Noob Needs Help

WaC2·Jun 6, 2016·27 votes·3,212 views

Hey Everyone

I am a level 26 first account ever I only started playing a few months ago(+-2) I really enjoy this game but I am stuck for some reason I keep on struggling. Let me give you an idea of what I mean. I play darius Intermediate bots with a score of 16/2/10. Master Yi 25/5/6 Jinx 19/4/13 (this is about average) but as soon as I try to play PvP I end up with a score like Darius 4/16/3. Master Yi 3/22/1 Jinx 2/20/4. I mean I watched hundreds of videos and read through thousands of guides/Blogs and used many different builds from ranked members but still It seems that I cant get anywhere. I try to learn from my mistakes but it seems that as soon as I learn from one I make 10 different ones please can anyone assist me as I would really love to become a valued/Ranked Player.

Regards WaC2

49 Comments

redniwediSJun 6, 201617 votes

I try to learn from my mistakes but it seems that as soon as I learn from one I make 10 different ones

Welcome to League of Legends.

Consider it a good thing that you're noticing your mistakes immediately. There's a fair number of people on these boards who would rather focus on the mistakes of their allies, rather than what they can do to improve their own play. Looks like you've dodged a bullet on that one already. Knowing you're not perfect is the first step toward striving for perfection, after all.

I suggest you get into playing PvP right away. ARAM is a wonderful game mode to get you used to facing other players in a relatively non-serious environment. Work on getting some filled rune pages for the roles you enjoy playing and just keep practicing.

When you feel you're ready for Summoner's Rift try some empty custom games so you can practice last hitting your minions. Just by changing how you attack your minions you can adjust the way the lane is pushing. It's a great skill to learn that can help you when facing a difficult opponent.

Other than that just try to meet some people you can play with who are around your skill level. It's always more fun to learn and grow as a group than it is to play solo.

Best of luck out there!

NoksterzJun 6, 201613 votes

#1 stop playing against bots. Only play pvp. Bots are terrible and arent indicative of things real players do. You need to continue to play. Repetition is how you learn. You will catch on to things over time and get better and better.

IgotlazyJun 6, 20169 votes

In all honesty the Bots give you a pretty bad example of how real people play the game. They are very easily exploitable and tend to do the same things over and over again. Human players don't do that. I would suggest only playing real games from now on as it's pretty much the best way to learn. It's going to be tough, but eventually you'll get the hang of things.

A LiberalJun 7, 20164 votes

There are a couple reasons for this:

#1: KDA isn't everything in PvP Sure, you might already understand this, but using your KDA from a bot game vs KDA from a PvP game isn't a very good gauge of how well (or bad) you're doing. I have had games where I have been 0/5/0, and still carried the game through objective control and wards (I might be exaggerating a bit, but seriously Heimerdinger + item 3060 is some serious seige)

#2:** Players do things that bots can't** League is a game of micro-decisions, as well as instinct and split-second judgements. The jungler just destroyed that ward, where is he going? The enemies are missing, where are they? Should we forfeit dragon to take mid tower, or contest it?

Bots are made with very specific instructions as to where to go, what to do, and when to do it. They can not make objective calls, they can not itemize, and they can not take advantage of vision control. Players are very different in this way. They can do all of these things, and they do. Much in the same way, in a PvP game against someone like MasterYi , the enemy team might save their CC for when he dives in, whereas bots will just blow it on whoever is available. That is why you are able to completely steamroll these bots, but fail in PvP games.

#3: In bot games, you farm champions. In PvP, you farm minions I remember when I first started leauge one of the champions I picked up was Lux and I LOVED her because I could get items super quick, and it was so easy to snowball into a one shotting legend. When I got to PvP, I couldn't do anything it seemed like. I eventually took her to botlane and support became my main role (and still is for the most part) for a really long time. What was missing?

In the bot games, I could easily stun, burst, and ult champions into oblivion. In PvP, people will dodge your stuns, walk out of your spells, and just generally not be as predictable as bots. Because of this, you need to learn how to CS. It seems like, looking at your previous games, you tend to get your CS late (especially on yi, which is easy because q will one shot waves), but when CS matters most is in laning. You need to be able to hold a competitive gold edge against your enemy in order to survive lane and not allow them to snowball.

