I keep seeing people say their KDA is a number

RookPusher·Jul 21, 2017·1 votes·466 views

like 2.34. How is this being calculated, and is there a place that will average your last 20 ranked games, or do I can to do this by hand?

16 Comments

nm1010Jul 21, 20171 votes

Op.gg or sites like it will do previous 20 games or KDA overall on a champion

https://i.gyazo.com/b0f664738018b95557f9b6a2b038ba00.png

https://i.gyazo.com/8c22da420379c96f13f18a11d305c71d.png

RookPusherJul 21, 20171 votes

Thanks.

Mysticman89Jul 21, 20171 votes

KDA as a number is generally (Kills+Assists)/Deaths. Many third part sites will calculate this for you, but it's straightforward math to do by hand.

Some people just look at Kills/Deaths although that's not technically kda.

RookPusherJul 21, 20171 votes

Ok, so I'm looking at mine now and it seems bad, so I have two follow up questions:

As a support, I assume I shouldn't change anything since assists are factored in the same as kills.
I read you need a 3 before you start climbing. Is this accurate?

MooshJul 21, 20171 votes

Supports like janna often have higher kda than other champs

Kda doesnt mean anything you can climb with a kda less than 1

AnastaeciaJul 21, 20171 votes

What's the question on 1?

2 - Your KDA doesn't indicate anything as far as climbing. You will have different KDAs in diff roles and on diff champs all else being equal. What you should focus on is deaths. Try to keep it around 3.

Especially as supp, there are much more important things to worry about than KDA anyway. Warding prob being number 1. Most of your games, you don't even buy Control Wards, and then when you do, it's 1-2. As a supp, you should be going through those things like water. AND keep that Sightstone going. Good warders avg about 1 ward placed/min. So in a 30m game, you should have placed about 30 wards. THEN watch the wards on the mini and ping, Wards don't help if you don't use em. ALSO, kill enemy wards. If you see a ward placed so you know it's there....use a Control to get rid of it...75g is super cheap if it saves 1 life.

RookPusherJul 21, 20171 votes

You're saying you use Control Wards even when you've already got one on the field?

Mysticman89Jul 21, 20171 votes

If the control ward is somewhere where it's not actually denying useful vision and hence being contested (and hence probably destroyed), it's probably not in a good location.

But yes, moving up (or occasionally back) control wards with the game flow is an important skill.

Also you seem to typically not have a sweeper, so while you probably should get one since vision denial is important, if you are going without then you'd need loads more control wards just to clear out enemy wards. Plenty of high tier support players will carry around 3 control wards while having one placed already, and then place control wards just to clear wards they saw placed while their sweeper was on cooldown.

RookPusherJul 21, 20171 votes

I tend not to get sweeper because:

I'm in Bronze, and the frequency of warding is intermittent
Given that I try to build Ruby Sightstone, Far Sight ward has a 20% CDR, dramatically increasing my ability to create vision.
Typically the jungler is building a sweeper

Furthermore, if Control Wards are expected to be used that frequently - and I appreciate that information, I've never thought of them that way (both you and Anastaecia) - then why isn't Riot giving us an 8th slot just for CW?

Mysticman89Jul 21, 20171 votes

If you play like a bronze, you'll stay bronze, so doing as other bronze people do is not necessarily wise. Good habits of at least checking for wards instead of assuming things are unwarded are good to build up, and pay off when you do clear out vision and save yourself (and/or your jungler) some time. (Plus, you get xp for clearing wards, which can add up.)

An extra CW slot is something many people would like to have. There probably is something to be said about strategic buys weighing the pros/cons of using up your last slot on CWs or a more conventional item though, and it may not be super trivial for them to add a special slot that only works for the one item type. Perhaps someday.

AnastaeciaJul 21, 20171 votes

Yes. Contrary to what people think, they are not meant to be a "let me place this in a spot no one checks and hope it lasts all game" ward. That's what I first thought....

But stop and think. As supp I often place my first one in the tri-bush by my outer tower (so we don't get a surprise enemy jg flank) until we get through laning. Lots of times, it will just stay there long after. What good is it in a part of the map that isn't being used? So I started placing 1 here and 1 there later in the game, but would still last awhile and again, be in a part of the map where it isn't really needed. NOW, I always buy 3 if I have the gold, and I use them for everything (killing known enemy wards, killing invisible traps, as a norm ward if my SS is out and I Need vision).

Mysticman89Jul 21, 20171 votes

Your KDA isn't directly related to your ability to climb, so you don't 'need' any particular KDA to climb. In principle someone could have a kda<1 and still be climbing, if their deaths were the result of game winning sacrifice plays (or more realistically, someone who split pushed all game and had very few kills+assists [and probably few deaths too] so got tons of objectives).

That said, supports generally have kits that allow them to be good at surviving (and are relatively low priority targets), so they should die very little. They're also going to typically be empowering carries and making plays, and with stuff like redemption/locket for teamfights getting 5 assists in a fight is pretty common, so having a 3+ kda should be pretty easy most games if you're doing it right.

RandomoniumJul 21, 20171 votes

If you're sacrificing yourself at the right times for the right reasons then at the very least you should be picking up a few assists. This will lead you to having a decent KDA.

If you're a split pusher then your job is pretty much to never die since you can't create pressure if you're dead and the sole purpose of s split pusher is to create pressure. So even if you have low kills or assists your deaths should be much lower than that and therefore your KDA shouldn't be abysmal.

KDA isn't everything but if you are really focused on improving then you should be extremely critical of yourself every time you die.

Mysticman89Jul 21, 20171 votes

Yeah the number of times where deaths are actually 'necessary' or even 'the right play' are very few if any (maybe hurling yourself into baron/elder pit and stealing it). Having a high kda is certainly correlated with better play, which in turn is likely to produce more wins and hence cause climbing. Lots of low elo players in particular will say various deaths were 100% their teams fault, but often it's them actually being out of position given that X was fed or that their was no vision or whatever.

Still, point is it's not 100% necessary to have any particular KDA. There are even somewhat silly trynda playstyles where (to prove a point to kill obsessed lower elo players generally) they not only get no kills, they go out of their way to do 0 damage to champions, and still win games with their constant pressure and objective taking. They might only die once or twice, but with 0 kills, it's a KDA of 0.

RandomoniumJul 21, 20171 votes

True.

If you are playing correctly then you will have a high KDA (except for very particular scenarios like proxy singed.) However, if you have a high KDA then you are not necessarily playing correctly.

RandomoniumJul 21, 20171 votes

KDA is just one stat of many. That said, if youre playing correctly then you should have a high KDA because you won't be dying much. However, having a high KDA does not mean you are playing correctly (you may be playing too passively to try and artificially increase your KDA.)

In general, you should be looking to create maximum pressure possible on the map while simulataneouly relieving as much pressure from your team all while minimizing how often you die. That last part is extremely important. Dying effectively puts your team in a 4v5 for a certain period of time and makes it extremely difficult for them to create any pressure on the map. Any time you die you should be thinking critically and asking yourself: