I've always played ranged champs, no matter the game it's always mages, archers etc but I would like to give the front line a chance. Any tips for a melee rookie?
Also any ideas on some champs to try out? Something super tanky like Poppy or Mundo or maybe a fighter like Pantheon? Diana also looks kinda fun.
Any tips would be much appreciated!
MLDzXnRRR1 votes
Try these
Fondling Gems1 votesNo. If someone isn't accustomed to the role I would say don't try most of those. Keep to simpler ones that give the ability to engage from range like you are used to. Naut and Wu are good choices. GP isn't terrible for transitioning but he is pretty mechanically complex so i would avoid him for that reason alone.
Quil Evrything1 votesThere are two very different classes: full tank, and "bruiser". choose carefully.
full tank: garen, mundo, malphite, .. zac? .... bruiser: darius, trundle, (jayce), ?
each takes a different playstyle. pick one and try to understand it fully
Erockandroll1 votes[{quoted}](name=Quil Evrything,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=WrH1XZXp,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-11-25T06:00:26.958+0000)
There are two very different classes: full tank, and "bruiser". choose carefully.
full tank: garen, mundo, malphite, .. zac? .... bruiser: darius, trundle, (jayce), ?
each takes a different playstyle. pick one and try to understand it fully
Given Riots new direction with the Sub classes, I wouldn't confuse full tanks (Sion, Malphite, Maokai) with the Juggernauts (Garen, Darius, Mundo) While they may have similar Itemization, they fill slightly different roles.
A good Juggernaut will Have High defenses and moderate sustained damage, And can certainly hurt, but usually lacks the Mobility to be the teams main engage. True tanks (Or as Riot calls them Vanguards) Have the High defenses, Large amounts of CC, perhaps some damage in the form of Burst. (But less than a mage though) And Vanguards do in fact have the Engage tools necessary to start a team fight.
The big question is, do you want to start team fights, or do you want to be a threatening damage source in said fight?
Handy Sandy 1 votes[{quoted}](name=Quil Evrything,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=WrH1XZXp,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-11-25T06:00:26.958+0000)
There are two very different classes: full tank, and "bruiser" choose carefully.
full tank: garen, mundo, malphite, .. zac? .... bruiser: darius, trundle, (jayce), ?
each takes a different playstyle. pick one and try to understand it fully
Aren't the tanky classes vanguard and warden? Garen is more of a vanguard since he's offensive isn't he with his pure damage ult? Same with malphite. The other class, Warden, are tanks with a bunch of cc as their main threat. 
Jayce doesn't have anywhere near the utility to be a tank.
Quil Evrything1 votesgarens primary attribute is DEFENSE.
both his passive and his W, are all about defense.
yes he can damage. But if you have a garen on your team, he's normaly expected to be THE TANK.
Unless you have a major major other tank.
Garen ideally builds almost pure tank, then relies on his ult-passive to do damage to "the villain".
black cleaver is nice to have.. but most times I endup having to gbuild it as 3rd item.
Garen's all about surviving to level 16, at which point, he gets stupidregen from passive levelup, PLUS massive true damage from level 3 ult on villain.
other than that, I think what you said is pretty much true.
btw, jayce makes a good spot-bruiser if you build sunfires, and then his E(?), does lots of obnoxious aoe damage. So against Ad team, he has good survivability, ANd good damage. (percent-maxhealth!!)
Erockandroll1 votesJust as a starter, you might try Mundo. Because of his cleavers, you can still have some range influence, so it might be a good way to ease into the role. And this is a personal bias, but I prefer tanks and Juggernauts over Skirmishers and divers. But with Mundo, you will have a lot of HP, a lot of Regen and a pretty good damage to Defense ratio.
Mountain Warden1 votesI'm a fan of Garen. No mana, no skill shots. Spin to win baby!!
Troy2426211 votesSTILL ORBWALK. It's the difference between getting kited and getting that last hit to get the kill.
SGT Dingle Berry1 votesSTILL ORBWALK. It's the difference between getting kited and getting that last hit to get the kill.
Not sure I know the proper terminology but orbwalk is to click past your opponent during each AA cool down correct?
