How do I ADC?

Chalze··1 votes·1,333 views

Ok so I haven't exactly played too many ADC games recently but for the ones I have played I've been having quite a lot of trouble having "enough" of an impact on a game. Most of the "contribution" I have to my team is protecting lanes from super minions alone while the rest of my team is out fighting (which I'm okay with, I'm not exactly in risk of dying and I'm also getting some nice gold) but obviously that's not gonna win you anything.

Issues I know I have that more or less comes with experience is probably CSing which I am absolutely horrendous at, especially in the early levels during laning phase so I'm constantly working on that.

My main issues are:

  • What do I do against assassins? For instance, I feel like if I'm in range to deal "sufficient" damage (not just poking with abilities) I'm in range to get blown up and of course, subsequently, where I'm safe, I'm not in range to deal "sufficient damage" to actually contribute in damage.

  • What do I do if my team has no sufficient frontlining capabilities? e.g. Overall squishier team comp. I've come across this time and time again where we lose a lot of upfront teamfights since our front line is weaker or non-existent and thus I don't really get much protection or room to breathe as a backliner. I'm not blaming lost fights on our frontliners not playing well, just that our frontliner champions are naturally weaker than theirs. A good example would be someone like Garen verses the enemy Malphite. Garen could pose a threat to perhaps just one person, but he's easily kited and ultimately, in order to "pose" a threat to the enemy threat, needs to rush/charge in alone deeper than everyone else, thus leaving the team. Of course on the other hand Malphite, if he lands one good R, their team wins the fight instantly. So, not players being better than one another, but champions who do a better job at teamfighting.

  • What do I do if my team is behind but keep forcing fights when I'm either not there or can't be there? e.g. I've had a game earlier today where my Fizz, despite being incredibly underfarmed kept wanting fights and perhaps due to his toxic nature, the rest of the team would rather fight to make him feel better instead of (on multiple occasions) protecting side lanes that are getting shoved in by massive minion waves. Every time they wanted a fight I was essentially stuck between choosing to fight with them and perhaps risk losing everything or going to protect side lanes from being shoved in but risk Fizz getting tilted out of his mind. On multiple occasions that game, I chose the latter, since as an ADC, if I have as much farm as possible, I "could" become the win condition, though of course at the expense of Fizz's feelings (which unfortunately I couldn't really empathize with). Ultimately they lose far more fights than they win and they blame me for not being there (which technically isn't wrong). Ultimately, what exactly do I do in cases like this?

  • Now this one's quite specific but it's a situation I run into basically every game (because I'm terrible). Let's say my turret goes down and my lane gets pushed to my inner turret. All is fine since I get more "room/safety" to CS said minion wave, however once I finish CSing said minion wave, I'm basically back to the "river line" which, without an outer turret, makes me super susceptible to being flanked, ganked and banked. I can't really ward up key entry points either since I could only really have 2 of my own wards maximum (trinket + Ctrl Ward [up to 3 with Klepto but I don't play Klepto ADCs like Ezreal]) and even if I do, everyone has a dash these days so they can just bypass the warded routes entirely to flank that way. Is there really a "remedy" to this? Or am I supposed to only last hit to make the wave push back as slow as possible for maximum safety time?

Basically a filthy unranked casual who still somewhat wants to be competent at ADCing in normals and have some form of contribution to the game.

3 Comments

Zardo2 votes

Basically, what you're supposed to do is play super, super, super far behind until the assassins burn their abilities on other people, then come in....

But in reality you really don't. The game is going to be decided by who's assassin/mage/bruiser is more fed in games without a frontline or proper peel unless you play a self peeling ADC, in which case you'll have some say.

Your last point comes down to tracking the enemy jg, a skill that you kind of have to figure out on your own or watch videos on. You can get deeper wards so you can spot the enemy right after they leave a camp and are in route to gank you if you manage to shove the wave.

novac37211 votes

Not an ADC main, but I do play a lot of support. Usually its the supports job to peel or heal/shield you from an assasin. As the ADC, you shouldn't push alone unless you are very far ahead. It's the nature of the role. If your team keeps forcing fight, you have to be there. Doesn't mean you win them, but a pick or two can pull you or your team back in. Just play like a coward hiding behind your team and autoing, thats your job.

As far as playing from behind, I think its very champ dependent. Ashe for example can still provide vision, allowing you to shove lane more and give your team vision. Letting you play safe while behind. Or you can go the Quinn route, and roam to help kill weaker enemies and/or take other turrets after farming your cs. Each ADC is a bit different, and you have to learn the niche of each one.

Also, learn what your support does. Knowing what they can do will tell you if you're going for a kill or just a trade. For example, a Poppy support can kill at lvl2, so if she lands a stun you're going for a kill. A Leona can all-in at lvl 2. A thresh at lvl 2 usually can't guarantee a kill off hook+flay. So in that case, you know if your thresh lands a hook, you trade and then back off. And eventually you get the damage to kill off 1 hook. Or with Rakan , learn his shield dash range. Because he wants to go in, do some damage/hit his Q, and then dash back to you. If you leave, he gets caught out and feeds, and then you get killed because the enemy adc is fed.

There are always exceptions, but those are the general ideas and I hope they help. Or you can be real cheeky n take Mordekaiser bot, solo the support and then 2v1 the adc.[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

vyoda1 votes

You probably already know this, but this is how you navigate team-fights as an ADC:

  1. Wait out/Side step dangerous cooldowns (hard CC such as Morg Q, Malph R, Neeko E; enemy burst such as Zed R, Ahri R-E-Q combo, Jhin 4th shot)
  2. Hit the nearest priority target (yes, if you can only safely hit their full tank Ornn, AA Ornn. If you can choose, however, between Ornn and their Supp Lux whose Q is on CD, the correct choice should be quite obvious)
  3. Repeat 1&2 until all enemies are dead OR it’s a losing fight and you have to retreat

Use summoner 4 and summoner 7 proactively. Don’t be afraid to use Heal if only for the MS boost, since it can help you dodge a deadly Malph R!

Playing safe champs like Caitlyn ,Ezreal ,Kaisa , and Xayah also helps.

As for clearing waves safely after you lose Bot turret, you probably need to work on Wave Management. Of which I won’t go into detail here.

Best of luck! [sg-kiko]

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