Some good tips for CSing are:

When under a tower, melee minions are two tower shots and one auto, and casters are one auto, tower shot, and then auto.
Save spells such as Ahri's Q for when you can't hit all of the low minions quick enough with auto attacks, or you will run out of mana quick.
When playing mages, it is useful to take the savagery mastery in the cunning tree.
Consider picking up some basic AD/AP rune pages to make CSing easier. Run AD/AS runes on everyone, even mages, for a bit until you can get the hang of how to CS
I know a champion that helped me learn how to CS was because her q is effectively a really strong auto attack that resets on kill. is a much harder champion but also shares this mechanic. (Kind of. Not really anymore, but the .5CD of E still helps to CS)

*If you are really dedicated to learning how to CS, go into a custom as your favorite champion to lane with and just last hit minion waves mid for 10-20 minutes. Try to look at your minimap often, keep wards up without losing farm, and to not push either way. It'll be hard, but once you can do it you'll skyrocket your gaming skill.

So I wrote a lot more than I intended but if you ever want to play a game you can always friend me and I can help you. I've taught three of my friends how to play the game so I'm used to new player mistakes and the sort.

Edit: you're EUW whoops oh well hope I still helped somewhat.

AkerasiJun 6, 20163 votes

Bots are VERY different than real players and real PVP games. You've likely learned as much as you can from them, and they've likely given you habits of going in too deep and not having vision set up. Even a poor Bronze 5 player can own the bots that hard as long as they're at least trying. What I'd honestly suggest most highly is finding at least one friend to play in voice with, who knows the role you intend to play, and have them critique your play.

DREADN0UGHTJun 6, 20163 votes

You suck at PvP because you don't see the enemy as humans.

Playing bots is fun, but you need to shift your mindset once you switch over to PvP. Its not AI anymore, they are humans with different skill sets and cognitive reactions.

Play safer, and use wards at this point.

I was LupxelJun 6, 20163 votes

Don't worry and get level 30. At the moment you get those "bad" scores become you are playing against smurfs (players who know the game - usually really well, and are on a new account ending up playing against new players who have little knowledge loke you). At level 30, they will play ranked games (u must have an idea of what it is) and you will play normals (in which you should play with people with the same skill as you). So don't worry, as the time passes you will get experience and get the scores as good (sometimes) as the ones you have in bots. Have fun, enjoy the game

xCupidJun 6, 20162 votes

Awesome! I'm glad you like it haha.

Here are some tips: When you play against bots, they don't really try to counter you. When you play against people, its the real deal. They will try to see: 1: How much farm you have (If you are behind on farm, they will take advantage of you) 2: What are you building? (Are YOU trying to counter them, or are they trying to counter you!) 3: Watch for ganks! (ward, ward, ward!) 4: Minons (Very important when you're trying to go in on someone. Never try to go in on your opponent when you have the back line minons or a cannon one. They WILL attack you and it won't be a really good trade. Let them attack first when you have your minions) In all, try your best to be on top of farm, and items.

FernantrollJun 6, 20162 votes

Useful information, i dare say.

Now, for a really new player, for example level 10 like me. I've been wondering about the PvP side of this game myself. How active are PvP Matches as last time i tried i couldn't get into a room. Granted i lasted like 30 Secs unlike VS Bot Matches I get spammed with match prompts and stuff and since I'm eager to play i can hold on for a whole 30 secs lmao.

But to be honest, i would like to try PvP for that reason, Bot get to a point in which they are predictable and constant in their attacks. It might tech you the basics of how to use your Champion but, at the end its still a Bot.

All that said, I would love to get in PvP and learn more and was wondering whats the impact in-game for losing so much in PvP Matches?

For the level i am i can't still play Ranked but before that i would like to play some PvP.

I too have seen a lot of videos but its rather hard for me to learn how to team play and learn more about lane work with people running around and not worrying about dragons (which i would like to learn more) or tactics which you DO learn in a PvP environment.

My question is, if i lose PvP matches, non-ranked. Is that a bad record that stays with you or you can build a better rank on th PvP Ranked matches (by the way, i know nothing form ranks and such).

Sorry to butt in, by the way.

May I Smell YouJun 6, 20161 votes

[deleted]

FernantrollJun 6, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Oracles Elixir,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GXWihKEd,comment-id=00090000,timestamp=2016-06-06T20:31:51.070+0000)

My question is, if i lose PvP matches, non-ranked. Is that a bad record that stays with you or you can build a better rank on th PvP Ranked matches (by the way, i know nothing form ranks and such).

Ranked has nothing to do with your normal matches. It is just for practice and for fun! The record always stays with you. It shows how many you have won and lost at the end of the game lobby. It doesn't do anything for you though.

If you want to, I can play a smurf game with you so you can see how it is!