As for the other questions I'm not kill hungry, I'm thinking of starting with something super tanky so it's a little more forgiving if I slip up.
God Raijin1 votesOne tip, Often (but not always) engaging into 5 opponents can just get you completely burst, unless you can CC most of them (like 
Even if you are full tank, defensive stats just don't feel great these days. It's really great as a front-liner if you can get a mini pick in a fight and then transition onto the rest of their team for Example Can make good picks with his Q, and then R someone else basically creating an immediate 5 V 4.
Also the thing about being a melee champ going in to fight; Think about what each champion on your team does, sometimes if they are slow and have no mobility, they may not be able to follow you up no matter how great that "5 man ult" was. Your team's positioning is just as important as yours and the enemy team's
Fondling Gems1 votesKeeping in mind you probably want to stick to champs that are able to engage from range since that is the distance you are accustomed to attacking from I will throw a number of different options at you.
Tanks: These guys are big and beefy. They aren't going to die so easily but they aren't going to put out the damage you expect them to.
Good engage and AA's are essential to his passive. He will help you adjust w/o having to worry about getting in close.
His passive will sustain you through the poke you aren't used to avoiding. He also has a big movespeed boost and is both safe and aggressive. A good champion in general for learning to play Melee.
Bruisers: These guys are gonna be closer to the damage you are used to dealing but they tend to be a bit more complex than Tanks.
He has both damage and a gapcloser. Definitely a good choice for learning the role.
The hardest part of melee champs is dealing with kiting. Olaf will just burst through that so it is one less thing you have to worry about.
*I simplified the classifications because I wanted to prevent confusion and organized by the role they feel most like.
The champs you mentioned.
Poppy is a fine choice.
Mundo is good if you just want to dip your toe since you can fall back on your ranged methods with his Q, but he isn't strong and if you want to really learn melee champs he isn't the best choice. Up to you.
Panth is good. He gives you his Q to fall back on and his passive will help prevent harass.
I would steer away from Diana since she is an assassin, which I am guessing you aren't used to playing and they come with their own range of difficulties, so I would stay away from them. She also has one of the most unique and unusual skillshots in the game and hitting it is core to her kit.
Asayake 5150glow1 votes[{quoted}](name=Fondling Gems,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=WrH1XZXp,comment-id=0006,timestamp=2016-11-25T06:15:29.578+0000)
Keeping in mind you probably want to stick to champs that are able to engage from range since that is the distance you are accustomed to attacking from I will throw a number of different options at you.
Tanks: These guys are big and beefy. They aren't going to die so easily but they aren't going to put out the damage you expect them to.
Bruisers: These guys are gonna be closer to the damage you are used to dealing but they tend to be a bit more complex than Tanks.
*I simplified the classifications because I wanted to prevent confusion and organized by the role they feel most like.
The champs you mentioned.
Poppy is a fine choice.
Mundo is good if you just want to dip your toe since you can fall back on your ranged methods with his Q, but he isn't strong and if you want to really learn melee champs he isn't the best choice. Up to you.
Panth is good. He gives you his Q to fall back on and his passive will help prevent harass.
I would steer away from Diana since she is an assassin, which I am guessing you aren't used to playing and they come with their own range of difficulties, so I would stay away from them. She also has one of the most unique and unusual skillshots in the game and hitting it is core to her kit.
Diana Q is decieving, it actually spreads at the end of it which you'll see if you mouse over the skill -_-
She's fun tho.
Spoofghoul1 votesI would advice to start with 
because he is a really simple champion and thus not very difficult to master, and has good defensive steroids, sustain and is good at taking down fed enemies.
And if you want a really trolly build to try on him
Spiritvisage to enhance your passive and give magic resist and hp Cleaver for sticking power & shred and AD aswell as to get more cdr The remainder of the items are all good too but their point is to add % damage reduction
12% from tabi 20% from redsmite 10% from Randuins 12% from Phantom dancer and then you have your courage ability which granst an additional 30%
You will be more tanky then an ulting alistar, just dive the adc drop redsmite on them before you apply Q then activate courage and spin on their face melting them while they can't even tickle you, it's really disgusting ^^