank for jungler or roaming lane. With 2 side bushes, that's twice the need of wards that the mid lane needs to watch for.

-Top lane is probably the safest just because most of the time, you're farming. Not much distractions unless the enemy jungler decides to camp you. Herald's not as heavily contested, despite its sieging powers.

Starcraft243verJun 29, 20171 votes

-Top lane is probably the safest just because most of the time, you're farming. Not much distractions unless the enemy jungler decides to camp you. Herald's not as heavily contested, despite its sieging powers.

It's easier to get ganked on toplane though.

RalanrJun 29, 20171 votes

We adapt.