I always though the Match History had something to do with PvP and Ranking system other than just letting people see what you do and how you suck or not.

As for the smurf game, I'll take that game anytime! (so long is night time) lol

May I Smell YouJun 6, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I always though the Match History had something to do with PvP and Ranking system other than just letting people see what you do and how you suck or not.

As for the smurf game, I'll take that game anytime! (so long is night time) lol

Match history is just something to look at, in my opinion haha No real reason to look at it. But you can also look at how other people build and the likes. That helps me out sometimes.

GaleWinUnleashedJun 6, 20161 votes

Disclaimer: Re-reading what I've written, this flows horribly. Hopefully I included the information you were looking for, even if it is a bit difficult to read =P

Co-op vs AI games have incredibly loose matchmaking requirements. Combined with the fact that the game doesn't have to construct a second team of similar skill, it makes queue times ridiculously short compared to PvP. Even so, unless you reach the upper levels of Ranked play, queues will very rarely exceed 2 minutes. PvP (specifically on the Howling Abyss and Summoner's Rift) has more players than Co-op. You'll almost never run into the same person twice (unless you both jump into queue again immediately after finishing a game together), and games are incredibly varied. I highly recommend playing ARAM if you're not comfortable jumping into the more complicated Normal games on Summoner's Rift; it's a great environment for seeing and playing loads of different champions, and learning what they do and how to dodge.

The first time you attempt placement matches for Ranked, matchmaking should be based loosely on your MMR (MatchMaking Rating) from Normal games. However, those placement matches quickly adjust your Ranked MMR as you win or lose, separating it from Normals (though in the long run you should end up at same level in both Normals and Ranked anyway). Once you get yourself established in Ranked, Normal games have no impact on your Ranked MMR, so you can experiment with new stuff in Normals (be reasonable with that, though; please don't play Janna as a jungler).

FernantrollJun 6, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Disclaimer: Re-reading what I've written, this flows horribly. Hopefully I included the information you were looking for, even if it is a bit difficult to read =P

Co-op vs AI games have incredibly loose matchmaking requirements. Combined with the fact that the game doesn't have to construct a second team of similar skill, it makes queue times ridiculously short compared to PvP. Even so, unless you reach the upper levels of Ranked play, queues will very rarely exceed 2 minutes. PvP (specifically on the Howling Abyss and Summoner's Rift) has more players than Co-op. You'll almost never run into the same person twice (unless you both jump into queue again immediately after finishing a game together), and games are incredibly varied. I highly recommend playing ARAM if you're not comfortable jumping into the more complicated Normal games on Summoner's Rift; it's a great environment for seeing and playing loads of different champions, and learning what they do and how to dodge.

The first time you attempt placement matches for Ranked, matchmaking should be based loosely on your MMR (MatchMaking Rating) from Normal games. However, those placement matches quickly adjust your Ranked MMR as you win or lose, separating it from Normals (though in the long run you should end up at same level in both Normals and Ranked anyway). Once you get yourself established in Ranked, Normal games have no impact on your Ranked MMR, so you can experiment with new stuff in Normals (be reasonable with that, though; please don't play Janna as a jungler).

Great, i got no problem playing or getting into PvP. I've always been somewhat afraid of a PvP Environment but it got to a point in which i really want to try what al the fuss is about in LoL and its PvP which I've been told is great.

As far as to know which Champion plays where, a few days ago i tried Master Yi on Jungle but i failed huge on it. But then i read, it's kinda hard without building Masteries and Runes (which i know nothing about yet, just noticed the 1 IP per 2nd tier so might as well build them)

I haven't been playing with many Champions yet, more like 4 or 5 and so far i'm loving Twisted Fate and Ashe, I've been learning their place on the map also.

But like i said, not afraid to try PvP. But the other side of the coin is. Its not always fun to play PvP with noobs on your Team and the harassing and such always, ALWAYS happens.

Protoform XJun 6, 20163 votes

PvP matches are really spotty and unpredictable before you hit 30. ARAM was how I learned most of my PvP skills pre-30 because it's so low pressure and the queue times are short, but as a consequence I had to work hard on my laning phase after hitting 30.

In answer to your real question, your unranked PvP matches (normals) won't tank your ranking, but honestly you should take your time before trying ranked if you want to place out of Bronze (or even just low Bronze) immediately.

FernantrollJun 6, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Protoform X,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GXWihKEd,comment-id=00090002,timestamp=2016-06-06T20:39:07.746+0000)

PvP matches are really spotty and unpredictable before you hit 30. ARAM was how I learned most of my PvP skills pre-30 because it's so low pressure and the queue times are short, but as a consequence I had to work hard on my laning phase after hitting 30.

In answer to your real question, your unranked PvP matches (normals) won't tank your ranking, but honestly you should take your time before trying ranked if you want to place out of Bronze (or even just low Bronze) immediately.

I see, Ranked is different. One more thing, regarding the Ranking system. For example that Low Bronze you mentioned, at some point if i get on it won't I be able to move up the Rank if i learn to play and stuff? Or will i just be there for ever?

May I Smell YouJun 6, 20161 votes

You can always climb the ranks if you get better. If you continue to make mistakes and don't really learn the game mechanically, you can be stuck there. I know people who climbed from Bronze to Gold. BUT you can always drop down in ranks, from Silver to Bronze for an example.

FernantrollJun 6, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=Oracles Elixir,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=GXWihKEd,comment-id=0009000200000000,timestamp=2016-06-06T22:22:43.821+0000)

You can always climb the ranks if you get better. If you continue to make mistakes and don't really learn the game mechanically, you can be stuck there. I know people who climbed from Bronze to Gold. BUT you can always drop down in ranks, from Silver to Bronze for an example.

Oh, so its no problem. to climb or to let yourself do down in rank. At the end of the day its a game and its meant to be fun. I rather start PvPing now and learn the hard way once than go easy and then go hard in the future.

May I Smell YouJun 6, 20162 votes

That is definitely the best way to do it! Better to learn now and instil what you can instead of rushing into ranked later on with the just experience of bot games. I almost did bots games to level 30 myself and I wasn't that good when it came to normals. (I hate PvP!) Climbing the ranks is one of the joys of the game. Just recently lost my Gold 2 promos haha Even though the game is meant to be for fun, people don't always take it that way so don't let the toxic/raging people get to you!

NoksterzJun 7, 20161 votes

A good rule of thumb is to not get into ranked play until you hit 500 normal wins on summoners rift. Thats a lot of games but trust the advice of ppl who have been playing this game for years.

Jungle Lux GodJun 6, 20162 votes

Honestly, I wish I started PVP at your level. The value of playing against a real player is so much different than a bot because the bot is constant in everything it does while a real player will vary what it does from game to game mostly because it's a different player. However, even a single player can react to a single situation differently in multiple situations, which makes you react differently to their reactions, and overall makes no two situations entirely the same.

Normal matches run on a different matchmaking rating than ranked matches, so any matches you win or lose in PVP unranked games will not affect your PVP ranked games when you reach level 30. I recommend getting happy with losing a lot of matches because even though that's not what you want, it's what is likely going to happen. Even the best players in the world don't get 100% win/loss ratios, and it's unrealistic for less skilled players to expect it. In my opinion, the time below level 30 should be spent less on trying to do everything to win and spent more on learning and having fun playing the champions you enjoy since you started playing the game.

Jungle Lux GodJun 6, 20162 votes

Imagine you have two ladders. One is a 6 meters tall and the other is 10 meters tall. You need to use one of these ladders to climb a building. You climb the wall with the 6 meter ladder, but when you reach the top you realize that the ladder isn't long enough, and you need to climb down and use the 10 meter ladder instead.

Now imagine yourself at the top of the 6 meter ladder. That symbolizes where you are currently when you play bot games. Then imagine yourself on the 10 meter ladder. That symbolizes where you want to be in PVP games.

The path from the 6 meter ladder to the 10 meter ladder signifies the path you must take from being good in bot games and bad in PVP to being good in both bot and PVP games. It doesn't look that far, but the path you must take between the two is a lot longer and takes a lot more effort than it seems at first.

I remember when I first started playing PVP myself. I basically leveled my account up to around level 22 or 23 playing almost exclusively beginner bots, and when I tried to PVP I just got bodied. It was rare that I would get a kill and when I did get a kill it was usually a low health enemy in my face that was impossible to miss. At the time, it felt awful, but as I kept playing more and more and got better and better I started understanding how to play better against players that had a brain.

What also helped on my end was that I also played a lot of modes that weren't on Summoner's Rift. I used to play a lot of Dominion, ARAM, and a little bit on the Twisted Treeline because those were the heavy PVP modes. Dominion and ARAM are basically built around being almost exclusively built for PVP, and playing on those maps offered a stress-free mode where you could practice playing against other players. Dominion obviously isn't available anymore, but ARAM definitely is, and you can play a lot of games on that map to help improve yourself against other players. Play a lot of ARAM until you feel like you can actually play against actual players in a Summoner's Rift game, and you will likely feel a noticeable difference.

Serpents EmbraceJun 7, 20162 votes

Honestly, you sound like you're doing fine.

The reason you're dying a lot more in PvP probably just means that you should stop playing Bots. Bots make it easy to win a game off of killing opponents regularly, and you're probably dying excessively trying to pull that off in a regular game. If you continue to play PvP, you'll be able to practice getting ahead by cs or cooperative plays instead of murdering a helpless AI. Plus, you don't get a lot of ward practice in Bot games because you don't really need them.

You're also probably dying a lot to smurfs, as that's a pretty common occurrence. And being non-30 means that you're also probably losing some fights because you're a Quintessence down on the opponent, or your Rune/Mastery bonuses are just a hair weaker because you're lower level than them.

I think throwing yourself in to PvP full time will help you feel out these scenarios and it'll be easier to react to them because you have more experience dealing with them.

The DeckownerJun 7, 20162 votes

stop playing bots when you are already lv26. the fact that you started playing pvp this late is the reason why your enemy seem to be much better than you.
bots=/=human, they act like they are programmed, while every human play differently.
you die in bit games...learn to play safe.
play more pvp, learn from practice.
don't play ranked when you reach lv30.

Friendly RamJun 6, 20161 votes

Do you have a full rune page? And what were the matchups that you got those scores in?

AmelieJun 6, 20161 votes

Some things just need time. Try more PVP games than bot games. Are you dying more in lane or in teamfights? If it's in lane, you're probably getting harassed when you try to hit minions. (Bots are not very good at harass.)

Practice last hitting minions because this will be the main source of your income. In bots, you get most of your gold from just killing the bots. Keep in mind that enemies will want to hit you when you are trying to get minions. People tend to stay still (and don't fight) when going for a minion. You can use this against them by using skills on the enemy when they move in for a last hit. Watch your positioning and theirs.

SwiftKitten88Jun 6, 20161 votes

wait till your lvl 30, once you hit lvl 30 the smurfs will be playing ranked and you wont be fighting plat + players anymore

May I Smell YouJun 6, 20161 votes

Have you ever thought of having a friend or someone spectate your game and give you pointers? Looking at a guide can only do so much. You already know you make mistakes and can point them out, that is the first step.

Warding, CSing, harassing, counter-building, team fighting and so many more factors go into the game. As redniwediS said, definitely go into a custom game and practice your CS. I do that even though I don't play a role that needs it. It is always a good skill to have, especially under tower.

duck stuffJun 6, 20161 votes

Sounds like your problem is that you can maybe get kills in the early game, but you can't translate that to a late game?

If that's the case, look to group and just focus on either pushing, farming, or taking an objective. Team fight only when you deem necessary, meaning that you either have an advantage on the opponent or it's equal grounds (5v5, 3v3, ect..).

ArthimetesJun 6, 20161 votes

You can never truly learn how to play a game in PVP against bots, not in any game ever.

Bots are predictable, they follow a pattern and react the same every time EX: "I'm at 50% hp losing 15% per second, retreat" or "enemy at 20% hp, I'm at 100% hp, engage"

People are dumb, and you said it yourself, you, and all people, make mistakes, dumb plays, idiotically genius plays, and are utterly unpredictable.

My advice: spam PVP, not Bots, you'll improve MUCH faster that way. You might even want to try making a new account to train on and play pvp only once it unlocks, that way you're not raged at by lv 30's on your screw-ups.

Solari FortuneJun 6, 20161 votes

It all just comes with Try Fail Try Again until you get it down

RavenstikerJun 6, 20161 votes

Try aram to improve a little if you dont feel like playing normal games (some champions build a little differently in aram tho so keep watch)

Sum Wun SpeshalJun 7, 20161 votes

So, I'm not really in the position to give valuable advice but your question intrigues me, so I am going to respond anyway. I'll try to keep it simple.

Pick a champion you really really like and spam matches until you feel comfortable on him/her That's why I wouldn't suggest ARAM for new players. ARAM is definitely less stressful but it requires basic knowledge about all roles, all abilities and all item builds. If you spam a single champion you get to learn about positioning, cooldowns and whatnot. By that I mean general knowledge about the boundaries of your champion, like "How much damage can I take?", "How much damage does my full combo deal?", "How much damage can I take before I have to flash?", "What is my primary task in a teamfight?", "Can I splitpush safely without getting caught?" and many others. I would say that the first two questions I listed are the most important to get a good grasp of your champion.
Know how to play a specific position Now, this goes kinda hand in hand with the first point, but just so you know, a lot of things you learn about your champion has to do with the role you're playing your champion in. Bot lane plays quite differently in terms of playstyle compared to top lane for example. Top lane, for example, is often known to be a pillow fight lane. The champions that lane against each other are quite beefy and can survive a full combo from the enemy top laner. Bot lane, on the other hand, is mostly the supports harassing each other to let their adc farm as freely as possible. In fact, for the adc it is just a farmfest for the first couple of minutes to gain enough gold for their expensive items as they don't have a lot of damage to kill one of the two enemy laners anyway. I know there are plenty exceptions but to set a general scheme, this works quite well.
Key bindings and settings It is important that you feel comfortable on your mouse and keyboard. Adjusting certain key bindings to make them easily reachable is a good way to improve immediately. Smart Casting (with or without Indicators) will make your spell rotation a lot faster. This is just one of many examples. You said that you like to play Jinx so I would suggest that you learn a thing or two about kiting and "attack moving". I don't want to get too much in detail as this post is getting pretty long already but I'll be happy to help you if you want to know more about this. Just know for now that it is absolutely normal to fail as an adc. After all, it is the most demanding role mechanically.
The concept of snowballing League of Legends is all about snowballing. If you kill people you get a lot of gold, you gain bonus experience from that kill, you get free farm and you prevent your opponent from gaining experience and gold. This puts him at a disadvantage. When he comes back to lane, you'll be a lot stronger. If the opposite happens to you, you have to know that and you have to adapt. The next trade you'll do with your opponent will most likely end badly for you, so farming up and waiting for help is a better method to come back from a disadvantage. This was something I didn't want to realize in the first few weeks I played this game. I would play it like Call of Duty and expect to kill my opponent although I was under-leveled and died a couple of times to him before.
Know when you tilt / when you misplayed because you panicked Because of the last point, League tends to get emotional pretty quickly. Know at which point you're making dumb decisions because you get angry. This is not a therapeutic advice I am giving here. This will come with experience. At some point you just have seen too much shit to get angry about it anymore. If you happen to panic in some situations, this is totally normal. This has nothing to do with your mechanical skill. It just means you haven't encountered this specific situation often enough to anticipate and react fast enough. The next time you'll see this situation, you'll know better.
Copy what good players do There is a variety of different formats you can watch or read that teaches about League. I totally get if you don't want to read extensive guides (most of them are trash anyway). What I am trying to say is that there is a bunch of League related content on the internet and I am sure there is something that you'll find entertaining. I'll give you all the input I watch or read and I'll try to categorize them in what they are.

Comedic League youtube channels: SivHD, VideoGameDunkey (Rip Dunkey), Sky Williams uncut gameplay League youtube channels: Redmercy, Tekk Twitch streams: Imaqtpie, Scarra, Dyrus Databases that contain useful information about builds, win rates, pick rates etc.: probuilds.net, champion.gg, op.gg, leagueofgraphs.com, nerfplz.com website to stay up to date with releases, upcoming events and LCS: [email protected]

Stay up to date with the meta By no means should you play a champion only because he is strong. This game is about fun in the first place, so play whatever you want. However, it is always helpful to know which champion, which items or which strategies are strong at the moment.

I hope I didn't intimidate or bore you with all this information. I know I was pretty vague on a lot of topics but going into detail and giving examples for every principle would have extended the post even further. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Just so you know, there may be some questions I won't be able to answer because I still have to learn a lot as well. I hope you'll get the results you want ASAP :)

ReDesignJun 7, 20161 votes

You just really gotta dive into way more PvP many times till you get the better hang of it

WheatloafJun 7, 20161 votes

A couple easy and important things to do:

First, find a champion and a role you like. Pretty simple, no real explanation needed. There may not be a single champion or a single role with which you are most comfortable, but finding the general area in which you have the most fun is important to keeping yourself motivated.

And second, don't strictly stay within your comfort zone once you find it. There are a lot of things in each role, and on each champion, that are easier and harder to learn than others. Try out freeweek champions. Take a swing at a role that you're really not that great with. Finding your favorite role(s) and champion(s) is great for keeping yourself motivated, but until you get the basics of each role down, trying them all out is the best way to improve. Once you're confident in your ability to play any and every role without feeding your ass off, grind the fuck out what you've decided your main will be.

SnowplosionJun 7, 20161 votes

I would suggest playing more PvP. Helps you get used to not playing against real people, who would make humans mistakes and weird plays.

SrirachaLimesJun 7, 20161 votes

Hey there, I am also a relatively new player (compared to many others), since I started out in S5 in January last year. Now I've just reached Plat 5. Here are a couple tips that will help out:

Treat PvP like a casual and normal game mode. The more you play it the better you will become. Don't be too cautious about it. League was the first MOBA game I've ever done. As soon as I could play PvP, I did that as much as possible and never looked back to bots. I'm just one of those people who thinks playing PvE is boring compared to PvP in a single game, so PvP became normal to me. Once it becomes normal to you, you can more accurately improve upon your skill. Otherwise, you'll consider it a "special" game mode compared to bots and won't be able to practice as much. I honestly haven't had too much of a problem with toxicity and such in norms, so don't worry about it. Some people recommend ARAM instead, but really you're going to get the best practice in norms. Even when I hit level 30 I didn't immediately play ranked - I just kept practicing in norms, going against people who were around silver or even sometimes gold. It was great practice, regardless of whether or not I lost.
Play a bunch of different champions when you can. Learning their abilities and cooldowns will help you lane against those same champs, since you know how they play. This naturally happens as you play League, though, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. You'll also start to narrow down which kinds of champs you like to play over others. For me, it was mostly AP champs that were immobile mages or tanks with CC.
Try to lane against skill-shot oriented champions as much as possible (especially people like Xerath or Brand) to help you dodge skill shots. Dodging skill shots improves your play so much that you will be amazed how much better you perform. Likewise, learning to land them is a big deal too. I'm sure you've heard of the classic tactic: watch how your opponent CS's, and when your opponent goes in to get a CS, use your skillshots based on where they walk.
CS'ing is huge. Getting better at CS will get you more gold, more items, more damage, and more kills to take objectives. Focusing on this instead of harassing is best, especially when behind. There's no set amount, but aim for more CS than your lane opponent. Having better CS than an opponent is better than having more kills. Kills aren't all that great after a while - the worth of the people you kill becomes less and less the more they die. Meanwhile, CS remains constant gold source. I've seen people go 0/5 but still do crap tons of damage because they were CS'ing properly the whole game (besides the parts where they died a lot).
Be flexible in your build paths. I am guilty of doing this on my main champ (Vel since his rework), but don't stick to a rigid build path. Does the enemy team have champs that rely on AS (here comes point 2, knowing different champs, like most ADCs, Master Yi, Xin, WW, etc.)? Get frozen heart/randuins (especially for crit). Itemize based on what you need for the enemy team. Know if you should choose Banshee's or Spirit (or, in the rare cases, both!). Make sure to upgrade trinket. Etc. etc.
I know I said in part 2 to learn a bunch of champs, but that's just the basics. It's best to learn a small pool of champs VERY WELL that you can be extremely reliable on (anywhere from 1 to 5 or something). Example: I play primarily Vel'Koz and Zac in ranked, with some backups. Knowing how these select few champs work and all their nuances will improve gameplay a lot.

Lestat S46Jun 7, 20161 votes

LoL is not an easy game. It looks simple on the surface but there is SOOOOO MUCH thats actually going on. Between champion kits and their synergy with your allies or opposite with the enemy. Items synergy with and against everyone. There is a massive amount of information and with each new item and champion that library multiplies.

You should have stopped fighting bots after lvl 5 and moved on to players. Bots are just a place to test out a champs skills and maybe a weird build before you go into pvp and screw over your team on something your not familiar with.

Watch A LOT of youtube videos and read A LOT of guides.

You've screwed yourself over by playing bots so much and are now playing vs people your level who have been actually learning how to play since lvl 5ish. So now youve got to play catch up by doing research.

ArakadiaJun 7, 20161 votes

When you engage into a fight, think. "Where are some of the enemies, might they ambush me?" and "Do I have the advantage here?" and watch the map. If you watch the map you can see people roam. Never go into a fight 1v2+ unless their both significantly low and/or your ahead, or an ally is coming. Focus on cs, as around 13 cs = one kill of gold. If your 0/2/1, dont try to fight the enemy unless they are much lower in health/mana or you have an advantage in numbers. I repeat as even silvers dont realize they will not be able to win a fight against the enemy if they are that behind (0/2/1 or worse). If you are greedy or risky you will likely dig yourself in a deeper pit.

Try to balance between attacking an enemy and cs'ing. If the enemy just harassed you, maybe harass back, but always try to attack them as they make their exit. Overall, make sure you dont go into a 1v3 or wander alone. Pay close attention to if enemies are missing on the map and stick with your allies in a group late game.

RisenDarkKnightJun 7, 20161 votes

As the other commenters have said, really the best thing to do is play pretty much only PVP. You can try out a new champion for the first time in Coop vs ai, but playing with bots doesn't teach you very much.

Matchmaking will be terrible and queue times will be long until you hit lvl 30, but it gets much better after that as way more active players are lvl 30 and the game will have been able to seperate you from the smurfs that are common pre 30. While you may have trouble in the matches pre-30 and run into smurfs a lot, you can still learn something from each of you games. Stomping bots more really won't teach you what you are doing wrong. You can't expect to get way more kills than deaths in PVP as you should be matched against equally skilled players. You'll improve eventually!

P.S. Make sure you are playing with you camera unlocked (so you can move it around when your cursor hits the edge of the screen), and have "Quick Cast" with range indicators turned on. P.P.S. As other people have advised, don't start playing ranked as soon as you hit lvl 30. Make sure you have got at least 6 champions (3 in each of the two roles you want to main) to mastery lvl 4. In addition, you should have played every role a few times, and know what EVERY champion in the game does.

Only play champions that you have played at least 5 times before in ranked, and make sure you have a full rune page for them. You can use Champion.gg or probuilds.net to get the rune set ups.

WolfBVJun 7, 20161 votes

I suggest building item 3071 first on Darius instead of item 3748

CordexJun 7, 20161 votes

Darius item 3071 item 3065 First 2 items

TheOvermindJun 7, 20161 votes

U need to develop farming skills , practice last hitting with farm intensive champions like nasus, or karthus. Forget kills. Focus on farm and later on objectives. You will get people walk in to you at ur level. Legit once u master playing safe and farming you can switch to your aggressive laners like darius and jinx. Coming from a nasus main that used nasus to climb all the way from broNze 4 then switching to darius in silver and is now gold and still climbing as a 200k mastery lv7 zilean main

DeathBurstJun 7, 20161 votes

There are plenty of great detailed answers already, so I'll just give you a quick tip.

Judging by your KDA, you are far too aggressive and greedy. You MUST NOT die as much. The problem is not having only 3 kills, even if it's low. The problem is dying 15-20 times. This is many thousands of gold that you gave to the enemy team. Don't start a fight if some of the enemy players are not visible on the minimap. Don't start a fight unless you're 200% sure that you can win, because with your experience, you'll forget something (it's normal, don't worry), and your "200% easy kill" will actually be "wow, I survived with 50 hp". When you'll get more experience, you'll be able to reduce your margin of security, and you may go for a kill when you're only 110% sure, and get away with it. But err on the side of too safe, and become bolder and bolder with experience, best way to go.

DrugothJun 7, 20161 votes

Give yourself a break, human opponents are a hell of a difficulty spike opposed to bots. You can abuse the bots AI and you can predict what they will do pretty easily. Human players are a lot more cunning and need to be approached carefully.

One tip i have for you is to just assume each player you play against is far smarter, faster and experienced than you. Approach them like they can and will kill you if you slip up once. Tighten up your game, put more vision down, keep an eye on the minimap. But most of all, keep your enemy guessing. It's better to be making your plays first and forcing them to react to your actions. The moment they take the lead and you're stuck backpedalling it will snowball out of control.

It is going to take more than 2 months for you to "get good" just keep practicing. Remember, watching videos can be educational, but the real learning experience is from doing.

EmollientNut0Jun 8, 20161 votes

I agree with the top poster for sure, noticing that you're making mistakes is the biggest obstacle to get better! Though a big factor that I'm not sure anyone's touched on yet is simply the gap between what the AI thinks is a good decision, and what human players think one is. There's a competely different level of movement prediction, teamwork, and don't forget human players will also have higher base stats given that they have runes and masteries, where for some reason they never incorporated that in to bots. It's possible your own damage gap is giving you problems too based on the extra armor they have form runes! I'm sure there's still a lot for all of us to learn at this game, so good luck friend. [slayer-jinx-catface]

CppLJun 8, 20161 votes

Stop playing with bots.They are usless.you not gonna learn anything from them.

SlaktarTaskenJun 8, 20161 votes

If you want someone to play and learn with I'd happily help out, I'm not a master or anything, just another gold scrub, but lately I've started feeling like I'm more interested in helping the community/players improve and learn the game ( I think that might be a way to help myself improve as well) than just solo playing.

Just add SlaktarTasken in game, good luck regardless.